It's That Time of Year Again!

This week one or all of my children have had baseball practice every night...
Twice they were all on the fields, at exactly the same time, at three different locations - for TWO HOURS EACH!

Add this year's newest wrinkle, Cameron playing on the Freshman team, and we can include extreme travel to the mix!

You would think one of the coach's would have mercy on us, after all, it is my husband!

I think he is just doing this so he can see how creative I become with crock pot cooking!

He found out when I made him microwave his own beef burritos at 8:30 the other night...

The Voyageurs Have Returned...

We had a lovely visit to Canada, sans Cameron. Great weather, lots of time with family in Barrie, a bit of history thrown in for good measure.

These pictures are from Sainte-Marie-Among-The-Hurons; a beautiful Jesuit/Indian village that has been recreated in Midland, Ontario.

John golfed that day...

I had been lamenting the fact that all my friends were away on their own vacations, but it actually made the trip much less stressful and jam packed. We were even able to hang out at the beach for an afternoon!


The highlight would have to be the Blue Jays and Yankees game we took in on Thursday.

The boys rode the Toronto subway for the first time. For me it brought back really fond memories of my years spent going to school and working in T.O. What a great city.
By the way, I wish I could say the bottle in my hand was mine but I was holding it for the girl taking our picture! Not to say I didn't carry MANY bottles of wine on the subway in my day :)

The non-highlight was the drive home - arriving home at 3am after leaving John's nephew's wedding that ran an hour to two hours late the entire day!

Actually the real non-highlight of the trip was driving anywhere with John. We are the worst - I mean divorce court worst - at driving together. We both had serious uglies in the van. Thank God Jackson and Caeden wore headphones most of the trip.

The Fat Lady Sang...

Baseball is over for the 2008 SportsMum season.

Camerons' all-star "we should win it all" team choked so bad yesterday I expect we'll all be suffering from withdrawal for weeks to come! We expected to be driving to North Carolina on Thursday - now what?

I won't relay the ugly details - but FLAT is a word that comes to mind - flat attitudes, flat efforts, flat ambitions. I almost think these boys really didn't want to play anymore. Again - I have my personal theories about that but it's better left unsaid. If I told you, I'd have to move!

But, of course, the parents are taking it so much harder than the boys. We had them all back here after to swim and eat all the hamburgers and hot dogs that were left over from last week's party. And...they played baseball and laughed and truly had a blast. The game in its purest form - just loving to play.

I keep thinking of the word passion. Earlier in the season, I got in trouble from one of the parents for favoring my son during games and not cheering the team. Perhaps she was right but I will say that Cameron always showed a desire to win and put in a total effort no matter what position he played. Yesterday was no exception - he pitched the second game - struck out three in three innings - was throwing strikes, playable hits for his defense - dove head over heels into first base for one of the ONLY hits of the game - then was pulled out of the game in the middle of the third and cried in the dugout for the remainder (and several hours beyond). Passion.

I Can Do Everything Through Him Who Gives Me Strength...

This is Cameron's All-Star baseball hat. It was clean and pristine just a few days ago. But our boy has decided to keep God in his head and has therefore written his favorite scripture verse on the inside brim.

For this, I will never complain!!!

However, for the next shot, I will. How is it as the pitcher, with grass surrounding the mound, he manages to get dirtier than any boy on the team?!?

Because he likes to slide...face first...as often as he can...

You see...He can do all things through HIM that gives him strength!

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We are in the Regional Championships now - teams from four states competing for the right to play in the Zone Finals, next week in North Carolina.

Last night we won 14 - 4, beating a team from somewhere near Pittsburgh.

Will keep you posted as the weekend progresses...

Swimming?! This Is A Pool Party?

Over 40 people converged in our backyard last night for Cameron's Pony team pool party.

Irony is, it took them about three hours to finally swim because they PLAYED BASEBALL!


Frankly, this team really needed to just get lose and have fun. There had been several mini dramas, hurt feelings and ugly regular season games. As the team enters the Regional tournament championships, a bonding night was just what the doctor called for!

Aren't These The Lazy Days of Summer?!

I came home from Caeden's first soccer clinic last night, just as John got home from the football Gridiron meeting and Cameron was dropped off from a two hour baseball practice...

"Cameron has a busy day tomorrow", he said. "He has two hours of lifting for football in the morning, a couple hours of work with Ken, a baseball practice at 3, and his first practice with the Varsity football team at 6".

I responded, "...and don't forget that I have an important business meeting until five and then I need to have Caeden back at his soccer clinic at 7".

And he responded, "and I think Cameron's in a baseball tournament starting on Thursday".

And I responded, "what's Jackson doing?..."

Jackson said, "Enjoying my summer!"

Home Runs and Other Celebrations

This has been a week of celebration - and I don't mean Canada Day on Tuesday or the 4th of July tomorrow!

It's all about sports, as usual.

Our baseball league held a Home Run Derby on Tuesday night and Cameron was a finalist in the 13/14/15 year old age group.

Before I move on, I have to mention that the event was being held in order to raise funds for one of our baseball family's - both parents have been diagnosed with cancer - they have five children and NO insurance! We have an account set up here in Boardman at First National Bank in the name of The Caraballo Family.


Cameron was up against real men/boys in his age group - they had beards and muscles. He held his own - hitting eight. The overall winner, including all age groups, hit 14. The organizer realized his age groupings were a little off when he saw Cameron beside these hunks and afterwards came and gave him his own trophy for winning HIS age group!

Next day, we discovered that we're adding a new sport to our repetoire. Caeden had been asked to try out for the Under 10 Competitive soccer team. The email came through yesterday with the heading "congratulations" and I called all the boys to read it together. So often, it's all about Cameron or Jackson - this was Caeden's moment. And they celebrated in style, hoisting him over their heads and carrying him around the house!

Finally - another celebration for the end of another baseball season. This time, Caeden's pool party. John was the manager and always gives out awards to each player, representing what they meant to the team. Using major league player names as the examples - Caeden received the Albert Pujols award for best fielder.

So Caeden's friend Kyle was receiving the Most Inspirational Award - named after Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton. My husband, who has a tendency to not think about what he's saying, explained the award by stating "Josh Hamilton is inspirational because he got kicked out of baseball for doing drugs and alcohol" (Kyle's Mom's face dropped at this point...) and then tried to recover with "BUT, BUT, he's better now!"

Nice save...

Put Us Out Of Our Misery - Please!

We just finished the first weekend of our all-star baseball tournament season.

I hate this time of year - especially when you're losing - especially when you're losing and shouldn't be!

Knowing that too many people in this town read my blog, I will not say any more about that!

I'm just thankful it's almost over...

Two Down...One To Go...

Caeden's team lost. They actually played quite well, especially considering they were missing three players for vacations! They might have won had there not been a five run limit per inning - final score 11-9.

The "nasties" I referred to last night were actually quite civil - probably because they were winning! Very unlike what I witnessed last year when I saw one of their coaches actually hit his son and his nephew upside the head. In fact, at the team pizza party, his nine year old son refused to shake his hand! Setting the course for a great relationship in the future...


Back to my son - who has the upmost respect for his father - he got into a habit this year of holding the bat high up over his head. In fact, he was called out twice when he ducked to miss getting hit and the ball hit the bat that was high over his head!




This picture isn't a good example of just how high but the next picture shows John needing to go out and adjust him. Next pitch, he hit the ball straight up the middle :)





He also came in to pitch the last inning. John has it in his head that Caeden HAS to be a pitcher because he's left handed. Well - just follow the trachectory of the ball...
(I particularly like this last pic when the fielder, umpire and runner aren't even considering needing to be baseball ready!)

But in the end - they lost and it didn't even matter - they are only thinking about the team pool party at our house next Monday...

One Down - Two To Go...

The baseball season is crawling to a close...sort of.

Jackson lost his playoff game tonight to finish his season. I would like to say I was sad but it was becoming painful to watch him struggle at the plate. He just couldn't get his head back into hitting - he was swinging at pitches that he would NEVER have attempted the first half of the season. Tonight - he swung at three straight pitches and only the last one was a strike. Bless his heart - his spirits were good and he's already looking to next year.

Caeden (and John) are in Round Two of their playoff adventure. They clobbered their first round opponent 20 - 8 last Saturday. The best part of that game was Caeden's BFF, Kyle, hit two line drives (only his second and third hits all season) and John brought him in to pitch the final inning because they had such a big lead - and he struck out two!!! You have to know this sweet little boy to understand that this is a BIG deal - he deserved it more than anyone.

Tomorrow night they face off against the "nasties" of the Minor Division - ironically sponsored by a local church! I will tell all on Wednesday.

Cameron is "done" on Wednesday - final game of the regular season. That means we only have about another MONTH of games - it's All Star Tournament time. First tournament is this weekend.

Here's the rundown...
All Star Uniform = $65.00
All Star Fan Shirts = $12.00 each
Tournament Fees = $8.00 (this weekend)
$$$ Every Weekend Until End of July and beyond if they make it to the Pony World Series in California...
I'll keep you posted on THAT one... :)

Jackson's Last Stand...

Jackson has wanted to pitch all year. Every game he gets to the field eagerly anticipating that his coach will put him in that coveted (and pressure filled) spot.

Last night was the night. The final game of the regular season against a team from the other division. It didn't count in the standings. This would be Jackson's one and only chance to pitch this year.

I don't say this with any animosity towards his manager - he's been extraordinary. In fact, at this level in our league, the manager drafts the players he wants on his team. I found out a few weeks ago that this wonderful man drafted two players with Aspergers (including Jackson) and two with significant ADHD. For that - he is a saint!

Back to pitching - Jackson came into a tight game the middle of the 2nd inning. All the coach wanted him to do was throw strikes and let his team-mates do the rest.

He threw nothing but strikes...beautiful lobs right across the plate. ("Lobs" mean very slow)

You'd think if you're not throwing hard, the ball wouldn't go far. Wrong. They hit two beautiful shots into the gap in right field. Jackson's team-mates didn't have a chance. Fortunately, Jackson was able to make a play to first on a little grounder to get an out.

By the time he was finished midway through the third inning the score was 3-0. They scored one run on him. We ended the game with a final score of 5-2.

Jackson was philosophical about the experience. He told me he wanted to use this game to nail down his accuracy. The heat will come next year...

The Season of Broken Hearts and Broken Dreams

The baseball All-Star list was posted on Sunday. Jackson wasn't on it.

And we had NO illusions that he would be. Unfortunately, he did.

He hasn't hit a ball in over three weeks (the worst slump I've ever seen) and he's only caught one ball in the outfield the entire season - but in his beautiful mind, he thought he should be considered for All-Stars.

I love how passionate he is about the game and how badly he wants to succeed at it. The only problem is - he's not a natural and therefore has to work a lot harder. Therein lies the biggest problem - Jackson is, by nature, a very lazy boy.

Who knows, maybe this will fire him up and he will practice in the off-season. Or maybe, just maybe, he will find another sport to call his own! Did I tell you he won his weight class in wrestling last year?!? :)...

The Ugly Side of Baseball

We saw the ugly side of teenage boys playing baseball tonight. Especially a team of boys who have been preordained as "THE" team to beat in our division.

These boys expect to be perfect, especially Cameron, and when they aren't, it is nothing short of embarrassing.

It's not because they play badly - we, as parents, know they are not perfect. It's because the ATTITUDE is awful.

For instance - Cameron missed two DIVING catches at center field tonight and you'd think he lost the entire game for the team. He came in hanging his head, throwing his glove and wallowing in his self-pity.

He wasn't the only one - tonight's pitcher kicked the dugout walls and actually "quit" the team after the visitors had several good hits and poor defense from us.

My "I've had enough moment" came when Cameron hit a solid grounder to the short stop, advancing our runner from second to third. Unfortunately, he was thrown out at 1st. He turned to go back to the dugout and our first base coach stuck out his hand to high five him on a good hit. Cameron ignored the gesture and ran past.

I promptly ran over to meet him as he came off the field, led him away from the team, and told him if I EVER saw him disrespect his coach again, I would pull him out of the game. He knew I was serious and didn't dare cop an attitude with me.

Initially, I felt I had been out of line in addressing him during the game. But then I realized something - he is 14, he is MY son, and John and I have taught him that, no matter what, he will ALWAYS respect his teachers and coaches.

I may have no control over what he does on the field in his performance...but I will do everything I can to make sure to teach him the qualities of CHARACTER and RESPECT in every other area of his life.

I'm pretty sure he got the message...

The Tale of the Bat...

I have to get more imaginative in taking pictures of the boys during games.

However, I have become the master of capturing them in mid-swing.

May I present the tale of the bat...featuring Caeden, Jackson and Cameron...

The Week In Pictures (Cause That's All I Have Time To Do...)

While I always look forward to baseball season, the lunacy of our schedule makes my head swim. For example - we had games every night last week. On two nights we had three games at the same time!

John and I are masters of dividing ourselves, but with three children, one is always left out. As he is Caeden's coach, that's where he has to be. I go with Jackson. The short straw - Cameron. The worst part of missing his games is that it is the closest to real baseball we get to see! But - I have him in pictures for the brief moments I'm there...

So in the midst of the craziness, I also organized our baseball league opening day celebration last Friday - and you can't take pictures when you're running the show! I did include my hand-drawn layout of the field's and the organization!

I also managed to get some shots from our league trip to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday - beautiful day!



Finally - these last pics are from Cam's game last night. He struck out 7 and hit a line drive straight to the pitcher. We won 13 - 1.

The Season Opener

Cameron's team opened the season with a vengeance today, beating a worn out team from a neighboring town 12-2.


Why is it that it's not enough that these 13 and 14 year old boys practice seven times a week, are in the middle of state-wide academic testing, and also run track (well - that's just my wacky son...) -- but the coach from the other team also entered them in a tournament this weekend?! By the time they showed up for our game at noon, they had already played two games! No wonder they were pounded...

This post will be the beginning of my baseball reporting career, and I will readily admit my bias to only reporting about my son's results.

Cameron played second base for the entire game. Not much activity there - almost got the out on a steal and caught a pop fly.


At bat, he went to a full count his first at bat and then blasted a shot into the gap between center and right field. He stole second and made it home two batters later. He went down on strikes his second and third at bats, both 3rd strikes were far outside the plate and he didn't even swing. His final at bat he hit a short pop to the short stop.

Hope you enjoy my very first action shots. I am particularly proud that I was able to catch the ball in mid-flight on several shots -- and that was shooting through the fence!

I have determined that I REALLY need a telephoto lens (specifically the AF Nikkor 180mm) to get the full effect of the game - anyone want to contribute to the "buy a lens for SportsMum fund?!"

In The Land of Bush and Lincoln

My last post -- OVER TWO WEEKS AGO -- mentioned being back to insanity.

This was not only true, but was compounded by the fact that I was also preparing the marketing materials for a conference in Washington D.C.

So - while you haven't seen SportsMum for quite a while - it's been for a good cause.
Trying to build my crazy business, visiting the land of Bush and Lincoln, and running willy nilly to and from and to and from and to and from - baseball!

I'm now off to the season opening game for Cameron...wish us luck!

We're Back To Insanity!

The silly season began with a vengeance at 4pm today...that's when all the sports and chaos converged into one...long...track meet, baseball practice (x2), booster club meeting...

It started with Cameron's first track meet of the year. He ran three races - the 1600 (or mile)...he came in third (impressive). Then the 400 - which incidentally took place about five minutes after the mile...he came in fifth (still impressive given his exhaustion). Then the 4 X 400 relay - his team SMOKED the competition - in fact, these boys were only 15 seconds off the school record WITH NO PRACTICE! They literally assembled the team while at the meet!

As Cameron was running amok; two baseball practices began - his and Jackson's - but he was an hour late for his and Jackson had to leave and find another place to practice as every field was full. So our best laid plan of being able to attend the Gridiron Booster Club meeting while two were at practice was fouled up!

As it was, I left with Caeden to find Jackson and his team - somewhere south of our town...Cameron walked to his practice at the south end of the school...and John went to the Gridiron alone!

We all converged back here at 8:10 for a late night pizza and homework.

And so it begins...

Pancakes...Where's The Syrup?

I am a member of our local Rotary club and every year we host a two weekend Pancake Breakfast at our community center. It's a huge event - on average we see over 750 people in a seven hour span!

This year they added a new attraction to garner even more interest - the 1st Annual Pancake Eating Contest!

The event was to be held at 3pm. At 2:45 there were only three teams of 3 entered - two of them belong to Cameron's Pony baseball team! The boy's thought they had the $100 prize money in the bag...

Unfortunately - 6 more teams entered under the wire - three of those composed of rival high school athletes.

Even more unfortunate was the fact that 13 and 14 year old boys think it's REALLY funny to stuff 10 pancakes in your face in three minutes.
In fact, between fits of laughter, our boys probably managed to stuff only four or five pancakes into their mouths.

The winners? One kid ate his ten...and two more of his teammate's.

But you can't say that Cameron didn't make a valiant attempt in the end!

Draft Day

No I'm not talking about the NFL draft (although that's as big a day in our house as the SuperBowl)...

Today, Jackson and Caeden will be drafted onto their respective teams for the upcoming Little League baseball season!

Tensions are high...will they be East or West division...will their coach be returning or new...will they have their best-friend on their team...This last question is really the only one either of the boys care about!

The answers to these and other questions of the universe will be settled tonight!

Well, actually, in Caeden's case we already know. You see this year, for the first time in four years, John will be a Manager - one of the huge bonuses that came with him getting a job close to home.

And...Caeden's best friend will indeed be on his team. His Dad is the Coach!