DC Trip

Quick trip to DC before Sunday's vote.  Had a few things to say.  And, coincidentally, ran into Mike and Austin at the Skate park.  Which technically doesn't allow skating.  I'm guessing the No Skateboarding rules only apply "as needed".




I have LOTS more pictures. It was a wonderful spring day in the Capital City, with the cherry blossoms anxious to bloom. Had to be 72 degrees, sunny, light breeze. I would have had LOTS more pictures still, but ran out of batteries on my camera (anybody seen my backup battery?)

Burgers and Fries: Bobby's Burger Palace

We made a trip to NJ to Bobby's Burger Palace.  BBP is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants, and we've taken to using his approach to the 4-cheese cheeseburgers at home--always hits the spot.  Don't forget to crunchify your burger.

C Milton Wright Mustang Varsity Basketball dominates Bel Air

Avenging the earlier loss by the Junior Varsity team....

Mustangs Basketball downs North Harford

Success at North Harford

Mustangs dominate Southside Tourney

C Milton Wright Mustangs Varsity Basketball crushes the competition in Southside Tourney in Baltimore.

Mustang Basketball First Scrimmage at Hereford

C. Milton Wright Mustang Varsity Basketball kicks off the season with a scrimmage at Hereford.  Well played, none of the scoring or setup would be consistent with claiming that either team won or lost, but we played well.

Thanksgiving at the Shells

Wonderful day

Last of the 2009 Football

C Milton Wright Mustangs end the 2009 football season with their final regular-season meeting with the Joppatowne Mariners.  It's been a rebuilding year.  Some signs of hope, some disappointment.  Looking forward to basketball season, should be much warmer and drier.

Mustangs Spoil Cougar Homecoming

Nobody was sure what to expect after the previous week's stunning upset at the hands of the Havre de Grace Warriors.   The C Milton Wright Mustang Varsity Football team showed no signs of uncertainty however, spoiling the Fallston Cougar homecoming game with a dominating 42-7 performance.

Guerilla Theatre, Corinne and Nate Duet "I Need You/I Run to You"

A little medley thrown together for a Guerilla Theatre performance.

I Need You / I Run To You

Anton in Show Business

Sunday we went to see Anton in Show Business at Shenandoah. Corinne was the enthusiastic Texan ingenue Lisabette, flanked by her roommate Shannon as Cassey. In five words, it was funny, funny, funny, funny, tragic. With an emphasis on funny. With a tinge of tear-jerking tragic at the end. DEFINITELY a must-see, but if you didn't see it, it's too late, it only ran three shows. You would think I should have some pictures of the show, or if taking pictures during the show was a problem, maybe pictures of the cast after the show. Or pictures of the whole group of us going out to dinner afterward. Apparently no, I was just in it for my own selfish entertainment.
If I had not waited until the last performance to go, I would have gone again.

Mustang Football drops game three to visiting Kent Island

Oops, kinda spilt the beans right there in the headline.  I missed the game, so there's not much I can add.  Chris was out on account of injury, but he was also sick.  The team went up 13-0, and took a 13-9 lead into the 4th quarter, but couldn't hold on.  Kent Island rolled up three touchdowns in the quarter to end the game 29-13.  Don't quote me on the score, I wasn't there.  No word yet on when Chris will return to football.

9/12 March on DC

Conservatives from across the nation converged on DC to demonstrate for fiscal responsibility and limited government, because it's important and nobody seems to be listening.  And nobody listened.  Or did they?

Nobody can give a good official headcount of the demonstrators.  I think conservative estimates are around 75,000.  Some say over a million.  I was there.  I have trouble believing it was a million.  It was hard to see everybody because they were EVERYWHERE, but I find it hard to believe that there were only 75,000 there.  If I had to guess, I would have guessed between 200,000 and 300,000.  If not from an actual count, take my word from what it felt like: wall-to-wall people, more signs than you can read in four hours, impressive turnout.  I saw representation from Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi, Kansas, TEXAS, Montana, California, and Alaska. 

I went down on a bus trip from Bel Air, Maryland.  A guy was going to get 3 or 4 buses chartered for the trip, but he tells us that people kept bringing checks to his house saying they wanted a seat on the bus (like me!).  He ended up chartering 12 buses at 52 seats/bus from Bel Air alone.  This was all by word of mouth, there was no advertising.  We kept things on the DL at work, but ultimately eight of us from work were on the bus.

The march down Pennsylvania Ave to the Capitol was cool.  Very densely packed, especially in the beginning.  I am pretty sure DC hadn't expected that many people, and failed to close enough streets.  Once we bounced around the Capitol trying to find a suitable place to claim some turf (concrete, as it turns out), it was a little less exciting.  There were speakers, but we couldn't hear them really.  I don't think they prepped a sound system suitable for a crowd of that size.   So we sat/stood while speakers spoke, then wandered around the crowd a while and worked our way back to the bus.  No biggee that we didn't hear the speakers, we mostly just wanted to be counted.

Were we counted?  Did we make the news?  I don't really think we made the news.  A mention, maybe a little understated/mis-stated by network news.  Fox News covered it of course, but as far as I can tell, didn't blow it up to be any bigger than it was.  It was a nice day for a march.

Mustang Football hosts Delmar Game 2

9/11/09, C Milton Wright Varsity football defeats Delmar at home 16-7.  Chris is still out with shoulder injury.  Nasty wet game, but still have pictures.  Not good pictures, granted, but hey, I made the effort.

CMW Mustangs host Linganore for Game 1

Chris is out, still healing a separated shoulder.  Pics:

Bound for DC 9/12

I have my bus ticket to  go to DC on 9/12!  I heard this evening on CBS News (which I don't normally watch) that they were expecting about 3000 people in DC for the rally.  The Bel Air, Maryland contingent alone will number something more than 400, so I estimate that their estimate is off a little.  The guy who arranged the buses that I'll be taking explained that people pestered him to get a couple of buses because they wanted to go to the rally.  He obliged, but people kept showing up giving him money for seat reservations.  Two buses became four, then five, and I believe at the close of the reservation period was up to 8.  We were generally close-lipped about this event at  work, but somebody asked the question and in the blink of an eye 6 people were registering bus reservations.

This will be my third such-themed event, the first being the Annapolis TEA Party April 15 (rained horribly, and the umbrellas made it difficult to see the speakers--or much of anything else for that matter), the other being the Bel Air TEA Party July 4.  There was some participation (and maybe some organization) in Bel Air from Campaign For Liberty (Ron Paul).  I don't necessarily see eye-to-eye with the Libertarians, particularly with regard to foreign policy, but that doesn't detract from these events.  They certainly are not libertarian rallies--so far they are not partisan at all.  I didn't post pics at that time for some reason, so here's a few shots from both events, including a few shots ripped from a Campaign for Liberty Blog Page, cause I was in them.

CM Wright Football Kicks off with Rising Sun Scrimmage

OK, saying the season has kicked off may be a bit of a stretch.  This was the season's first officiated live contact play against an opposing team, but there were no kick offs.  Also limited penalties and turnovers in a highly structured pre-season event.  I believe we outscored the Tigers, (either 3 touchdowns to 2 or maybe 2 to 2), but the focus was clearly on execution of the plays with a modest nod to the down and distance.  The first "half" didn't even have down and distance, just equal time on each side of the ball.

Chris handled long snapping and played one drive at center, which culminated in a touchdown.

Just a few pics:

Knoebel Finale

This weekend was Corinne's last weekend at Knoebels, we went to see her on Saturday. 




Auditions at school start on Thursday.

Knoebel Cast

A couple shots of the High School Musical Cast at Knoebels.  Cast: the pictures should link to originals that have good high-resolution for printing.

From Knoebel HSM Cast

From Knoebel HSM Cast

Knoebels Catch Up

We've gone up to Knoebel's Grove Amusement park almost every weekend so far this summer, and we'll go several times more--that's my intention anyway.  Since the trip is almost 3 hours each way, I somehow find little time to update posts, or upload photos, although I've taken plenty.  Early performances had no stage yet. 

Knoebels Redux

Some photos from a little later, once they got a stage.  Lots of pictures in this group, I probably should have downselected more, but there are some gems in here.  (I really love this first one, Corinne had taken Marshall's nerd glasses at the top of the show).

KFD Downselect550

More photos from yet another trip...

K3 HSM Shows

The fun isn't over.  I skipped Fathers' Day, so for that, I just offer this album (includes some Legaluppi pics).

Fathers Day Mix

Whew.  This next album (different day, same Knoebels!) includes an action series of Chris on the Uncle Sam carousel horse grabbing the brass ring! (Brass Ring earns you a free ride, all other rings are steel).


Side note: Knoebels is "family friendly" and does not prohibit you from bringing your dogs, your own food, and doesn't limit smoking.  Modest attire is required, but I'd like to see that enforced a little tighter.  Anyway, smoking is allowed, so there's a fair amount of it.  Chris has taken to wearing his "Gram's Promise" T-shirt, which promotes the anti-smoking message "Hey kids, it's a no brainer" don't smoke.  I don't know that it will have a significant effect this season, but who knows.

Retro Band Regalia

Corinne came home, and scrounging for a T-shirt came up with a 25 year old band T-shirt of mine.  I referred to it as a tour T-shirt, maybe a little stretch.  Regalia?  The white T-shirts with blue design were reserved for band members only, the blue T-shirts were sold to the throngs of fans--$5/shirt if I recall.  (We made what, $20?) The only memory I dug up was jumping over the orchestra pit during our rendition of John Cougar's Hurts So Good and losing my sunglasses, during a battle of the bands at the high school.  My early stage work, I guess.

Happy Feet

I needed a new pair of flip flops for vacation, and ended up with happy feet.

Summer Work Begins

Corinne will spend her Summer '09 entertaining at Knoebels Amusement Resort, a free-admission amusement park in Pennsylvania (free parking too!).  Much less commercial than a Disney or Hershey, it has loads of picnic space, and allows dogs on leashes. We made the 165 mile trek during the Memorial Day weekend. 

Lots of ways to have fun at Knoebels, but if you take to the roller coasters, watch your cell phone.  Laura lost control of hers and had to pick it up off the floor of the car after the ride came to a complete stop.  Caleb narrowly averted disaster, realizing a bit too late that his phone had come free on the same ride.  Unable to stop the ride before it took off with the next group, we waited for the car to come around again, and guess what: the Blackberry was no longer in the car!  With no particular help from the park officials (they tried), we managed to locate and retrieve the phone not far from the ride, in the hands of a slimy miscreant who couldn't believe he had found such a cool toy.  Said miscreant didn't seem to speak English, but the point was made, and the phone was returned without incident.

I really enjoyed the pool, more than I thought I would and we didn't even do the slides, just the pool and diving boards.  Turns out, you can see and hear the show from the pool area!  And don't miss the carousel--sit on one of the outside horses so you can reach for the brass ring.  It doesn't sound like much, but it's something I always look forward to (did it twice on this particular trip).

Memorial Day Gathering

I tend to be inspired to update here on the web when I have pictures.  In order to have pictures I have to do something.  And have a camera.  Usually, I remember to do this when I am going to see kids' activities.  Chris had a nice tennis season, but I was generally unable to get to any of the matches. 
Corinne's out of school now after a relatively quiet semester, working the summer singing and dancing--I'll get to that later.

I had an awesome holiday weekend.  Kicked it off with a 165 mile trip into Virginia.  Not a family reunion--I haven't been able to get to one of those in a decade or more--but a Memorial Day party.  Felt a bit like a family reunion, only not quite so hot and more patriotic.  I have to admit, I initially resisted the urge to break out the camera, because I thought that showing up and taking a bunch of pictures of folks I haven't seen in a while might be intrusive and antisocial.  After all, I was there to visit and interact, I wasn't sightseeing.  So I ended up not really getting pictures of folks I haven't seen in a while.

I did get a few pics though, including the trek down to the (Shenandoah) river to the old power company dam, a side outing to the race track, and a traditional peanut toss :)

High School Tennis Win

Chris takes his first career win last week in mixed doubles play.  Didn't know he played tennis?  Prior to trying out this year for the CMW JV Tennis team, he really didn't.  I wasn't exactly invited to the match, so I have no pictures to share, but congratulations just the same!  My guess is that the actual date of the match was March 19,2009, it was away, maybe Bel Air.

Go Dog Go

Corinne adds to her performing credits with a trumpet/baritone performance role in Go Dog Go, a Shenandoah Theatre for Youth production in two acts.  The book really was the book.  And it really stretched to two acts.  Good fun for the kids.

Christmas ladies

My girl, and our daughter, her mother, her sister, our niece. See also other half.



My girl :)

CMW JV Basketball Game 2 pics and notes

Early game vs North County. Anne Arundel county I think. It might not be quite fair to say that the game wasn't really competitive, but CMW JV Mustang Basketball walked away with this one. Don't recall the score.

CMW Football Conclusion

In the spirit of catching up, I post the CMW Mustang Varsity Football finale pics with limited commentary:

Well, here ends the season. It was taped for local cable broadcast. I saw it, but while it was interesting to see the game all over again, past the novelty it was just tough to watch.

All in all, a good season. Chris got a lot of playing time for a CMW Sophomore playing Varsity. New coach, a couple quality wins, a lot of growing. I hear that next year starts with Linganore at CMW.

Next few ball games

I'm a little behind putting up photos of the recent football games. I have been working on a site at http://robert.bupp.net based on WordPress. I don't know if I'll like it better than this site, which is based on Blogger.

I haven't posted how the Fallston game went. If you believe what you read in the papers, CMWright Mustangs weren't supposed to have a chance in this game. While it's true that the Mustangs lost the game, it's also true that with 4 minutes to go in the game, the Mustangs scored a touchdown, and if the next kickoff was a recovered on-sides kick, they would have been driving for the win. Well, instead of a successful on-sides kick, the Mustangs kicked deep, leaving the ball skidding around the three yard line. Which looked like a pretty good situation, except that the Fallston player finally scooped it up and ran 97 yards for a touchdown. That finally put the game out of reach. Up to that point, the opportunity was still there for another Mustang win.



Next, the Mustangs traveled to Elkton for their homegaming game. This game had the Mustangs up by 10 with six minutes to go in the game. Rising Sun then drove for a fairly quick TD. The CM Wright next offensive possession stalled, and they punted. The Rising Sun Golden Elks then drove systematically, using almost all of the clock, capping the drive with a go-ahead TD.



Sure wish I had a couple of pictures of things I saw in this game. Well I had a couple of pictures, some of them are above, but two things I'd want you to see. First, Chris long snaps for punts, and I have taken to geting pictures of the snap, to show Chris the quality of the snaps. But on punts, he also is the first lineman to release, and as is frequently the case, Chris was the first man down on coverage when Rising Sun number 5 first thought he'd let the ball be, then decided he'd be better to field it on a hop. Number 5 fielded the ball cleanly, and Chris stuck him. Really nice hit and tackle. Want to see the picture? I missed that one.

I also missed getting a picture of this one. CMW threating to score, a running play driving a mass of players toward the end zone. Somewhere (in my opinion, AFTER forward progress was stopped), the ball was ripped loose, and appeared in the hands of the defense with the Rising Sun starting running back carrying it in open field tearing down the sideline. Some CMW Mustangs gave chase, including a guard who closed on the runner and at about the 20 yard line was close to being able to make the tackle, except that another Rising Sun player was also there as a blocker. So the Mustang player, unable to get to the runner directly threw the blocker into the runner, effecting the tackle. And the picture for that one? I'd like to see it too...

In both games, Chris contributed on special teams, hence the photos of the punts...

A Great Underdog Weekend, a Great Win for CMW

Oregon State drops #1 USC.  Michigan drops Wisconsin in the Big House (GO BLUE!).  Washington Redskins drop Dallas in Dallas.  And the CMW Mustangs Varsity football gets its first win of the season at home against Rising Sun on, of all things, a 27 yard field goal on third and two with 15 seconds in the game.





Go underdogs!

Chris made his contributions on special teams, including snapping for the game-winning field goal.

Mustang Game 3 at Havre de Grace

Chris started Game 2 due to an injury on the line. The player he stepped in for was healthy here at Game 3, so Chris was (unofficially) second on the depth chart at offensive tackle (either tackle I think), third at either offensive guard, and second at center. So if everyone plays well and stays healthy on the offensive line, Chris may see no action (save special teams work, including long snapping). We knew this going in. I have no insights into any injury situation, but Chris got in as center for the second half.

The team sported new away uniforms.  There were a few snags here also. While they look right from the stands, we're told that the color is more of a sea green than a Mustang powder blue.  You have to be close to know.  I hear rumor that they will restitch the numbers with the correct color.  Looks good to me.  Also, a few players are wearing different numbers than you would expect.  Notably for this post, Chris wears #59 this game, where he has been wearing #60 in the earlier games.  What number next?  I'll keep you posted...

The team as a whole seemed to play better, although it was ultimately a losing effort. We missed several opportunities for interceptions, and suffered a few blown plays on important downs. Still, you get the impression that the team is continuing to gel. A few pictures of the game.

Mustang Football, Game 2 New Town

** Chris Bupp moves up the offensive depth chart to Starting Right Tackle **

A MUCH more competitive game 2 for the C Milton Wright Varsity football team, losing to New Town 12-6 on a 75 yard touchdown run with only 30 seconds left in regulation.



A remarkably warm Saturday afternoon game featured a Mustang team that was not yet hitting on all cylinders, or in their stride, depending on which Mustang analogy you prefer. It's early in this shake-up season, and the team still shows occasional confusion, and has not yet revealed any particular variety or breadth in the offensive, defensive, or special teams packages. But you get the sense that the team is starting to find itself, and as they do, the talent will start to shine through.

Chris started and played all game at offensive Right Tackle.  You don't exactly rack up statistics at that position, so I can only offer my opinion, which is that he had a very good game both run blocking and pass blocking.  The passing game generally enjoyed ample time to make the throws and had no sacks (unofficially).  The running game was basic, but effective.

The game goes in the loss column, there's no way around it, and whining won't help.  Still, there was at least one  officiating gaff (I would argue two) that directly affected the outcome of the game.  Most notably and obvious, occurred with time running out in a tie game and New Town deep in their own territory:  a short pass out into the flat was caught but the receiver was met quickly by a Mustang defender who jarred the ball loose.  Another defender picked up the ball and with no opponent in view ran unimpeded into the end zone.  (Sorry I missed the detail on the two Mustang defenders involved...)  I was standing about 10 yards from the play with an unimpeded view, as I was taking pictures from the sidelines.  As our defender cruised for the end zone, the official blew the play dead and signaled incomplete pass.  In my opinion, this was an incorrect call (and a call that shouldn't have been difficult to get right), and this officiating error stopped us from going up 12-6 or 13-6.  Would we have had such a poor call made in a home game?  Well, that's life.  A good game that came up a bit short, still a good game to build on.  Next week, Havre de Grace, Friday Night under lights.

CM Wright Varsity Football Game 1 Linganore

Game one for the Mustangs took them to the temporary home of the Linganore Lancers.  It also laid to rest any question about whether or not Chris was officially on the Varsity squad.  Ultimately, Linganore plays in a a higher-level program than the Mustangs enjoy.  Both the JV and Varsity squads lost 46-0, but it may be more telling of the mismatch that the score at the close of the first quarter of the Varsity game was 39-0.

Christopher's contribution was limited to punt squad and some miscellaneous fourth-quarter plays.  It was not an evening that inspired a lot of photography. Still, a few pictures:

I Dreamed a Dream

This is a video of the "I Dreamed a Dream" number in last summer's Tidewater Teens' production of Les Mis. I added it in part to demonstrate to myself that I can get video onto my site without using YouTube. YouTube is easier, and offers a place to put the (large) video file., but also adds a bit of branding that I prefer to avoid, if possible.


The penalty to me of not using YouTube is that I will very quickly run out of storage space with my current hosting provider (lowesthosting.com). I may soon move my hosting to 1and1.com, as they offer good, low-budget plans with LOADS more storage space.

A Quick Change of Seasons

In the blink of an eye, Corinne left Hershey Park Ice Breakers for Shenandoah; auditioned, and was given a role in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, a main stage play at Shenandoah. Yay Corinne!!!

Thursday, September 18, 2008 -through- Sunday, September 21, 2008
The play “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” is presented at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday in the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children. FREE for SU students and employees with I.D. Call the box office at 540/665-4569.

Football season started a few weeks ago, but we just hosted the 15U Maryland Elite Basketball end-of-season party. The party primarily featured volleyball and cheeseburgers.




Meanwhile, since the first scrimmage Chris has been practicing with the C. Milton Wright varsity football team. I am not privy to who made that decision and why, but C. Milton Wright is not a small school, enrolling 1746 in grades 9-12, and historically they don't make a habit of bringing Sophomores onto Varsity. Yay Chris!!!

And today we got confirmation that Laura is fully recovered, ahead of schedule and is doing very well. Yay Laura!!!

As a PS: Super Bowl Champ, 4-time NFL Pro-Bowler, Washington Redskin legend Joe Jacoby joins Shenandoah University Football Staff. No lie.

First Football Scrimmage

CMW High School JV and Varsity Mustangs traveled to Northwestern High for the first scrimmage of the year. Win or tie, it's hard to say for sure since it's a scrimmage format, but the JV squad performed well. It's a little tough to put together names and numbers, but Chris is 38. These are all practice jerseys, so there's no published list of who's who as the numbers will all be different for the game jerseys.

My Final Hershey Pics Summer 2008

This is my last Hershey trip before Corinne goes back to school. Weather forecast was for scattered thunderstorms throughout the morning, 70% chance; Thundershowers throughout the afternoon, 70% chance; Thundershowers in the evening, 80% chance. Not great odds, but we didn't have more than a sprinkle, and that didn't slow things down at all, let alone close any rides.

We caught up with Mom and Steph and Laurie and boys (T and J), who had been up for a three day trip. We brought along Andrew, a neighbor who has played travel basketball and football with Chris in recent years. Andrew did not go to C Milton Wright High School with Chris for their Freshman year, opting for John Carroll's superior baseball program. He will return to C Milton Wright High with Chris for their Sophomore year. Andrew would be a dominant force playing JV football with Chris, but will instead play a fall baseball league. We'll look forward to seeing him play for the high school in basketball season.



This is a very poor quality recording. It was recorded with a camera. Not a video camera, just a camera. There's not much to see, not much to hear. It was recorded to capture a defect in the audio system. It's there, but it's hard to tell because this is a poor quality recording. I just don't want you to think that either a) this is the best recording I can make, or b) this is how the group sounded. The group, if I haven't mentioned, is the Ice Breakers, performing at Hershey Park. They have an exceptional a capella mix and a wonderfully clean balance of tones. None of this comes through in the video. Oh well.

Just the audio: Hint: hit the power button to turn the player on :)

Fro' Feniccis

Returning from pizza at Feniccis in Hershey. Something here has to make it to facebook.

Happy BuppDay Corinne

It wasn't her birthday, but the closest non-work day that Corinne could make it home to celebrate. Whenever she tried to get away with something using "it's my birthday" there were many ready to pin her immediately with "it's NOT your birthday!" So she conceded and decided that she deserved whatever because it was her Bupp Day. Yes, she's silly, but that's allowed on your Bupp Day.

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.

Charm City Champs!

Maryland Elite 15U wins the Charm City Basketball's Atlantic Coast Tournament! Congratulations to Coach James and all the players. I was absent for the game, I hope that wasn't good luck. No pictures until after Chris got home:

National Tune-Up at The Park School

Blah blah blah, here's the pictures from Game 1.

Our Maryland Elite 15U basketball team was scheduled in a "National Tune-Up" tournament at The Park School in Pikesville. This is a very nice facility with five full-size basketball courts (I only actually saw three) on a campus to rival that of a small college. In our three team pool, Game 1 was a blowout in a good way, Game 2 was a blowout in a bad way. Seeded second in our pool, we were scheduled to play the third seed of the opposing pool, but that game was forfeited. Counting that as a win, we advance in the bracket to face the first seed in the opposing pool, which would effectively be a semifinal game for the two-pool bracket.

I missed the games, but the Maryland Elite 15U basketball team defeated the top seed for the opposing pool (Maryland Mavericks) to advance to the finals to face the same team that defeated them in Game two yesterday. Having had a chance to regroup, we went on to defeat the nemesis from New York to earn the title 2008 Champion!

Congratulations to the 15U Maryland Elite Basketball team!

Ice Breakers on Fathers' Day

I added the video. We managed to get up to Hershey on Sunday to see the Ice Breakers at Hershey Park.

Some photos of the Ice Breakers performing for the crowd at the featured Fahrenheit roller coaster. There are five of them all together, although it's hard to get a picture of Rob who tends to hide in the tree. Corinne and Adrienne flank Geoff, and Kevin is bass of the group, base of the steps.



The video: A few things are noteworthy. The most disappointing thing is that the audio is, well, disappointing. It's my new camera, it's not my new video camera. The men's vocals are almost entirely lost, especially Kevin singing bass. Heard live, the group had a great balance, but you'll definitely miss the bass line and the Rob's beat. Oh, and listen close in the very beginning and you'll hear Corinne give a shout out to her daddy. That's me :)

2008 Maryland Invitational

Day 2 facing Walter P Carter in Pool Play. This in the "Auxiliary" gym at Parkdale: just room enough for a row of chairs for the players, and a row of chairs for the parents. The rims were ridiculously loose.


Day 1 facing the TICKS from North Carolina, last year's AAU National Classic Bracket Champion.

New Camera

On the eve of the next tournament (and still a few days before Fathers' Day) I tested out my new camera. It looks like I'll have fewer fuzzy pictures :)
A little fun at the Maryland Elite 15U practice:



A link to the album:

First Practice Stars

Maryland Elite 15U Wins USBA Jersey Shore Championship

So on a brutally hot weekend, we traveled to Lakewood, New Jersey to watch Chris's team play in the USBA Jersey Shore Championship. Saturday pool play had our Maryland Elite winning Game 1 67-37 and Game 2 by 91-34 They advanced to Sunday's bracket, which featured MUCH more competitive teams, winning by margins of 2 and 5 to take the championship. Team information maintained here.

Pictures? Did I mention that I accidentally left my camera at a Fuddruckers near Hershey, and when I called back they "hadn't seen it?" Come on folks, a camera is not a tip! It was a Nikon CoolPix L3, which was about a $70 camera. Not disposable, but I was particularly disappointed to lose the photos and video I took of the Ice Breakers.

But as it turns out, I have a really cool family. For an early Fathers' Day, I got a brand spankin new Nikon Coolpix P80, a SIGNIFICANT step up from my L3. I'll add a photo of the cool people that gave it to me, but first I have to charge the battery...

Next week, a major Maryland championship tournament with lots of heavy competition. I'll try to get a few pic :)

Home Tournament

This tournament, held at our home court, had lots of complexities. Due to cancellations, our 15U team played in both the 15 bracket AND the 16 bracket. They made it to the championship game in both age groups, winning the 15U title.






16U Finals:

YBOA Tournament

Some pics from the YBOA tournament in Pennsylvania. This was a national qualifying tournament, as I understand it. We got three games in. Lost the first one in a tough, evenly matched game. The next two teams were NOT 15U teams. The tournament officials could not verify their ages, they had birth certificates, but nothing to tie the birth cert to the particular player on the court. Not a worthwhile tournament.

York Tournament

Just the pics. And a comment or two. This is a tournament where we played well. The host team fielded a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old team in the same category--some tournaments are age (AAU is age) others grade, others not terribly specific. The championship pitted our 15's against the host 16's. We played hard, got down, re-established our game and had the game knotted with loads of momentum in the second half. The home team was tagged for multiple technical fouls in the game to this point, including two on the coach. The officials felt the game slipping away, and called the game. We left undefeated.

Pics from AAU 15U Maryland Championship Tournament

Just the pics:

Arise from thy slumber

I've got a bit of catching up to do.

Last I told anyone, Christopher's 15U AAU basketball was making a run at the Maryland Championship. And a good run indeed, although they ran out of gas at around 8pm in their third game of the day on a sweltering Sunday, that just happened to be the semifinals. Their performance was enough to garner them an invitation to the AAU National Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas.
We've since had a tournament in Virginia that went well (not terribly strict on the age requirements...), and another in York. The York tournament was interesting: we won all the games up to the last, where we were pitted against the host team, which also happened to be a year older than the other teams. We played them even in the first half, then started pulling away in the third quarter. The York team didn't take well to getting beat, and they responded. The officials ultimately called at least 5 technical fouls, ejecting a York coach and a York player, then finally when order could not be restored, called the game in the third quarter. This weekend the boys go to a YBOA tournament in Pennsylvania, where they could conceivable receive an invite to the YBOA National Championships in Florida.

Corinne made it back from college for a full week before heading off to Hershey for summer work. If you're up in Hershey, be sure to catch the Ice Breakers

As for me, Godspell opened last week, and runs through May 25. It's got a very strong cast, but was slow to come together, due to all the various conflicts. However, now that the show has opened, I can say with certainty that I recommend it. Hopefully not too late, so far this is the best show nobody has seen--attendance has been poor. Blame it on poor advertising, or Mother's Day weekend, or something. Come if you can, tickets are $15, see tidewaterplayers.com.

Maryland Elite secures first tournament championship

This year Chris takes the court with the AAU Maryland Elite in the D2 15U. The team contains a core of the athletes from last year's 14U Chesapeake Bay Breakers. As the only warm-up before the critical Maryland AAU tournament--a national qualifier, the team traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a 3-game minimum tournament at Steel High.

The 15U Elite defeated West York on Friday (I was not at that game, margin of victory about 14), and followed that victory with Saturday wins against Bashore [43-29] and United Athletics [50-22], to take them 3-0 into the championship game. For the tournament championship, the Elite faced again West York in a more tightly contested game.

The Elite took an early lead (before Laura and I realized that the game had started--schedules were approximate, apparently) and played the first half with varying modest leads, but the score was effectively knotted at halftime. The lead came and went throughout the second half, with Monty extending the lead at the free-throw line to 7 with 0:28, and West York chipping the lead to 4 before the final buzzer. Final score 35-31.

Getting Ready for Basketball

Chris has made the 15U Maryland Elite basketball team. First tournament is this weekend in York, PA. I think there are a total of 13 tournaments this year, with Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas in July. There are a few kids I know from last year, including Monte, who has taken to dunking the ball, but there are lots of fresh faces also.

Easter Celebration

We got to pick up Corinne for Easter, and celebrated in Flintstone, Maryland. Chris and I made an awesome bonfire. We went to a very nice Easter service at a Church of the Brethren along a trout stream. They had a very interesting praise-hymnal. Great old songs along with contemporary praise songs. And they had a small country gospel songbook also. And me without my photocopier. No pictures of the bonfire, church, or trout stream...

Some catch-up pics

A few semi-random pictures while we get primed for the upcoming basketball season.

Revenge of the Mustangs

The CMW Mustangs crush Joppatowne 81-47 revenging their 1 point loss in OT in the previous meeting. The game was very exciting and the team did very well. CMW took control early and won the game with ease. Jake even got his first dunk!

CM Wright JV Basketball ends skid

CMWright JV Basketball ends a 4-game skid defeating Perryville 105-53. Perryville pulls from a student body of 989, compared to CMW's 1834, and didn't have talent to match the Mustangs.

The game was never close, despite the Mustangs having Sophomore starting center unavailable for play, and being tagged for 12 fouls in the first quarter (double-bonus with 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter). The officials appeared to try to "manage" the game, which peeves me to no end. What they ended up doing in fact was to stop the clock so often that the scoring opportunities skyrocketed, as did the score. The 53 Perryville Panther points--nearly half of which came in fouls shots--were almost doubled by the Mustangs' 105 point effort.

The Mustangs played aggressively, and loose--easy to do with a comfortable lead. With 30+ (estimated) accumulated fouls in the game, it was surprising that only one player fouled out.

Chris played well: good control of the offense, very low turnovers, exceptional deny defense, shot well from the field and from the stripe. Hopefully this will trigger a more positive streak.

Big game Friday with Fallston visiting CMW. I am told tickets are only available in advance. Maybe this time I can manage to get a few pictures...

Christmas Cookie Time

We enjoyed making Christmas cookies this year, with the help of friends and family.

Pics:

Chris makes JV Basketball

For various predictable reasons, I've been slow in posting. But I couldn't let the evening go by without posting that today Chris made the CMW JV Basketball team as a point guard. Mom and Dad are super proud (Wooo Hoo!!! Way to go Chris!!!)

75 kids showed up for try-outs, total for JV and Varsity (about 50 and 25 respectively). After "first cuts" there were 13 for Varsity and 25 for JV. The final evaluation practice was Monday, and we suspect the final JV count is between 13 and 15. For both cuts, the kids were notified about 10 minutes after practice was over. First cut was just posted, final cut was called in and notified one-on-one or small groups with the coach. Chris received word from the coach in a group of three, including also Bobby, with whom he played last year in Rec and Travel and whose father coached the Rec team (with me), and Josh who played AAU this summer with Chris. Bobby and Josh go "way back" with Chris, so this was nice. Apparently, Bobby has grown since last year, and Josh, who doesn't even threaten the 5-foot mark, probably has not. Josh's specialty is long-range shooting, incredibly effective.

I missed posting loads of little events, too, including the conclusion of the JV football season, where CMW upset the (considerably smaller) Joppatowne to secure the second place finish in the county. If you don't want the details, stop here, and post a comment for Chris, the only other thing I'm writing in this post is the excitement of that game.

Still with me? OK. It was a biting, bitter cold evening. Joppatowne seemed to control the ball throughout the first half. CMW defense bent, but didn't break. Scoreless throughout regulation. Except for the last play. Joppatowne broke out a 65 yard touchdown run with time expiring, and missed the (untimed) point after, taking a 6-0 lead and momentum into halftime. CMW didn't give up, and while their second-half defense wasn't breaking, the offense wasn't moving the ball much either. With under two minutes to go, Joppatowne's drive stalled at the CMW 10. Their field goal attempt was blocked and CMW got the ball at about the 15. Two plays of near disaster, then on third down with the pocket collapsing, CMW QB finds his wide receiver (also the kicker) crossing the field. The perfect strike was caught in stride and the receiver races 85 yards to the touchdown! For the extra point, the snap was good, the hold, the kick BLOCKED! But only partially... the ball sent high into the air and still makes it through! CMW advantage 7-6 with a minute to play. Game's not over.

Kick off pins Joppatowne inside their 20. Two harmless desperate plays followed by INTERCEPTION! CMW returns to the 18. 42 ticks left in the game, Joppatowne with one time out, take a knee and win the game, right? The call is a running play. Joppatowne steps aside and watches the runner score. Two-point conversion misses, and CMW is up 13-6, now a fragile 7 point lead, giving the ball back to Joppatowne.

This kickoff also pins Joppatowne around their 20, and Joppatowne throws two harmless deperate passes as the CMW D-Line brings heavy pressure. Time for only one more play. Joppatowne drops for a pass, pressure is coming, Quarterback is grabbed, he lets go with a short flick to the running back still in the backfield. He runs left around the defense, encounters more opponents and cuts back all the way across the field and up the right sideline, past midfield, evades the safety, up the sideline and knocked out of bounds inside the CMW 20! End of regulation! Penalty! The game can't end on a defensive penalty--the call: PASS INTERFERENCE. OFFENSE! Penalty is refused, time has expired, that's the ball game!!

Fall Family Weekend

We enjoyed Family Weekend at Shenandoah, and enjoyed seeing the colors starting to change.

We ended up using Whites Ferry a few times, and I got some pictures that I thought were interesting.

Fall Break

We've enjoyed having Corinne around for the weekend while she's on Fall Break. We won't see her again until Family Weekend. Next Weekend. The first thing we did was get her home in time to watch Christopher's game (his win against Aberdeen). That was nice, but very very cold. This weekend was also CMW Homecoming, so after checking out Gina's game,

she went out for the night.

Sunday we went to see Doug at Spotlighters in Baltimore in "The Great American Trailer Park Musical". I didn't know what to expect, but it was very enjoyable.

JV Football doing well

Chris won the battle, but this game was the JV's only loss of the season so far. Today, they defeated Aberdeen on the frozen tundra 27-6. Unlike the previous game, I had a camera for this one, but it was too cold for me to take pictures. Where did fall ever go? Did we just go from summer to winter?



Chris has started at center since the third game. I love the picture, it's taken from the CMW web site. I'd give credit if I knew who took it. As you can see, unlike Rec League, high school is not height or weight restricted, and Chris sees some big boys at nose tackle.

Keep up the great work Chris!!

Chris Starts, Wins 14-7

I got word less than 24 hours before gametime that Chris would start as center. Fortunately, it was a home game and I was able to get off work in time to see the entire 3:30 ballgame.

The opponent Patterson Mill is the new school in the county, and they only have grades 9 and 10 this year. Chris knew quite a few of the PM players, including the QB Adam LeFleur (we knew when he was 7 years old that the kid was going places--mark the name) and another kid that played QB in rec ball Michael Karousos.

Patterson Mill scored on their second offensive play, getting off to a quick 7-0 lead. CMW worked hard, mostly pounding the running game with short gains to ultimately win 14-7. PM was at all times considered an imminent threat to score on a breakaway run or a long pass. It was a VERY exciting game to watch. Particularly exciting for those of us watching Chris!! [#50]

Good times!!

Chris says:

It was cool, and a good game. It was fun to get a lot of playing time again just like rec football. However the kids were much bigger but it was cool. We won in the 4th quarter so that was cool.

Poolesville Day

This year, Poolesville Day was mostly an excuse to catch up with Corinne. With a little more warning, we're thinking Chris and I might run the race next year. But it was a record setting celebration of the town, and we had a grand time while we were there.



This was Saturday Sept 8. Sunday the 9th we went to the Redskins game. Go Skins!

CMW JV Football goes 2-0

Chris pulls a fever of 103, but recovers enough to dress for the game. CMW defeats New Town 15-0. The game was scheduled for 4pm, but was late starting as we had to wait for the opponent to arrive. The decision was made to shorten the quarters, so that the varsity game that followed wouldn't be delayed.

Chris did all the long snapping (punts and extra points). First TD was folled by a successful extra point kick. The second TD was followed by what looked to be a successful kick, but a penalty was called for false start. The ball was backed up to the 8 yard line, and we lined up for a slightly longer kick, but we ran a fake, and had an excellent throw to a wide open receiver. Chris got a few plays on defense also, and on one play had penetration to the QB and was wrapping him up as the ball was being thrown. I came from work, and didn't have a camera with me.

CMW JV Football

Team [#50]:

Schedule available from
CMW Boosters
Chris played Thursday and won. They were short one of the coaches, and unfortunately, it was the coach that rotated him in on defense. His only playing time was long snapping punts and PAT. So we can chalk up the victory to the team and hope to see Chris in action for the next game.

First Week

No, I don't plan to post every week of Corinne's college. But the first week is very active. She has auditioned for and been placed in chorus. One of three Freshman to be placed in Cantus. It's "higher" than the alternative, so it's an honor. Beyond that, I have no more explanation. She was placed as an alto, I believe.

She has auditioned for "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum". For the ingenue role, they were looking for blondes only, so given that, there really was no role for her. Three freshman were called back (remember Dominic from Les Mis). Turns out as a freshman, you also have to qualify as a circus freak to get a role. One freshman did, as a contortionist.

She auditioned "Twelve Dancing Princesses", and was one of three or four freshmen called back (remember Dominic? apparently there are Princes also). She auditioned "School of Scandal" and was called back, again, one of only a few freshman.

Perhaps I missed something important, and we'll get a comment about it...

Remember home?

Just a reminder to those who will never truly come home again. You can go wherever life takes you, but we'll always be home for you.

These shots are mostly semi-random snaps on the way from work to pick up Chris from Football practice. I really wanted to get a shot of the Arctic Circle sign (I did), and the beer bottle on highway adoption sign across the street from Torinos (I didn't exactly). I surprised myself with some of the pictures that came out OK. I kinda liked the one where I got the tent church, and the area where they're building the new tent church, with the cemetary in the rear view.

Chris makes JV Football

A slightly belated congrats to Christopher, who has made the cut for the CMW JV football team. Way to go Chris!! Right now, he hasn't mentioned that he has played QB and receiver, and is content just working hard with all the other grunts on the team. He has taken to the role of a backup center and a longsnapper. Interesting. Unofficially 5' 5'', 142 pounds. Center? By far the smallest on the line, but he's proving very tough.

Of course.

She's Gone

Corinne has moved into college. Her dorm is spacious IMHO, although it is not the most spacious of her quad. Her roommate seems very nice. The view from the only window in her room--the school's football team's practice field. Which means she's waking up to the coaches whistle every morning. He he!

And a view inside her room:

Yes, it's very pink.
And she hasn't forgotten about us yet (classes don't start until Monday). So we'll be crossing the Potomac this weekend also, but we won't be waist deep like others in the family.

Les Miserables

Wow, what a great show! Unbelievable that it was put together in two weeks. Bravo! I saw it four times, but only because I had conflicts on the other two performances. Laura saw it five times. I only took pictures once, but they're not too shabby if I do say so myself--no flash photography you know...



Just the death throes

Corinne in Les Miserables

Just a quick post... Corinne is doing Tidewater Teens this summer, as she has in previous summers (West Side Story, Footloose, Grease) and this summer is Les Miserables--actually it is Les Miserables, School Edition. This summer it is done as a "camp", so the cast goes M-F for two weeks and the show opens. Casting is done on day one, and by day 10 they are running the show! Corinne is Fantine, Brandon is Javert. I expect it to be an awesome show!

Les Mis shows at Tidewater two weekends: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12. It's coming up VERY quickly, and I couldn't say much about it before now, 'cause it just got started! Call Tidewater for tickets if you can make it. I as at the theatre today and it was cool, and they will have someone come for maintenance on the AC tomorrow, so the plan is to keep it that way. We can hope! Plan to bring tissue.

AAU Nationals, Cocoa Beach Part 5

Thursday July 19.
It was a good day of basketball. First, the only known picture of the entire team that represents the 14U Chesapeake Bay Breakers in the 2007 Division II AAU National Basketball Championships.

This was the first day of Single-Elimination, Win-or-go-home basketball. As long as a team's win-streak continues, it's two games per day until the championship game. Today we had our first and second wins! We continue tomorrow!

Game 4: 9:00 am, "Win or Go Home"
Venue: Eau Gallie High School
Opponent: Maryland Stingers

WIN: This was the first game where we simply outmatched the opponent across the board. We found out that there is a sort of a mercy rule: When leading by 30 points or more, you may only defend your opponent from inside the 3-point arc. We got technical fouls twice for "forgetting" we had to drop all the way back before playing defense. Final Score 71-39. Some pics:



Game5: 6:20 pm, "Win or Go Home", Classic Bracket Level 2
Venue: Catholic School
Opponent: Hoyas(?) of Durham, NC

WIN: A lot of effort in a hard-fought game. We jumped out to an early, albeit slow and low-scoring lead. Durham made a run through the second half and brought the game essentially tied into the fourth quarter. I thought we might falter as there was missed opportunities during the first half and into the second half to substitute players, and as a result, we seemed to fatigue down the stretch. But we held on, final score: 42-36. Give or take, I ran out of battery power, and missed recording the final score, not to mention lots of photo opps during play. Great game, lousy pictures. Pics I got: