Three Days, Four States, Three Universities: 866 Miles

Karen, Colleen and I took a road trip this weekend and visited universities in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. Christina stayed with a school chum with whom she was completing a project.

Karen had a half-day in-service on Friday. I took a half-day of vacation and she drove from Lewes to Dover (39.3 miles) to pick me up after lunch. We then drove to Wilmington Friends School for Colleen's lacrosse game. We had to detour around a traffic mess on I-95; 295 had had to be closed for emergency repairs and that backed-up 95 and parts of SR 1. Luckily I was able to call my friend Kim, who lives up there. She navigated us around the mess, but it added to the drive (56.6 miles).

We got to meet the head of the Wilmington Friends Upper School. Rob Lake is a very nice young man, knowledgeable about lacrosse and popular with his students. We enjoyed our short chat.

It was a great game. The Sussex Tech girls led for much of the game, but Friends came back late and won it 11 to 10. It was a tough loss, but I think the team learned a lot.

After the game, we headed south on I-95 through Baltimore, past Washington DC and Richmond to Colonial Heights, Virginia (243 miles). It was a tough drive. it rained from south of Washington all the way down Virginia. Quite hard, at times. We reached our hotel in Colonial Heights at about midnight and crashed.

We were up early Saturday morning and headed south on I-85 to Durham, North Carolina (138 miles). We reached Duke University in plenty of time before a 10:00 a.m. information session. We followed that with a campus tour.

Duke is a cool school. We spent most of our time on the side of campus with Gothic architecture. Another part is Georgian. It's a beautiful place, even on a grey, wet day. We were particularly impressed with the chapel at the center of things; it is impressive outside and in, and surrounded by charming walks. I liked Duke. If Colleen wants to apply there, that would be fine.

Saturday afternoon, we drove down to a Holiday Inn near the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill (9.9 miles). This morning we drove around the UNC campus. It was a quiet time; I assume most students were either at church or sleeping off their Saturday nights. We drove across to Raleigh (25.8 miles) where we also drove around the campus of North Carolina State.

From Raleigh, we drove back to Lewes by way of Norfolk, Virginia, the Bay Bridge Tunnel, and long empty stretches of Virginia and Maryland (354 miles).

It was a long weekend, but fun in its own way. And we got to see a few more campuses and think about where Colleen might go to school.

At Fenway Park

I got a chance to see the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park last night. I'm killing time in the Boston area while Colleen plays bass at Berklee and I figured I might as well try to get a ticket to what turned out to be the 418th consecutive sell out of Fenway.

I'm an Orioles fan, but I do like the Red Sox. Besides, baseball is baseball, and we're talking about Fenway Park, one of the classic old ball parks.

I had pretty good seats (not as good as that picture would suggest; that was taken on my way to the men's room). I was in the grandstand on the first-base side and close to home plate. I was fairly far back, though, just a row in front of standing room.

I sometimes enjoy going solo to events like this. I've done several large rock concerts as a solo and now this ball game. There's a certain freedom to being an unknown.

The Red Sox lost this game, 8 to 0. They had had an emotionally active game the night before in completing a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, a good team. There were fights and outbursts and drama. The game I saw was against the Mariners, not one of the better teams, and the Red Sox looked a little flat and made a few errors.

Congratulations, Lady Ravens

The Sussex Tech Women's Lacrosse Team posted a 6 and 6 record for the season that just ended. Considering that this was the first season that this school has had a Women's Lacrosse Team, that's not at all bad. And, as a team parent, I am proud.

At the start of the season, their inexperience showed. They had a core of girls who had played field hockey and knew both hustle and field strategy but lacked ball-handling skills. They were augmented by a group of girls, including Colleen (my eldest), who had been part of a lacrosse club last year and had some stick and ball-handling skills, but lacked game experience. They featured lots of sprinting towards the goal and plenty of shots, but little passing and strategy. Good teams beat them easily.

By the end of the season, though, the team had come together and found a nice balance. They still had a breakaway threat, but as often as not these girls made skillful passes, set-up plays, and manufactured goals with a touch of finesse. In their second-to-last game, they fought Caesar Rodney, one of the best teams in the league, down to the wire in a see-saw game that they lost only by one, last-minute goal.

So, congratulations, Lady Ravens. I'm looking forward to next year.

Purple Prose Enlivens a Tale of the Emerald Diamond

I've been checking through old newspapers at the Library of Congress' Chronicling America site. I'm searching for references to my various forebears; it is a low-return fishing expedition, but great fun.

For example, a search for references to any Mahaffies in California in newspapers from around the turn of the 20th Century has turned up several sports-page notes about a baseball umpire named Mahaffy. I doubt that he is a direct relative, though he may be a very distant cousin. What's great about this, though, is the prose in which I find him.

Here are two paragraphs from Page 42 of the September 30, 1906, edition of the San Francisco Call. William J. Slattery writes about a game between the Portland Beavers and the San Francisco Seals (in first and second in the standings at the time).

Neither team played anything that looked like high art. Errors happened frequently and did a deal of damage. Neither pitcher was there any too strong and and both of them delayed the game as much as possible by indulging in a series of senseless winding ups and warming ups between the rounds.

Maybe it was because of the banishment of Cousin Park Wilson that San Francisco did not perform according to the tips of the wise brigade. Cousin Park assayed to engage in an oratorial contest with Umpire Mahaffy in the eighth spasm and before he realized that the worst was yet to come, the indicator man had already made a mysterious high sign and given Park notice to skidoo. He also informed the leader of the Seals that his pay envelope will be shy five dollars when the next day of reckoning with Cal Ewing is at hand.

The Seals were not doing well in their season series with the Beavers in 1906. The Beavers won this game, 3 to 1, moving to a record of 98-47 and a won/lost percentage of .697. The cellar-dwelling Fresno team, by contrast, was at .335 percent at 51-101.

John Mayer Sticks Up for an Ex

Singer, songwriter and excellent guitarist John Mayer has a blog post up this evening in defense of Jessica Simpson. Mayer dated Ms. Simpson for a bit before she dated Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. He is responding here to the uproar over Mr. Romo's brief vacation with Ms. Simpson prior to the Cowboys loss to the Giants.

John Mayer's point is that, in his opinion, knowing Ms. Simpson as he does, it is not right to suggest that Ms. Simpson was knowingly undermining the Cowboys quarterback:

All witty barbs, blogs, and fashion policing aside, that girl loves Texas more than you know. It's one of her most defining traits as a person. So please don't try and take that away from her. (You probably wouldn't be able to, but it's less work for all involved.)

For what its worth, I can say that I don't think that Tony Romo's vacation had any major effect on his play. He wasn't that bad; and I say that as a lifelong Redskins fan and hater of the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, as much as it pains me to say it, I agree with Terrell Owens; that was a team loss.

Actually, seeing the Cowboys lose as a team was pretty sweet, from my couch.

Thank You, Coach

Joe Gibbs resigned as head coach of the Washington Redskins football team yesterday. It was unexpected but not too much of a surprise, in retrospect. Joe Gibbs is a thoughtful and spiritual guy. He had been quoted lately as saying that the tragic death of Redskin Sean Taylor had reminded him of the importance of family and friends. It seems time now for Joe Gibbs to focus on more personal things.

I think sports columnist Mike Wise put it well in the Washington Post:

Smile. Feel good for a 67-year-old man who decided to spend more time with his grandchildren. A coach at Redskins Park went out on his own terms for the first time in 15 years. He got his life back.

I agree. To that I would also add a "thank you" to a coach who brought a team I have followed as a dedicated fan for the last 36 years back to respectability. I am a Redskin fan. I will root for my team whether they are world-beaters, almost-great, or doormats.

Joe Gibbs was not a perfect coach, but he reminds us that a football franchise need not be perfect all the time. It should conduct itself as a true team, however, and make an honest and dedicated effort to be the best team it can be. It should value people as people and not as machines filling positions. It should remember that the game is not the most important thing in this life, even as it strives to succeed.

Fifth Golf Game in 2007

I'm traveling this evening, staying in a Holiday Inn Express near North East, Maryland. Tomorrow I will run out to Westminster to pick Colleen up from Lacrosse Camp.

I thought it would be easier to drive north from Dover this afternoon and get half-way to Westminster. It's not a long drive, but I'd rather start from here tomorrow than make the trek from home out to Westminster and back again all in one day.

And it gave me an excuse to play Delcastle Golf Club again with my colleague Sandy Schenck. Sandy and I played there last June with several friends for the Quasi-Annual DGS Golf Tournament.

We had to start fairly late this afternoon; I don't leave work until 4:30. But we were able to squeeze-in the 13th hole as the light faded away at about 8:50 p.m.

Delcastle is about midway between Newark and Wilmington. It is a nice, affordable, and pretty course. It has hills and mature trees and rocks and other things to make golf interesting.

I hit more of those trees than I'm happy to report. My first three holes were eights. But then I started to make some headway. Sandy provided a fresh set of eyes for my swing and had a few helpful thoughts. I parred the fourth and felt good about parts of my game this evening.

I think I may have found a swing that works with the driver. Time will tell.

Bragging About My Niece

I have a large family. I am one of seven siblings. Each of us is married with at least two kids. I have nieces and nephews ranging in age from their 30s to their halcyon pre-school days.

I like to brag about them almost as much as I like to brag about Colleen and Christina. You may remember my posts about my nephew Nick and his appearance in the movie Rent.

Today, my sister-in-law Jane sent a link to an article on the web site of Walt Whitman High School about the freshman members of Whitman's swimming team, including our niece Jenna.

The story (Talented freshmen swimmers bring promise to team) starts with a fanciful retelling of the day when a very young Jenna came face to face with destiny:

When six year-old Jenna Mahaffie saw the Merrimack Swim Team after practice, holding their bathing caps and goggles as water dripped off their bodies onto the pavement, she felt an instant connection. What began as a playful visit to the pool turned into something more for Mahaffie, as she decided then and there to join the swim team, marking the beginning of her competitive swimming career.

To her credit, Jenna calls this "exaggerated" and laughs at it. Good for her.

The story goes on to discuss how Jenna is part of a contingent of young swimmers adding strength to Whitman's swim team. She's rather a good swimmer.

It was something of a trip down memory lane for me to read this. I graduated from Whitman in 1980, a few years after Jenna's Dad, my brother Jim. And I swam at Merrimack as a kid. I even attended a few swim team practices there, though that clearly wasn't my sport. (I wonder what was?)

I occurred to me, as well, that Jenna reminds me of a swimmer I knew when I was at Whitman. Shelley was a swimmer and lived next door to a surfer we knew named Murray. One of the guys in my band, the Ramblin' Beach Guys, had kind of a crush on Shelley, so we wrote a doo-wop song called "I'm in Love with Murray's Neighbor."

It was our only sort-of hit. Not that we ever recorded it, or that it was ever heard very widely.

So now, there's Jenna; another Mahaffie wandering the halls of Walt Whitman High.