Blacktop Basketball

You've heard the term "blacktop" before. It generally refers to any outdoor basketball court in an urban environment and it includes this one. Roosevelt Park located at 10th and P St. is my home court here in Sacramento. But this "blacktop" has an actual blacktop surface that absorbs and retains a lot of heat during the summer days. It will also destroy the palms of your hands if you put them down catch yourself or break a fall. My advice? Maintain your balance.

I shot these back in July of some guys that I regularly play with, but they probably got lost in the shuffle of summer weddings and honeymoon travels. I could go on and on about how much I looooooooove this game, but I'll keep it short and just post some pictures. Shout out to outdoor basketball...there's nothing like it.

A Wrestler, Yes Sir.

Monterey Trail Girls Basketball

Admittedly, girls hoops is sort of neglected on this little blog of mine. But this bunch of Mustangs are pretty damn good. I spoke about league play in the previous post and the girls have the same amount of those contests this season (10). So far, they are 7-2 and close out the regular season tonight with a game against Laguna Creek. Here are a few images from their games against Elk Grove and Davis. Shout out to the press and trap...this creates turnovers and turnovers create victories!

Purchase prints HERE and HERE!

Two Games of Mustangs

January moved along at its own leisurely pace this year. So much so that it seems like it's been a couple of months since I last shot the Mustangs. But in fact, I shot these two games on the 16th and 18th of the month. The only things that matter in high school hoops if you want a chance at the playoffs are league games and the varsity boys Mustangs have 10 of them. Elk Grove and Davis were games 3 and 4 of the 10 game stretch and unfortunately, the Mustangs lost both. The latter was in a 96-91 overtime shootout where Davis' plan of action was to press and get shots up as soon as possible. At the time of publishing, Monterey Trail is currently 0-7 in league play. Hopefully they can get a W before the season ends. In the meantime, check out this photographic recap of two of those games. Shout out to fast paced hoops. Coaches like to run, run, run in pre-season for a reason!

Grandma's 90th

I'm pretty fortunate to have at least one grandparent at this ripe old age of almost 30. And even more fortunate to have a 90-year-old grandmother who still gets around and tells stories from years ago as if they had happened yesterday. In the middle of December 2012, I flew to my hometown of Houston, TX to celebrate the birthday festivities of Lena Mae Starghill at the Kashmere Multi-Service Center. This place, nicknamed "the Center", is a place where she regularly goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to "play checkers and tell lies." But on December 15th, it was a place filled with family and friends she'd come to know after 50+ years in the neighborhood. Happy Birthday G-Ma!

New Year, More Basketball

I rang in the new year (the 3rd and 4th of the month technically) with back to back days of basketball. I don't think it gets any better than that. I was in on a practice session with the Monterey Trail Mustangs of Elk Grove, CA full of drills, drills and more drills. Just when I thought the drills were over and practice was winding down, the basketballs went on the rack and out came the sprints. I guess it all paid off because the Mustangs walked away with a 14 point victory over rival Florin High School the very next day. 

Sickboy says "NO" then stares you down.