I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: sports

  • Home is the Sailor, Home from the Sea – and the Lady Gamecocks, Home from the Road


    And so apparently Pretty and Slow’s Chicken Road Curse for the Lady Gamecocks is officially stomped out with another road victory yesterday at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Great Balls of Fire – the girls in the Lady G uniforms finished with an 81 – 62 win against a very good Florida team and three very busy refs who loved to blow their whistles more than most refs will do all season. I’m not kidding.

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    Hey, there – we’re the refs…

    and we’ve got these shiny new whistles we like to blow

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    Please don’t play nice –

    we can’t wait to blow our new whistles

     

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    Lady Gs warm up – Gators bonding

    Coach Dawn Staley had her 200th. win at Auburn Thursday night and kept right on sizzling for number 201 Sunday afternoon. Pretty and I love our coach and have to confess we drive by her house sometimes since she lives a few blocks from Casa de Canterbury – no sightings other than seeing her jog by our house early one morning last summer. That was fun. Thanks, Coach Dawn, for keeping us all on track.

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    Hey, there – old lady with the white hair… 

    You look familiar – do I know you?

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    Coach Staley has a teachable moment during the game

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    Everybody, listen up

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    Associate Coach Boyer has a word with #22 A’ja Wilson who scored 23 points and had 13 rebounds

    (and also scared us to death with an ankle injury in the 4th. quarter – sending good wishes for her speedy recovery)

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    Bianca, did you understand what she just said?

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    #10 Allisha Gray had a big game with 18 points – 

    (everybody takes plenty of notes)

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    The halftime entertainment was an amazing woman 

    who committed unnatural acts right in front of us

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    Never in my wildest dreams

    When the game was over, Pretty and I made our way back to our dogs who had spent two hours in the car with the windows properly ventilated and were thrilled to have our company as we started the 400-mile trip home to Casa de Canterbury.

    All’s well that ends well, as The Red Man was fond of saying, and we arrived home safely in time to catch Meryl Streep on the Golden Globes last night. Wouldn’t have missed her for the world – she was a wonderful reminder of the importance of our resistance to inertia in the days to come in the face of what we know is wrong. Everybody, listen up.

    Finally, there is good news and bad news for us as we settle back in at Casa de Canterbury. The good news is I was able to purchase a new Road Atlas at a truck stop in Georgia yesterday on the way home  – that makes me very happy and eager for another road trip.

    The bad news is Pretty has a horrible cold which puts a damper on her usual good spirits, and Charly destroyed two leashes by chewing them in pieces that can never be put back together again – much like Humpty Dumpty after his great fall.

    Bless us for a safe trip, as Granny Selma used to say when she was in her right mind.

    Stay tuned.

  • Auburn Breaks Pretty and Slow’s Road Trip Chicken Curse!


    The Lady Gamecocks rolled into Auburn, Alabama with their game faces on and had an amazing first quarter that led to their victory in a gorgeous Auburn Arena which held two bus loads of loyal Gamecock fans and a few of us who made the trip on our own.

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    Next one to miss a free throw…

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    Lord, I can’t watch – makes me too nervous

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    Davis in deep, deep concentration before the game – 

    (she scored a USC record 19 points in first quarter) 

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    Pretty before the game – feeling optimistic

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    Elaina Coates ready to play

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    Captains Confab with refs before game

    (better known as Let’s All Play Nice)

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    Star-Spangled Banner

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    Gamecocks didn’t quite maintain the first quarter intensity and points but played well and managed to score 73 points before all was said and done. Auburn struggled in the first quarter but came back to score 47 points as their defense held our Bigs to the fewest points they’ve had this year so very good effort from the Tigers. Unfortunately, our guards were On Fire and hit 14 of 28 from the three-point line which was another record night.

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    Everybody happy as they left the battlefield

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    Pretty happiest of all – Road Trip Curse broken!!

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    Coach Staley hugs Lady G Road Warriors

    Pretty and I discovered why War Eagle Nan loves her Auburn University – it’s a special place. We even got to see the War Eagles themselves when they posed for celebrity photos prior to the game behind our seats. They look ferocious but were tolerant of the paparazzi.

    All in all, the Auburn experience was a Memory Maker, as Granny Selma used to say when she was in her right mind.

    But…we were all dragging by the time we got back to the motel…Spike and Charly stayed in the car while we went to the game, and Charly destroyed her leash to punish us. Oh, well.

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    Road Trip continues as we make our way to Gainesville for the Florida game Sunday afternoon.

    Stay tuned.

  • Boys, You Better Hide Our Car Keys – Quick!


    Our Lady Gamecocks scored 93 points in their spectacular win over Alabama in the SEC opener this past Sunday, and of course, Pretty and I were there…along with our transplanted New York friends Jenn and Donna who were happy to fill in for our regular Gay Boy Basketball Buddies that were somewhere up in the mountains of North Carolina celebrating New Year’s Day.  Well, I never. Priorities, gentlemen.

    Lunch at the Colonial Life Arena before the 2:00 p.m. tip-off was a toss-up between Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles or The Cake Lady’s chicken salad sandwich on the always over-sized croissant, but Kiki’s won out for three of us. Pretty maintained her level head and did not succumb to the aroma of the best fried chicken in town mixed with the sweet smell of maple syrup for the waffle so she was our designated photographer. Thanks, Pretty. You’re the best.

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    Y-u-m-m-eeeeeeeeeee!

    And so, as we threatened our Gay Boy Basketball Buddies last week at the UCLA game, off we go to the Auburn game at Auburn Thursday night.  (War Eagle Nan, we wish we could talk you into going with us and showing us the sights of your Alma mater?)

    We hope the Lady Gamecocks kick the Slow and Pretty Road Game Chicken Curse we apparently take with us whenever we decide to follow them, but GBBB, just in case, I’d be looking to hide our car keys right away if I were you and cared anything about keeping our Number 5 spot in the polls.

    ROAD TRIP!! Yee Haw! Let the good times roll…and let the Lady Gamecocks roll with them…Coach Staley, we’re counting on you to keep those girls fired up – and ready to go!

    Game on.

     

  • It’s Raining 3’s, Hallelujah!


    The basketball leaves Kaela Davis’s hands as she stands behind the line that separates the mundane from the magical; it seems to be suspended at the top of a long slow arc toward the rafters and then swish! comes down cleanly through the rim with the sweetest sound in basketball, the ball passing through the hoop with nothing but the grace of the shooter surrounding it.

    Wow – Davis was on fire yesterday for Coach Staley’s USC Lady Gamecocks as she was responsible for six 3-pointers to lead the 3-point parade of a Dawn Staley – era record of 16 during the Gamecocks win over Minnesota at home in the Colonial Life Arena. Allisha Gray had four more, and Ty Harris added three to help erase our memory of last week’s performance against Duke at their storied Cameron Indoor Stadium. We were six of twenty-three from the 3-point range in that less-than-stellar loss.

    Ugh. Pretty and I traveled to the Duke game last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on our first visit to Duke University – loved the campus.

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    We Believe in Diversity

    What’s not to like about a school that embraces diversity?

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    Morris Williams Stadium

    Or what’s not to like about a university that names a stadium after me and Pretty? Have mercy – our first stadium namesake.

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    Cameron Indoor Stadium

    Or a major university that refuses to cave to commercialism and leaves its basketball court just like it was when the pilgrims played on it?

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    The smiles of our selfie were before that game when we were still having fun “oohing and aahing” over the bleachers inside Cameron blissfully unaware of the dangers of another “away” game for us. Our record is not good with our favorite Lady G’s when we take to the road with them.

    Our first road trip was to the Final Four in Tampa Bay, Florida in 2015 where we played Notre Dame…and lost.

    Our second road trip was earlier this year to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the Round of 16 game against Syracuse…and lost. That was a LONG ride home.

    Which brings us to last weekend’s shorter trip to Durham, North Carolina for the Duke game that, as I said earlier, we lost.

    Three road trips…three losses…we were talking yesterday about going to Savannah, Georgia next week for the game against Savannah State, and our Basketball Buddy Garner threatened to take away our car keys. Please don’t go, he said. I just can’t take it any more.

    Hm. Something to mull over.

    In the meantime, It’s Raining 3’s, Hallelujah!

     

  • P.S. Stan the Man


    Stan Wawrinka won the 2016 Men’s Final at the US Open today in four sets after losing the first set in a tie-breaker. He appeared to get stronger each set as the match continued for nearly four hours. At 31 years and five months, he is the oldest man to win the US Open since Ken Rosewall in 1970. Congratulations to Stan for a thrilling match and a remarkable example of courage and determination!