A Bevy of Bupps at the Bat

Due to an unusual confluence of circumstances, Larry's Kids featured the entire sibling sextet on the softball field. At one time, the opponents batted against Michael, Laurie, Robert, Stephanie, Bryan, and Matt, AND Jeff AND Val AND Nicole! Chris Bupp was dressed but not brought onto the field due to Gender Balance constraints. That doesn't sound right. Chris is fine, but regulation require fielding men and women in equal numbers. Laura and Cathy were both spectating, and Austin, JJ, Rachel, and Emily were available as well. So where are the pictures to prove it? Well, it turns out the lighting wasn't very good for pictures, but we did the best we could. Pics below.

Pigskin Preview Promised

Time for a Pigskin Preview? Not yet, but offseason conditioning continues for the C. Milton Wright Mustangs. A JV and Varsity football schedule will appear on the calendar at the bottom of the page shortly, but for those who can't stand to miss a beat, check out http://www.cmwfootball.org/. It's a nice site chock full of information and pictures, but it's not my doing, so I don't want to hear that you don't like the "Danger Zone" background music :) .

The team has a new Head Coach and promises to turn around a somewhat lackluster Varsity program while continuing to improve the JV program as well. Already in a matter of months we have had fundraisers that have raised enough money to redo the weight room (considered by the incoming coach as an embarrassment for a school of this size and caliber) and have other evolutionary and revolutionary improvements to come. It should certainly be a very exciting year for the program.

At the end of July, C. Milton Wright Mustangs will attend a week-long Option Camp to learn the offense that will be installed this season. Two-a-days start mid August, and first scrimmages on Saturday August 23 versus Northwestern. The season opener (I believe) is Friday September 5 at Linganore (2003 and 2004 3A State Champs) with JV playing at 5pm and Varsity at 7pm.

Who ruined Disney World?!

It looks like Corinne did. We have heard from multiple sources who have taken a Walt Disney World vacation this summer that the WDW version of Beauty and the Beast pales in comparison to Corinne's Belle at Phoenix Festival Theatre. My unofficial tally for the number of disappointed WDW-Beauty Watchers is three families (so far). I'm sure the bookseller and the corkscrew left something to be desired too...

Vacation Pics

Good vacation. Pics from OBX, NC.
If they don't come up automatically, click the word-balloon icon to see my descriptions.

Season closes for 15U Maryland Elite

A long and very active 2008 basketball season closes for the 15U Maryland Elite with a home tournament.

The schedule was very fluid this year, with the coach always maximizing the number of games and the level of competition. Going into this tournament, we had one tournament remaining, scheduled in Williamsport, PA. However, the momentum that was built through the season evaporated in the summer heat as the roster became thinner and more ad hoc. The players became less able to play as a team at a time when solid team play became more critical to winning--or even competing--in tournaments.

The final two games of the tournament, and the year, saw the Maryland Elite falling in double digit losses. Our Coach then decided that we were no longer in a position to compete effectively at Nationals, and canceled our participation.

PGMS July 4 Tournament

Caution: Apparently I totally confused which teams we
played when. But if you're not worried about those details, the rest of
the entry is OK, please read on.
Maybe someone will leave a note to correct the names of the opponents.

Happy Independence Day! With only 6 players available, Maryland Elite 15U dominated Southern Maryland Mustangs. Fortunately, only one game today.



Day 2: Two games scheduled to finish pool play. First game pitted the Maryland Elite against the Hoyas of, well, somewhere not Georgetown. Game time was 10am, first game of the day. We had four players, and only three of them were truly regulars. To start the game we brought up an up-and-coming 10 year old, only playing up by 5 years. He was very small on the court, but played well. He was a little slow to recognize that he really couldn't post up a 15-year-old center. About 10 minutes into the game some more of our regulars showed up, and our young man sat, but returned to play with about two minutes to go and the game well in hand. He showed excellent hustle and game awareness, contributing four points, one assist, drawing a charge, and forcing a turnover. Excellent productivity.

Chris played all but about two minutes in this game, and anchored the game offensively while shutting down the opponents main scoring threat on defense. It will take a while to get photos up.

In the end, the team won their pool, but with only a skeleton crew available for the championship game (Chris was not available, there were only 6 available in all) the Elite fell 86-73.