Fishing with Cabo

Softball 6/26 - Thursday Night

1-2, BB, single (could have been a triple)
played LC - made 3 plays - one pretty good one, although if I didn't have sunburned feet it would have been an easy play.
20-0 win, called after 20 mins and 3 innings.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Chatfield Res.

Tried to do some carp fishing with Steffan and Cabo. We left work early - Steffan stopped by to get changed and I showed him how to tie an easy carp fly. We headed to Chatfield and got there around 5:30pm right in the middle of a tornado wind storm - literally the wind was whipping so hard that the sand in the parking lot was killing our legs. We hiked into the bay in the back and immediately we saw carp jumping out of the water. It is a pretty amazing sight to see 20 lb fish jumping out of the water all the time.

We headed straight to the flats side, and it was quiet - less wind and no sign of mating fish. We only bumped into one "boiling" fish that we spooked. We really didn't see another fish. The water was clearer, but no fish to be found. The wind died way down and the air was completely still - the whole reservior was like glass - it was weird seeing no boats on the water and no waves. We fished both sides - the bay and the flats a couple of times trying to find fish - but still no luck. We left by 8pm. No luck. Maybe next time.

Softball 6/19 - Thursday Night

0-4, 2 fc's, 1 HR over the fence, 1 line drive out
played LC
1 defensive play
played with the usual crew
won 13-1

everyone came over afterwards for a BBQ - it was a great time!

CELTICS ARE CHAMPIONS

It is hard to explain what I feel right now. I have been a Celtics fan since I was born - watching game on TV38 on a 12 inch balck and white tv at my dad's apartment. Brings back memories, of bird, mchale, parish. of johnny most, of red auerbach. I cry. I really do - because this is something that boston fans have waited so long for. this is one of the most storied franchises in sports - and they deserve this win.

most importantly this is for PP, who has been with this franchise through EVERYTHING. reggie lewis, losing, bad draft picks, trade rumors, we get our revenge - and it is the sweetest revenge. championship! this is for you PP. thanks for bringing it to boston.

thanks to:

PP for sticking around
KG for coming to boston
Ray Allen for making this his new home - UCONN wasn't that long ago
Kobe Bryant for being OVER-RATED!
Rondo for being a huge veteran presence throughout the year - he NEVER looked like a second year guy
for KPerk being string and knowing his roll - 5 points, 10 rebounds a game.
for Posey, EHouse, PJ and Big Baby knowing that they are the real MVPs of this team - strong minutes, huge defense and strong bench support. 4 guys we couldn't do without.
for ainge - yes, it kills me to say it, but if you LUCKED out, damn you did good.
for Doc - you brought Thibadeau here and you convinced 3 superstars to play as 1 TEAM. money baby, just money
Thibadeau - no way will we ever thank him enuf. that was the best defensive performance ever. thanks T
to laker fans for being a joke - makes us realize just how great the celts fans are.
for the experts who said we had no chance in hell.
to Bill Simmon's dad - hopefully he's still alive in the morning - can't wait to see his article

most importantly to my brother in law Dale who has always been a huge celtics fan - a true fan should bask in this the most because you were there through all the bad.

to my buddy Haas, who is a big fan and always my last phone call after a championship - man we have had a lot of calls lately huh?

to the city of boston - congrats, and i miss you. you deserve this - god bless and let's hope for many more.

peace and love, enjoy the moment but save some for the future!

BRANDON!!!!!!!!!

Softball - Monday 6/16

Subbed for Mike Lane
3-4 3 RBI's ll singles
1 catch, no errors
played with the gang

cookout on THURSDAY!!!

Sunday, June 15, 2008 - Chatfield Reservoir - for CARP!

Sunday, June 15, 2008 - Chatfield Reservoir - for CARP!

Ok, so I got out today - I tried the South Platte River below Chatfield to no avail. I then hit Chatfield at my normal spot - the water is starting to rise and the waves were coming in pretty good. The fish were porpoising slightly out of the water - and I could tell that they were active. I hooked a nice sized fish, and was reeling him in nicely - problem is that this fish had NO fight at all. He was sort of swimming towards me, but he kept enough pressure on the line that I thought he was just a log. Well, turned out he was a log - a nice 48 inch stick that weighed a ton. I was pretty embarrassed that I had "played" this fish to the reel and worked him in to me. Actually I felt like an ass.

The water was so high that I could see across the shoreline that there was water on the other side - so I gave up fishing and headed over. When I got through the shrubs and over the swampy area, I walked in on an orgy. Fish were everywhere just going at it. I cast a few times in their general direction and got a bump - nothing major. Then I started realizing that there were fish everywhere - mudding in the shallows in a football sized area. There was some slight grass tips poking up and the carp were nosing around in there. I got a lot of practice casting to them. I hurt my shoulder pretty badly on Wednesday night - actually got a cortisone shot on Thursday, so this was my first "excersize" on the shoulder. Well, I eneded up hooking up on 5 total, 3 of which I hooked right and they all took me on a very long over 100 foot run. These runs were nothing of the screaming variety - just strong pulls that never seemed to end - like walking the dog and never getting control over the leash. Each fish popped the fly. The last fish I saw in a school of 5 or 6 fish - all were finning and feeding about 25 feet in front of me. I plopped the fly right in front of this guy and I hooked up quickly - he ate it and ran to the left - with a steady pull of the line, there was no way to turn him at all. Finally the line popped out of the fly and I decided it was time to go. While standing on the concrete path submerged up to my ankles with water (this path is hidden during normal water levels) I saw fish swimming right next to me in the mucky water - they didn't realize that Cabo and I were standing there. We would move around and a fish would spook 2 feet from us - scared the hell out of the dog. Cabo tried a couple of times to wander over to the humpers - the fish didn't care less, but one time, they changed directions and must have bumped right into her - she came right out of the water scared as hell - of course she tried to act all brave by pawing at their wakes, but they were long gone. She came back over to me and decided to stand right between my legs for a few minutes. Funny as hell!

Well - a bit of success - and I found the fish!!

History!!

We just witnessed history - Celtics played the kind of game you couldn't dream up for a made for TV movie. Amazing tonight - total team effort and this team shows that defense wins championships. Go Green!

Father's Day could be very very special!

Hockey 6/10 - Tuesday League

nothing
played against Aaron's team and that prick NJ Devils jersey kid
3 penalties - actually got tossed with 1 minute left
I got shouldered twice - the kid actually told me after the first I need to keep my head up - I was jawing with him and I get a penalty at the end of the first period. He shouldered me in the second, I actually went down - of course the ref says he didn't see it - total bull shit. I checked the guy into the boards and get his stick up around my neck, still no call on him, but I get a penalty. At the end of the game I am getting pinned against the baords by Nick - the dude is a nice guy, but he thinks he is a hockey player and he can't even skate. So, with his shoulder in the small of my back I put the kid in a head lock and wrestle him off me - I just grabbed my towel and skated off. Refs did nothing to protect anyone. The ref actually called a bad trip on the other team on a guy who fell down by me - I told him the kid didn't trip me and the ref is like "you want me to call a penalty and when I do you tell me I am wrong!" ...No you #!%&(* idiot I want you to call the right penalties all the time. Idiot.
We lost 6-4 - and it was my fault.

I will kill this kid if I see him again, he's a puss of the ice and some weekend he won't have the balls to face me - and I'll lay him out. Oh, this is the same kid that Deano was gunning for when he cheap shotted him on a Saturday open skate - so, I'm not exactly the only one who dislikes this asshole - so you can say he has it coming.

I'll probably be suspended for 2 games or whatever - I hope I get to play on Thursday night - that is the fun league, and we could win the first game and play the championship game right afterwards.

Hockey 6/5 - Thursday Night

first playoff game
1 goal, 1 assist
played D
played with Dean and Brian
John was goalie
won 6-2
didn't try very hard and could have doubled the score

Hockey 6/3 - Tuesday Night

first playoff game
1 goal
Played D
Played with Chris the Goalie
1 penalty
down 3-1 with 2 mins left we scored to make it 3-2.
pulled the goalie with 45 seconds left
I scored with 28 seconds left.
we won in overtime 4-3

Manny hits #500

yesterday was a cool day - I was listening to the game over the internet and decided to head downstairs and see if I could see the next Manny at bat on ESPN - of course ESPN was running at the bottom of the screen the ticker tape that said Manny was up. Thinking they would cut to the game, I weighted - but no such luck. The next thing I saw on the ticker was that Manny hit #500. I waited and waited for a replay - but nothing! WTF ESPN??? You guys blew that. Well, the phone rang and my buddy Haas was on the other end - he asked me to guess where he was....I just guessed Baltimore, and I was right. He had gotten gift tickets to the game while he was down there on a project and was at the game. He saw Pedroia and Ortiz go back to back and was having a blast. Seeing Ellsbury leg out a triple was fun too. And when Manny hit it - he had no idea it was #500 until they flashed it. What luck - he always seems to be that lucky!

Sox won again today - they are starting to show some offense finally.

Bugs

Celtics are going to the Finals!

This is unreal - just amazing. The first year the Big
Three are together and they are headed to the finals?
This is a dream! I would have never even imagined
they could be this good so quickly. Having the best
record in the league is one thing, but getting to the
finals? Damn.

The Celts seem to be playing better basketball lately
- and against veteran teams they seem to dominate.
Against those fast break, run and shoot, younger teams
they have difficulties - which could spell trouble
against the Lakers. I seriously thought the Celts
matched up well against the Pistons - but I think the
Pistons starting 5 is better than the Celts starting
5.

I like Celts in 7 against the Lakers - but I think the
Lakers will somehow win. I'm trying to figure out who
has the edge in the match up - but it seems pretty
lopsided by position.

PG - Rondo vs Fisher - Rondo is better defender,
faster, younger. Fisher is a better shooter and
better ball handler - advantage Rondo.

SG - Allen vs ????? - I don't even know who the Lakers
play at SG - so I have to give the dge to Allen.

SF - PP vs Kobe - Kobe is the better player by far,
but PP has been outstanding on D, I have to imagine PP
will get the most help here on double teams, so we'll
have to have the extra advantage at other positions.
Kobe wins this battle every time.

PF1 - Perkins vs Odom - at least I think that is the
match up. Perk is hot, but his job is to play D and
rebound, which he does better than Odom. Odom is a
runner and a scorer - he will kill Perk in the fast
break and on shooting. Transition will tell the
story. Odom, to me, has always been a lazy player - I
guess that has changed now that he has something to
play for. He had so much talent coming out of URI but
never realized it. Remember when this kid was getting
compared to Jordan? Seriously he was. Big advantage
Odom in the fast break, less of an advantage in the
half court.

PF2 - KG vs Gasol - hey, I want to say that Gasol is
as good as KG, but come on, the guy was a joke in
Memphis. I think KG makes him look like a JV. This
is a huge advantage KG. The only thing that makes me
nervous is Gasol's jump hook.

It looks like a slight advantage Celts or at least a
push. The Lakers are the faster team, but the Celts
play much better defense.

This brings back memories of a time in my life when I
was spoiled by Boston sports success. Celts, Bruins
and Red Sox were all pretty good in 1986-1987. A Red
Sox world series, a Celtics championship, Bourque,
Ranford, Neely, Middleton, Linsman, Kasper, Bird,
McHale, Parish, Walton, Ainge, DJ, Sichting, Rice,
Boggs, Buckner, Hurst, Stanley, Boyd, Seaver, Gedman,
Armas, Hendu, Greenwell, Clemens, Baylor, Evans,
Barrett. This is a chance for the Celtics to firmly
affix the names Garnett, Allen, Rondo and Perkins in
that group. PP is already there - his longevity and
dedication to the Celtics for all those years seals
his fate.

I like our chances. Go GREEN!!

---

Brandon

Softball 5/29 - Thursday League

2-3, FC, 2 singles
played LC
2 defensive plays
Chris almost killed the pitcher - hit him in the
throat with a line drive
played with all the usualy suspects
won 18-2
game ended on a dropped fly ball to RF with the bases
loaded, but the 2B Marissa threw out the girl at the
plate.
weird feeling for the game after the pitcher got hit.

---

Brandon

Hockey 5/29 - Thursday League

1 goal
played D
played with Dean - no Brian
played the Brewski's
1 bogus penalty from Brady - that kid is an ass
Won 6-2

---

Brandon

Avi's Riding Her Bike!

This may sound weird, but yesterday when I got home from work Jen and Avi were outside playing with the neighborhood kids. I noticed that Avi just took off on her tricycle, pedaling all over the place with no problems. This is the first time she has really been able to sustain the pedaling motion for more than a few seconds. And when she started she couldn't stop - she pedaled for about 30 minutes just chasing the older girls on their bikes. So, I guess she finally "got" it and knows how to ride her bike now - this was very cool.

We got tickets!!

Just got an email this morning from a SOSH member that is selling me her Red Sox tickets for face value! What a relief - I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to find decent tickets. Now Jen, Avi, me and Poppy will be going on August 15th! I can't wait. This will be Avi's first ever trip to Fenway (she's been outside, but never inside) and Poppy's first trip in a very very long time!! I don't think he's been in over 35 years!

Now all I have to do is find airline tickets to Boston - which seems to be an even harder task!

Hockey 5/27 - Tuesday League

1 goal
Played D
Chris the Goalie wasn't there
Played against the kid that is Joe Thornton's brother
(supposedly)
2 penalties - first one I levelled a kid, the second
one was complete crap
Lost 10-2

Avi sleeping on the deck - on a towel in the shade.