Touch ’em all Joe!

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Last week I watched Edwin Encarnación destroy Rogers Centre on loop for a good five minutes. But that isn't even the greatest walk off in Jays history. You know where…

Kawhi’s ‘The Shot’ Feels like it was 5 Years ago

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Kawhi's shot

As we slowly navigate 2021, any joyful memory of recent years can provide a small moment where you forget the present. That’s what the 2-year anniversary of Kawhi’s Leonard’s series-clinching buzzer beater did for me this week.

Oddly enough, on the day I took the most important ‘shot’ of my life, I was reminded that Wednesday, May 19th, would be two years since every basketball fan held their breath as a ball bounced around the rim four times.

Kyle Lowry, Walter White, March Madness and More

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Well it’s Mid-March and we are officially a year into this mess known as the pandemic and now the media is pushing the arrival of the third wave. Cool.

Does anyone else feel like March 2020 and March 2021 have merged? Thank goodness I have an Instagram feed to remind me that the last 12 months existed. Seriously, if I close my eyes, I can instantly go back to this time last year and it feels like it is now. We were on the kid’s March Break, or March Broke as I was calling it, and trying to navigate staying busy with the boys.

It’s been a year since signing up for Disney +. It’s been a year since I started playing Red Dead Redemption. It’s been a year since I watched no March Madness.

Anyways, how are you? How is life going for you? Gotten your vaccine yet?

How about a brain dump?

My Son Actually Picked The Biggest Upset in NCAA Basketball History

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umbc upset

The following story is as true as it is hard to believe.

It’s always easy to look back once history has been made and say, I called that, but sometimes, it’s just how it goes. As we head to the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio, something I thought would never be mentioned again, came up today while I walked the kids to school.

The something that came up? Well it’s a tale that Harry may hold over me for the history of time. He made a choice and then changed it thanks to something I said.

  • A true, Dad, I can’t believe you stopped me from predicting history.
  • Dad, remember the time I made that pick and it came true and you used your bias to sway me?
  • Dad you owe me money.

What the hell am I talking about? Well as they say on the National, first a little back story.

In Our House It’s All About The Blue Jays #OurMoment

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blue jays family

Dad did the Jays win last night?

Did Joshie hit a home run?

Did Pillar make a crazy catch??

Can we go to another game?

These are all daily questions in our house. From April until October, the Toronto Blue Jays take over the chatter in our family and it was a perfect storm of events that got us to that point.

First, our boys are of the age where baseball becomes fun and interesting. Harry (6) went to his first game two years ago and has been hooked ever since.

Charlie (3) just wants to do and like what his big brother likes, so it was easy for him to become a Junior Jay.

They play in the backyard. Harry has entered the world of organized teeball and baseball. Their Nana has been doing her best to promote her Jays fandom for years. It was bound to stick at some point.

Second, we moved back to Toronto in 2014. That meant hearing about the Jays in the news more. That meant actually being able to go to the games. That meant getting caught up in the hype very easily.

Third, that hype. The Jays are good. They are really good. That makes everyone excited to the point where we watch almost every game on TV now. I certainly did not do that a few years ago. Forget House of Cards, my wife and I end up watching Buck and Pat.

So you combine seeing the game through the eyes of your kids, being close to the action and the team challenging for a World Series and that is how it all went down.

Never Stop The Madness

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March! I love it. The weather changes, the days get longer and there is this little basketball tournament that takes over my life. We all know it as March Madness, and I hope it never stops.

I tested my brain the other day and tried to remember as far back as I could on what year I started watching. This is going to really age me, but I got back as far as 1986. Louisville won it all and I was hooked for the next 30 years and counting. Yes, when the tourney fires up this week, it will be my 30th watching on TV.

So many highs and lows. I have seen my team, Michigan, win once and lose a handful of times in dramatic fashion. The players come and go, but the name on the front of the jersey stays true.

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There is no other sporting event like it. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can get wrapped up into buzzer beaters and upsets. You don’t have to know anything about the sport or the players, all you need is a heart.

How I Got My Baseball Groove Back

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Baseball. It has been my best friend, my worst enemy, and everything in between. I used to love it. I used to hate it. But thanks to being a dad and those dang Toronto Blue Jays, as Jay Z would say, I think I got my swagger back.

Baseball has once again become a big part of my life. I even have my first glove since I was a teen.

For those who knew me as a kid, you would remember my sticker collections, building mini stadiums in my room, and of course knowing every single
baseball stat there was (BEFORE THE INTERNET).

I grew up as a Detroit Tigers fan and that meant despising the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, I f’in hated George Bell, Dave Stieb, and every dude associated with them.

I never played organized baseball, but I played and played often with neighbourhood buddies. I saw myself as the Canadian Mark McGwire before there was a Mark McGwire.

I dug the long ball before I even knew about the chicks.

Just sitting here now, if I really try hard, my first memory of watching MLB was the World Series when the Cardinals and Brewers squared off in 1982. I remember Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, and just have friggen fast those Cardinals were.

Have I proved to you how much I loved baseball yet?