Notes from the Coast:

There were a lot of 'uglies' this past week, but leading the way was the Red Sox anemic offensive performance against their postseason rivals Tampa and Anaheim. The Sox have lost the first two series of the season mainly because they are hitting only .240 as a team with the main culprits being Jacoby Ellsbury (5 for 24), David Ortiz (4-20), Mike Lowell (4 for 23), J.D. Drew (2 for 16), and Jed Lowrie (1 for 18). Even Josh Beckett's bravado and a mini-brawl with the Angels couldn't fire up the Sox' bats in Anaheim.

Yikes! - The Cleveland Cavaliers spanked the Celtics by 31 points on National TV and the Cav players had to turn to dancing during timeouts to keep themselves interested in the blowout. Fortunately, the Orlando Magic lost 2 games which assured the Celtics would have the second best record going into the postseason. However, now with only 2 games left in the season, the Celtics must somehow integrate their injured players and secure a play-off rotation or a lack of chemistry and cohesiveness could be their downfall in the quest for Banner #18.

Yikes! - The affable Argentine, Angel Cabrera, wins the Masters only after Kenny Perry and Tiger Woods both bogey the last two holes and Phil Mickelson once again self-destructs on the back 9 with poor shot choices, missed putts, and a shirt that looked to be two sizes too small.

Yikes! - The Miami of Ohio Hockey team had a 3-1 lead with less than a minute to go in the NCAA Championship game only to lose 4-3 in overtime. The good news is that Coach Jackie Parker and the Boston University Terriers won their 5th NCAA Hockey Title with a comeback for the ages!

Yikes! - The Boston Bruins fell just short of the getting the best record in the NHL but even more troublesome is that they will open the play-offs against their nemesis, the Montreal Canadiens. Granted the Bruins are the #1 seed and the Canadiens are #8, but anything can happen with these rivals. In post season play, the Canadiens have won 24 of 31 playoff rounds (including 18 in a row from 1946-1987), and 13 times in club history, the Canadiens have gone on to win the Stanley Cup after meeting the Bruins in the playoffs. Need I remind you what happened in 1971, 1979, or 2004?

Old School Sports: Summer Lawn Jarts

I was listening to Sports radio this morning and someone mentioned Lawn Darts or 'Jarts' and it started me reminiscing about when I was a kid in Duxbury and I would steal away from my chores to walk down Hawkins Lane and visit Jim and Erva McDonald.

Jim and Erva were from the Quincy/Milton area and had a cottage in Duxbury for years. They were probably in their early 70's with children who had already grown and married. Erva was nice to me but when I stopped by I spent most of my time with Jim.

Mr. McDonald was a thin-wiry guy with a full-head of hair, big ears, and tan, leathery skin. I remember he always wore pants and a white t-shirt with an occasional unbuttoned short-sleeve collared shirt over it. He smoked a lot (but not as much as Erva) and liked his drink. Their place was a little brown cottage probably built in the 1930's complete with a screened-in porch, window boxes, and huge flat lawn that ran up against the woods which separated their lot from Mom's back yard. When they got into arguements, Jim would often spend his time in a large one room furnished shed that was just a few steps from the cottage and kind of like a small guest house.

Jim was a real character and sort of a surrogate grandfather to me. He told stories/fables about the war and facing Ted Williams as a young pitcher in a Spring Training game. I can't remember if Jim was still in HS or just out of the war when he faced Williams but chances are the story wasn't even true. Jim was big into golf and we would either watch golf on TV together or when Mom permitted, he would let me caddy for him at North Hill CC, a public 9-hole course in Duxbury.

Many times after watching golf or mowing the lawn, he would break out his cigarettes and the Lawn Dart set and we would play. Occasionally he would let me win, but he was definitely one of those old-timers who knew his way around a horseshoe pit and was equally adept at Lawn Darts.

Anyway, I hadn't seen or even heard of Lawn Darts until this morning but it reminded me of Jim and those few times times I played as a kid. Then I thought how cool it would be to own a set, so you could play at the beach or you could play in a yard where bocce ball doesn't fair too well. What I didn't realize is that Lawn Jarts were banned in North America back in the 80's due to several injuries and a few deaths.

Sure the product name 'Jarts' is taken from Javelin-Darts, but I think today's censorship only guards against people using their own common sense. Kids and drinking should defintitely be monitored when using the game, but isn't that obvious?!? It seems like no one is accountable for anything anymore...even their own stupidity. Anyway, although you can still buy a safer, rubberized version today; the true vintage, steel sets are now only available on the black market for $60 and up. So if you come across a set at a yard sale -- grab 'em!

Check out these links for more info...

http://lawn-jarts.com/lawn_jart_history.php

http://lawn-jarts.com/lawn_jarts_banned_in_the_usa.php