:: eric michael bryant ::

Debbie and I laughed often watching Justin Timberlake at the Espys. If you haven’t seen it, at least check out “I Love Sports” here!

My favorite parts include the way he mocked the Celtics and Kevin Garnett, the Tiger Woods rap, and when he mocked himself for the “wardrobe malfunction.”

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My brother, Scott, and his wife Natalie drove across the country with Anna, Luke, and Reid to spend the week with us. We are excited to show them around our city!

Last night couldn’t have started off more remarkable or stranger. We watched the Dodgers and Angels play at home on the television and saw the Angels throw a no-hitter and lose!

“The only run of the game came when Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp took advantage of two errors in the fifth inning to reach third base and Blake DeWitt drove him home with a sacrifice fly.”

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Have you ever noticed on ESPN’s SportsCenter that during the “Top Plays,” the extraordinary plays are usually coming from the losing team? Next time you watch, notice how many of those featured went on to lose the game.

After a week of playing Ultimate Frisbee at USC, Basketball, Ping Pong, and two softball games with some of my buddies, I had my best moment last night. Our softball team was down by 8 runs in the bottom of the last inning.

We began to work our way back to within 3 runs. There was one man on and two outs when I came up. I have to admit, I haven’t been hitting the ball that well, so I was nervous being up with two outs.

The count in softball in our league is 1 ball and 1 strike before the first pitch, so when the first pitch was a strike I was already down 1 ball and 2 strikes. The next pitch was a ball, but just barely. I almost struck out watching!

The next pitch came sailing down out of the sky and I swung as hard as I could and the ball took off. It kept going and going and going. At first I thought it was going to land right in the right-centerfielder’s glove, but then I saw him turn around and start running towards the outfield wall. The ball landed just beyond his reach and rolled towards the wall. I kept running as fast as I could as the guys yelled at me to run home!

For the first time in my life (at least that I could remember and without the help of throwing errors), I hit a home run!

I now have a new favorite bat: Miken’s “The Freak.”

We were down by 1 run now with 2 outs.

The next batter came up to the plate and popped out. The game was over, and we lost.

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My cousins Mitch and Kyle encouraged me to check out the football championships going on in Europe.  I have to admit, after catching the last 10 minutes of the Croatia vs. Turkey battle, I am hooked (of course I didn’t see the 119 scoreless minutes preceding those last ten)!

After 119 minutes without any goals, Croatia scored!  Then less than a minute or so later with the final whistle about to blow any second, Turkey scored!  Then the match moved to penalty kicks.  Remarkably for the third time in a row, Turkey came from behind to win.

TURKEY’S RUSTU

Even more remarkably, they won with a back up goalkeeper who was replacing the starter who is serving a two game suspension.  Rustu won me over the way he warmly encouraged the Croatians just before the penalty kicks and just after the match ended.

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I have to admit, watching the Lakers lose by 39 points tonight was painful and a sad ending to a remarkable and surprising season. No one expected the Lakers to do so well in a strong Western Conference.

I don’t mean to sound like a sore loser, but I saw one of the dumbest things I have ever seen in the history of winning any championship in any sport. Can you believe Paul Pierce poured Gatorade on Doc Rivers?!?! You can’t pour Gatorade all over a basketball court with time left on the clock!

I must admit, the Celtics beat us badly and deserve the trophy they have won. Even the two games the Lakers won were not impressive wins, and Kobe never got going. Congratulations to the Celtics and their fans.

I am looking forward to next year already. Perhaps, the rivalry is back?!

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When I moved to Los Angeles ten years ago, I chose to cheer for the Clippers. I have hated the Lakers my entire life! Something changed this year though. When two of the Clippers starters went out for the entire season (Livingston and Brand), when Kobe demanded a trade and then decided to play hard anyway, and when the Lakers signed Derek Fisher I admit it, I decided to root for the Lakers.

With Kobe sharing my last name and the three-peat earlier this decade, it has been tempting to root for the Lakers, but I never did or could. I avoided all three championship parades.

The fact they have been winning with a young and improved Andrew Bynum, traded for Pau Gasol, and an MVP season for Kobe have all helped cement my newfound allegiance.

The final factor: I had a chance to go to two Lakers games this season, including last night’s playoff game against the Spurs (the other game I saw was the one when the Lakers beat the Spurs for home court advantage throughout the playoffs).  Last night, we sat on the 6th row!

KOBE’S FREE THROW

As a sports fan and with all of my extended family being in the San Antonio area, I have always rooted for the Spurs. They are an impressive organization with likeable winners like Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, and David Robinson before them.

TIM DUNCAN (JACK NICHOLSON IN THE BACKGROUND)

Last night, I could tell I was truly a Lakers fan. With Kobe scoring 2 points in the first half and with the team down 20 points with less than 18 minutes to go in the game, the Lakers looked destined to lose. With the crowd roaring and celebs all around screaming, the Lakers pulled off a very improbable comeback and win!

TOBEY MAGUIRE

Go Lakers!

(If they don’t win, Go Clippers! and if they don’t win Go Spurs and Mavericks!)

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Check out my friend Gar’s uncanny ability to imitate major league batting stances! This is hilarious!

Red Sox Batting Stances

He has more from the Yankees, Cardinals, and the 1980s.When are you doing the Dodgers, Gar?!?

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Have you heard of Oscar Pistorius? He was born without fibula bones which led the doctors to amputate both of his legs below his knees. He became a runner using “cheetahs,” a type of prosthetic leg. Competing in the paralympics, he has dominated. He is so fast, he could potentially qualify for the Olympics and compete against able-bodied athletes.

The Olympics have banned him from competition claiming his prosthetic legs are really technical aids which have made him faster.

Debbie and I have gone back and forth on this. She feels he should be allowed to participate. I keep changing my mind back and forth. It is almost hilarious that this would even be a debate! A man who is missing both legs below the knees is considered to have an unfair advantage over those who are healthy!

At the same time, there are certain advantages these prosthetic legs give him. In the near future, technology could very easily propel disabled people beyond the capacities of the able-bodied. They also give him disadvantages (traction, coming off the blocks, lateral movement, etc.).

Should he be allowed to participate?

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We had a hard decision last night: go to Caleb’s game (Tiny Rays vs the Tiny Rangers) or go to the Dodgers game.

We made the right decision as Caleb pitched well (1 strike out and 2 walks), and the Rays won their second game (now 2-6)! The highlight was when one of our newer players, Andrew, hit a grand slam. Andrew had never hit a ball in a game and only hit one ball in practice all year! Unfortunately, the Dodgers ended up losing in the 9th inning.

Today is Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball! One of the best moments in Dodgers history was certainly the introduction of Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, the first African American player. The challenges he faced and endured paved the way to create a more integrated sports world and even more importantly a more integrated society.

Check out one of the most remarkable plays in sports history: Jackie Robinson Stealing Home Base Against Yogi Berra

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For the first time in 4 years of baseball, Caleb’s team truly won a game!

In the first two years during teeball, the league doesn’t keep score. There are no winners or losers in teeball. Last year Caleb’s team won one game out of 19. We only won that one because the coach of the other team decided to use that game to let his outfielders play infield and vice versa. We are still grateful. This year, we have started off 0-5.

Today, we came back from a 4 run defecit in the bottom of the last inning (3rd) to win 8-7! Christian got a hit with two outs which scored two runs to win it!

CALEB AT THE BAT!

Our season has had some highlights for Caleb. He caught a pop fly at 2nd base in one game. He has gotten a grounder and thrown out the batter running to first (once from 2nd base and once from right field)!

He has also pitched for the first time ever. The first time he threw his “sinker” pitch every time as he struggled to even throw the ball far enough to get to the catcher. It came in like an underhanded softball pitch and dropped out of the sky. Not one kid on the other team got a hit or even a foul tip. Unfortunately, he walked 4 guys, hit one kid in the head (he was wearing a helmet), and struck out three (thanks to a very generous umpire). This past Thursday night, he pitched again throwing only fast balls which were consistently getting over the plate. He got one strike out and one kid hit a single off of him before time ran out ending the game. The funniest part of his second pitching experience was the way he would shake his head as if agreeing to the signs from the catcher. There were no signs being given!

The kids enjoyed a fun spring break playing with their neighborhood friends. Below are some pics with Trevi:

TREVI, ISABELLA, AND ERICKA

TREVI’S TATOO (temporary of course)

SPRING BREAK SLEEPOVER (Caleb and Trevi)

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