I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: sports

  • March Madness starts Women’s History Month for Pretty and me

    March Madness starts Women’s History Month for Pretty and me


    Women’s History Month for Pretty and me begins with March Madness every year. While we fall woefully short of being perfect card-carrying lesbians in areas like do it yourself home improvements and/or knowing all the lyrics to Brandi Carlisle’s music – no disrespect to Brandi Carlisle whose songs we do love – we get better marks for being lesbian in two unrelated categories: devotion to our dogs (and now cats), obsession with sports (particularly women’s college basketball and professional tennis).

    This first March weekend we kept I-26 hot driving a hundred miles north to Greenville, South Carolina from our home in West Columbia and riding the same hundred miles back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to watch the University of South Carolina Gamecock Women’s basketball team play in the 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament. We rode with two of our gay boys’ basketball buddies who cheer with us in our very loud Section 118 of the Colonial Life Arena during the regular season for every home game.

    (clockwise) Garner, Brian, Pretty and me

    standing in line on beautiful day in Greenville at Bon Secours Wellness Arena

    Garner and me with Carolina logo featuring our

    Gamecock mascot The General

    Garner took this pic of me and ESPN analyst Holly Rowe on College Game Day

    (Holly Rowe is the person in pink – Gamecock fans behind me)

    Pretty and I love our Gamecock women’s basketball team

    the smiling faces of Champions – 2023 SEC tournament

    (2022-23 regular season Champions, too with perfect record of 16-0 in the conference)

    Photo by DWAYNE MCLEMORE, The State Newspaper

    Head Coach Dawn Staley also happy as she cuts the net

    photo by DWAYNE MCLEMORE, The State Newspaper

    Head Coach Dawn Staley was named SEC Coach of the Year for the sixth time in 2023 as she completes her 15th. season with the University of South Carolina; the 2023 Tournament Championship win marked the seventh SEC title in the past nine seasons. Coach Staley’s Gamecock teams have won National Championships in 2017 and 2022, but the best team may be her current one which has an overall record of 32-0 staying in the #1 spot of the AP Poll every week from the beginning of the year. The 16-0 regular season record for the Gamecock women made them conference champions for the sixth time under Coach Staley. This team is one for the record books, but what is a remarkable team without great players?

    The names of seniors Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere, Victaria Saxton, Kiera Fletcher, and Olivia Thompson will leave behind a stellar history for women’s Gamecock basketball not only for their team championships on the basketball court but also individual records that set high standards for the players who come after them. These young women have been inspirational in their dedication to their craft, community, and loyal fans who look forward to following their futures.

    Thank you, Coach Staley, for guiding your teams to greatness – it’s been such a fun ride for your fan base which includes Pretty and me. More than that, however, thank you for preparing your players for making our world a better place.

    ***********************

    Slava Ukraini. For the children.

  • never play this game after midnight

    never play this game after midnight


    If you only had two words to describe me, what would they be? I asked Pretty night before last when we were in bed and both still awake after midnight.

    The Australian Open began this week – the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2023 – my professional tennis addiction would be in full display for the next two weeks. Oh yes, I watch the events “live” on Australia time which means play begins at 7:00 p.m. my time and continues throughout the night until someone (me) is asleep in front of the Telly. Pretty hangs for a while but goes to bed around 10 o’clock. Pretty is a bit of a wuss, Mate.

    But I digress. On this particular night the AO had just started, and I wasn’t quite in match shape yet so I had come to bed a little before midnight only to find Pretty up late finishing a book she loved. I took my bedtime meds which tend to make me a little chatty with Pretty who prefers peace and quiet and no bedtime meds if possible. I climbed into bed, got under the covers and for some reason I can’t remember decided to play a two-word game with Pretty who admittedly tried to ignore me at first.

    Ok, I said, I know what two words I would use to describe you. Funny and smart. Yep, 100% funny and smart are the two words that come to my mind immediately if you asked me to describe you in just two words. Of course, I have lots of other words, too, but those are the first two words.

    Silence.

    Ok, I said, now what are the first two words you would use to describe me?

    Hm, Pretty said. Well, of course I would say Funny right off the bat. For sure Funny, but I’m having a little trouble with the second word. I’m trying to think of a second one, but hm…is dogged a word?

    Dogged? I asked. Didn’t you mean something like determined?

    No, Pretty said. I’d have to say stronger than determined, and she turned a page in the book she was reading.

    How about persistent? I tried.

    No, definitely not persistent, she replied. Much, much more than persistent, she added.

    I continued to run other words past Pretty who never looked up from her book: tenacious? purposeful? focused? resolute? She continued to shake her head with each guess I offered.

    No, she said, I’m staying with my original “dogged.”

    But you weren’t even sure what that word meant, I protested.

    I just remembered, Pretty said. At this point she sighed, closed her book, and reached to turn off her light.

    Not to be outdone I looked up “dogged” in my Webster’s Thesaurus today in the bright light of day – the synonym given was “stubborn.”

    Point taken. I should have been thankful for Funny – and let it go.

    ***************************

    Slava Ukraini. For the children.

  • weekend specials popular at the Cardinal Cat Cafe

    weekend specials popular at the Cardinal Cat Cafe


    excuse me, I’m new here, but are the specials usually this popular?

    *********************

    Yes, they’re as popular as popcorn at the Gator Bowl.

    our three year old granddaughter Ella at her first football game!

  • the hideout – revisited on Friday the 13th., 2023

    the hideout – revisited on Friday the 13th., 2023


    On Friday the 13th. of July, 2018, I posted this piece. Time passes, moments are fleeting, but these thoughts hang around while the wind blows a winter’s chill that moves the tall naked sticks that once were trees outside my window this afternoon. I needed a bit of fun, a bit of cheer. Maybe you do, too. Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when Pretty and I were just a couple of cowpokes in the Wyoming summer...

    Alas, Pretty and Number One Son Drew are winging their way toward Las Vegas on this Friday the 13th. and all of us at Casita de Cardinal will be happy to know they have landed safely tonight. Charly, Spike and I were quite the forlorn threesome when Pretty and her suitcase rolled out of the house this morning. Luckily, I have had an epic Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Semifinal match that lasted over 6 hours to keep my mind occupied today, but tennis has not been a source of comfort for Charly and Spike, I’m afraid. Sigh. Oh, well, it is Friday the 13th.

    In times like these, I often resort to pictures of previous places I have been that make me happy to revisit. One such place was on a trip Pretty and I took 9 years ago with two of our favorite friends, Linda and Beth, to a dude ranch called the Hideout in Shell, Wyoming. Yeehaw. We cowboy.

    Beth (l.) gets credit for planning the adventures

    Pretty embraced the concept…

    Linda (l.) and a wannabe cowgirl Kristi the Kid from Scotland

    another wannabe cowgirl (me) on the left with

    real cowgirl Linda and guide Stewart on the trail

    my horse the oversized Wapiti who was wonderful,

    but oh, so very WIDE…ouch, my aching butt

    this cowgirl needed lots of breaks

    this cowgirl didn’t ever need a break

    the views on the trail were almost as gorgeous as the smiles

    BUT as fate would have it, I was happiest when I was playing Scrabble…

    …and Wapiti was in the pasture having fun with the other horses

    I hope all of my friends in cyberspace have a safe Friday the 13th., a great weekend and wonderful memories of your own Hideouts when you need them.

    ********************

    Slava Ukraini. For the children.

     

     

     

  • a child’s question

    a child’s question


    the Pride flag and the broom

    Last week I saw our 3 year old granddaughter Ella trying her best to strike our Pride flag with a broom she found in the back yard. I watched as she struggled to swing the broom handle several times in the air with increasing agitation each time she flailed without success.

    “Ella,” I said. “What in the world are you doing? That’s our Pride flag – it’s very important to your nanas.”

    “I’m waiting for the candy to fall,” she answered with a withering look in my direction.

    Lol.

    Ella and Pretty at the Gamecock Women’s basketball game several days later

    “Nana, did any candy ever fall out of your Pride flag?”

    We had to report no candy yet.

    ****************************

    Slava Ukraini. For the children.