Joe Turns 9

Yesterday was Joe's 9th birthday.  

So hard to believe.  Time is passing so quickly, as it always does.  There is a feeling of helplessness to it all, from my standpoint as a parent.  It's almost a feeling of melancholy, for me, anyway.  These days of his youth - and J.P.'s - are slipping away faster than I want them to and already I miss them.  

Joe is such a sweet, innocent, happy boy.  I know I've expressed that sentiment before but it remains true.  Always happy.  Always smiling.  Waiting for whatever is coming next with an overwhelmingly positive and optimistic attitude.

From the early days, I remember thinking - and writing in this space - that J.P. has an old soul.  Even as a 2 or 3 year old, he seemed to internalize and contemplate things.  When we listened to music, if a song captivated him, he would get quiet, almost trance-like, and sit completely still, then ask me to play the song again.  Cautious and a rule follower, J.P. always seemed to be thinking one step ahead.  Still does, actually.  Often times, it's hard to tell just what J.P. is thinking, because he's quiet.

Well, that sure is hell isn't Joe.  It's easy to know what Joe is thinking because he'll tell you, or show you.  When he is happy, which is almost all of the time, you know it.  When he gets pissed - and usually it's when he loses at something, you know that, too.  He's got a quicker trigger than J.P., although we don't see it very often.  They're equally competitive.  Joe is more vocal and overt about it, though.

For better or worse, Joe lives in the moment.  It's partially why, I suppose, he almost always happy and in a good mood.  Pensiveness is not an emotion that Joe is familiar with, at least not that I can see.  Of course, the down side is that Joe is forgetful and somewhat absentminded.  As often as not, without direction, he may hop into bad at night, for example, forgetting to brush his teeth or go to the bathroom.  That's just Joe. 

I'm working with him on thinking ahead.  Thinking about what equipment he might need after a basketball or baseball game.  Thinking about the consequences of choosing one course of actions versus another.  Being more aware of his surroundings and trying to stay a couple of steps ahead.  It's a balance, sure, because I want him to keep that innocence, that naiveté, but I also want him to realize that he's got to look out for himself. 

Joe's such a sweet little brother.  He continues to idolize J.P.  Last night, for example, J.P. was arguing his case for why he wants to get Spotify for his cell phone.  Joe chimed in and was getting mad at me, arguing J.P.'s position, too.  

"Why are you worried about it, Joe?  I asked.  "You don't even have a cell phone."

He looked at me incredulously.  "Because I want my brother to be happy."  Oh, okay.  Duh.  

The point, of course, is he really does want J.P. to be happy.  Always.  There's a selflessness about Joe that's unusual.  In many ways, he puts J.P. first, then family, then himself.  I think that's unusual in a child his age.  Special.

Watching Joe play basketball this winter has been such fun.  Much like J.P., he understand the value of passing better than any of the other boys his age do.  He sees the court better than most and almost always makes the right pass.  He's unselfish, in basketball and in life.  At 8 or 9 years of age, most of the boys are about getting shots up and scoring.  Not Joe.  Most games, he scores a lot, but he passes just as much, too, which I like.  

The biggest, and funniest, change for Joe the past  year has been his obsession with the WWE.  Yes, much to Jude's chagrin, Joe is an unabashed and devoted wrestling fan.  I'm still not completely sure how it happened, although I know I had something to do with it.  Throughout the pandemic, as we've been home a lot more, Joe has watched "Raw" on Mondays and "Smackdown" on Fridays and, truth be told, brought J.P. and me along for then ride.  He loves the wrestling and the storylines, too.  I think the simplified good vs. evil, babyface vs. heel aspect of almost every match appeals to him.  

For Christmas, I got the boys a WWE video game for their Xbox.  They love it and in short order, have figured out how to execute a multitude of moves.  It's fun to watch them as partners in a tag team match, fighting against other WWE stars.  Yesterday, fighting both of them in a 3-way match, as Daniel Bryan I somehow managed to pin Joe to win the match.  I'm not sure what made him angrier - that I beat him or that I couldn't tell him how I'd managed to execute the move that finished him.  I, of course, had no idea what I was doing and finally convince him it was just dumb luck.

Last weekend, before the snow came, Joe and I went down to Christ the King (Catholic church) and threw the baseball for 20 or 30 minutes.  Just the two of us, throwing.  It's probably my favorite thing to do with the boys.  It's special, especially for a baseball guy like me, when your son gets to the point where he can throw with you without detailed instruction.  I mean, really throw with you.  Joe has been there for a while but it's still special.  

Joe loves to read, still, which makes Jude and me very happy.  As soon as he opened his presents last night, he sat down and starting reading one of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books he got.  He loves sports and reading.  Just like his brother and just like his old man.

I must be doing something right.

Happy birthday, Joe.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think God would bless me with two sons, like you and J.P.  I'm proud of you and I love you.

Hardwood Classic

Yesterday, for J.P., was a day to remember on the hardwood.  He had a doubleheader at Legends Courts in Franklin, playing for my friend, Chris Taylor.  Chris and Russ Allen have coached our boys forever, it seems, or at least as long as I've been coaching them in baseball.   

We weren't sure if WNSL was going to be able to have basketball due to the pandemic and a shortage of available school and church gyms.  Luckily, with pretty strict protocols in place - i.e. one parent per game, no siblings, etc. - the boys have been able to play basketball, which has been great. 

J.P. also has been playing on a 6th grade team in the Flight League at Brentwood Academy for my friend, Isaac Connor.  Isaac played basketball in college, at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and was the real deal.  I've coached his boys, Cyrus and Elias, in baseball for years, so it was great for J.P. to hook up with Isaac's team.  He's benefitted from the extra court time in practices and games.  

Isaac and his brother, Chris, are tough on the boys, but in a positive way.  They work them, really work them, in practice, and J.P. needs that.  Sometimes, he tends to coast in games and not make impactful plays.  Isaac sees that gets on him about it.  I want my boys coached hard and it's been good to watch J.P. work hard and respond positively to a different coaching style that he's used to seeing.  

It's also been good for J.P. to get out of his comfort zone and play with boys he doesn't know well and to assume a different role on the team.  On Isaac's team, J.P. is one of the older boys and one of the taller boys.  He needs to lead, and he has.  He needs to look to score and he's done that, too.

I've been waiting for the hard work, practice, and ability to score the basketball on Isaac's team to translate  to Chris Taylor's team.  Yesterday, it did, as J.P scored 18 points in the first game and 14 points in the second game.  

Cooper was out, so J.P. played point guard most of the first game and part of the second game.  He was extremely aggressive with the basketball - which I loved - driving to the basket again and again.  He refused to settle for mid-range jumpers.  He was fouled several times as he drove to the rim and he knocked down free throws all day long.  

In the first game, he probably hit 7 or 8 out of 9 and, actually, had two makes on the front end of one-and-ones nullified when his own teammates (Wes and Cullen) stepped into the lane two soon.  I've never seen him look so confident at the line nor have I seen him shoot it so well from the line.  The second game was more of the same.  He was, probably, 6 of 7 from the line.  

J.P. passed the ball well, too, and was more vocal on the court, communicating with his teammates.  That's been something I've emphasized with him this season.  He's naturally quiet and leads by example but he's stepped on and taken on a more vocal role on both teams.  We've talked a lot about the importance of on court communication with your teammates, on offense and defense, and he's responded.  

The boys lost the first game, handily, to a team that had 8th graders on it, but they didn't play scared.  That was good to see.  The second game was a good one.  Although they lost by 3 or 4 in the end, they played well.  They competed.  J.P. competed.  

That's all I want, really, is for J.P. to compete.  In basketball and in life.  

Yesterday, he did.