I’m no longer Gee-Kaw.
As Finley’s speech has improved he’s getting closer to saying grandpa. For now I’m Pan-Paw. Perhaps by his second birthday in a little over two weeks I’ll officially be transitioned over to grandpa, but I’m not too sure I like the generic name. Perhaps when he gets a little bit older and can understand the concept of individual names we’ll decide to revert back to Gee-Kaw or some other special moniker. Gilda is still Gee-Gee.
I spent an ultimate weekend with Finely and Co. (his parents) in Sarasota, Fla., this past Thursday through Sunday at the USA Ultimate (Frisbee) Club Championships. For the second straight year Dan’s team, Boston Ironside, matched its undefeated tournament record against San Francisco’s undefeated Revolver. Sadly, the results repeated, as Ironside lost by an identical 15-10 score.
As I wrote last year, it’s almost harder on the friends and family of team members as we anxiously sweat out each game and the night before the championship game. We’re powerless to do anything but provide moral support, before, during and after. For Dan, and just a handful of others on the 27-man Ironside squad, this was the third time in the last four years Ironside lost in the finals. Second place in the country is no small honor, but never having tasted the Champagne of ultimate success is a bummer.
Ultimate Frisbee at the club level is a young man’s sport. At 33, Dan is the elder statesman on the team. How much longer he’ll be able to play is a question of his body and competitive spirit holding out, the number of new players challenging veterans for spots on the roster, and most importantly, the commitment Allison is willing to make to allow Dan to pursue his goal of a championship. Dan, as well, knows his obligations to Allison and Finley restrict the time he can devote to Ultimate. Aside from playing, Dan also coaches the Tufts University team.
As for me, being with Finley and his girl friend Eliot, daughter of team coach Josh and his wife Sangwa, was special. Regretably, Gilda couldn’t get away from work, so I played grandparent to both of them by myself, even babysitting one evening while both sets of parents attended a team dinner. Testing my mettle, both kids pooped, but they made up for it by going to bed exactly at 8 with nary a whimper.
