Friday night, Joe went to the first MBA home football game of the year. It was a resounding victory against an overmatched Memphis Hamilton squad. I didn't get away from work early enough to go but I knew I wasn't missing anything when Jude texted me that it was 24-0, Big Red, in the first quarter. She came home early and we had a nice meal out at Sally's Stay Awhile on Wedgwood Avenue, near the Fairgrounds. It seems we may have found our new favorite family restaurant, since Burger Up closed.
Saturday morning, I drove Joe to Green Hills Park at 8 a.m. for a goalie workout with Coach Pritchard. MBA's junior school soccer season is just around the corner, so Joe's polishing up his goalkeeping skills. The talent level on the junior school team is tremendous, so I am curious to see if he earns a spot on the A or B team and gets meaningful minutes. Last year, he played a lot in goal for the A team due to injuries, but that changed in the tournament.
I drove to TOA Courts in Cool Springs for a Bucket Squad basketball game at 2:30 p.m. For various reasons, I had missed the first two Bucket Squad games of the fall seasons, a win and a close, controversial loss when I was in Jacksonville, FL, with JP last weekend. I had heard the competition was much better in this league, which proved to be true in the game that I watched on Saturday. After falling behind early, then tying it up near the end of the first half, the Bucket Squad pulled away in the second half to beat a good team by six or eight points.
Joe was 0-3 from the filed but had four or five assets and easily could have had a couple more. He's still limited from a ball handling standpoint as he faces more athletic boys but his awareness, court sense, and basketball IQ are so high that he's able to run the team and make the right passes for the most part. A couple of times, he saw a mismatch with one of our big men - Aaron and Bennett - and emphatically directed them to the post for an easy layup or foul (and free throws).
It's so gratifying to watch how well the boys play basketball together, which I guess it to be expected since they've been playing as a team for seven or eight years. The new players, Chandler, Bennett, and Aaron fit in nicely, too.
Joe turned the table on me in ping pong, beating me 4-2 in a best of seven game set. I've lost it lately, after dominating him for a couple of weeks.
Saturday night, in our one non-sports event of the weekend, Jude, Joe, and I watched Lethal Weapon (Danny Glover and Mel Gibson), from 1987. JP was at his official visit at David Lipscomb, so it was just the three of us. Good movie, too.
Yesterday, Joe and I went for a 3-mile run at 7:30 a.m. We finished at 8th & Roast, where I got a cup of coffee, then had a nice cool down walk home. Those are the best times, really, the cool down walk after a run or the ride home after a travel baseball game in another town. Good music or a podcast, and good conversation.
Jude drove Joe to a baseball scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Collegiate Sports Prep., where his NBA Cannons plays. It was miserably hot but Jude said he played reasonably well. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning and played outfield for the most part. He walked, stole second and third, then scored on a passed ball. Later, he struck out swinging. I've got to get him back to Franklin for some hitting lessons with Coach Tad. It's hard to find the time with school, though.
While Jude was with Joe at his baseball game, I was with JP touring David Lipscomb and meeting the cross country/track coach and a couple of other recruits' families. JP and college. That's happening.
Last night, Joe had his annual USN fantasy football draft at the Wedge, hosted by our friend, Derek Hughey. It was nice to see some of the dads when I picked Joe up about 8:30 p.m.
Later this morning, I'm going back to David Lipscomb so JP and I can have an individual meeting with Coach Polk. Jude flies out later this morning to Washington D.C. to testify before a subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Gulp!
On the go, non-stop, or so it seems. It never ends until it does, I guess.
Joe and Bennett after a hard fought victory on Saturday at TOA Courts.
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