Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Sports



Christopher loved to play.  One of his favorite subjects in school was recess… if that’s a subject?  It was for him.  In high school he took extra gym classes if he had a free period.  I came to find this out after her passed when some of his friends were telling me funny stories.
Chris would play with anyone of any ability.  He just loved to be out and about.  If his friends were busy he spent time with the younger ones and had just as much fun.  The variety of things Chris liked to do was extensive and I’m glad I have photos of him engaged in many of his favorites.
One of the earliest sports Chris was enrolled in was tee-ball.  I remember the tiny baseball fields over on Woodin Road where the little kids were placed way back in the soggy corner that never seemed to drain.   That little field was no match for Chris even at five years old.  He could hammer the baseball off the tee and into the parking lot.  He was quite the bruiser, he hit more than one car over the years!  Oops.  I recall the opposing coaches would move all the players back by the edge of the field when Chris stepped up to bat.  He never failed to make contact along with a sprint to first base, if not all the way around the diamond. :-)

Chris adored swimming and fishing too.  Most anything around water seemed to peak his interest.  As a little kid he could barely sit still for any length of time but put a fishing rod in his hand and all of a sudden he could stay on task, patiently waiting for nibble at his pole.  Funny how I was convinced he had an attention problem until all of a sudden fishing spurred his calmness.  There’s something soothing about the water, being in it or by it…




There were many organized sports Chris played over the years.  Besides football he was on the soccer team, lacrosse team, ran track, bowled and was in ski club.  He was very active and seemed to have a knack for being able to hold his own regardless of the sport.  Some he excelled at more than others but if there was a game going on he was happy to give it a try and jump in.   
Seems the one sport he never quite took to so far as joining the team was basketball.  He liked to play in pick-up games and he did that fairly often at the YMCA but he never did join at SHEN.  Oh, he also wasn’t much of a hockey player either – matter of fact we never made it to try-outs because he had so much trouble skating.  What a disaster those lessons were.  OMG he had the biggest sores on his ankles and feet from the hockey skates.  His wide feet just weren’t comfy.  He hobbled around for days once we gave up on the ice.  Flip flops came in handy as he mended.  How can a kid ski but not skate?  Aren’t the boots just as tight as the skates?  Well, whatever, it just wasn’t the sport for Chris but he loved cheering for the SHEN hockey team and has several friends that play.
                                                     (No wrestling pictures)
One sport I never cared for was wrestling.  It grossed me out completely and I can say whole heartedly I didn’t mind when Chris opted not to continue (sorry Coach Weeks!).  The year Chris got ringworm was more than enough for me.  I much preferred to stick with the sweatiness of football any day.
I did like to watch Chris lift weights.  He had beefy, powerful legs (which is why he wore shorts most of the year).  He enjoyed competing with his friends during the linemen challenges or even just in the weight room at school.  He cracked me up when he returned home in the evening after a long workout with his old lady groans as he took each step up the stairwell! :-)

Chris has a nice set of golf clubs hanging in the garage.  He liked to play with his dad as well as his cousin Bob.  They would go spend a day on the links every now and then and come home red as lobsters.  They liked dragging their clubs from hole to hole and then finishing out the day with a hearty dinner in the clubhouse.  It was usually an all-day event when they ventured out.
Is paintball a sport?  Well Chris and Jeremy both loved it.  That and laser tag.  We had all the paintball gear and I recall spending oodles of money on a variety of colored balls as well as helmets and guns and entry fees to the arenas.  Seemed like a good place for boys birthday parties too, we held and attended them fairly often at these sorts of places.  We also held target practice in the yard from time to time.  Oh yes, we had a few colored trees back there!  Seems we never had enough black clothing on hand either.  It’s very important not to be seen you know.  I wish I had my Tide with Febreeze back then, those stained pants and sweatshirts were a soggy mess.
Chris had a few favorite professional teams that he followed.  He loved the Philadelphia Eagle’s as well as the Boston Red Sox and the NY Rangers.  I’m glad he got to see each of them play a few times.  He liked going to the big stadiums and having a day full of friends, food and excitement.  Yes, Chris had fun playing or watching.  I’m glad he was fully involved in surrounding himself with sports.

Thank you for reading.





14 comments:

  1. I love to read about Chris. How blessed you are to be his mom <3

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  2. Great stories. I love reading them! ...but ick! Ringworm!!! Yeah, I've never been fond of wrestling either.

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  3. I love to read about Chris too, these last few blogs have left me speechless. Today I had to laugh, my son is in 8th and says his favorite period in school is lunch, recess is a close second. Thanks for sharing, we keep praying and thinking of you all. I am looking forward to meeting you at the breakfast, my friend from high school is putting it on and I signed up to help out, its looking like quite the event!

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  4. Love reading your blog. My oldest tried wrestling this year, and, sadly, I can totally relate to the ringworm reference. YUCK!! On another note, my youngest is currently on the cusp of outgrowing his lacrosse gear. The thing is, it is Chris's old gear - handed down to us by Peter T.! Please let me know if you have any special requests for what we should do with it. Between Chris, Peter, and now AJ, that helmet has seen its share of happy, active, scrappy boy sweat!!

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  5. I love boys that are involved in sports. WOW Chris was a very busy boy. My son loves watching wrestling, we go to every WWE Event that comes to the Times Union. His gym teacher this year approached him (he is in the sixth grade) whom is also the high school wrestling coach , wanting Matthew to do modified wrestling cause he is built like your Chris , well he made it to 2 practices and he DOES NOT CARE FOR IT AT ALL.... thank god... He is all about baseball and football...i told him if he doesn't like it don't worry buddy you don't have to. I guess he would rather just LOVE to be a Fan of wrestling instead of rolling around with a bunch of sweaty guys. Ahahahah. Hope your day is great xxxxxxx

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  6. Dear Regina,

    Do you recall the commercials Bo knows... Well it looks like you could have made one Chris knows...I love that he loved so many different sports and was willing to give them all a try! My son too played nearly every sport there is for kids to play organized and pick-up(but he has two parents that are both PE teachers so that was encouraged,he was good too at them all except ironically basketball{His dad is a college basketball coach}He did play through his JR year in HS.He was a great defender, but boy he had an ugly shot and he knew it!). He just turned 21 and he and his friends still like to play! He settled with lacrosse in college he plays Div II lax.

    I have to tell you honestly...I now you are very truthful about Chris and you have never made him out to be perfect...but PHEW! I am glad to see he does have a one very serious flaw...Really the RED SOX?!!! How could you allow that geez...Yankees is the team you should have encouraged him to like...hahahaha...It's ok the men in my house like the Mets... at least though the Mets are in a different league!!! So I can forgive them somewhat! ;) But, Chris redeems himself cause her likes the Blue Shirts!!!Go Rangers!!!!

    Thanks, for the smile today I needed it!!!

    God Bless, XO

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  8. Regina – Starting this for the 2nd time. There was a computer “blip” that had me stopped in my tracks and I think I double clicked the wrong button and all of a sudden my comment says it was removed by author! Since it took me so long to write it, you can bet I didn’t delete it on purpose! 

    When I posted my first comment, my robot test today had the numbers 2169! It made me smile.

    So to try to recapture what I wrote… But probably can’t so it’ll be totally different!

    You have quite a gift of painting pictures with your shares. (This I did say twice!) I felt like I either relived your younger sports filled years with Chris or I was taken back to my sports filled years with my son Jeff which seem so familiar. You have a gift! I know I was reading your words, but I was taken back to my memories. From as early back as his motor skills were functioning less than awkwardly he was all about sports. From the time he could sit and comprehend words, he could do the motions for touchdown! You know, the equivalent to “SO big”. When he would stumble and fall, we would yell “safe” with the wave of the hands and he would get up and move on! As far back as I can remember sports have been the sole love of his life. I can remember him being almost 3 years old and the countless hours I would be out in the courtyard outside of our apartment pitching to him. Over and over again wishing I had one of those automatic pitching machines! However, if I did have one of those I would have missed out on some very precious moments! This I know now, looking back.

    The list of sports is endless… and all he was so natural at! Tee-ball, baseball, indoor and outdoor soccer, street basketball, bowling, track all 3 seasons during his high school times, swimming in the ocean, boogy boarding, golf (his new found like since he cannot do contact sports anymore), rollerblading hockey (no ice skating). To answer your question, ice skates really don’t have the strength in the boots like skiing boots do. Rollerblades do, but ice skates, not so much. Jeff even landed a part time job for a while with the Albany Devils.

    Being permanently injured to the point where he can never play contact sports again (football injury to his spine) he has shifted his passion for sports to try to become a Sports Broadcaster. He was pretty good on air at Plattsburgh, so we are hoping that will take him to the next step in his career. He is now shadowing the weekend sports guy at the station and hoping to get his foot into that department and slowly move up the ladder! His dream to be an announcer for the Boston Red Sox is still out there, but he’s realistic! He was pretty jealous that his sister got to play the bagpipes on the Green Monster, but in a happy way!  We have many fond family memories of Fenway games as he is a HUGE dedicated Red Sox fan, and out of respect for him, we are too, to keep the peace in the family!

    Your writing and sharing has given me many hours of, not only learning about you and Chris, but the opportunity to go back and relive some of my fondest memories. For that I thank you.

    God bless...

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  9. Hi Regina ! Wonderful blog ! My daughter Dominica was in Chris's gym class this year ! She was always saying how fun he was and that she's never seen anyone love gym like he did ! She actually looked forward to it ! She said he was a bundle of energy ! Clearly she was correct!

    I just accidentally posted this under the Zumba blog..and i wanted you to know that when i posted it under the zumba..the thing came up like it always does where you need to enter certain letters and numbers to be able to post..and the number that came up was "169"! I think that was a sign..Hi Chris!
    God bless u!



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  10. Hi Regina! Seems as though Chris kept you on your toes ALL the time. What a great childhood he had and how wonderful that God and his parents were able to provide that for him.

    Kennedy is 6 and LOVES Tball, soccer and Pop Warner football. He wants to play hockey so bad but he's never been on skates so I know he will need a lot of practice. I hope I'll be able to provide like you have to your children.

    God. Bless.
    Hugs Lela

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    1. Lela - sign Kennedy up for learn to skate for hockey. CP Youth Hockey has a program and they will teach him how to skate. The kids learn so quickly it is amazing! My son has been playing since kindergarten and had never been on skates!

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  11. Regina - I love how active Chris was and I am sure still is! I love the fact that he would play with the young kids as well as his friends. He was special not many older ones want to play with the younger ones!

    He is one special individual!

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  12. Regina
    Sports is the one big thing that my youngest whose name is Christopher and I share. We watch almost everything. Baseball, football, Nascar and even wwe. We have a blast. He will be playing baseball again this year and he even made the travel team for the first time. He is so excited. I so look toward to his games. I am unfortunately the only family member that goes to all his games to cheer him on. His grandma and uncle do make a couple of games but its not the same as having a cheering squad in your corner. I hope me being his biggest cheerleader will be good enough. Thank you for sharing and God bless.

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  13. I'm really behind in reading your blog. My son, Eric, wants to try every sport out there. He's only 8 so we have some time, but the commit kids need to make to play a team sport nowadays, takes time away from them trying new ones. it's a struggle....a good one but still a struggle.

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