It was a trip packed with sightseeing with a historical emphasis. One of the chaperones on the trip was Mr. McMurray, Joe's history teacher last year in a class that he thoroughly enjoyed. It all worked out very well, actually. Joe's favorite things to do were going to the Washington Nationals' game, where the boys took off their shirts in between innings and were shown on the Jumbotron, much to their delight. He also was really taken with the Spy Museum, which I had never heard of. An intern who is a graduate of MBA and working for Senator Hagerty gave them a tour of the Senate Chamber, which Joe enjoyed.
JP tried one final time to qualify for New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia by running the mile in a Toad track event at Green Hill High School in Mt. Juliet. He ran hard, set a new PR at 4:20:12, but came up a little more than two seconds short of the 4:18 time he needed to qualify. He was disappointed, of course, but seemed a little more philosophical about it than he was after the mile race at Lee University a couple of weeks ago.
JP was in the second heat when, in reality, he should have been in the first and fastest heat. Two of the other competitive runners in his heat didn't show up, so he led wire to wire and won his heat easily. The problem, though, was that after the pacer left the track after two laps, it was harder to maintain the pace he needed to run a 4:18. If he would have run in the first heat, chasing faster, collegiate runner, might have helped him run just a bit faster. That's track, though, so we'll never know.
He ran the 800 a little more than an hour after the mile race, and clocked a respectable 1:57 +. It was slower than the PR he ran in the 800 at Lee University (1:55:02) but still impressive, as he raced the 800 after having just raced the mile a little earlier. My guess is he would have been close to sub-1:55 had he run only the 800.
In the big picture, JP finished the track season strong, I think, setting PR's race after race. Yes, it's tough to wonder what might have been had he not been hurt early and missed more than one month of training time. But, again, that's track. I'm proud of how hard he worked to get back and how he's performed since he got back.
Sunday afternoon, Joe played in a couple of tournament games in Donelson with his Bucket Squad basketball team. Nash was in California, but Thomas McDaniel picked up three boys from the Stars' Gold team. The boys won two games on Saturday to gain the top seed in their pool. Through the grapevine, I heard that Pike had broken out of his Stars' shooting slump and was raining 3's during both games on Saturday.
Sunday, it was the same thing. Pike looked like a different player, and not just because he was sporting a summer crew cut. In game one, he hit 3 after 3 to the point that the other team's parents were talking about what a pure shooter he is. Joe hit a 3 early then, later, hit a step back 3, which I didn't know he had in his bag. A little James Harden. He made some nifty passes, as well, and ran the offense with confidence.
I left partway through the final game, which the Bucket Squad won by 5. Joe played okay, although not as well as the first game. He thought he was fouled on a 3-pointer early in the second half and complained to the referee in a way that I am not comfortable with. Private school basketball, I call it, when a young player doesn't get a call, turns his hands over and palms up, whines and complains to the referee.
A play or two later, a kid came over Joe's back to get a rebound and, again, Joe didn't get the call. Why? Because he complained so much about not getting the previous call. That's how it works. We talked about it afterwards and, hopefully, Joe will clean that up in the future.
It was a good tournament title for the Bucket Squad. It reminded me of how much more free and loose the boys play when the coach is relaxed and not uptight. I was proud of Joe and all his teammates.
Bucket Squad. Joe, Thomas McDaniel, Pike, Rex, Cole, Elliott, Aaron, and Chandler.
