K-Seas

NHL "Winter Classic" at Boston's Fenway Park

This was one of the great sporting events of my lifetime.  I watched the game with Joelle, Marina and Will and we loved every minute of it.  A New Year's Day none of us will forget.

via www.boston.com

Running Back?

Running Back? from Shaun Casey on Vimeo.

Worst Back-to-Back Games ever?

Has there ever been two worse games for local fans than the two most recent Patriot games?  As New England sports fans we have been through our share of one game disasters.  Dent, Buckner, Pats/Giants, Pedro 2003...the list goes on and on.  The great thing about sports is that there is almost always a tomorrow.  The Sox redeemed themselves the by erasing the great Pedro melt down of 2003 by winning it all in 2004.  The Celtics went from the worst team ever (?) to World Champions the next season.

The 2008-09 Patriot season was supposed to be the season of redemption.  (yeah I know it’s ridonculous to say a team that has won 3 Superbowls in 6 years needs a season of redemption...too bad).  Instead the season opener dealt us a rare “KICK IN THE STONES UN-PERFECTA”.  The Patriots gave us back to back killer losses.  As if the Superbowl wasn’t enough..now this?  Tom Brady out for the season.....Not since the Sox lost two in a row to the Mets in ’86 has there been back to back games that have dealt it’s fans such a double dose of disastah...

There is always tomorrow..or next Sunday in the NFL.  The Pats are still a good team even without Brady.   They are now Cinderella all over again and that’s what makes sports great.  The Pats have a chance now to do something special...win without the best player in the NFL.  The season starts Sunday.

My Husband - The Sports Freak

It's 10:03 pm right now.  I'm sitting on my couch, in semi-darkness with my lap top sitting appropriately on my lap.  Shaun is downstairs, in the basement/playroom watching the Celtics.  I am afraid.  I am afraid of him.  The Celtics could win the NBA Championship tonight.  I believe it's been something like 22-years since the last one.  Names like Byrd and McEnroe come to mind.  Wait..maybe it's McHale?   Oh well...my feeble mind digresses....

"YEAH!! BAM!! BOOM!!  THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!!"

Back to why I am afraid. 

Shaun gets CRAZY when his beloved New England sports teams are in positions to win Championships.  Crazy. CAH. RAY. ZEE.   I lived through some great sports highs with him: three Super Bowl wins and two Red Sox World Series championships, and I've lived through some lows with him: the 2003 Let's-Leave-Pedro-In heartbreak and the recent, and still painful, Super Bowl loss after an undefeated season.

"WAA HAA OOOO!! YOUR KIDDING ME??!!!"

And never mind watching these types of games with him.  He paces, he sweats, he mumbles, he drools, if they start to lose he switches positions/changes his hat/makes me change positions or my hat - you get the drift.  His anxiety stresses me out - I bite my fingernails down to the bone, my heart races, I get hot flashes and I try to leave but can't lest I break the "sports mojo."  It's hard being married to the man.  I've tried to calmly tell him it's only a game only to be told, "Wendy, I've watched the (blank New England sports team) since I was in my Underoos.  I've watched every (blank New England sports team) game, even when they sucked and they couldn't give away tickets.   It's more than 'just a game' to me."  Fair enough. 

"OH GET OUT OF HERE - GET THAT SH*T OUT HERE. BOOM!" (The BOOM was followed by a quick hand clap).  "SCORE ONE MORE.  KG, GET THAT B*TCH!  WOOOOOO!

He just came upstairs and told me that the Celts are up by 23 (or was it 24?) - that was followed by some serious pacing followed by his questioning of what he was going to do with himself for the next 15 minutes.  I politely gave him a, "That's good dear" without really looking up from my computer. I could see the pacing in my peripheral vision.  At least he's consistent.  I should probably sew some swiffers onto the bottom of his socks.  Might as well clean my floors while he paces. 

So I send out this prayer before signing off:

God, if you are up there in that big blue sky, could you please let the Celtics win tonight?  I can't live through a game 7, and neither can my husband.

*These are the screams I heard from him while I was typing this...

And yes, that is Shaun in a cupcake.

How I almost missed game 7

From the moment I woke up yesterday I knew that at 3:30 I would be with my mom watching the Celtics game in my living room.  Sure the lawn needed to be fertilized and the garden needed to be planted but if I got an early jump on the "to-dos I would be done before the biggest Celtics game in 22 years.  GAME 7! (hopefully there will be even bigger games in the next few weeks).
Crammed into all of the yard work was a quick drop off of Joelle to the Seacoast Rep for her play (Treasure Island)followed by a pick up at 2:15.  No sweat 20 minutes round trip and plenty of time to be back for the game. 
So around 1:50 I made my way over to the Rep to pick up Joelle.  As I waited in the lobby for my little star I saw one of Joelle's friends mom.  I went over to talk to her and she told me that she brought along 6 of Joelle's best friends.  It was a very nice gesture.   The girls were all "dolled" up in skirts and dresses while toting purses and wearing make-up.  They were ready for Broadway.   We all were waiting for Joelle to come out of her dressing room when suddenly she appears and 6 little girls mob her like she was a rock star.  I wish I could have captured it on film because it was her "moment".  She was so happy it almost brought a tear to my eye. 
Just as we are ready to make our move to the door the mom who brought the girls (super nice woman-Jen) offered to take all of the girls for nachos at Poco's on the decks in Portsmouth.  Joelle was super excited and I wasn't about to ruin it by saying no.  But then the curveball.  Suddenly Jen realized she didn't have the room in her car to bring Joelle home....my only choice was to stay or bring Joelle home (which really wasn't a choice).
Within moments I went from having my whole day revolve around a 3:30 Celtics game to sitting on the decks in Portsmouth with 6 giddy pre-teens discussing the choreography of High School Musical 1 vs. 2...all with no TV in site...the HORROR!  I look at my watch and it tells me it is 2:50, the food order wasn't even in.  If I was lucky I would make it home in time for the 3rd quarter.  I resigned  myself  to this fact and joined the fun.  "So Girls who's cuter Troy or Ryan"?
Suddenly a life line..one of the girls moms calls Jen and says she's in Portsmouth.  She would offer to comedown and pick her daughter up which in turn opened a seat in Jen's car.  Jen in turn offered to take Joelle home and I was free to go.  I hope I didn't offend her when I jumped out of my seat , kissed Joelle goodbye and run/hopped out of there....in a flash I was on my way home.  I made it just in time for tip off.  And WHAT A GAME!!!
Jen, if you read this... your gesture of bringing the girls to see Joelle and taking them out after the play was very special.  Thank you very much! you made her day and more.....

Not Much for Pre-Game

You may be shocked by this...I LOVE SPORTS!  The first thing I do every morning is go to 4 or 5 different sports sites for my daily fix.  Before I go to bed at night I frequent the same 4 or 5 sites so I can sleep soundly knowing all of the up to the minute scores and stories.  If I am being honest I will admit that if one of my favorite sports teams is in action I may as well not even go to bed until the game is over.  If I do go to bed I will most likely have a hard time falling asleep and if I do fall asleep my mind will wake me up because it needs to know the score.  It’s a curse.  Take for example last night, Wendy and the kids were watching Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and I was watching the Sox.  I was really tired and went to bed around 9:30 with the Sox winning 9-3.  I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.   Around 11:00 pm my brain summoned me for a final score.  Thankfully the sports gods invented the iPhone and without much work I was able to see that the Sox had won 12-4..back to sleep.  Ask Wendy about the old days when I would turn the TV on a 2am when the Sox were on the west coast to see if they won or lost...
    As you can see I am a pretty hard-core sports fan.  There is one thing about sports I really don't have much of a stomach for.  PRE GAME SHOWS...Believe it or not I just realized that fact after 3X years on the planet.  What’s the point of the Pre-Game show?  Other than telling me about a last minute injury what possibly can a Pre Game show tell me that I don't already know?  I know if Josh Beckett is pitching the Sox have a better than 75% chance of winning.  Am I missing something here?  Why do I need to invest another 60 minutes in a Pre Game to hear talking heads debate the final outcome?
    Does it get any worse than Superbowl Sunday?  You can't watch the TV without getting an opinion.  This past Superbowl Sunday I turned on the TV and Martha Stewart was telling me why the Patriots would win????  In an hour of Pre Game for the Superbowl you heard this: Pats will win big, Pats will win in a close game, Giants will win a close game, Giants will win big, the Pats will be able to run, the Pats won't be able to run...I could go on and on but I will spare you.  The point is every angle is represented so what is there really to learn?
    I do offer one caveat.  Bill Simmons!  He is my long lost sports soul brother.  I will always read his predictions.  Did you know that a bird pooped on me the same day a bird pooped on Bill?  That fateful day in 2004 was the day after the Sox went down 0-3 to the Yankees.  The Sox never lost again.  Sorry I digress.
    As for today there will be no Pre Game shows for me.  My mind is made up as to how the big game will go.  My TV will turn on at 1:00pm.  Mom, are you coming over?

Dirt saves the day

Apparently some scouts were at our Basketball game last night watching Jermaine and me play hoop.  Scouts have been know to frequent mens leagues for that perfect overweight, balding diamond in the rough.  I have obtained the actual footage from the scouts of Jermaines AMAZING game winning 3 pointer at the buzzer (the camera makes us all look a bit thinner..and whiter)... by the way the person you hear yelling was me-from the bench...  I do deserve some of the credit, with about a minute to go I looked and noticed we were down by 3, I also knew  that Jermaine was on the bench and he was one of our best 3 point shooters so I took myself out of the game in favor of Jermaine.  In today's world of me me me sports it really was an amazingly selfless move if I do say so myself.   My gamble paid off as Jermaine hit the game winner as I cheered on. 

Sports and Politicians

Why is it that people worship athletes and fawn over celebrities?  I am the biggest sports fan there is but treating these athletes as anything other than people who are very good at what they do is foreign to me.  If  Tom Brady was signing autographs at my neighbors house it's not a lock that I would go and if I did go I wouldn't call him "Mr. Brady" or tell him he was a "hero" or a "titan".  If I ran into him I would talk to him just like I would talk to anyone else.  As for asking for a autograph, what good is an autograph? Am I going to take it to work so I can hang it on my wall or maybe hang it from the rear view mirror next to the fuzzy dice?  What I saw happen yesterday in congress blew me away.  What I have realized is that we have elected people to run the country who are no better than a 10 year old girl at a Hannah Montana concert (sorry Joelle-It's normal behavior for a 10 year old girl! :-) ).  Listen to what a few of these clowns in congress said to Roger Clemens yesterday:
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told Clemens. "I hate to say that. You're one of my heroes" (What?  Roger Clemens is one of your hero's?)

More highlites from DAN SHAUGHNESSY:

Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana, was buffoon of the day (did you notice the Lone Star cuff links?), bashing the media, reminding us that Roger is a "titan" in baseball, and invoking the old Ray Donovan question - "Where do I get my reputation back?" Burton was shocked, shocked, that McNamee lied to reporters when asked about steroids back in the pre-Mitchell days.

There was plenty more jock-sniffing. Representative Danny K. Davis, Democrat of Illinois, told Roger, "It was a pleasure meeting you last week." Representative William Lacy Clay, Democrat of Missouri, asked Roger what uniform he plans to wear into the Hall of Fame. Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, produced four photographs of Clemens, a progression dating to his Red Sox days, and insisted, "You appear to be the same size."

Don't even get me going on Arlen Specter of PA who I actually heard on WEEI say that he was pushing the SPYGATE issue because his team (Eagles) lost to the PATS. Talk about abusing power....Mr. Specter why don't you please do something about the 3 bucks for a gallon of gas I am paying.

If someone can enlighten me as to why I should follow the lead of the folks in Congress and devote a portion of my life to worshiping athletes and celebrities please feel free to help me out.

Grieving the Pats loss

I am happy to report that after 15 hours I have entered stage 2 of the Kübler-Ross grieving model.

Accorging to WIKI The stages are:
Denial: The initial stage: "It can't be happening."
Anger: "Why me? It's not fair."
Bargaining: "Just let me live to see my children graduate."
Depression: "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"
Acceptance: "It's going to be OK."

Maybe I should take up watching Dancing With the Stars....someone told me there were no losers on that show...errr.maybe they said they are all losers on that show..either way whatever happens on DWTS it can't cause me pain like this.-SPC

Sports and My Husband

It's 9:54 right now, and the Super Bowl is still on.  There isn't much time left, and I don't know what the score is.  All I know is I am upstairs while my husband and his manboyfriend (aka Jermaine) are down stairs making weird noises.  I know this - the game is close - too close for my husband.  He isn't good with this kind of stress.  And I'm afraid his stress will put me in labor.  So I choose to stay away and let him "work it out."

God Bless Him!

PLEASE-Not Today

So the Pats are in the Superbowl today.  Wendy is very close to popping.  Could it happen today?  The birth that is.  If she does go into labor today am I allowed to watch it in the delivery room?  Can I even ask?  Can you image if both events collide simultaneously?  So what Wendy has had a human in her belly for 9 months.  What about me?  I have dedicated the last 20 Sunday's to my team. Am I supposed to abandon them all together?  This is more than a Superbowl, this is a chance to watch the team I have been supporting for over 30 years become IMMORTAL.  I feel like I have to throw up even typing that-oh the pressure. .....The decision of course is easy....can someone at least text me the scores? :-) SPC

Night at the "Garden"

Last night I took the kids to the Celtics Game at the TD Banknorth Garden.  It was a big game because it featured the Minnesota Timberwolves whom the Celtics traded 4 players to for Kevin Garnett.  The Celtics boast the best record in the NBA and the T-Wolves the worst (so far the trade has worked in Boston's favor..the future may be different???). 
     The high lite of the night came when all three of the kids were featured on the Jumbotron.  They were dancing away during a time out when they were caught on tape.  The kids loved it! (so did I).
     As for the game..it was a "barn burner".  The Celtics pulled out the W with seconds to spare.  We had a great time!  I love taking the kids to games.
     The picture to the left was captured on my iPhone.