Early Christmas

We had our early Christmas with Lawson's parents today. We had already finished opening our presents when I realized that I didn't have my camera out to take pictures so I had to take pictures after the fact. Brantley got a set of Tech Deck boards and skate park pieces. He also got a nice check to put into his education savings account which got big hugs for Grandma and Pop. Lawson got a new Predators jersey. I got this beautiful Gail Pittman bowl and a gift card to my FAV store NY and Company. We also got a very nice check. Too save or not to save, that is the question here. We gave Grandma and Pop Titan's huddlers to go along with their year of Blockbuster. I think they should wear them to the game tomorrow.After presents we went to Outback for dinner where I was so disappointed. I ALWAYS get the Queensland salad and they have taken it off the menu. Boo Outback. We hadn't been there since April and they still had it then. I guess they changed their menu this summer. The food was still good though and the Wallabydarneds were excellent!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Enjoying some snow

We never get snow. Last winter we had one really good snow. It actually wasn't that great because it was followed by ice so it was really weird to walk on. It's snowing today. And, it's not just flurries. We've got about 3 inches or so and it's still coming down. And, it's EARLY December. Maybe we'll have a chance for a white Christmas this year. Brantley has been checking the weather every 5 minutes all day long. He is so excited and can't wait to hear the news that school will be out tomorrow. They haven't announced it yet, but I'm guessing they will.

Mel the Crab

I was worried about Mel this morning. He has been a very active crab, but lately he hasn't really been moving about much. When I looked in on him this morning he as sitting in his food shell not really moving. I picked him up and he moved a little so I figured he was eating. When we got home, Brantley and I both exclaimed, "Oh no!" This is what we saw.We thought he came out of his shell and died. As I reached in to pick up his shell I was relieved to see him still in there. Apparently he molted during the day today. I didn't think he would do it out in the open like that. Hermie always buried himself when he would molt so we never really saw it. He would just disappear for a while. You could always look under the bottom of the aquarium and could usually see him moving. So, Mel lives to see another day. Wonder if he will actually look bigger when he's done?

Brantley will never be a pilot.

I took Brantley today for his first eye exam with an optometrist. His pediatrician always has him read an eye chart at his annual exam, but there are other tests that an optometrist performs that are important. I chose this eye doctor after I saw him earlier this year. I had been putting off my annual exam because I was dreading having my eyes dilated. A friend from work went to this eye doctor and she said they take a picture of your retina with a special camera and they don't have to dilate your eyes. Insurance doesn't cover it, but I think it should. They keep the pictures on file and can compare them from year to year. They are able to pull it up on the computer and they show you your optic nerve and all the parts inside. It's very cool. The doctor is really nice also and I thought Brantley would like him.

Brantley was a little apprehensive at first. All that big equipment can make you a bit nervous. They took pictures of the inside of his eyes. He didn't have to have his eyes dilated or have the puff of air. When we went into the exam room he read the chart with no real problem. Then, she got out the color test book. He got one right. That's all. ONE! He is completely color blind. I was rather surprised since he's never had any trouble identifying any colors. Apparently he has learned what they look like to him, but he doesn't see the same colors that we see. I'm fascinated by this and wonder what the world looks like through his eyes. On the circles below, he can only read the 25. He can't see any of the other numbers.
I found this image that shows what colors look like to those who are color blind. I wonder which one is him?
Other than the color blindness, his vision is perfectly fine. He is right eye dominant (just like me). The eye doctor even checked his baseball stance and said what he does is perfect. He said to not ever let anyone tell him to bring his lead foot in. The way he does it, he's looking at the ball with his dominant eye. He even brought in a basketball and had Brantley dribble for him. It was really interesting hear the medical science behind his sport techniques. Brantley thought he was really cool and had a great time. So, he'll never be a pilot but maybe he will be a star baseball player!

Breast Cancer Awareness

For the first time since Brantley has been playing baseball, our baseball club decided to have a breast cancer awareness day. They painted pink ribbons on the field and the boys all wore pink wristbands to show their support. They were all great about it. Brantley even wanted to wear pink cleats. Grandma took some pictures of the game for me and got some great action shots. It was a great game. The Raptors came back for being down 0-7 to win 12 to 11. It was really exciting, albeit it bit disappointing for Brantley to score the winning run in on a walk. The bases were loaded for him and the pitcher walked him. Oh well!

Fall Break

For Fall Break we went to Chicago to finally meet Brantley's new cousin. He's almost 3 months old and this has been our first chance to visit. It was actually nice because it gave the new parents time to adjust to having a new baby in the house and we didn't feel too much like a burden. We got there late Friday night so Wes was asleep. Brantley was so excited to meet his new cousin that he did go in a peek in to see him asleep. When Wes woke up at midnight or so, I thought "that doesn't really sound like a screaming baby." His cry actually sounded cute, and Brantley slept through it. Guess it's been too long since I've been around a baby.

The whole weekend was pretty low-key. Saturday night we went to attempt Brantley's first tour of a haunted house. Brantley chickened out so I got to wait outside with Brantley while Lawson and Matt went inside. Just as well because I wasn't all that thrilled to be going in myself. Yes, I'm a chicken. Since we couldn't get a refund for the tickets I told Brantley he owed me the money since he chickened out. After we went to Sonny Acres Farm and we went through the Spook House (very tame and cheesy), he decided to try again Sunday evening with Uncle Matt for the real haunted house and SUCCESS! Brantley went through his first Haunted House. He can't wait to go through another one.

We did get some pizza (a must in Chicago) and finished the weekend at Portillo's Hot Dogs where Brantley got what else but a cheeseburger. I didn't take very many pictures but did get some from Rosemarie to add to mine.

Mel has been evicted

Brantley's class has a science unit studying crabs, frogs, and millipedes. They've been taking care of all the critters for a few weeks now. Anyone who wanted to adopt one at the end of the unit got to bring one home. Brantley adopted a fiddler crab. I thought maybe the new crab and Mel could live together, but it turns out that fiddler crabs are more aggressive and would probably attack a hermit crab. So, for the time being, Mel has been moved to the small cage that he came home in and the fiddler crab has taken over Mel's home until we can get another aquarium. He's quite a bit bigger and is very active. Brantley hasn't decided what to name him yet. He said everyone had nicknamed him Big Claw and one of his friends named him Stanley but he doesn't like either of those. Here's a picture of the new crab.

Future Politician?

Brantley took the annual achievement tests last year for the first time. The school system spent a lot of time this year raising the standards. Not sure why it takes so long to raise the bar, but we just now got his results. He scored well above the proficient level in all areas except for one in which he scored advanced. I always scored the highest in Science and Math and I kinda expected the same thing from Brantley. While he was well above the proficient level in Science and Math, his highest scores were in Social Studies, specifically Economics, Governance and Civics, and History. This coupled with the fact that he's already good about lying about brushing his teeth lead me to believe he has a future in politics. Look out Obama!

Fishing

We went fishing in Papa's pond this weekend. When I was growing up, the pond never really had much in it other than a few snapping turtles. My dad put a few bass in it a couple years ago and it looks like they have grown! We saw several baby fish also so it seems they are thriving. Brantley caught two fish, while the only one that I got broke my line. The bigger one that he caught is in the picture. He said it was too heavy for him to hold up so his cousin is holding it for him.

We brought someone new home from the beach...

Meet Melkey, or Mel for short. We brought a new crab home last summer since Hermie had died and it didn't last very long. Brantley really wanted a new one and he paid for it with his own money. We picked him out and on the way back to the condo we were discussing what to name him. I said his shell looked milky and I think Brantley heard Melkey. Anyway, he came up with the name Melkey.

We got him home today and all settled into the aquarium, and he's already done something that Hermie never did even once in the 4 or 5 years that we had him. Melkey decided to change shells. Brantley came and got me and said he thought he was going to do it. I got in the living room and we watched him as he was checking out one of the empty shells. Once he decided to change, he did it really fast. The picture above is after he changed shells. I don't think the one he changed into was any bigger so I wouldn't be surprised if he changes again.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Brantley! He is now 9 years old which means that he's officially out of his booster seat. I also checked the law and it states that ages 9-12 are recommended to sit in the back seat, but not required. Brantley SO wants to sit in the front seat. I let him some this weekend but I told him not to get used to it.

We've been so busy with baseball every weekend, including July 4th weekend. Luckily, the team had this weekend off so Brantley got to celebrate his birthday. He has wanted to have a sleepover for so long, so that's what he did for his birthday. It was a small sleepover and worked out okay. They stayed up late and got up early. :)

For his birthday lunch with Grandma and Pop, Brantley wanted to go to I55. I was pretty surprised at his choice, and we were even more surprised when we got there and they only had Sunday brunch. Brantley wanted the gator basket which was not on the brunch menu. I thought for sure they would make it for him anyway but they wouldn't and we left for another restaurant for the birthday boy.

Well, it's back to baseball. Practice on Tuesday and 2 more tournaments to go. Overall, it's been a good experience for Brantley. He has learned a lot and finally hit his first home run which was so awesome. I wish I had my camera ready to get that photo op, but I haven't been taking any pictures because it seems to make him nervous. The whole team went out to congratulate him after he crossed home plate. His face was beaming, and I think he was standing taller in the dugout. He was so proud of himself. Here he is after a long day of baseball.

The Flood

I'm sure you are tired of seeing all of my flood posts, but it's all we have seen or talked about the past couple days. When you hear about floods you always think, well they shouldn't have built in the floodplain. Let's face it. The majority of the major floods in this country are devastating because homes and businesses were built in the floodplain. If your house is in a floodplain, make sure you have flood insurance. You can check this website to see if you are in a floodplain. Or, use it before you buy a house so you avoid being in a floodplain all together. But, the thing that is so devastating here is that many of the areas affected are not in a floodplain. Water is in areas that no one could have ever imagined it could have gotten there.

I read an interesting article commenting on how the national media has largely ignored the flood.

"A large part of the reason that we are being ignored is because of who we are. Think about that for just a second. Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No…you didn’t. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No…we didn’t loot. Our biggest warning was, “Don’t play in the floodwater.” When you think about it…that speaks a lot for our city. A large portion of why we were being ignored was that we weren’t doing anything to draw attention to ourselves. We were handling it on our own."

As the water subsides, it will be months before many people can get back to their normal lives. Many organizations are accepting volunteers and donations. Every little bit helps.

The Nashville Red Cross

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency
(TEMA) has activated the Tennessee Emergency Donations Hotline to
accept contributions to support state flood victims. Volunteers
will begin answering calls at 8 a.m. on Wed., May 5. The toll free
number is (866) 586-4483, and the hotline will be staffed from 8
a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT daily.

Text 'REDCROSS' to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief.

More about the Flood

“This isn’t just a hundred-year flood. People are now saying it could be a five-hundred or one-thousand year flood. To look at the damage from the air, it’s devastating. This is a multibillion-dollar disaster. It’s terrifying to see great institutions like Opryland and Opry Mills under water.” - Rep. Jim Cooper

And yet the national media has barely talked about it.

Flooding Update

We ended up with some water in our basement and garage, but have very little damage. I wanted to share some photos that I have collected from friends to show the widespread devastation. No one could have ever imagined any of this could happen. Rivers are beyond the 100 year flood levels.

The Nashville Flood. May 2, 2010.

I have no idea where this is, or if it's recent, but it shows how powerful flooding can be.

Flooding

Our area has been hit really hard by extremely heavy rainfall. Areas that aren't really even close to creeks and rivers have been engulfed with water. We are really lucky in that our house does sit up slightly higher than most of our neighborhood. The water is draining away very well. We do have some leaks around our chimney, but our basement is still dry.

Marathon

Brantley's school puts a group together each year to participate in the kids marathon. Last school year I didn't even look at the paper when it came home. I just thought, he can't run a marathon. But, they had 90 kids running last year. So, this past fall when the paper came home I actually looked at it. It's modified so the kids are supposed to accumulate 25 miles prior to running the last mile at the marathon. They run the same last mile as the real marathon. So, I signed him up and he started tracking his miles with track club last fall. The weather this spring wasn't really good for track club so he missed a few weeks and came in short on the 25 miles. Here is the group of 3rd grade boys. There were 2 more that showed up after I took this picture. I have no idea what his time was and I'm not really sure they tracked it for the kids like they do for the real marathon. Thank goodness the weather turned out okay and I think it was a good experience for him.Here are Brantley and Hunter after the finish.
And, a video of him finishing the race.

More Baseball

Yesterday's game was the most exciting game. The first inning did not go as planned with 3 up 3 down for the Rays and the other team scored 5. Down by 5, the next inning was 3 up 3 down for the Yankees and the Rays scored 5. The Rays took the lead by 3 in the 3rd inning. The Yankees answered in the 4th with 3 runs but the Rays got one in to lead by 1. It was a disappointing 5th inning for both teams with no runs. Top of the 6th, the Yankees scored 5. It didn't look good with the Rays up to bat down by 4. By some amazing feat, the Rays loaded up the bases. Four runs in to tie the game. Bases loaded, 2 outs, no pressure. They did it! 5 runs in. You've never seen a more excited bunch of boys. The Rays won 14 to 13.

Brantley had 3 at bats yielding a triple and 2 singles. It really should have been 2 doubles and a single. His triple was really on errors and one of the singles should have been a double. Brantley was almost to second base but the other runner had stopped so Brantley had to high tail it back to first. He also got 4 RBIs. The other coach actually came over to check to see if Brantley's bat was legal. Our coach told him, sure you can check it. He's our best player. The other coach said, "You just don't see a ball come off a bat like that." To which our coach replied, "Yeah, we've been working on his bat speed." We all had a good laugh about it, but it truly was a great compliment to Brantley.

Baseball Season just got a little longer.

Well, last weekend we decided to let Brantley try out for a travel ball team. I made him promise me that he would be okay with it if he didn't make the team. As I expected, he didn't try out as well as he is capable of playing. He did do a good job fielding and did a great job at first base, but he couldn't hit. Actually, none of the kids at his tryout were hitting except for one. I didn't see any of the next session so I don't know what those kids looked like. Brantley did have one advantage though. The coach for this team saw him play in the championship game last season because he was the coach of the other team. And, he was the coach that saw him play in the scrimmage...the one the dad was referring to when he said there as a coach scouting my boy. Anyway, we got the call tonight and Brantley made the team. He is so excited about it. I hope he can handle it.

Finally...a WIN!

Finally, a big win for Brantley's baseball team. They won 17 to 4 tonight. Not sure how, but they all seemed to hit well tonight. They only fielded 3 outs (the rest of the other teams outs were strike outs) and Brantley was in on all 3. He got 2 at first base and the 3rd was when he was playing second base. He should have been 3 for 3 at batting, but he hit a single on his third at bat and the runner from 2nd to 3rd got out at third base. It was the third out so the run he batted in didn't count and he didn't get credited with his single. He still had 3 RBIs tonight, 2 of them with a huge triple in the first inning. And, he got the game ball tonight!

Spring Break

Today was the last day of Spring Break. Since Brantley's after school program didn't have anything really fun planned for Thursday and Friday, I decided to take a couple days off and do some fun things with him. Yesterday we went to the IMAX to see How to Train Your Dragon. We had tried to take him to the IMAX in Chattanooga when he was about 4 (I think) and it didn't go well. This was the first time I thought to try it again and he loved it. I think I even saw him try to reach out and touch something once. I found myself continuously looking over at him every time something cool happened in 3D and his mouth was open pretty much the whole time. The movie was really good also. I'd definitely go see it again. Afterward we went to Dave and Busters. I found that it is pretty much just a more expensive Chuck E. Cheese. We did see a guy hit the jackpot on Skee Ball. He must have been some kind of professional or something because he did 2 lanes at once and got both of them over 700,000 at the same time so I think he got the 500 tickets twice. I think he went around some more because I saw him later redeeming his tickets for a Wii. Something seemed fishy about that guy. Anyway....Today we went on a zip tour. I didn't know we had anything like this around us so it was a cool find. I was afraid Brantley would be too scared to do it, but he was all over it. I think he was a little apprehensive at first, but after the first zip line, he wanted to go before me each time. (pics/vids below) After the zip tour, we had our gourmet lunch at McDs and then headed to the movie theater to see Clash of the Titans. I didn't like it as much as the Dragon movie, but it was good. And now, Spring Break is over. Boo.

This is the only video I got of him landing since after this he always went before me. :)

The longest and highest zip. I kind of lost him in the trees.

Baseball Update

Well, it's finally happened. Brantley is so used to having great teams, but not this season. We have 3 experienced 8 year olds on the team, a couple of 7s that are coming along, and the rest of the 13 team members that have a lot to learn. The Rays lost tonight to the Orioles 9 to 3. On the bright side, Brantley is batting a thousand so far this season. Of course, he's only had 4 at bats in 2 games. Having 13 players with only about half that can hit doesn't get you through your line-up very easily. This will definitely be a character building season.

Game 1: Red Sox Vs. Rays

Well, it was a tough loss for the first game of the season and it as cold out there this morning. The Rays lost 18 to 3. They shouldn't feel bad about it though because the coach for the other team and his sons do travel ball so the team was just slightly stacked. Brantley only got 2 at bats and got 2 singles with 1 RBI. He and Jack had the 1-3 connection a couple times but there were a lot of missed balls on the field. The team definitely needs some more practice!

Spring = Baseball

Yes, that's right folks. It's time for baseball again! This season we are cheering for the Rays! Yesterday was their first scrimmage with games starting next weekend. Brantley used his new bat in the scrimmage. He needed a heavier bat and the one I found for him is a composite bat as opposed to an aluminum bat. Composite bats are supposed to be broken in before really hitting with them. We went through 2 buckets of balls with it, but didn't get to soft toss Friday evening because I wasn't feeling well. Brantley decided to use the bat even though it wasn't fully broken in. He sent the ball sailing almost out of the park on his first at bat. It was weird because the composite bats don't make the same sound as the aluminum bats do. So, when he hit it there wasn't the crack that let you know it was an awesome hit. He got a triple out of that one. He had 2 more at bats. One should have been a double or a triple but the coach at first base told him to stay. The other was a single. One of our dads came over to me and said another coach was scouting my boy. How funny! Another funny from the game was the other team had "Mario and Luigi" playing for them. I didn't put that together until I heard our boys saying it. I guess Mario isn't a completely uncommon name, but Luigi has to be a rare name around here. Anyway, the Rays won the scrimmage 14 to 4.

Congrats to Brantley!

Brantley's school participated in World Maths Day this year. Students play at home and at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. Each game lasts for 60 seconds and students can play up to 500 games, earning points for each correct answer. Brantley had the top score in his ENTIRE school! I asked him if he got anything special like lunch with the principal or an ice cream party. He said he got a pencil that says I love math, or something like that, and Smarties (the candy). We went out to dinner to celebrate to our favorite Mexican place. Yum!

Moving on to Baseball

Well, the basketball season is over with an 18 to 14 loss to Tennessee in the first round of the tournament. Brantley scored 10 of those 14 points. I told him he can't be a one man team and to not be too hard on himself. He played hard. The coach was pretty hard on him the whole game so I'm really happy that he handled the game so well. A crucial mistake happened when they were down by 3 with about a minute and a half left, Andrew got the ball back on a Tennessee inbound and went the wrong way on the court. Oh well....baseball anyone?

Replacing the CR-V

We've had our CR-V for almost 11 years. We bought it brand new and it now has 210k miles on it. It needs some heavy work done to it now, so we decided it was time to get something else. We drove a new CR-V and a new Pilot. The CR-V was fine. A little better than our old one but really nothing special. The Pilot was really nice but out of our price range. I also went to drive a Rav4 but decided it was too small, and the Highlander was too expensive. I also went to drive a Ford Edge. I really like the Edge, but again decided it was more money that we wanted to spend so Lawson didn't go look at any of those. Today, we went to look at a used CR-V, but we got in it and it smelled really bad. We didn't even drive it. We looked at a couple others and the X3 caught my eye. I've wanted a BMW since I was a teenager. So, we drove it. It was so pretty, a gold color on the outside with gorgeous dark brown leather. Brantley didn't like the color of the leather but I loved it. I drove it and of course loved it. But, after really looking it over and sitting in the back seat, we decided it really isn't a family car. I'm sure Lawson had the front seat pushed all the way back, but Brantley really didn't have a whole lot of leg room in it. He's only getting bigger so, alas, no BMW for me. Ten years from now when Brantley goes off to college, I'll be getting my BMW. So, we decided on a pre-owned Honda Pilot. We opted to spend a little less money and get a larger vehicle. I think we made the right decision.

Weird Winter Weather

We've had more snow this winter than I can remember in probably twenty years. It's been frigid here. I'm ready for Spring! Brantley got to go sledding for the very first time a few days ago (I'm a little behind in posting). We had snow followed by ice the last weekend in January which led to all Basketball games being canceled that weekend. (The Tarheels won this past weekend. Brantley scored 10 points!) We don't even own a sled so we tried to make a make-shift one with cardboard and a garbage bag. Brantley was embarrassed to use that. Then, I thought about out skim board from the beach. It worked perfectly, especially since the ground was actually frozen. We didn't even make footprints walking on it!

Ice Basketball

The first ball he put in got stuck in the net because it's frozen. I didn't have my camera out so I didn't get that shot. Every time the ball got away it just kept going because of the ice. He slipped several times but kept playing anyways. The driveway is so frozen that for the most part our feet didn't even break through. We need some ice skates!

Conversations with Brantley

This conversation occurred at bedtime as I was laying down with him for a few minutes.

B: Mom, I'm either going to go to college at Florida, Vandy, or Memphis.

Me: Memphis? (I'm sure it's because he's completely into basketball right now.)

B: Actually, I probably wouldn't go to Florida. It's a hard decision. Which one has the best education?

HA! That came out of no where. Who's been talking to this kid?

After I finished laughing I said, well, then it would have to be Vandy.

B: Okay, I'm going to play basketball at Vandy.

Basketball Update

The Tarheels won last week. Brantley scored 8 points, 2 of which came from free throws after he was triple teamed. Today, we had the 8am game. Brantley is not a morning person. He didn't wake up until the 3rd period, but he scored 9 points in the 3rd. He says he scored 4 more in the 4th, but I'm not sure. Either I just quit counting at 9, or he didn't make any in the 4th. I remember he put up some shots, but can't remember if he made a couple of them. Either way, that is the most points he has scored in a game thus far. Even with that though, they lost today, 26 to 21. They were down 14 to 3 after the first period so they tried to come back. I did get a clip of Brantley making a shot in warm ups. It's actually a pretty nice shot. :)

3rd Grade Music Program

3rd Grade Program Clips

Brantley's first library card

I'm really not sure why we hadn't already done this, but tonight we went to the public library and got Brantley a library card. He asked me yesterday about going to the library and I decided I needed to encourage the interest. I've never really been an avid reader. My mother says that I started reading when I was three, but I don't remember ever really enjoying reading. I have to have absolute quiet to read. Any distraction just makes me mad and I can't comprehend what I'm reading. I'm more of a numbers person. Give me a book of numbers and I'd probably be able to recite it to you backwards and forwards. Brantley was really excited to get his own card. We spent about a hour picking out his books and he checked them out. He got (and is reading first) Vampire Brat, Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom, and Z-Rex The Hunter Book 1. He gets to keep them for 3 weeks. They are actually all big books so I'll be impressed if he finishes them in 3 weeks.

Tarheels lose

It was a disappointing loss for the Tarheels today, but Brantley needed a good loss. They lost 21 to 10. Brantley put up lots of shots, but only two went in. The whole team put up lots of shots, but nothing was going in. Not to mention the other team had all of the tall kids on it. Brantley said after the game it was his fault they lost. I told him he just needed to practice and do better. Hopefully we will get some practice in this week, but the weather is not looking great for driveway practice.

New Year's Day

We didn't get home until about 2 in the morning on New Year's Day. We spent NY's Eve at Ginger's house. We always have a great time, hence not getting home until 2 in the morning. Thanks to Santa, we had a treat on New Year's Day. We got to go see the Harlem Globetrotters. It was pretty cool. My favorite part is when they get in the circle and do all kinds of crazy moves. I think Brantley liked the show. At the end they announced that everyone could get an autograph of their favorite Globetrotter. They had a rope going around the court and people were supposed to stay off the court. Mass chaos ensued. People did stay off the court, but there were not any real defined lines to get autographs so it was just a mass of people trying to get autographs. We bought Brantley a program and we got in a line to get an autograph. As we stood there not moving, a couple of teenagers started to get in the line in front of me. I pointed out to them that we were all standing and line and showed them the end. They of course ignored me and went ahead. They moved on up and they, and another teenager went practically all the way up to the Globetrotter. I wouldn't have been so mad except that their shirts were covered in autographs and Brantley didn't even have one yet so I had to say something to them. The nice lady in front of me pulled Brantley up and put him in front of the teenagers so he could get Airport's autograph. There was only about two minutes left for autographs and it didn't appear that we would get any more, but Brantley somehow managed to sneak in and get Handles autograph. We learned from the program that one of them, Spark, went to Tennessee Tech. He's the one with the 'fro in the pictures.



I also took a few clips. SHHHH! I wasn't supposed to do that.

Harlem Globetrotters - vids