It's Been a Great Season!

The 2013 9-10 year old Giants finished the season as league runner-up.  After making our way through the season ending tournament in the winners bracket, we had to face the mighty Phillies in the championship game, and what a game it was!  After spectacular defensive play by both teams, the score was tied after 6 innings at 1-1 and everyone was treated to free baseball!  4 more innings to be exact!  The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Phillies in 10!

We fought hard in the second game but came up a little short in a 13-9 effort.  Our kids never gave up against a team that was clearly the best team in the league.  The Giants finished the season with a 10-5 record.  Our record against the Phillies???.........1-4.  They sort of had our number along with every one else.  They finished the season with a record of 13-2!  Congrats to the Phillies!

Reid had a very solid year, especially in the field!  He is shown here holding his "Golden Glove" trophy that he earned by having the best defensive stats on our team.  We decided early in the season that we wanted to honor some of the kids that excelled on the team and we kept stats on everything from fielding to base running.  We gave a trophy for best defense, best offensive numbers, Team MVP (which was a combination of the two), and a coaches award for the kid that showed the best attitude towards his coaches and his team.  This was a great team to coach because it was full of some really great kids!  In fact, at the recent school honors night, 8 out of our 12 boys were honored in some way, with 6 of them being recognized for having all A's for every quarter for this school term.  Makes us coaches proud!

Reid is also shown holding a sports devotional book titled "Have Fun, Try Hard, and Play Fair".  We wanted to give the kids something that they could use to help them become better young men.  A trophy will eventually loose it's shine, but lessons about how to live a Christian life will last a lifetime!  The book has 365 daily devotions related to sports and how that relates to living your everyday life for God.  Several of the boys got emotional after the game and I have had several parents call me and say that they couldn't believe a group of coaches would care that much for their kid.  I'll be the first to admit that I did not want to coach a team this year, but this team was worth it in every way!

To Coach Hal and Coach Stan-  I'll coach with you guys anytime!  It's been a great ride!  We were lucky to get such a great group!!

The season has not ended for Reid just yet!  It's on to All-Stars to see how our kids stack up against the best in the State!  Reid has made his first All-Star team and I am one proud father and Coach!  Let's go get 'em Son!!  Your Daddy is very proud of you and your hard work!!

Middle of Ball Season 5K!

We have been playing a lot of baseball lately.  In fact, for the past 10 weeks, all we have done is play baseball.  We did however take a Saturday morning off and participated in The Fitzgerald Rotary Club's annual Colony City Chase 5K.

I'll keep it brief-  Reid won first place for his age group (11 and under) in just his second 5K.  He shaved 4 minutes off of his first 5K time.  My friends that ran in the race told me afterwards that Reid could have had a faster time, but that he stopped to wait on some of his friends during the race.  He told me he didn't want them to have to run by themselves.  We had a good talk about how noble it was to want to help a friend, but I did remind him that this was a RACE! :)

I look forward to the next challenge as he really seems to have fun running in these races.  Run Reid Run!!

A Birthday Trip to Remember!

A very special little lady celebrated her 7th Birthday this past weekend!  Little Miss Mia is more than a little crazy about her American Girl Dolls, so we decided to give her the ultimate gift.  We took her to the American Girl Store in Atlanta on Saturday.  We gave her a gift card to spend and her Cheri gave her some money as well.  She also took her money that she has earned over the past year doing chores and picking up pecans.  She came home with no money left what-so-ever, but plenty of goodies and a new doll for her collection.  She will tell you that the day was a success!

Two dolls made the trip with us.  McKenna and Mia (the doll's name) both had scheduled appointments to have their ears pierced and their hair done.  My Mia watched them while they were at the spa.  She had the biggest smile on her face as they took each doll and placed them in a beauty shop chair and gave them the full spa treatment.  Let me just say that the appointment book was rather large and booked!  Depending on what treatment the doll was receiving that day, the bill could run from as low as $15 to as high as $50.  Based on what I saw on Saturday, we all need to go buy stock in this place!

We finished our shopping and stopped to have a picture made with Saige in her hot air balloon.  Saige is this year's "Girl of the Year" and also the newest member of Mia's collection.  Saige is a cowgirl who likes horses, but she also likes to do art.  Sounds a lot like my Mia and a certain first cousin of mine!  I'm sure she will feel right at home in Mia's room!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!  As always, you are MY American Girl of the year!!



The Brave Eagles Sings "The Hump Day Song"

I'm a very lucky person in the fact that I live in a small town with some great friends.  I wrote a little blog a few years ago about The Hump Day Gang that you may want to use to refresh your memory.  Hump Day here in Fitzgerald, GA means seeing the boys, having a few cocktails, and cooking some fine southern meals.  It is a time for all of us "men" to get together and solve the world's problems as we see them.  I am a regular attender and I would like to take this time to thank my lovely wife for allowing me to be a part of this group every Wednesday night!

My good friend, fellow Hump Day-er and guitar player, Hal Wiley and I were sitting around his pool watching the kids swim the other day when we came up with the idea to write a Hump Day song.  It needed to be witty, but also describe what Hump Day is all about.  He picked the tune and I got busy on the words.  We sang it for the gang two weeks ago and did an encore performance this past Wednesday that somehow made its way to video.

Now before you watch this, I need to add a few disclaimers!  This group in no way disrespects the women in our lives.  This song is made to be funny and pick on the fact that every once in a while one of our wives may fuss about their husband being at Hump Day, or they may plan an event on a Wednesday night causing a member to be unable to attend the weekly Hump Day gathering.  Of course all of us make fun of the buddy whose is catching a little devil from his woman at home, and we even set up a little prize for the wife who so dares inter fear with a Hump Day activity.  It's called "The Pink Shirt"

Again, it's all in fun and the girls get a big kick out of it!  No harm done as the attitudes are generally all good!  The Pink Shirt is mentioned in the song several times.  I didn't want you to be lost!

Other things in the song that may need a little clearing up:

Kyle- He is a gourmet cook.  The kid cooks stuff that is simply awesome, even if we don't know what it is!
Davis-  He eats!  A lot!  Never cooks!
Bon-co- A dice game that the girls get together and play.  For some reason they try and meet on Wednesday nights once a month.
Clay Day-  A popular saying in this group as Clay seems to hunt, fish and play more than the rest of us.
"Playing her cards right"- As in after several cocktails someone says "If my wife plays her cards right, she might get lucky when I get home".  (Never seems to work out for some reason)
Quiet sign-  Bill has a sign from a golf tournament that says "QUIET".  He brings it out when the conversation gets a little too noisy for the neighborhood.
Hump Day Lite-  Some boys that live to the South of us have started their own Hump Day tradition.  We call them "Hump Day Lite"

So enjoy the song for what it is!  FUN!  The video is not very clear because it was dark, but the audio is not bad!

"http://www.youtube.com/embed/Pmyu0_OqOM4?rel=0"

Happy Hump Day to all the boys!!

RA Camp 2013- One State Champion and Two Soggy Bottoms

You see this picture?  This is a picture of a State Champion knot tying master!  Reid is the fastest Royal Ambassador bowline knot tier for the year 2013, an honor that he has worked hard on for the past three years.  He has finished second on two consecutive tries, but this year he brought home the gold!  What is even more remarkable is that he was able to accomplish this just hours after his father totally humiliated him in front of all of his friends and fellow campers.  Let's back up a bit.

The annual First Baptist RA camping trip to Camp Kaleo is always an exciting trip for all the boys.  We have been working on camping skills for weeks and we were prepared to meet all the challenges that would be given to us in all of the competitions.  We were not prepared however for heavy rains and 40 degree temps that the weatherman was calling for on Friday night.  We made the wise decision to leave the tents at home and stay inside one of the cabins offered for large groups.  Friday night was a wet one, but Saturday promised to be clear and cold.

We woke up Saturday morning to temps in the low 40's. The boys were ready to begin the competitions, so we headed out to the competition grounds.  The boys can compete in team knot tying, chariot races, BB gun shooting, archery, first aid, map and compass, wild wood runs, fire building, and a canoe race.  We started with the wild wood run and made our way over to the canoe racing area shortly after.  We have done well in this event in the past, bringing home three state titles thanks to my good friend Dr. Cook.  Reid and I finished 2nd in this event last year, so I only had one thing on my mind!  I wanted the crown!

The race is a timed event in which you paddle the canoe out to a buoy, make a turn around it and head back to shore.  As I watched my buddy Dr. Cook set a blistering pace just two spots in front of me, I knew that Reid and I would have to be fast.  I thought his turn was a little sloppy so I set my goal in making a tight turn and pushing extra hard back to shore to lower our time.  We would never quite get that far.  Reid and I settled into the boat and I gave him instructions to just worry about paddling on the right side.  I would handle the rest.  We kicked off and I gave a mighty two strokes on the left side rocketing the boat forward with enormous thrust!  As I switched to the right side to straighten our line of direction while maintaining our quick pace, I over guessed my own strength and enthusiasm and accidentally slid to the right side of the boat.  This was not good.  My next stroke was my own swimming motion towards my son to make sure that he was safe as we were both now taking a swim in 40 degree weather.

Reid was in a little panic, but I assured him that he was not going to drown because he was wearing a life jacket.  I calmly told him to swim to shore and that I would be right behind him.  I tried to gather the boat but quickly realized that the heavy coat, cargo pants and hunting jacket were starting to weigh me down to the point that this was not going to be an easy swim.  I ditched the boat and headed for dry land.  I reached the shore soon after Reid was being pulled from the water by the others in our group.

In case you are wondering, the water was warmer than the outside air. Being in the water was not bad at all.  Getting out was a B----!  Reid was not happy and he let me know it.  I got him calmed down and we made our way back to the cabins where I was able to put him in a hot shower.  After we were warmed up and had changed into dry clothes, I sat him down and had a life lesson kind of talk.  I told him that sometimes bad things happen, but that it was very important to remain calm in those kind of situations and to think clearly about how best to go about fixing the situation that you are in.  He seemed to understand, but I don't think I will get him back into a canoe anytime soon.

We made our way back to the competition fields to face the music.  His friends were actually very good to him and didn't make fun of the situation at all.  They were generally concerned for him.  My friends on the other hand, let me have it.  I now have a new nick-name... Trey Beauche, The Water Boy.

Reid rebounded well as he helped his knot tying team place second in the team tying event and placing first in the individual event.  He hasn't talked much about our little swim and he seems to almost have forgotten about it.  His Dad however has been reminded about it on a daily basis!

Got to love my friends!!

The Braves Have Been Here Before!

The Atlanta Braves are off to their best start in two decades.  Their weekend sweep of ESPN's favorite team, The Washington Nationals, has the baseball world turning their eyes towards Atlanta to see just how good this team can really be.  They play solid defense, they have excellent starting pitching, their bull-pen has not allowed an inherited runner to cross the plate in the first twelve games, and they hit the ball pretty well too.  After the first 12 games they lead the majors in home runs and run differential.  The scary thing is, I think they can be better.  Now I'm not sure if the pitching quality can keep up this pace, but the batting order can do some improving.  BJ Upton and Jason Heyward are hitting a combined .260 and Dan Uggla is still hitting less than .200.  Freddie Freeman has been on the DL and Brian McCann has yet to play a game.  These Braves have the potential to be lethal!

So who has been carrying the offensive load?  Justin Upton has returned to MVP form clubbing 7 homers in his first 12 games to lead the majors.  Chris Johnson has been rock solid playing 1st and 3rd base.  Our bench players are proving to be the best in baseball, and our current starting catcher has turned into the early season story for all of baseball.

Evan Gattis is a 26 year old rookie catcher that walked away from the game for four years in search for the meaning of life.  I'm not joking.  You can read the amazing story here.  What has he done so far this season?  He has played in 9 games, clubbed 4 homers, is hitting .333, has played good defense, has called 3 shut outs, and has the best nick-name on the team, El Oso Blanco, The White Bear!  Not too shabby for an ex janitor.

Watching Gattis play this year reminds me of another long shot catcher that found success with the Braves in the early 90's.  Greg Olson, who is shown in one of the most famous Braves photographs above, caught fire in 1990 after an off season of driving a Budweiser beer truck.  All he did was play great baseball  for the Braves and helped them go to the 1991 World Series.  The famous picture is from the pennant clinching victory on a game pitched by future Hall of Famer, John Smoltz.  Olson was injured in 1992 and released in 1993 to make way for the Braves future catcher Javy Lopez, but his contribution the the Braves organization will always be remembered.

Beer man?  Janitor??  What's the difference?  Let's play some ball!!  The problem the Braves are facing is what exactly to do with Gattis once Brian McCann comes back from shoulder surgery.  McCann is a six time All-star and 5 time Silver Slugger.  His is being paid $12 million this year.  Those guys do not sit the bench.  McCann is also in the last year of his contract and there was talk that the final days of his playing career may be better served in the AL as a DH (he is not know for his defensive skills).  Would the Braves listen to trade offers on McCann?  They may be willing to take that chance if Gattis continues to rake over the next couple of weeks.  We probably will not resign McCann anyway after this year due to his age and asking price, so the Braves officials have some pondering to do.

In the mean time I guess it is a good problem to have.  Too many bats are seldom seen as a bad thing and stories like Gattis bring good will to your ball club.  It has been a good ride so far in this young season and I plan on enjoying it for as long as it will last.  I feel fairly confident that the Braves cannot continue this pace.  I mean records of 149-13 just don't happen, but here's hoping for a great year and a chance to get back to the World Series!  I'll be watching my new favorite player...

Go Braves!!!!

Off to a Good Start!

The 2013 Turkey season began with forecast of bad weather for South Georgia.  A series of storms were set to hit our state beginning on Friday and lasting through Sunday morning.  As the rains fell on Friday afternoon, my hopes of an opening day Thunder Chicken were slowly turning into some serious doubts.  Daddy and I spoke on the phone Friday night, and after watching the weather decided that we may just get a break for Saturday morning, so we made plans to hit the woods.

The morning was cold, cloudy and windy but no rain was falling as I made my first cup of coffee.  My hopes were being renewed as I gathered up my gear and loaded it into the truck.  We hashed out our plan of attack on the drive to the property and put that plan to order shortly before daylight.  We parked the golf cart in a central location and decided to allow the woods to wake up on it's own.  As the woods came to life a loan crow sounded off followed by an angry gobble fairly close to our location.  Getting to this gobbler was going to be a problem due to the access routes to where he was roosted.  We made an attempt to get a bit closer and set up on the road leading into his location.  As we started to softly call to the bird, the bottom came to life with the sounds of the real thing.  We didn't have to do anymore calling because we had several hens calling for us.  We knew we were doomed.

The Gobbler actually flew down in the other direction and took the hens with him.  We packed up and tried driving around to hear another bird, but we were not successful.  We decided to call it a day and go home to wait out the storms that were coming our way.

I was all ready to take an afternoon nap when the sun decided to try and peak through the clouds.  Bad weather was still in the forecast but it looked like we may get a small window of sunshine.  With clouds in the distance we struck out to try and get an afternoon bird.  We set up on "Death Hill", a place we have had great success in calling birds in the afternoon, and started some soft calling.  It didn't take long for our first birds to appear.  Here he is.....

This is Judas!  Well not the actual chicken that Daddy and I have named Judas, but he looks just like this.  Judas is a Burmese Jungle Fowl and is a part of Fitzgerald's history.  I have written before about how these chickens were released in the wild in this area as a game bird, but found their way into town and have been thriving for the past 30 years roaming the downtown streets.  Well Judas has somehow made his way to our hunting club.  We started catching pictures of him on our game cameras this past summer.  He was hanging out with a group of gobblers.  We felt that Judas's days were numbered, as these birds have never done well in the woods, but he made it through the fall and through deer season.  I guess it helps to have a bunch of turkeys around you to warn you of any danger.  We named him Judas because Judas likes to crow.  A lot!  Little did he know that his crowing would betray his new roost mates and give away their location to us opportunistic hunters.

Back to the story.....  As we were calling, Judas crowed.  Then we heard a gobble.  Another crow.  Another gobble.  Judas came running in to our set up looking around for his friends.  We were laughing.  He hung around a bit and decided he didn't like something, so he wondered off out of sight.  We called again and this gobble was much closer.  I caught sight of his white head as he made his way up from the creek bottom to check out our decoys.  He only had to walk about 15 yards to give me a good shot.  This took a few minutes because he was very cautious in his approach.  This was a young gobbler and I'm sure he was making sure that the "Boss Tom" was not around.  He took a few more steps and I let the Browning bark.  First Turkey of 2013 was down for the count.

I think I heard Judas cry!

Tale of the tape- 10 inch beard, 18lbs, 3/4 inch spurs.  A two year old Gobbler

We are off to a good start!