Dateline Dayton — Early last Saturday morning we traveled to Cincinnati to see our granddaughter Madi play basketball. Her father, our son Bill, is the assistant coach of the team. I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Their team, our team, lost 38 to 5.
After the game, we came back to Dayton. I wanted to purchase tickets to see Yanni as a Christmas gift for Pauline. Once that was accomplished, we enjoyed a late breakfast.
In the afternoon we went to the Kia dealership, where we purchased our Soul, for a new buyers program. It was disorganized but worth the time because they served pizza – I downed two slices — and we were able to ask useful questions.
From the dealership, it was on to granddaughter Julia’s basketball game. This time our side won by 22 points.
However, I got myself in trouble. Beware of the wrath of a patient man.
I never have been a real sports fan, except I do like my Dayton Dragons baseball team. I find myself watching more sports than I ever have. Sometimes commissioners, players and coaches just do not set a good example. Pete Rose still is banned from baseball, but you can run dog fights, do drugs, beat your wife/girlfriend, drive drunk, and you might draw a suspension of a few games.
Back to my granddaughter’s game. She plays on the freshman team, but also is a member of the junior varsity for Carroll High, a Catholic school where you would think the coach would be doing what is best for the team — not trying to make a name for himself.
Carroll never was behind, and consistently led by 13 to 20 points.
Where Is Julia?
By the start of the fourth quarter and our granddaughter has not played. I thought for sure the coach would take out part of the first string and put other players in. He did not. I became vocal. My few choice comments about his coaching ability were not enjoyed by my wife or my son.
Julia did finally get to play the last 2:33 of the game. She fared as well or better than the other players. My theory is, and I may be wrong, if you are winning by a good margin or losing big, give all of your players as much playing time as you can so they can learn. I believe this is the purpose of junior varsity, not enhancing the coach’s ego!
On Sunday Pauline and I were at the Dayton Women’s Club’s Victorian Buffet. I was supposed to be Santa Claus. Since there were no children, I decided not to dress. That did not hurt my feelings. Pauline and I enjoyed a very good meal in a beautiful setting.
Monday was a sad day for us at CUC. We learned of the death of our president and my boss, Jack. Jack was much more than my boss. A true friend, we spent a lot of time solving the problems of the world. We always agreed that the first thing that needed be done was to rid Washington of the bums only looking out for themselves. We shared many discussions on where you got the best breakfast at a reasonable price. I will truly miss Jack, but he has trained his son. Jay will do a good job leading our company.
Our daughter and her family arrived on yesterday. Last evening we, along with most of Dayton, were at Marion’s Piazza for pizza. Today we will be celebrating Christmas with our son Bill and his family in Cincinnati because he will be unable to join us on Saturday, when the rest of our family will celebrate.
Merry Christmas!
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net