[ Wednesday, June 25, 2008 ]


On Vacation

Be back in a bit

yam [7:53 PM ]

[ Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ]


Summer Moon


Here's my first attempt at a night shot, of tonight's full moon. Whew, it took me about 20 tries just to get this, and playing with all of the adjustments on my new camera. I know, I'm a rookie.

yam [10:02 PM ]


yesterday...
M:"You know, as you get older, time seems to go by faster".
Yup, he's growing up.

yam [8:53 AM ]

[ Sunday, June 15, 2008 ]


Happy Father's Day!


At Staples Center, April 2000

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! (This is still one of my favorite pictures from a Lakers game in 2000. Yup, those are Pluto ears that Matthew is wearing on his head.)

Wow, it's been such a busy week! I will try to summarize it later on tonight. Laters.

yam [9:49 AM ]

[ Friday, June 13, 2008 ]


Busy
Wow, I thought that since baseball season was over for Matthew that this week would be easier, but it's been incredibly busy. I'll try to post some thoughts in the next few days.

Ack, how about those Chokers, umm Lakers?

yam [8:33 AM ]

[ Saturday, June 07, 2008 ]


Championship Runners-Up Again!



For the second year in a row, Matthew played on a baseball team that made it all the way through the play-offs to the championship game, but came up short, losing 7-6 (and took one in the chin at second base).

Matthew still had a pretty good game, making a couple of excellent plays as second baseman, but also took a bouncing ball that smacked him under the chin (but kept the ball in front of him, like he should). He actually had a chance to be a hero again when he came up to bat in the top of the 6th (last) inning with one on and one out, with his team down 7-6. The kid following him was an almost sure out so it really was up to him. He fouled a couple off and then hit a pop fly for the second out. Oh well. It just wasn't their game to win today I guess. But we were all very proud of the way the team came together during the play-offs. Baseball season is over, but it was a fun time!

yam [2:53 PM ]

[ Friday, June 06, 2008 ]


Yee-Haaaww!
I'm really jazzed as Matthew's baseball team won again tonight, 13-10! Matthew made a couple of great plays at second base again, and drove in a couple of runs (but no hits). That means we're going to the Championship game tomorrow morning on closing day with lots of hoopla (just like last year!). But, since it's a double-elimination play-off, if we win, we have to play again on Sunday since the Tigers are undefeated.

Go Cubs!!!

yam [8:25 PM ]

[ Thursday, June 05, 2008 ]


Cubs Win!



Matthew made a great play at second base in the 4th inning, going to his right to get a ground ball, then threw out the runner at first, making the third out and keeping the Rockies from scoring (the runner on third base), with the Cubs ahead by 1 run. The whole team played well again (Matthew had a hit and a walk and scored a run) and the Cubs won, 8-6!!! So that means we're still alive in the play-offs and have another game tomorrow night!

Lakers Lose Game 1
Eh, I have mixed emotions tonight as Matthew's team won in the play-offs, but the Lakers lost to the Celtics tonight in their first game of the championship series. But it was a good game and they just came up short tonight.

yam [9:44 PM ]


Showdown!
Finally, finally, finally, the Lakers and Celtics finals match begins tonight! It's been a week since the Lakers played and about 5 days since there's been any basketball on TV and I'm having withdrawals! And it doesn't count that there's been so much hype about this "renewed rivalry" between these two storied franchises. I may sound like a homer, but I seriously think the Lakers and Kobe are going to take this series. it's been 6 years since we won the championship and that's just too long!

Go Lakers!

Oh, and check out this video of the (1987?) Lakers doing a rap against drugs. It's hilarious, but yet makes me feel uncomfortable watching it.

yam [1:32 PM ]

[ Tuesday, June 03, 2008 ]


Play-offs... Continued
Matthew's baseball game went almost 3 hours for a 6 innings because his team went crazy tonight scoring TWENTY runs, beating the Dodgers 20-11. I've never seen them hit like that all season. And Matthew went 2 for 4, with 2 RBIs! It wasn't a perfect game, as we made some mistakes, and had a few injuries, but nothing too serious. So, that means our season continues again on Thursday night (same time as the Lakers game, dangit!) Heh, now you can call me a Twit.

yam [9:02 PM ]

[ Monday, June 02, 2008 ]


Play-Off Fever!
After losing the first play-off game on Saturday, Matthew's team had to win to survive. One more loss and the season was over. So, the Cubs had to play another game on Sunday against the Pirates, who lost to the number one-seeded Angels. And as a surprise to Matthew, I didn't tell him that all of his mom's family was coming up to watch him play.



The family made a surprise visit to watch Matthew play


Little Aaron came to watch his big cousin, too!


I don't know if it bothered him or not, but for most of the game he wasn't quit as in it as he was the previous day. He took a called-strike three at his first at bat, walked in his second and booted a ground ball in left field later in the game (which fortunately didn't cost the team any runs).

The Cubs got out to a quick 4-run lead but slowly ended up losing the lead and fell behind, 7-4 after 4 innings. They were able to cut the lead to 7-6 going into the bottom of the last (6th) inning and Matthew would be the 4th batter coming up. In the back of my mind I thought that there would be a chance that he might have a pivotal play in this game. Our first batter got on base with a nice hit and moved his way around to third base on consecutive steals and eventually scored on a fielder's choice (one out) to tie the game at 7-7! The next batter up also had a solid hit and ended up with a double.



It was all up to Matthew...


Then it was time for Matthew to come up to the plate. The "fake bunt" sign was given by our coach to allow our runner to steal third base, and the pitch was a called strike. After Matthew took a ball and fouled off a pitch, the count to Matthew was 1 ball and 2 strikes. Behind him in the line-up was the bottom 3 batters, 2 of which were almost guaranteed outs. The next pitch came and Matthew swung and hit a ground ball deep in-between first and second base, and there was no chance to get the runner at home plate, so we won the game, and Matthew was the big hero!



Matthew Was The Big Hero!


Whew, what a game and there were cheers and high-fives going on all over our side of the field! The family sure came out to watch a great game! And the Cubs are still alive in the play-offs, so we have another game tomorrow!

yam [10:42 PM ]