February 1-4

The second month of 2013 started chilly and windy, on Friday afternoon we met up at McCaskey for the final bus ride of the regular season. This was the annual unloved visit to Cedar Crest HS in Lebanon County, a mere twenty-fives north of Lancaster on mostly two-lane road. When the league started in '72 Cedar Crest played their games in a gym so small, cramped and uncomfortable the mice were hunchbacked. Their current facility opened in 1996 but games there are still a battle. On this night the JV game almost became one literally, it was testy from start to finish. JPM won it 47-45 to stay unbeaten in league play, the loss for CC was their third overall on the season (two of them to McCaskey). In the varsity game the Red Tornado led by five at the quarter and fourteen at halftime, the final was 81-65. Four of the five starters hit double figures as Sha-ki Staten led with 18, Aaron Swinton had 17, Devonne Pinkard 14 and Keyon Cowan 12 (Diante Cherry just missed with nine). The club's mark moves to 19-2 overall, the boys finish the regular season at home against Hempfield on February 5. League playoffs start on the 11th, as division champion JPM will host a quarterfinal round game. On Saturday we did our usual visit with Jenny, the rest of the day was quiet which was just as well: it began to snow in the late afternoon, by evening there was a coating on the ground. Brilliant sunshine on Sunday helped with the melting process but there was no reason to leave the house, there was a hockey game on TV in the afternoon and the NFL championship game in the evening. For the first time in several years a team I follow was playing for the title. As a youngster my sports allegiances developed around the teams I saw play most often on television, in my area that was Philadelphia and Baltimore. On February 3, 2013 the Baltimore Ravens won the NFL championship 34-31 over the San Francisco 49ers in a game played by two teams that richly deserved to be there. On Monday the morning visit to the mall for lunch was about all that happened. Snow is in the forecast for overnight into Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.