Better Late Than Never

Quentin holding up the wall.

Mother and daughter.

Isabella all dressed up.

Me and Justin.

Isabella in her new robe and PJ's.

Isabella at Great-Grandma's

Mom and Bennie

My three sons.

Josh at Grandma's

Justin and Vanessa at Grandma's.

Josh had put in the bubble bath, then turned on the jets. Isabella had a time!

WHEW!

I just got home from the ballgame. It was a close one - up until the last three or four minutes. Monroe was ahead of Starmount after the first quarter, at halftime (30-28), and I can't remember about the third quarter. But they were pretty neck and neck with the lead going back and forth the whole game. And then in the middle of the fourth quarter SM just took over! It was a sight to see. Of course the crowd was going wild. We ended up winning by 14 points! So we are now Sectional Champs. Next week we go to the Regionals in Winston at the coliseum. These playoffs started out with 64 teams, and now it's down to the "elite" eight - four from the west and four from the east. And guess who else is still in? That's right. North Surry. I don't see why SOMEBODY can't beat them so we won't have to play them anymore!

Letdown

What a dumb ending to a really good show, well at least it was good up until Marissa died. That is when they "jumped the shark". If you don't know, I'm talking about The O.C. I've been watching this show from the beginning, several years ago, and it has been a very interesting, fun show to watch. But last night's series finale was absolutely the worst ending to a series I have ever seen. It was just dumb. They left out so many things, like Ryan's child - what happened to him (or her?). And did they forget that he had a real mother? And his father, although Kevin Sorbo is a hunk and a half, he just didn't quite fit the picture of Ryan's abusive, alcoholic father. I mean I know people can change, but . . . And what did they do about their house? Just leave the mess there after the earthquake for someone else to clean up? Anyway, it was very unrealistic, and I was very disappointed. It was a good show, and they ruined it. At least this way I won't miss it though.

And what about American Idol this year? I thought the girls did really well, but I only liked one guy - Blake. And did you see Fantasia last night? She was fantasia-stic! And one other comment. They showed the musicians who are going to be mentors for this season. Where did they get some of these people? Peter Noone? I mean I liked Herman's Hermits, but a mentor? Jennifer Lopez? Gwen Stefani? And who has heard from Lulu in the last 40 years? Jon Bon Jovi will probably be okay, and Tony Bennett should be great. Anyway.

Well, I've got to go and get ready for the ballgame. Go Rams!

Another Good Game

Last night I went to Denver, NC, to watch Starmount in the second round of the sectional state playoffs. Starmount, because of a very close loss to North Surry last week in the conference tournament (buzzer shot), was ranked #2 in the conference and played East Lincoln, #1 in their conference. So, after driving through the stupid Charlotte/Lake Norman traffic we got to the school about 20 minutes early. They had a beautiful gym. Everybody was commenting on it. It was kind of strange though because five minutes before the game the visitors' side was full and only a handful on the home side. More came in later, but still, Starmount had a LOT more people than East Lincoln. So, the game started. We have Victor, 6'9", and they had a guy 6'8". This was going to be different because usually Victor just towers over his defenders who haven't been nearly as tall has him. AND the EL guy looked just like Napoleon Dynamite. Anyway, the game started, and we started scoring. We were ON FIRE. After the score got to 12-0 their coach called time out. The Starmount stands just rose as one and yelled, cheered, whistled, etc. It was so cool. I knew then that we had nothing to worry about. So we just enjoyed the game. Victor must have dunked the ball 7 or 8 times. He came away with 31 points for the night. We actually put in the JV subs at the end of the game. I think the final score was 77-59. It was a really fun ballgame.

Last Monday we played in the first round against Ledford and beat them by about 30 points. Tomorrow night we play Monroe. This will be a different ballgame. Monroe has consistently been one of the top ten teams in the state. So, back to business.

FINE

Pandemonium . . . Rock Star(?) in the Gym!

Last night I went to a fantastic basketball game! North Surry (11-0) came to Starmount (10-1) for the final regular season game. The only team to have beaten Starmount in the conference was NS, but the two best players from Starmount couldn't play that night. So, this was the real deal, to see who was the best. I've been to a bunch of ballgames at Starmount over the last 43 years, but I've never seen as many people as last night. The stands were full, the aisles were full, there were people sitting and standing on each end of the court along the walls, the lobby was full, AND there were a bunch of people in the cafeteria watching it on TV. So, the stage was set. North Surry has a really good team, and they played hard - just not quite hard enough. It was a nail-biter, close the whole time. NS actually was ahead with three minutes left in the game, but SM came back. It came down to the last few seconds - tied at 51 with 6 seconds. SM called time out, then came back, got the ball to Victor under the basket, and an easy 2 points to seal. With 2 seconds left NS tried to get it down the court but just couldn't. When the buzzer blew the SM stands just emptied onto the floor. We were sitting in the corner on the visitor's side, and the referees came RUNNING out the door as soon as the buzzer went off. It was so cool! So next week is the conference tournament, and this will probably happen all over again, but at Wilkes Central's tiny gym. Fun times ahead.

AND, before the game I noticed a commotion like someone was making their way through the throng at the door. There was this really cute guy, dark hair, with a WF shirt on. I was just wondering if he was a scout or something when I realized he was just running interference for the man himself, Skip Prosser. They sat about five feet from me. I saw him give out several autographs. Nice guy.