Adventures of a Sports Dad

So during our recent trip to Maine we took in a Portland Sea Dogs game. The Sea Dogs wore their alternate jerseys, complete with alternate team name, and for the night were the Maine Red Snappers. I love minor league games, especially with four little kids. You get affordable seats, entertainment between innings, and then we had hot dogs and French fries and popcorn and ice cream and baseball cards and Sweet Caroline... The only thing we didn't get was a ball which was devastating for 6 year old P who hasn't figured out that getting a ball isn't normal.  The game featured a number of top prospects in both the Red Sox and Blue Jays organizations. Here's how they fared: Boston #9 - David Sandlin - RHP - Sandlin pitched four innings in relief and was tagged with the loss after surrendering a trio of solo home runs (one in the 8th and two in the 9th). He did touch 97 on the radar gun though and finished the game with five strike outs.  Boston #12 - Mikey Romero - SS/2B - Ro...

Do you know how many NHL goalies are under 6'0" right now? According to the rosters on espn.com, there is exactly one, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators. Here's the breakdown by height of those listed on esp.com rosters right now:  6'7"     3 6'6"     3 6'5"     10 6'4"     20 6'3"     18 6'2"     22 6'1"     13 6'0"     6 5'11"   1 Well, the Preds did it again today by drafting Jack Ivankovic (5'11") with the 58th pick in the draft. Ivankovic is the only player among the top 20 North American goalies under 6' according to a story on nhl.com. Committed to play at the University of Michigan starting in 26/27, Ivankovic (18) currently plays for the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. Some of his highlights can be seen here .  Here's his scouting report from insidetherink.com: Jack Ivankovic is a 5-foot-11, 178-pound NHL Draft prospect from Mississauga, Onta...

Yesterday marked the first round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and of the 32 players taken, 7 are listed as Americans. So where'd they come from? Here's a quick look: #7 James Hagens (Boston Bruins) - Born in Hauppauge, New York, Hagens played with the U.S. National Development Team in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before attending Boston College this past year.  #23 Logan Hensler (Ottawa Senators) - Born in Woodbury, Minnesota, Hensler also played with the U.S. National Development Team in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before attending the University of Wisconsin this past year.  #24 Will Horcoff (Pittsburgh Penguins) - Born in Edmonton, Alberta (his father Shawn was on the Oilers at the time), Horcoff grew up in Michigan after his father retired. Horcoff played with the U.S. National Development Team in 2023-24 and 2024-25 before attending the University of Michigan.  #26 Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators) - Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ryker was the USHL Rookie of the Year in 2024-25 after sco...

“In my humble opinion, I think it is too much. We have to take care of ourselves. Someone has to take care of ourselves because we are the main characters of, let's say, this sport or this business.  Not everything is money or marketing. It is also the quality of the show. In my opinion, when I rest, when I'm not tired, I perform better. If people want to see better football, we need to rest.” - Rodri ( https://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2024-09-17/man-citys-rodri-says-top-soccer-players-close-to-going-on-strike-because-there-are-too-many-games ) I'll be honest - and this might be an unpopular opinion - but I don't have a lot of sympathy for the players here. In 2024 - according to my quick google research - Rodri was paid more than $15M for his work. My salary as a government employee right now is $140,000 a year. I'd have to work for more than 100 years at that salary to hit $15M. And he plays a game! For fans! Who pay increasingly more for tickets so tha...

When you are not practicing, someone else is getting better. I think I'm going to share this one with my U13 boys team. It's a reminder that if you want something, you have to be willing to put in the work. Because the reality is that if you don't, someone else will. And every day that they're out there getting extra work in, and you're not, they're creating separation between them and you. 

I'll be honest, when I was in high school, I didn't know the test to be " The Cooper Test ." We were just told  that we had to run two miles in under 12 minutes. The best I ever did was like 12:13. Turns out, this was a play on an actual fitness exam known as the Cooper Test. Derived by Kenneth Cooper  for the military in the late 60s, the test entailed running as far as you could in a 12 minute period. There's apparently lots of different tables to score performance, but for my high school soccer team, the desired distance to "pass" the test was 2 miles. I'm hoping to bring some version of this test back with my U13 boys travel soccer team this season. I know it doesn't translate directly into success on the soccer field where there's lots of short sprints, but I still think it's a good way to improve overall fitness and endurance. I just need the heat index to drop below 110 so I can get them back out on the field!

Sports Mom and I got into a discussion yesterday about the pressure (especially here in the DMV) to keep up with the Joneses. One of R's hockey teammates is training 3 mornings a week right now during the offseason whereas we're maybe getting in a session a week. Don't get me wrong, we'd love to do more, but changes in my work schedule have made morning sessions all but impossible, and while we've been able to score some afternoon sessions, it's been largely hit or miss. Sports Mom was frustrated that R's teammate might now pass him up because he's able to do more than R is. This is a touchy issue in our household because R splits time between being a skater and a goalie. Because of this, he's getting less goalie time than the full-time goalies, and less ice-time than the full-time skaters, so while he's good at both, he's losing ground in both areas. Now if he's getting out-trained on top of this, there's a legitimate fear that the g...

“If you do not believe in yourself no one will do it for you.” - Kobe Bryant I'll be honest, when I was younger I wasn't a big Kobe Bryant fan. I couldn't stand the Lakers. Maybe it's because I was living in Northern California and the Lakers were one of the main things standing in the way of the Sacramento Kings. Either way, I routinely cheered against him. It was only later on that I really appreciated him as a player/person, and all the stories started coming out about how hard he worked to be great. He obsessed over his craft, and by all accounts was willing and able to outwork anyone and everyone. At some level, I think that's what it takes to really create that separation from your peers. Natural ability will take you so far, but you have to have an unshakable belief in yourself and just want it more than everyone else. 

"I genuinely believe that playing hard is a skill because if it wasn't everyone would do it." - TJ McConnell TJ McConnell is a point guard for the Indiana Pacers, and this is a great quote. Playing hard is difficult. When you're tired or when you're down, it's so much easier to just take your foot off the gas. Those individuals that continue to drive and grind and press and pressure in the face of adversity stand out. And in a world where every action or inaction gets critiqued and analyzed, don't you want to be someone who sets themself apart in a good way?