Tyler's preschool days are almost done

Before we headed south on Wednesday, we attended Tyler's end-of-year program at preschool with his fellow "Red Bears."  His final day of preschool is tomorrow, which is bittersweet since it's been a great preschool year.  He's all signed up to attend Kindergarten on September 3.  I know I'll have a hard time on that morning seeing our youngest child get on the school bus to go to all-day school for the first time.  But, let's not think about September just yet...

Josh Ritter at Lewis Ginter

My family headed down to Richmond yesterday afternoon to see our fave Josh Ritter at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for the third time (and fifth time overall).  Once again, it was a great show in a great venue.  I hope Ritter keeps coming back to Ginter, but doesn't wait three years like he did this time.  He did his usual classics ("Kathleen", "Right Moves", "Wolves", etc.) and many new ones from his March release "The Beasts in its Tracks."  Julie said it best earlier today:  When you hear Ritter live, it sounds no different than when you're listening to him on a recording.  It's perfect.  Plus, he loves to perform and he definitely shows appreciation for his fans.  I still don't get why more people aren't fans or don't know him, but I'll take it for now since I get to keep seeing him in smaller venues with easier access to tickets.

In terms of our tummies:  We discovered a new to us BBQ place in Richmond (Q Barbeque) and tried the new Bobby's Burger Palace at Potomac Mills on our way back home today.  Both are worthy additions to our fast casual rotation.  All and all, it was good day and a half away from home.  One more normal day, then it's a three-day weekend, too.  Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and listen to some Ritter while you're manning the grill or hanging out by the pool.

May Madness's Final Four is set

Congrats to Cornell, Denver, Syracuse, and Duke for winning their quarterfinals games this past weekend in Indy and College Park to advance to this weekend's Final Four in Philly.  Personally, I will be rooting for either Cornell to win its first title since 1977 (their offense is amazing to watch - be amazed by Pannell and Mock) or Denver to win its first title (the Pioneers have been on the doorstep...this may be the year).  But, watch out for Duke and Cuse, who have been here before and definitely know what it takes to win it all.  I look forward to watching the games on Saturday and the title game on Monday afternoon.  Bring on Memorial Day weekend!

Congrats to Casey and Sophia

Brann "May Madness" continued this weekend with a very busy weekend in two states.  Congrats to our niece, Casey, who graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA this weekend.  Way to go, Casey!  Also, Sophia was in her third ballet this weekend when she performed in the "Don Quixote" at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.  Way to go, Sophia!  I had to include a couple good photos of my road trip companion Tyler, too.  Next up:  Josh Ritter on Wednesday.  Looking forward to the concert, and a QUIET Memorial Day weekend.

Happy anniversary to my parents

Today is my parents' 61th wedding anniversary.  Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad.  I look forward to seeing you this weekend at your granddaughter's college graduation.  My siblings and I are lucky to have incredible role models when it comes to matrimony.  Julie & I celebrate 15 years of marriage in June.

One week til Ritter in Richmond

Yankees: First place

At the beginning of this baseball season, I was all doom-and-gloom envisioning a Yankees season full of misery based on an aging roster full of injuries.  Something opposite, however, happened.  This 24-14 Yankees team of cast-offs from other teams has managed to stay competitive all season and took over first place in the AL East from the now struggling Red Sox over the weekend.  This excellent piece from Grantland does an excellent job explaining how that happened.  Some excerpts:


That is preposterous. The Yankees are missing their would-be starting third baseman, the guy they acquired to replace their third baseman, the better of the two middling catcher options they had left after letting Russell Martin bolt for Pittsburgh, an All-Star first baseman, an All-Star outfielder, two starting pitchers, two relief pitchers, and one of the greatest shortstops of all time. Even if A-Rod, Teixeira, Jeter, and (maybe) Granderson aren't the players they were at their peak, these were still significant pre–Opening Day losses, made worse by in-season injuries to Youkilis and Cervelli. But a funny thing has happened on the way to what figured to be a disappointing season for the Yankees and their decimated lineup: An unlikely group of scrap-heap players has caught fire, lifting the Bombers to the second-best record in baseball, and somehow making the Yankees — the Yankees! — one of the best underdog stories of the year.

The three most productive hitters in the Yankees' bargain-aisle shopping spree have been Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, and Lyle Overbay. This would have been gigantic news in 2006, the year that trio combined for 96 home runs. Last year, those three combined for just 208 games played, generating a paltry 1.0 WAR between them. The Yankees were in no position to be choosy. They signed Hafner to a one-year, $2 million deal, hoping he might be able to pop a few homers over Yankee Stadium's ludicrously short porch in right and right-center before the inevitable injuries hit. They scooped up Overbay on March 26, mere hours after the Red Sox let him go, with the promise of $1.25 million if he actually made the big league club. Wells was the most contentious deal of the three by far, setting the Yankees back $14 million for this season and next, even after the Angels picked up two-thirds of the remaining salary on the last two years of his oppressive $126 million contract. The Wells deal in particular looked insane, given the Yankees' supposed commitment to pay less than $189 million in payroll next year, thereby avoiding another year of luxury-tax violations and saving as much as $50 million (and maybe even more) in penalties alone.

The Yankees now appear likely to ignore that $189 million threshold next year, which makes you wonder why they weren't more aggressive shoppers last winter, whether for top free agents, big trades, or even just trying to re-sign Nick Swisher and Martin.³ But Hafner, Overbay, and Wells have blown away the Yankees' wildest dreams. Even after a recent slump, Hafner is still hitting a robust .269/.387/.527; Overbay is slugging .483, his homer and five runs knocked in keying a win Friday; and Wells is hitting .295/.343/.540, his own homer and three-hit performance Sunday sparking another win that helped lead to a Yankees weekend sweep over the Royals.

Hafner and Overbay in particular are shining examples of the weirdness that surrounded the Yankees offense through the first six weeks of the season. Through Saturday's games, Hafner was hitting .300/.410/.557 vs. right-handed pitchers, vs. just .158/.333/.421 vs. lefties; Overbay was hitting an off-charts .329/.376/.646 vs. righties, but just .114/.114/.171 vs. southpaws. Granted, both Hafner and Overbay had racked up those splits in small sample sizes, with just 59 combined plate appearances against lefties. Still, enormous splits have been the norm for the Yanks in 2013. Through Saturday, they were hitting .274/.339/.467 against righties and just .221/.291/.350 vs. lefties. Even acknowledging the short porch's siren song and the team's efforts to assemble lefty hitters with some pop to take advantage, that is a gigantic split.

and...

Now here's the best news: Even if this shockingly strong start is a fluke, that doesn't mean the Yankees should expect to crash to earth. Nova and Granderson are due back this week, Youkilis within the next week or two, Teixeira and Cervelli hopefully next month, Jeter and others hopefully a few weeks later. Add those players to a pitching staff anchored by Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Mariano Rivera, and David Robertson, with Cano at the height of his powers, and this starts to look like the same old contending Yankees. Especially if they add a righty-swinging platoon bat or two⁴ to augment the weaker side of the offense.

With no clear favorites and likely no truly dominant teams in the AL East, the Yanks needed to somehow find a way to stay competitive with so many core players on the shelf. They've done a hell of a lot better than that, and now those injured players are starting to return. So even if the team's biggest early surprises all turn to pumpkins, it might not matter much. They'll have already done everything the Yankees could have hoped for — and then some.

 Wells, Hafner, Youk, and Overbay have been excellent pick-ups, and all will be valuable bench guys once the regulars come back from injuries.  The Yankees have gotten strong pitching this season, and Robinson Cano is once again a MVP candidate in the last year of his contract.  It may be hard to maintain this consistency all season - after all, all teams go through slumps - but, this promising start gives me hope that the Yanks could still be a playoff contender in 2013.  I didn't expect that possibility in March.

GO YANKEES.

It's the same old Craps in DC

Some things never change in the nation's capital.  Heavy traffic.  partisanship.  Irritating soccer moms.  And the Washington Capitals blowing a series and Game 7. 

The latest incarnation of a spring collapse happened last night in home for the local hockey club, who were leading this series 3-2 before the weekend with a chance to end it in NYC on Sunday afternoon.  That didn't happened, because the Caps were shutout in Game 6 by an incredible performance from the King in goal for the Blueshirts. 

Last night was much worse.  The Capitals were destroyed by the Rangers 5-0 in a game completely unlike any of the other tight match-ups in this seven-game series.  Alex Ovechkin, "The Great Eight," was held scoreless for the fifth straight game.  Holtby, in goal, wasn't the stellar presence between the pipes like every other game.  The Rangers suddenly became a scoring machine.  One thing was consistent:  The Rangers were god-like in goal, not allowing the Caps anything close to an equalizer or anything close to a comeback.

From the Post:

“Quite honestly, tough to explain. It’s funny how over the years the seventh game turns into some form of blowout,” said Adam Oates, the Capitals’ first-year coach. “I wish I had an answer for that. Obviously we pushed very hard in the first period, he made a lot of great saves. They got a lucky one and every bounce seemed to go their way after that.”

This is the latest seven-game gut punch for the Capitals during the Alex Ovechkin era. In the past six postseasons, Washington is 2-5 in winner-take-all games, 1-4 when that game is played at home. 

In that same span, with the core of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, the Capitals have never advanced past the conference semifinals; this elimination marks the third time they’ve been booted from the first round. 

Asked if there was anything the team could take out of this short stay in the postseason, Backstrom was scathing. 

“Lesson? Maybe learn how to play in the playoffs, I would say,” said Backstrom, who was critical of his own one-goal, three-point effort in the series. “It’s the same thing as previous years, I would say. We came back regular season then playoff came and we’re not good enough. I can just talk for myself and my effort. Not good enough. No excuses. It’s just a bad effort.”

That's an understatement.  This team clearly doesn't have what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs, so it may be time to blow up the franchise.  Since the Caps are moving to a much tougher division next season, they probably won't get into the playoffs.  It's now or never:  Get some value for the late 20-something "stars" on the roster before they're yours for life.  Perhaps that viewpoint is too extreme, but the diehards need to wake up before they're experiencing this again next May.

Preschool field trip

On Friday morning, I attended a preschool field trip with my little guy to the Manassas Museum.  I had a good time doing something at preschool with Tyler, which hasn't happened a lot this year.  His school ends for the year on May 24.  It's been a great preschool year.  Tyler starts Kindergarten the day after Labor Day when he gets on the school bus with his big sister Sophia.

Mason adds a high-profile transfer to the roster

George Mason added another new player on Friday, and it's a good one.  Julian Royal, a transfer from Georgia Tech, is rejoining his former coach Paul Hewitt in Fairfax.  Royal was a highly-regarded big man coming out of high school, but lost playing time at Tech after Hewitt departed.  He'll be a perfect addition to our roster after a redshirt year, since inside guys Johnny Williams and Jon Arledge are both departing Fairfax after their senior years next season.   

From Yahoo:


The addition of Royal could be a coup for a George Mason program looking to upgrade its roster so it can contend once it joins the Atlantic 10 this fall. Royal put up modest stats in two seasons at Georgia Tech, but the question is whether the former consensus top 100 recruit suffered from being overhyped or underutilized.

Expected to consider asking out of his letter of intent when Georgia Tech fired Hewitt and replaced him with Brian Gregory two years ago, Royal instead chose to honor his commitment to the Yellowjackets. He averaged 16 minutes per game in 3o games as a freshman, but the arrival of promising Robert Carter last year and the return of Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey shuffled Royal to fourth in a three-man frontcourt rotation.


What will determine whether Royal is a shrewd gamble for George Mason is whether Hewitt can tap into the potential the young forward showed when he was the Georgia state player of the year as a high school senior.

A face-up forward comfortable from the perimeter and in the paint, Royal is a potential mismatch in the guard-heavy Atlantic 10. It's not a great sign that he was unable to make an impact last season for a Georgia Tech team that went 6-12 in the ACC, but perhaps a fresh start with the coach who recruited him can help tap into his potential.

Therein lies the rub...we'll find out in Fairfax if the top-100 high school player is still as good as advertised when he came out of high school after suffering from too little playing time under Tech Coach Brian Gregory.  He'll have a year to practice with his eventual teammates, and eventually play on a frontline with Senior Copes, Junior Gujanicic, Senior Okoloji, and Sophomore Jenkins.  

Welcome to Fairfax, Mr. Royal.  GO MASON.

Caps win an OT thriller to go up 3-2 in the series

Mike Ribeiro, a new Cap this season, became the latest playoff hero when he scored his first goal of the playoffs and first playoff goal in five years in OT last night to give the Caps the 2-1 victory.  With the win, the Capitals gain a 3-2 series advantage heading back to MSG on Sunday afternoon for Game 6. 

From the Post:


“All game we were grinding. All game, our line — pucks were in his cage, the puck wasn’t bouncing, and the puck just show up there,” Ribeiro said. “I was at the right time, the right moment, and we’ll take this win. 

“They’re a team that will take time and space on the ice. They’re a team that likes to block shots, so we need to be patient and not get frustrated,” Ribeiro said. “We did a great job of doing that tonight — just saying patient and waiting and waiting and just turned them down wave after wave and putting pucks deep and forechecking those Ds and we were able to get that goal.”

Perhaps no one was more patient than Ribeiro, who said earlier in the week he hoped to contribute more offensively. The veteran center’s game-winner marked just his third goal in the last 20 games and first since April 18. The tally punctuated what was an overall strong game in which he also drew a penalty and won 19 of the 27 faceoffs.

“He was due,” Perreault said. “He hadn’t scored in a while and he’s been working out, doing a lot of good things for us and he finally got that goal. It was huge”.

I hope the Capitals end this series in NYC, because their history - even at home - in Game 7s is not the best.  Congrats on the win, Washington...but, you gotta take care of business in their own home on Mother's Day before you can celebrate too much.

GO CAPS.  

Davidson makes it official: A-10 bound

The Atlantic-10, fresh off adding Mason this summer, will add Davidson College in 2014-15 giving the conference another school with a strong basketball pedigree.  Their former star, Steph Curry, is lighting it up right now in the playoffs for the Golden State Warriors, and now the Wildcats will get a chance to achieve at a higher level.  There's some good information below in terms of potential A-10 scheduling and match-ups, too. 

From ESPN:

The Atlantic 10 will add Davidson for the 2014-15 season, conference commissioner Bernadette McGlade has confirmed.

McGlade said Wednesday morning the league encouraged Davidson to honor its one-year commitment to the Southern Conference and not come until 2014-15. Davidson wanted to wait a year unlike George Mason, which is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association after this season for the A-10 in large part because of CAA bylaws that prevent departing teams from playing in its championship events. McGlade said Davidson didn't want to create any chaos in leaving early.

The Wildcats originally turned down a chance to go to the CAA a year ago to stay in the Southern Conference. The A-10 lost Xavier and Butler to the new Big East but made a preemptive move to add George Mason out of the CAA this spring. The Patriots will join the A-10 for the 2013-14 season.

McGlade said the A-10 will play a 16-game schedule with 13 teams next season and then the hope is to play 18 games as a 14-team league in 2014-15. Scheduling will be discussed at the league meetings on May 20 in Naples, Fla. McGlade said the A-10 wants to be in line with the high-profile leagues it is competing against that will all be playing 18 league games like the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, new Big East and likely the American Athletic Conference, too.

The A-10 will explore various scheduling models but McGlade said there are natural rivals in the 14-team A-10 with VCU-Richmond, George Mason-George Washington, Saint Joseph's-La Salle, UMass-Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure-Duquesne and Saint Louis-Dayton. Fordham and Davidson could be paired together (Davidson coach Bob McKillop is from New York and the Wildcats like to play games in the Northeast). But the A-10 could also look to form triangle combinations of scheduling, with Davidson figuring in with the two schools in Richmond or the D.C.-area while Fordham could be paired with UMass-URI.

The A-10 has to also guard against losing more members to the 10-team Big East like Saint Louis, Dayton, Richmond or even VCU if  that league were to deviate from being a private-school conference.

 McGlade has been proactive about making sure the A-10 doesn't slip and is one of the top basketball-centric conferences. The addition of Davidson and George Mason, where basketball has been king, continues that philosophy.

The holdover members in the A-10 are: UMass, Dayton, Rhode Island, La Salle, Saint Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, Fordham, Richmond, Saint Louis, George Washington and VCU.

Charlotte is leaving after this season for Conference USA while Temple is going to the new AAC.

The Caps are still the Caps

Oh, Washington.  Some things never change.

Despite a 2-0 advantage in the series after Mike Green's slapshot in OT on Sat. afternoon, the Caps failed to capitalize and fell for the 2nd game in a row to the Rangers at MSG.  The best-of-seven is now a best-of-three heading back to DC for Game 5 on Friday night.

Both teams are getting contributions from a variety of players, but the Caps' Alex Ovechkin - the league's leading goal scorer - has been glaringly absent from the scoring column the last two games.  Overall, the team clearly doesn't look as sharp as they did in Games 1 and 2, but they had opportunities in both Games 3 and 4 to get the victories.  

From the Post:


“We didn’t play good. We played bad for 45 minutes, and that’s not fun either,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “We just need to get back to the basics. We got away from it. It wasn’t easy to handle the puck out there today, and we needed to play much simpler hockey than we did.”

The Rangers’ intensity was palpable from the opening faceoff as their forecheck finally found its footing. By the midpoint of the second period, the Capitals had yet to manage anything resembling a clean breakout. On the rare occasion when they did cross the blue line, they regularly turned the puck over in the neutral zone, returning quickly to their own end. 

“They came out, tried to be a little physical. We talked about that,” Coach Adam Oates said. “You expect that. It’s their building, you’ve got to handle that little initial wave and then power plays didn’t do anything. We got a little frustrated with that, and then we gave them a goal. So it was a lousy start.”

Washington's history is series when they've led 2-0 and lost in Game 4:  0-6.  Wake up, Washington.  You still have a chance to win this with two games coming up at home.  One more quote, this time from Ovie:

“Everybody knows it’s playoffs. Nobody’s gonna give up right away,” Ovechkin said. “Doesn’t matter if gonna be score, but right now we go home and go and play against them with our fans and in our building. It’s gonna I hope be much better for us.”

Two weeks til Richmond

It's been a couple months since Josh Ritter's new "Beast in Its Tracks" came out, and it's only two weeks until my family sees Ritter in Richmond.  Here's another one from his new release, "The Apple Blossom Rag," which I prefer in this video over the album version.  

Ritter created a little ruckus this week after his performance at Messiah College in PA based on the school's views on homosexuality.  For the liberal viewpoint, check here.  For the conservative viewpoint, click here.  My opinion:  I'm just interested in Josh's music, folks.  (However:, you'd think his team would have researched more about Messiah before performing there if they had an issue with the school's beliefs.)

The May Madness field is set

The 2013 NCAA men's lacrosse field was announced on Sunday night, featuring eight automatic bids (including two teams with losing records:  Bryant and Detroit) and eight at-large bids (which did NOT include UVA or John Hopkins, two May regulars).  The four schools above are the top seeds for this year's tourney, led by the Orange as the no. 1 seed.  For the first time ever, two tourney team has only one loss OR only two losses.  It's a wide-open field, and it should be a great tournament.  

The field:

1 Syracuse (13-3)
Bryant (8-10)

Yale (11-4)
8 Penn State (12-4)

5 North Carolina (12-3)
Lehigh (12-4)

Albany (13-4)
4 Denver (12-4)

3 Ohio State (12-3)
Towson (10-7)

Cornell (12-3)
6 Maryland (10-3)

7 Duke (12-5)
Loyola (11-4)

Detroit (5-9)
2 Notre Dame (10-4)

If you prefer a bracket, you can find one here.  (It has the game times and TV listings, too.)   

Get your lax fill over the next few weekends, because as always, it all ends on Memorial Day weekend with the Final Four and title game. 

Mason gets a guard

Mason has found a guard to replace transfer Vaughans.  Former Hofstra commit Marquise Moore announced he's coming to Fairfax on Monday.  He was allowed to reconsider his college choice after the Pride fired Coach Mo Cassara.  

From the NY Post:

Prep school did wonders for Marquise Moore.

Despite leading Holy Cross to the Catholic league city championship, the 6-foot-2 guard from Queens had no Division I scholarship offers. After a big season at prep powerhouse St. Thomas More, where he developed into a true point guard, Moore drew heavy interest and is now headed to the Atlantic 10 with George Mason. 

Moore, who averaged 13 points, six rebounds and five assists last season at St. Thomas More, picked Paul Hewitt’s program Thursday morning, his AAU coach Kareem Memminger told The Post. 

He initially committed to Hofstra in February, but opened up his recruitment when head coach Mo Cassara was fired and replaced by Joe Mihalich. He was also considering Fairfield and Tulane.. 

“His potential is ahead of him,” St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn previously said. “There’s a couple of things [he does] you can’t teach. Typically, he’s the fastest kid in the gym and he plays to win. He’s an unhappy kid when we’re losing. That’s a great quality in a basketball player.”

zbraziller@nypost.com

Welcome to Fairfax, Mr. Moore.  While it will be painful to lose Vaughans' experience, he only had one more year in green and gold.  Moore comes in as a freshman and will get some minutes next year behind Allen, Wright, Edwards, and Holloway.  He'll be a more valuable player in a couple years when the first two graduate and move on.  I'm a little iffy on a guard who wasn't highly recruited coming to Fairfax...but, that didn't work out so poorly for former Patriot Luck Hancock (now at Louisville), did it?  Guys who play hard with a chip on their shoulders are worth having on a roster.

GO MASON.

The Caps take Game 1

Fresh off a Southeast Division title, the Caps entered the playoffs on fire.  But, the 6th-seeded Rangers - a long-time rival in recent playoffs, and again next year when the Caps are back in their division - were almost as hot.  The local hockey team had a scorching 2nd period, leading to a 3-1 victory and a 1-0 series lead.  

From the Post:

“We didn’t quit playing our game,” Holtby said. “Last year if we got a lead we tried to almost trap, I guess. They both work. But our system we feel is more suitable to our team. And it worked tonight.”

Holtby lead the charge in goal with 35 saves, and he got help from three goals from Ovechkin, Johansson, and Chimera.  The last two goals happened with a couple minutes of each other and turned the momentum entirely to the Caps.

Game 2 is Saturday in DC at 12:30 pm.  Kudos to the Caps for starting the series with a win...but, it's a long way from over.  

New Vampire Weekend

One of the bands that's hooked me over the last five weeks has been Vampire Weekend.  Their new one, "Modern Vampires of the City", arrives in record stores (I know there's very few record stores left, but I wanted to be nostalgic this morning!!) on May 14.  The band chats with NPR here, and a couple of their new ones are posted above.  Enjoy - I do.

Happy 5th birthday to Tyler

Happy 5th birthday today to my little guy, Tyler.  It's been a big week for Tyler:  A big b-day party at a bounce place on Sunday and his first lost tooth on Tuesday.  He's been looking forward to five for awhile now, but it only reminds me that the little guy above who still wants to snuggle with us and kiss us goodnight won't be little forever.  Tyler's entire life, unlike Sophia's, has been documented on this blog and in social media (Facebook).  So, it's easy for me to go back and view images of the last five years.  Time flies when you're having fun, and being a dad to Tyler is a blast.  I love you, son.

The Tooth Fairy visits

At Tyler's six-month dental check-up in March, the dentist pointed out to Julie a loose tooth in the front of Tyler's mouth.  Over the last 1.5 months, it's grown looser and looser until it was ready to take out on Monday night.  Tyler doesn't even turn five until Thursday, but he's getting his first visit from the Tooth Fairy this morning when he wakes up.  He was avoiding eating and eating around the tooth, so hopefully he'll go back to eating normally at dinner time.  Parents can dream, right?

Tyler's 5th birthday party

She said "Yes"

Congrats to my twin sister Stacey on her engagement this week to her boyfriend Greg.  Welcome to the family, Greg.  The Branns always love a good family weekend (well, any wedding...celebratory is always better than depressing).  I know my parents are very excited/happy, even though I haven't talked to them yet.  Congrats! 

One month til Richmond

One month from tomorrow, Josh Ritter and his band descend on Richmond to play the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens.  Here's Josh and one of his bandmates, Zack Hickman, performing "Long Shadows" at the record store in St. Louis - my home for four weeks last summer - on Record Store Day. 

Tyler's preschool art show

We attended an art show last night at Tyler's preschool.  The green bear is one of his creations.  Tyler's preschool days are coming to a close in about a month - he's really enjoyed preschool, so I know he'll be sad when it ends.  We will sign him up for elementary school on 4/25. 

Paris Bennett is the latest Patriot to move on early

With one year left of college hoops remaining, Mason's Paris Bennett decided he didn't want to finish his career in Fairfax.  The graduating senior (but, junior on the court) announced he will transfer on Wed. and play his final season right away somewhere else.  It's not a shocker, considering his decrease in playing time in 2012-13.  Hewitt definitely wanted to use his new guys (Marko, Patrick) a lot more than what he inherited.  Bennett was a captain and a leader on the court, and he did provide a calming influence when he got into games.  Talent-wise, it's not a huge loss.  His minutes will be replaced by this year's redshirt, Jalen Jenkins, who will be starting his playing career at Mason next season. 

With the recent loss of Vaughans, too, Mason's six-person Senior class drops to four.  Will anyone else decide to move on?  I don't think so, but you never know (J. Williams?  V. Gray?).  Hewitt now has two slots to fill for next season and the future.  He already struck out on a Burgh-area PG who decided to go to Va. Tech instead and play for former Mason assistant James Johnson.  I am concerned about losing vets on the bench, but opening up slots for younger guys will be beneficial for the future of the program.

GO MASON.  (Good luck, Paris.)

Red-hot Caps continue to roll

Kudos to the Caps:  Despite a horrific start to the season and a middling middle, the Caps are rolling at the right time with the playoffs in this shortened season approaching fast.  The Caps won their 8th straight game last night, led by the man above:  The Great Eight, who is back to greatness status after so many questions about his worth to the team.  Ovechkin scored his league-leading 28th goal of the season last night, and his 18th goal in his last 16 games.  With the win, Washington improves to 24-17-2 and holds the third seed in the Eastern Conference standings.  Pittsburgh and Montreal, who have both clinched playoff berths, stand above them.  

Ovechkin also showed the tough guy many of us grew to love during his early years with the franchise.  Perhaps the Ovie of old is back.  

From the Post:

The Washington Capitals were already chugging along rather well Tuesday night when their opponents gave them a reason to rally around each other and elevate their game.


Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jay McClement shoved a vulnerable Nicklas Backstrom into the boards with 4 minutes 36 seconds remaining in the first period, prompting Alex Ovechkin to fly into the scene, pounce on the blueliner and ignite a fracas near the visitors’ bench. 

Backstrom was unharmed, but when Ovechkin wound up as the lone man in the penalty box the Verizon Center crowd became incensed, funneling its ire at the referees. The energy in the building swelled, the home team killed off the minor penalty, and from there the Capitals never looked back. 

Washington dominated the Maple Leafs in a 5-1 win Tuesday night for its eighth straight victory and 12th in its past 14 games. 

“That’s a penalty that we’ll kill all day. That’s your captain sticking up for one of the best players on our team,” defenseman Jack Hillen said. “I think anybody on our team would have done that and he did a great job. That’s why he’s our captain and that definitely gave us some more momentum.”

The Capitals had already peppered a sluggish Toronto at the start, the Maple Leafs looking every bit of a team playing on back-to-back nights. Even when Hillen’s point shot deflected off Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri and found its way into the net for a 1-0 Washington lead with 14:27 gone in the first, there seemed to be little to amplify the action on the ice.

McClement’s hit offered the catalyst. As Backstrom tried to maintain possession of the puck as he skated toward the boards, the Toronto defenseman shoved him from behind sending the Capitals’ top center into the boards head first. 

“I knew he was right behind me, but I don’t think he did it on purpose,” Backstrom said. “I don’t think so, if I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t know, maybe two minutes or something – at least.”
Ovechkin immediately confronted McClement and soon every player on the ice from both sides joined the fray. 

The Capitals star winger, who would eventually record his NHL-leading 28th goal of the season and 18th in the past 16 games, played down his actions.

“I just step up for my teammate and I think everybody would do the same if it were happening to me or [Matt Hendricks]. Everybody going to do the same thing.”

As Ovechkin made his way to the penalty box, the once-dormant crowd saluted his defense of a teammate with thunderous chant of “Ovi! Ovi!” Those energetic cheers quickly turned to ire when only one penalty was put on the scoreboard. Many in the crowd of 18,506 believed McClement deserved a minor as well. 

Each time Washington’s penalty killers cleared the puck out of the zone or thwarted a Maple Leafs scoring chance the volume rose. Upon thwarting Ovechkin’s minor, the Capitals received a standing ovation.
“You want to stick together. And there’s times where, obviously, you don’t want to take penalties to do it. 

But it’s great that we killed that penalty,” Coach Adam Oates said. “Because it is important, obviously, we got to protect our guys.”

Up next for Washington:   The Ottawa Senators, currently 6th in the East, on Thursday night.  This short season has been fun to follow, since there's a game every other night or close to it.  With less games in the regular season, most teams should have teams with more rested players, too.  It could be an excellent Stanley Cup playoffs, but we all know what happens in hockey:  It really doesn't matter if you finish 1st or 8th, everyone has a shot to win.  

Keep it up, Caps.

Another American tragedy

Like many this morning, I am sending thoughts and prayers to the people of Boston.  The New England city was struck by an act of terrorism on Monday when a terrorist-to-be-named set off two bombs near the finish line of the 187th annual Boston Marathon.  It was also Patriots' Day in Boston, which commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord that started the American Revolution on April 19, 1775.  Three people, so far, lost their lives - including an eight-year old boy - and over 130 were injured.  At least ten, maybe more, lost a limb because of amputation due to their injuries.  

Please keep those who died in your prayers, and please pray for the recovery of those who were wounded.  I hope the perpetrator or perpetrators who did this gruesome act are found as quickly as possible - in my world, they would hang in Boston Common for their acts.  Hopefully, the death penalty will be used if this is classified as a federal act of terrorism.  There's so much we don't know yet; thankfully, we have an organizations like the local and state police in Boston and the FBI who will track down evil and put them to justice.

April:  It should be about spring.  Baseball.  Warmer weather and blooming flowers.  Instead, in America, it's about terror:  Oklahoma City.  Columbine.  Va. Tech.  Sadly, add Boston to the list.  But, based on the actions of first responders, police, and regular citizens (including runners) on Monday, Americans are more than willing to step up to help a stranger in need.  The bastards who think they can destroy this country with fear will never, ever succeed.  America is, and will always be, stronger than their hate.

In closing, I'm happy a friend of ours - Sean Martin - was already done with the race.  He posted a pic from his hotel room soon after the attack to let all know he was safe.  The local runners from our area, including Sean, are listed in this Bristow Beat article online. 

Hang tough, Boston.  I know you will.  You have a lot of fellow Americans rooting for you this morning. 

Josh Ritter's "In Your Arms Again"

Counting down the days til Richmond.  Here's another new video and song from Josh Ritter.  He continues his spring tour tonight in Columbus before wrapping it up in Richmond on May 22.  I'm looking forward to being there (as you know by now). 

Spring soccer begins

The kiddos started their spring soccer seasons on Saturday in Haymarket.  It's Tyler's 2nd season of soccer (and my first as his coach) and Sophia's 7th season of soccer.  Both teams lost on Saturday, but I'm proud of the efforts of both of my children - especially Sophia's first-ever opportunity as a goalie.  It's not an easy gig.  Soccer will be a regular part of our Saturdays until June 8, with a one week break for Memorial Day weekend.  Sophia's schedule will be packed on Saturdays, too, since she has ballet rehearsals every Saturday for a performance of "Don Quixote" at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on May 18-19.  It's gonna get really hectic the week before the shows since rehearsals take place nightly.  April is incredibly busy for us, but May will be astronomically busy.  Wish us luck surviving...