Rained Out?

The area received a little rain during the night and the early morning, so, no one came out to the courts but me. In the "old" days, it would be playable weather but the court surface was a little bit wet. I remember one morning many years ago it was little sprinkles when I arrived, then by the time I got to the court, the rain had started to pour. When I glanced to the main court, the game was going full force. However, the intensity of the rain soon reached a pitch that lead to the end of the game.

It's a new year and a new time, and I don't think the interest is as intense as it used to be during those days. Hopefully, the area will dry out and they'll be a vigorous "March Madness" kind of turnout at the Chaparral; and hopefully, everyone is making good use of this morning off from the usual hoopcentric routine of Saturday morning. Take care everyone and see you next week.

March Gladness....

In my opinion, the perfect weather for outdoor activities is around 70 degrees with an overcast sky. This Saturday fit the bill as if I had ordered it via the Internet. I guess many others felt the same way. the turnout was one of the best for the year - there were about thirty ballers that showed up. Three courts were active during the early part of the day.

Many regulars returned. Some after recovering at least partially from injuries. James was back, although his shoulder was still slightly tender. Mike, Larry, Eric and Kent had been gone for a while but not because of injury. My guess is that they either have busy lives or went on some great vacation to some exotic destination.

I feel obligated to mention that the University of Washington Huskies have once again captured the Pac 10 Men's Basketball Championship. This is a repeat of last year. Last year they beat out the Cal Berkeley Bears for the title. This year they beat up on the University of Arizona Wildcats. Congratulations to Coach Lorenzo Romar and his team starring the quite appropriately named, Isaiah Thomas. One might think the second coming of the Detroit Piston franchise, but I have the feeling that he will forge a name for himself in the NBA despite being and under-sized guard at 5"-9". He hit a last second buzzer beating jump shot at the end of overtime to forge the win. It doesn't get more dramatic than that. He takes the shot, and the ball splashes in just as the lights and buzzer sound that ended the overtime, and fortunately, the game.

I don't know how the future "LA of Anaheim" team fared (hint: the Sacramento Kings). The odds are that the Kings will be operating out of Anaheim next season. My prediction is that they will call themselves, "the Los Angeles Kings of Anaheim" aka LAKA. Thereby following in the footsteps of their soon to be baseball cousins, "the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim".

The local teams fared well this weekend. The Lakers recovered from their embarrassing loss for the second time to the Miami Heat, by beating up on the Dallas Mavericks. That puts them 1/2 game behind Dallas in the standings for the Western Conference. So, perhaps if they keep winning, they can takeover the second position in the standings and have a little home court advantage to help them through the early rounds of the playoffs. Hopefully, their lackadaisical losses early in the season don't come back to haunt them during the playoffs, when having the home court advantage is so important.

The Clippers have morphed into an exciting team during the later stages of the season. Without such a lack-luster 0-13 start, I think they would be in contention for a playoff spot. The addition of Mo Williams to a team with high energy players like Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will spell a playoff contending season for next year. Hopefully, the team owner doesn't screw up and do something stupid again. Today the Clippers beat the Washington Wizards. My hometown team, I love watching the Clippers these days. Lets hope that they keep it up....

Back at the Chaparral, I really need to make an effort to get names correct. Above there is a picture of Matt contesting a shot by Zach, with James, Ike, Kent, Margaret and a friend of Robert looking on. I don't know his name unfortunately.

Matt prepares to grab and inbound the ball.

Kenny calls the play and brings the ball into play....

Eric, Matt and Zach prepare to go after the rebound...

Kent looks on as Eric inbounds the ball....

James heads upcourt after securing the defensive rebound.

WBA action!!! Wow.....

Eric gets abck into the game after chasing down the ball....

Margaret brings the ball upcourt....

Kevin has returned for the second time after a long absence... Fortunately, so far I haven't had to play against him. I was on his team again this week.

Eric prepares for a three point shot....

Shot made, Kenny returns to the defensive side of the court....

Ike grabs a rebound and prepares for a shot.

Steve brings the ball up for another offensive play....

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of Kenny's friend from Germany, Ben. But, he is the guy in the red shirt above. A terrific baller....

A Game Called H.O.R.S.E. ....

After all the serious ballers had left, Roy and I hung around to play a few games of horse.

You would never guess, but Roy is outstanding with his left hand going for lay-ups and scoop shots. He hardly missed any of the shots he took with the "south paw", as they say in boxing.

Fortunately, I had been working on using my left. I started writing, sketching and shooting with my left about two years ago and it really saved me during this impromptu tournament.

The pictures were taken by my wife who appeared after everyone had left the courts - by just in time to take these pictures. Thanks....

Of course, for some reason, she missed the 360 degree, 720 degree and reverse dunks that we were doing after the fifth game for the tie-breaker. Fortunately, the rim is still intact, but there was some rim shaking......

The March is On in 2011...

March is here and that means so many things, like:
The time will spring ahead on the morning of March 13th, 2011,
Spring will arrive to many that are anxious for it to begin (most of them are in the eastern part of the country),
March Madness has begun with the various conference tournaments going on.

I am hoping theat the Husky's can repeat as Pac 10 champions. I should qualify that though - the Bruins of UCLA are also welcome to win the tourney since my daughter is attending school there.

I think many of us have been feeling pretty good with the healthy turnout that the Chaparral has experienced during this new year. The weather has been great, even though we have been rained out a few times already this year. But, when you live in a desert, you can't complain about the occasional rain. I lived in Seattle for 7 years. No amount of rain here will draw a complaint out of me....

There have been new faces for the year and the regulars. In fact, one might say that we have new regulars now. There were over twenty persons at the court. And, we have now experienced the re-emergence of JR and his sister, Jaylynn. Before this past Saturday, they hadn't been out in a year or so. Welcome back to them and all others that found there way back to the Chaparral for WBA hoops. Kevein was there also.

Unforyunatly, I don't thin I was able to get his picture because, fortunately, I was on his team with Brandon. We didn't lose a game. And, that is also why there are so few pictures this posting. Our official photographer Robert "Wei-Jin" Lee was not in attendance. So, I was on the court playing ball and couldn't take many pictures.

My understanding is that we had visitors that were from both New Zealand (John), and from Russia. Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the person from Russia. However, they were both terrific guys and will soon return. There picture is above and below , next to Kenny.

Well, may the good people keep coming, the good weather keep happenning and the good times continmue!!! Have great week and I hope to see you on Saturday morning!

Clipper Game in LA?

A little while ago, a group of us set out to watch a Clipper game at the Staple Center in Los Angeles. It was pretty exciting, a few of us had recently been re-energized by the prospect of the other LA team delivering a product worthy of pilgrimmage salutations. Member Blake Griffin had just recently impressed the world in this years slam dunk contest by scaling a Kia Optima to catch an alley-oop pass for a dunk from local product, Baron Davis, in his effort to blow away the feild and win the NBA's 2011 Slam Dunk contest. We believed...we bought in - we wanted to see... Unfortunately, although I have followed the Clippers for years, I had never been so inspired as to don any type of Clipper fan-type paraphanlia (stuff). This night I was soon to regret that I did not have a Clipper T shirt....

I eventually made it into the Staple Center (the 100 section), we had great seats. Perhaps the pictures I have here don't really give it justice. It was very easy to make out who the players were down on the court. And, it was easy to see the shot clock and etc. The angle was good for viewing the court.

But, at some point while settling into the chair, I must have been propelled through one of those worm holes that they're always talking about on the Discovery and SyFy channel. Because somehow and someway, I landed in Boston - what, is it Boston Garden where they play. You know, those Celtics play. Them, the others - I thought the enemy to all things basketball in LA. I thought there was a stop along the highway/ freeway along the California border where they confiscated things like; out-of-State fruit, produce, and Boston Celtic fan stuff.

I think they must have smuggled it in. Yeh, they must have smuggled in all the green Celtic jerseys and T shirts and sweatshirts and etc. But, all those smuggler type Boston Celtic fans were all over the Staple Center. As the game got under way, there was more cheering for the Celtics than there was for the Clippers. Iit felt like the Boston Garden. I was getting in the mood for a trip out to Cambridge, Massachusetts - or, to the banks of the Charles River - or, to Faneuil Hall - aka the "Cradle of Liberty".... Then I remembered that I was there for a basketball game in LA. So why all the green and Celtic fan stuff and the cheering for the wrong team? I guess the Celtics are an older well established team, which like the Lakers, that has a fan following throughout the nation. So, during the game I just cringed at the cheering and rode it out.....

Unfortunately, the Clippers lost. However, I just heard today that the Clippers actually got vengeance and beat the Celtics tonight in Boston 108 to 103. However, I don't think there were any Clipper paraphanalia in Boston Garden. I don't think so, but it would've been sweet if I were out there in Boston surrounded by Clipper fans the way I was surrounded by Celtic fans that Saturday night in Los Angeles. Cheers louder than the home team for the Clippers, yeh - sweet.

During the game Ralph Lawler was honored for having his 2,500th broadcast. As a result, Bill Walton was there to help in giving him a plaque and a Rolex watch.