Blackhams go to Bellevue

 

Grayson is quite the traveler ... me, not so much. But when I saw that Colton and the Clackamas crew were scheduled for some games at the Bellevue Jamboree (preseason scrimmages), and that they wouldn't be streamed for me to watch from home, I suggested to Gray that we make a quick weekend trip out. He said okay. 

We flew out on Friday, November 7 ... this was the day the airlines had been instructed to cut flights due to the government shutdown. Luckily, we had no issues at all. Grayson was pretty excited to try out the new Delta SkyClub, which had had just opened. It was very nice. He'd also booked us first class, and as I didn't care for the food included in-flight (picky eater me!) Grayson got double!

Gray had rented a car, and we drove from the airport to our hotel, which was very close to the college where the basketball games would be played. The Clackamas crew had a 3+ hour drive, so their games didn't start until a little later in the day (Nov8). Gray started his Saturday with a six mile run at Gas Works Park. We then grabbed some breakfast, and did a quick drive by the college so we would know where to go (which building). We saw a group of basketball boys unloading from a bus ... and it was Colton and the Clackamas Crew! Fun to bump into them as they arrived.

We still had an hour or more until the games started, so we let Colton rejoin his team while we went back to the hotel for a bit. These games were mini-match ups, just 20 minutes (no halves or changing sides). As I hadn't been able to make it out last year for the family trip, this was my first time seeing Colton play college ball in person (I had watched every game on the live stream). I had my video camera up and recording. It was fun to meet his roommate and coaches, who I felt like I already knew (just from pictures and Colton talking about them).  Gray found some pickleballs around in the bleachers.

Here's the highlights from the games ...

Clackamas vs Bellevue

Clackamas vs Yakima

Clackamas vs South Puget Sound

The first game ended in a tie (no OT in these scrimmages), and the other two were losses. Colton got some points in the second game, but had early foul trouble in the third game and didn't get as much playing time there. He was a little under the weather, fighting a cold, and his stitches would come out the next day. It was fun to be there to see him play in person though, a little better view than the live stream (although I appreciate having at least that!)  After the games, the team headed home and we went back to the hotel. 

Lovely fall foliage on the college campus ... 

GB had to stop for a photo, and I snuck a picture of him! 

We had breakfast, and then dinner, at a nearby diner. 

The breakfast was really good ... the dinner not so much. 

Early flight out (5:15 ... so we got up and on our way around 3:30). Returned the rental car. Again, no issues getting through security, and Gray had timed it perfectly so that as soon as we arrived at our gate, we were boarding the plane. 

Landon and Valentina had gone on a weekend getaway to Las Vegas ... and they were returning home at almost the same time we were! Only 10min or so apart in our arrivals, but I didn't notice until a a bit later after Gray and I had already headed home. It would have been funny to bump into each other there at the airport!

The Blackham Bunch is planning another trip to see Colton play at the end of the year. Clackamas will be hosting a tournament after Christmas, three full games. I plan on making it this year ... getting more video and seeing Colton's college, apartment and stomping grounds!

Colton Hits the Hardwood (Literally)

On Sunday, November 2 - Clackamas Community College was hosting a basketball jamboree. These were mini match-ups, just 20 minutes/running clock. Colton and the Clackamas crew had five games, and as the third one started up, Colton went down, hitting his face on the hardwood floor. He was a little slow to get up and shake it off, and a minute later the ref stopped the game, noting Colton was bleeding. So off Colton went for some medical attention (and his team still won the game). Cleaned up the blood, and some steri-strips to keep the cut closed, and Colton played the remaining two games. 

Afterward ... looking at the gash, it was decided that he probably needed stitches. Luckily, last year I'd done a little reconnaissance, contacting our medical insurance to find out what Colton should do if he needed to visit a doctor or urgent care out of state (it wasn't something I was able to easily search on the insurance website). I had the name/address of a couple local urgent care centers, and he had a copy of the insurance card, so Colton went and got five stitches.

Keaton bopped that same area when he was just a little guy, and Grayson managed a HUGE gash (the final pictures in the Interesting Injuries blog post from several years ago) ... but the eyebrow area, while apparently prone to injury, is also good at camouflaging any scarring. 

Here's the game ... it happens right about the 1:00 mark

https://youtu.be/3CugyLRVxvc

You can see all of Colton's games from his Sophomore year (post in progress).

Hopefully no additional injuries!

He got the stitches out a week later. Everything seems to be healing well. 

Colton -Basketball Senior Showcase

Colton finished up his senior season here in February 2024. It's been a great year, and hopefully there is still more basketball in his future. 

Here's a little look at his Senior Showcase for for Senior night ...

...and a closer look at the collages *Ü*

A walk down the basketball memory lane.

Starting small ... lots of little jerseys and Junior Jazz 

A family photos feature ...

Elementary years ...

Originally Colton played for the Copper Hills Grizzlies (following in his brother's footsteps). 

... we still weren't sure of future playing plans in 7th grade. Colton attended Elkridge Middle while we watched school boundary discussions. When Copper Hills still looked extremely overpopulated (we'd been told we could get a permit, but ...) and Colton had a couple good friends on his Wolves team going to West Jordan, we decided we'd just stick with our boundary school. Colton switched from Elkridge to Joel P Jenson for middle school, and immediately started playing for the Jags Bantam team. 

Colton first met Coach Phil (and Gage and Collin and crew) way back in 3rd grade, playing on a 3rd/4th team at Gene Fullmer. They ended up playing up the  next year (and Colton was already a grade younger) so we parted ways for a couple years (Colton joined the Grizzlies Bantam team). We crossed paths with Phil again, who now had an AAU team, the Wolves, and they happily they accepted Colton into the pack. Colton and the Wolves played together for several years, in local tournaments and leagues, and doing some traveling. The team shifted and changed a bit over the years, but Colton, Collin and Gage remained close, and played together for West Jordan in high school. 

Colton continued to play whenever he could, with a variety of teams. Showtime was an "off season" team with Coach Sawyer ... sometimes made of WJ Jags, other times compiled of other kids Coach Sawyer was working with.  More Wolves. More West Jordan Jags in Spring or Fall. Colton joined the Salt Lake Metro the summer before his senior year and traveled to three tournaments with them. He'd also jump onto Cal's Men's League team when they needed an extra player. 

Shortly before his senior year, Colton was invited to play in the Utah Top50 league, and that was a lot of fun. Games were played at SLCC, with the final games downtown at the Delta Center, NBA court!

West Jordan was a great experience for Colton.  

Lots of fun on and off the court!

Some Senior snapshots ... and a look at his program pictures/profile over his four years.

Colton got some Varsity minutes as a freshman (he even started once) but mostly played Soph/JV his freshman year. Freshman year was impacted by Covid (from tryouts to games) but we are glad that they still got to play! You can read more about Colton's Freshman Year on the BlackhamBall blog. 

Colton's Sophomore season ... he didn't play in any of the sophomore games. He was JV and Varsity. There was a strong senior presence, but Colton got some playing time and points and started a couple times. 

Colton's Junior Year - while not a senior, he started every game (except for the final "senior night" ... and he got subbed in pretty quick) and was the leading scorer and assist leader on the team. Check out the BlackhamBall post for the schedule, video links, highlights and more. 

Senior Year ...

Senior year was great. The season started off a little rough, as it was a tough pre-region lineup. Only one win there. But as soon as 2024 rolled in, and region play began ... the Jags went on a winning run. Undefeated 13-0 until their elimination during the state playoffs. 

So many videos, #mycoltonclips and pictures! The team contracted with a professional photographer who covered multiple games. Love having so many photos and great action shots! There were a couple other photographers at other games, and we purchased a few of those pictures too.

More on the BlackhamBall Blog wrapping up Colton's senior season ... 

and other Blackham Ball. 

Colton Goes To Cali (and Mom&Dad too)

 

California here we come ... last year Colton had been approached by a travel team for basketball, and we didn't commit then, but held onto the information for the future. After his Wolves finished up he needed a team, so we went ahead and joined Metro for Summer 2023. I'd told Grayson that while I'm not a big traveler, I wanted to go and attend one of the tournaments. Colton had three, Arizona in April, and two to California in July. We went to the one July 15-16th. We flew in a day early, on Friday the 14th. We got settled at the hotel, the same one the team would be staying at, the ubered out to get some dinner. Found a little Italian place ... and ALL the servers were good-looking young men. Our waiter's biceps barely fit into his shirt (Grayson was the one who commented on it, not me!). It was the opposite of Hooters :) 

The hotel served breakfast, so Saturday morning we partook of that, then ubered out to Newport Beach. Our Uber driver chastised Grayson for his Red Bull (oh no, you should not be drinking that!) and was very talkative. At the beach, we walked the pier and dipped our toes in the sand and water. Grabbed some donuts from a popular shop there.  

Gray noticed a little shop selling souvenirs ... usually his name "Grayson" is unique enough that he doesn't ever find it on pre-personized items, but today, there it was! No Callahan or Keaton, but Cooper and Landon were there. Cole, but no Colton ... and NO Jen (generally quite common).  I was busy getting a little Pokemon Go in while we were out and about also. 

 

Colton and his Metro team had two games Saturday, at 3:30 and 5:40, and two Sunday at 9:00 and 12:15. They won two, lost two (they were still pretty close). It was a nice facility, but they charged parents $20 to watch, and they charged $20 for parking too.  I got video and made highlights ...

Game 1 ~ https://youtu.be/QiQWJp_eMZE

Game 2 ~ https://youtu.be/dtfJ6-e3K0w

Game 3 ~ https://youtu.be/AhsntW5Khnk

Game 4 ~ https://youtu.be/3WKXI7hr5bA

Salt Lake Metro - Black

Kahner, Jason, Cai, Carter, Colton, Dawson, Reef, Coach Hammer

We flew from Salt Lake to Long Beach Airport, which was very small and low-key. We Ubered when we needed to get places. Colton's buddy Carter was playing in Vegas on Friday, so he and his folks drove the rest of the way to California for this tournament. We carpooled with them a few times. I'm not a travel gal, but this went well and made me wish that we'd gone to some of the other tournaments as well. 

After we got back - Gray had recapped some of the little memories he had, bullet style ...

• 65 degree room with queen....err, double beds
• Running lost - calling Jen - maybe not the one to aid in this sitch
• "Hooters" Italian restaurant except it's for the ladies
• Extremely loud gastropub with meh fish and chips (no beating Red Robin at this point, methinks)
• Uber driver chastening my decision to drink Red Bull
• Newport donut lunch with pigeons eating fries under our table
• Red Vines and more Red Vines - the short, thick ones please
• The Mule starring LaMar
• Watching a weird episode of Barry in a weird way
• Airport moving sidewalks with Jen laughing - thinking she was pretty funny
• Colton with two elbows on one arm

... adding more of my own ...

• Colton going on his own with TSA precheck - Gray staying with me, like a peasant. On the way back "why are you here in this line?" LGB airport (took a picture, Landon's initials!)
• Squished, three in the back of an Uber
• Colton gets his own room
• Gray's RedBull runs at the nearby gas station
• Hotel breakfast - cute little circle waffles
• $8 Dibs
• Watched "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" on Youtube during drives
• Watched Creed on the flight there - thought I had Creed II for the flight back but it wasn't downloaded. Had a backup movie "We Have a Ghost"
• Getting some Pogo in ... missing out on the little Koala
• Family History "find relative nearby" activity between games
• Catching a ride with Carter's family ... Carter's mom squishing into the back for the final ride back to the hotel (with the two sweaty boys)
• Kahner (tallest player) almost hitting the ceiling at the hotel ... and sitting next to Colton on the flight home. Definite space issues for that size!
• Not so great fish and chips (twice) ... Red Robin still a favorite
• Gray zooming through the airport ... would he notice if we were no longer following him?

I asked Colton to write up his memories ...

Friday - We landed in California in the evening and had a pretty cramped Uber ride over to the hotel. Really just dropped off our stuff in our rooms then headed back out to get some food. Went to this Italian restaurant. Nothing really happened for the rest of the night, just chilled at the hotel for a bit, before going to sleep.

Saturday - Don’t remember exactly what time I woke up, but I quickly headed down to breakfast and met up with Vaughn for just a bit. He told me about how he had a distant grandma with my same last name and was just wondering if I maybe had a family tree to look at and see if there was any connection. After breakfast, we headed to the beach for like an hour, just walking around and eventually grabbed some donuts to eat. After we got back, a few of the other boys were waiting in the lobby for their rooms to be ready, so I just had them come up and chill with me for a couple hours until they got their room keys. After that, we had the first games of the weekend, losing the first game and winning the second. I was pretty exhausted after the games, just took a shower and needed some food, so I headed to the Carl’s Jr. next to the hotel with Cai and Dawson. Got some snacks from the gas station to take back to my room after and watched Creed III on Amazon once I got back. That was all for the night.

Sunday - Not too much happened for the trip on Sunday as our games all wrapped up by 3:00. I headed down to the lobby to grab a quick breakfast then went back up to the room to pack up my stuff. I left my luggage with my parents before I left with the team for the games, since we were leaving for the airport directly after the games. The games went really similar to the day before, losing the first one and winning the second. Did a quick change of clothes back at the hotel before catching an uber to the airport. We ate at a nice little restaurant right by the gate and finally got on the flight back to Salt Lake City.

At home, Landon and Cooper were holding down the fort. I had instructed Cooper on the watering of the garden (most of it needs handwatering) and he handled that while I was gone. The guys (Landon, Cooper, Cal and Keaton) still made a foursome for pickleball Sunday morning.

Colton and Crew at the Crimson Classic

I still need to post about the actual basketball season. I did do some updates on the basketball blog, but am still quite behind. Here's a look at the most recent happenings.

Summer often means it's tournament time. Even with a recent coaching change, the Crimson Cliffs Classic was ON for the West Jordan Jaguars. The first weekend of June, they held a fundraiser washing cars, and earned enough to pay the tournament fees. There wasn't going to be a bus this year, so parents were in charge of chauffeuring kids (some of the kids could drive themselves, but I don't know if any did) and getting hotel rooms (everyone tried to book together so the boys could hang out easily). Anyone who knows me, knows I don't really travel. Luckily, Colton was "adopted" by another family. So I dropped him off, and off they went. 

Colton will be a sophomore next year. For this tournament, he and two other sophomores would be playing both sophomore and JV. There were some back-to-back games at different locations, and all three teams played at 1:00 on Saturday for the final games. Colton was good at keeping in touch to let me know how the games were going, and I also got a couple updates from other moms. The sophomore team went undefeated. My sister Wendy lives in St. George and I mentioned Colton was there, so she and Janelle went to cheer him on for one of his games. The boys didn't really have time for a load of laundry ... I can only imagine how stinky they all must have been!

I asked (required) Colton to do a write up of the tournament for me ...

Thursday - On the car ride up to St. George all I could really do is be on my phone. I didn’t fall asleep at all on the way there. We had about a little bit over an hour at the hotel before my first game, I just sat on the bed, explored the room and saw what channels were on the tv. Carter’s family picked me up for our 2:00 game at Pine View. They weren’t too hard and we won by a bit, we went straight from there to the 4:00 game at Crimson Cliffs. We all hung out for like half an hour at the gym before our game started because the one before us went long. We ended up losing the first JV game, next game was at 8:00. Before heading back to the hotel, I went with Colin’s family to Habit to get some food. We went back to the hotel for only an hour where Gage, Jair, and Carter came to our room for a bit. We had another JV game next where Ethan and I had to leave at halftime, the team they were playing seemed really tiny and I expected them to win, but they apparently lost in triple overtime by two points. We had a pretty tough game against Crimson with the sophomores but ended up winning by like 10. Afterwards, Ethan’s family took me, Carter, and Ethan to Wendys. Back at the hotel, I hung out with the varsity team for a little bit at the hot tub while eating my food. I went back up to my room at around 11 and took a shower. Gage and Jair were in my room as well for a bit before they left. At like 11:30, I went and hung out with Elijah, Max, Jaxon, Carter, Steven, and Alex. We went down to the lobby and found some board games that the hotel had for people to play. We played Jenga for a bit, trying to be quiet, then Steven and I went and checked out the weight room, which was pretty small. We all went back to the room that was shared by Elijah, Carter, Jaxon, and Steven and played Uno on our phones. I went back to my room at around 12:30, and went to bed.

Friday - I woke up at 7:00 and got dressed. Colin was still asleep so I went to breakfast and met up with Elijah, Carter, Steven, Jaxon, Alex, Jair, and Max. Some of the breakfast choices were cereal, waffles, small omelets, and fruit. I got a bowl of cereal and a couple of the omelets, which were not that good. We hung out down there for a bit before I went and put my jersey on. Carter and I got a ride with Ethan to our first game at 9:00. We won by two points off of a last second shot by Jaxon. We went straight from there to our next game at 11:00. We also won the JV game, although it was still tough. Since our next game was at 1:00, Ethan’s parents went to get the both of us some sandwiches from Subway. It took a lot longer than they thought it would and our next game started before they got back. Ethan and Carter left at halftime of this game to go to the sophomore game. Which was probably for the best since Ethan got into a little bit of a fight with a kid from the other team since he threw the ball on Ethan’s head intentionally when inbounding the ball with about two seconds left in the half. It felt pretty good when I hit an and-1 three in the guys face quickly in the second half. We won that game and Colin’s parents hurried and dropped me off at my sophomore game with about two minutes left in the first half. The game was pretty close for most of it but we pulled away at the end, going on a 10 point run. We headed back to the hotel for a little over an hour. Gage, Max, Elijah, and Jair came to our room during that time. We just chilled in the room watching tv. Gage and I both got a text that we would be playing in the varsity game at 6:00 because a couple of the players were injured. We won the 5:00 game by a fair amount, then we won at 6:00 too in the varsity game. I did pretty decent and scored five points. I played a bit more than I thought I would. Coach told me I would also play varsity on Saturday at 8:00 in the morning. I got a ride back to the hotel with Colin, where we quickly changed and left to go to Fiesta Fun for laser tag. We all ate pizza and had drinks first at the park across the street, and also played on the playground because it was pretty fun. Even an ice cream truck drove by and I got this Sonic ice cream popsicle thing. We waited for 20 min before playing laser tag then we went in. There were three teams, I was with Carter and the entire varsity team. It was really fun, even though one of the other teams won. I stuck around for another half hour and played some mini golf and just a little bit of the arcade games. Gage, Colin, Jair, Max, and I left and went back to the hotel. We decided to walk to the gas station nearby to get some snacks. All I got was a soda for two bucks. We hung out in our room for a while doing nothing until everyone else came back too, most of them coming to our room. At one point, I think there was the entire sophomore team and nearly the entire JV team in mine and Colin’s room. We went down to the lobby and played more board games, and even did a race on a word search because there were plenty of these little packets provided by the hotel and crayons. We all hung out in our room for about another hour before everyone left at around 12:30. I then took a shower and went to bed around 1:00 in the morning.

Saturday - I woke up at 6:30 today because I had a game at 8:00. Colin and I went to breakfast and met up with the same people as before. Sophomores had a game at 8:00 also so I had to miss that. I got a ride with Colin to the varsity game because they came to watch. It was a pretty close game throughout the entire thing, and I was playing in the final minutes. I ended up hitting a free throw with about 10 seconds to go to put us up by 3 (free throws were 1 shot for 2 points) and we won the game. I had another game with JV directly after in the same place. This was probably the easiest game of the tournament and we won by 30. We had an hour and a half between this game and our next game so we headed back to the hotel to pack our things and check out. Jair came to our room for a bit, same with Max, but they both left early to go pack. I got a ride with Colin to the last game against Farmington. That was a rough game. We went down about 18-0 to start then we brought back within eight points, but they stayed well ahead the entire game. I still scored around 20 points and then talked to Wendy and Janelle for a few minutes afterwards. Colin and I had to change quickly in the parking lot after the game and then we went to this restaurant “Viva Chicken”. I had been there twice before when we went to St. George a couple months ago. We made the long trip back to West Jordan after that, only stopping once to go to the bathroom and get a milkshake at Dairy Queen.

Feeding a Basketball Team

Team dinners before home games ... I guess it's a tradition, eat together, play together, get the parents involved. I always stressed out about it. This year, Gray stepped up and said he'd smoke stuff for the team dinner.  How many ribs exactly for 35+ athletic boys, plus coaches. A LOT.  And it was a lot of work. Seasoning them all, sticking them on the smoker, then dividing them, adding sauce, and wrapping them up in individual packs, 4-5 ribs each for ease of assembly line eating. 

Grayson was even prepared with little bottles of BBQ sauce and "wipes" for messy fingers.

Other parents provided salad, rolls and paper products.

This was for all the teams, not just varsity, so Keaton and his crew were there to eat as well. 

The ribs got rave reviews. 

Back to Basketball

Here in the Blackham home, we are never really "done" with basketball. But during the summer, Colton was really the only boy actually on a team playing games. 

As school started back up, again, Colton was the only Blackham boy playing in a Fall league. But this hiatus wouldn't last long! The official basketball season was here!

• Callahan tried out and made the team at Copper Hills High School. He's so happy to be playing ball again!
• Keaton tried out and made the team at West Hills Middle School. They will be playing in the district league, and then also in a Thursday Superleague.
• Cooper surprised me by saying he wanted to play on a Junior Jazz team with his school buddies. Although Coop is as talented as his brothers, he hasn't wanted to play on a team or in a league for a couple of years. I'm SO excited to be able to watch him play again!
• Colton will be super busy this winter. He made friends on his Spring/Summer team, but then they were moving up to the 5th/6th grade division, and I thought that would be a little too much for Colton (in 4th grade). He tried out for the Bantam Copper Hills team, but there wasn't enough interest to put a team together. By combining the kids from 3rd/4th they had enough, and they played together in the Fall, and planned on a Winter Superleague as well. We also reconnected with Colton's old coach and a couple of the kids who were playing in a 5th grade superleague, and Colton decided to join them as well.

Of course this all keeps ME pretty busy too! Luckily I LOVE watching the boys play basketball. I go to every game I can, armed with my video camera. Back at home, I combine the clips into highlight reels to post on YouTube. So as not to overwhelm my Family Facebook, I went ahead and set up a separate account just for reporting about the boy's basketball (JenB-BasketballMom).  As the kids aren't really using FB anymore, I also set up "Basketball Mom" accounts for Instagram and Twitter for anyone who wants to follow their games/clips/etc.

I also have the Hoop Dreams BasketballCal Blog, devoted to just the boy's sports activities. I'll only post about basketball a couple times here in on the family blog *Ü*.  Here's a link to the current schedules for this season. 

With all the boys in basketball, we have something almost every day except Sundays. Happily, Callahan can get himself to his own practices and games, and Keaton's practices are right after school (saving me a trip picking up and dropping off). Thursday nights are a little crazy, as both Keaton and Colton have games, and Cooper has practices, and then on Saturday the three younger boys have games. There are conflicts. I won't be able to make it to every game. I'll have to arrange for some rides with teammates, have Daddy or other relatives pitch in to cover it all ... but it's worth it. We LOVE basketball!

Getting Jazzed

Throwback Thursday Post ... I'll be backdating this to March.

For the most part, our family is pretty happy just watching the Jazz games on television (I know I am! I like to avoid the crowds and chaos and just stick to the comfort of home ... and the commentary helps me out too!). But as the boys generally play in the Junior Jazz basketball season, and that includes a couple tickets to a game ... we generally make at least one trip downtown each season, to the nosebleed seats!  This year for the first time ever, the rec center offered extra tickets for families to purchase, which was so nice. As long as Grayson is making the effort to take one kid, he might as well take a few! I bought extra tickets for the other kids, and they had a fun night.

My brother Scott has slightly nicer seats, in a suite with their work. He invited our family up for a game. A very different experience than the Junior Jazz seats! The suite was sweet! Food was provided, comfortable seating, even a private bathroom. And the dessert bar ... yum! If you click on the picture above and enlarge it, you can see some of the treats!

I even overcame my anxiety and attended with the family!

Thanks Scott!

And the Jazz won both times we went to the games!

Blackham Basketball 2015

If I posted all about the boys and their basketball, it would overwhelm this family blog, especially during the Winter months! Years ago, I created a basketball blog to put updates on, a blog that is completely sport-centric. It's nice to have all the basketball blogging there in one spot. But still, as it is such a big part of the Blackham Bunch life, it does deserve an update here every once in a while. Here's a quick recap, with some links to the other blog posts (for video links, photos, and more in-depth reading if you so desire) ...

• Callahan spent the summer playing basketball. This year went go to the Dixie summer camp ... that was heaven for Cal. Basketball and buddies 24/7 for a week. Back at home, Callahan and his friends got three month passes to Gene Fullmer and spent hours there during the summer days playing basketball. In the Fall, he played on a team in the Salt Lake County league. Then, it was time for tryouts! We were pretty sure Callahan would make the team, but he was still so nervous. Happily, he did make the team and had a great Sophomore Season. I went to all the home games and made lots of highlight reels. 
• Keaton played Fall Ball as well, and then Winter season. Two leagues, so a mid-week game and a Saturday game  (Keaton 8th Grade). He also was asked to join the 9th graders in their mid-week league, so that was another weekly game and he'd often go watch them play in their Saturday district games. All the games and practices kept him pretty busy!
• Colton played Junior Jazz. Luckily his practices and games didn't really conflict with any of the other boy's stuff. It was really nice! You can read more about his season and see some links to highlights here. 

Luckily, I really LOVE watching the boys play basketball. Also ... no injuries this year! Spring Season will still be busy. Callahan will be playing in a Spring league, and also a Spring tournament. Happily, almost all the games are close, at CHHS. Keaton's team did not continue to play in Spring, and he didn't want to go back to rec, so no official basketball for Keaton come Spring. Colton debated between soccer and basketball for a while, then decided on basketball, so he'll be on a 3rd/4th team at Gene Fullmer. Check back for Spring updates!

... and to keep up on a more current basis, I've incorporated more social media! An Instagram account to share pictures and quick video clips, and Twitter where I post the links to the highlight videos. So follow if you'd like updates other than the blog posts at the end of the season!

No NBA? NO!!!

Last Spring, our Comcast cable bill went up. I called to see what we could do and ended up dropping us to the most basic cable package (which with a bundled deal was actually cheaper than dropping cable altogether). We really don't watch any "TV" anymore ... Netflix and AmazonPrime keep us entertained. Until basketball season starts up again anyway. When the first Jazz game aired, Cooper was quite dismayed to find out that we no longer had TNT, ESPN or Root. That meant no Jazz or other NBA games. Well ... we are back to a higher cable package and Cooper is happily watching again.

Then, Gray was given tickets to a Jazz game. He asked me who I thought should go ... and I immediately said Cooper. Coop has really been struggling with anxiety (he's a homebody like me) and I thought it would be good for him to get out, and have some one-on-one father/son time. Cooper was pretty happy about it. 

 They had great seats! Row 5!

Right up there with the action. 

 Across the court, Clay and Will were there that night too!

Cute picture Uncle Clay!

It was a perfect night out for the boys. The Jazz won!  The next morning Cooper was watching clips on NBA.com, catching the highlights from the game the night before. He then burst out "I can see me!" ... and as he continued to watch he'd say "I can see me again! And again!"

Cooper didn't want to sign up to PLAY Junior Jazz ... but you can bet he'll be watching basketball all season long! With Callahan, Keaton and Colton playing ... so will I!

Basketball Cal

 I wrote about the boys winter basketball seasons (Big Boys Basketball) but Callahan, being the basketball boy he is, had a few other things going on that I thought I should mention.

The church puts on a region contest each year. A "slam dunk" and "3-point" challenge. Each stake in the region gets to send a representative or two. Callahan as nominated for the 3-point contest from our stake. Happily, the contest was held right at our church, so it was convenient and close. And ... he won it! The three-point champ. He hit 10 baskets in 30 seconds.

The team also went to Idaho for a tournament there (March 28-29). Callahan LOVED hanging out with his basketball buddies all day and all night. That is just a dream come true for this social kid. Of course, I can't coax a smile out for a photo! That face! They won all their games and made it to the championships, but lost there. 2nd place seems to be the status quo for them this season. Still, they felt they held their own against an all-star Idaho team.

Beyond the basic Saturday/Thursday games in the regular season, Callahan and Co. did take part in a few tournaments. They did the Holiday Tournament last December (they didn't win a game there). Then the President's Day Tournament in February (pictured above ... NICE high school set-up!) They won the first game there (highlights here) but lost the other two.

At left ... a picture of one of his knee pads. It's not very protective if it has a hole in it! We stopped at the store before his next game to get a replacement.

Callahan suffered a blow to the thigh during the final day of the district games. He actually didn't remember any specific impact, but he was aware of the pain after the game (and then they still had the championship game an hour later).  Although we couldn't see any physical signs (bruising or swelling) it was really hurting him, and he was limping around for a week. Then the state tournament schedule came out. Back to back games every day the next week. I wanted to be sure he wouldn't hurt himself more, pushing through the pain and playing, so I ran him into the doctor. The doctor said he was ok to play if he felt up to it and prescribed some physical therapy. We went to a few sessions of that. Callahan played and it was all right, although he still didn't feel at 100%. 

So ... not entirely sure what is in store for Spring.  We think the high school is pulling the kids into a couple teams for Spring Fling. Callahan really wants to go to Dixie this year (he missed last year, having just recovered from his second broken foot and the dates conflicting with youth conference). I've told him to start saving up his money! This kid LOVES basketball!

Big Boys Basketball

 I've posted about the little boy's Junior Jazz season ... 

Here's a quick recap of the bigger boy's basketball!

Callahan played on the West Hills Middle School team. They were busy! They would practice three times a week, and have two games. On Thursday nights, the coach had divided the boys into two teams (so everyone would get more playing time). On Saturdays, the entire team played in the Jordan School District League. The boys won almost every game. They made it to the championships in both tournaments, losing to Bingham in both. You can see the season scores and links to the video highlights at Callahan's Hoop Dreams. I still have some video that we haven't gone through ... I wonder if I'll ever get around to it now! I think there are plans for a Spring league, I'm still waiting to hear. I can't imagine Callahan taking a break!

Keaton played in the Copper Hills High School prep league. His team only had seven players, so he got plenty of playing time (maybe more than he wanted). They won some games, lost some games ... won more than they lost at least. The team is going their separate ways for Spring, so Keaton is going to play rec ball at Gene Fullmer again for now.  You can see Keaton's scores and highlight links HERE. 

Landon said he wasn't going to ref this year, and I was okay with that, as I thought I might need him for some carpooling with overlapping schedules (we actually didn't have too many conflicts). He was also adamant that he wasn't even reffing the churchball games as he had last year. Then one afternoon I saw him get his ref shirt and whistle and head out the door. I asked him and he said "I just couldn't say no to Sister Maxfield".  He ended up doing quite a bit of reffing for the young women's games and I received many compliments on his skill and professional behavior. Always nice to hear. And Landon played ball with the ward too. We no longer have enough boys to field a separate priests and teachers team, so all the young men simply played together. That meant all three big Blackham boys were on one team. It's a lot of fun to see them all working together!  Here's a quick video of one of their early season games ...

The boys are actually still playing churchball.
Advancing in region tournament.
They keep winning, so they are still going!

Junior Jazz

December through February is Junior Jazz season. I signed up both Colton and Cooper this year. Cooper was with a few of his teammates from Fall, a neighbor (Jaxon) and then some new kids. They were playing in the 4th grade "team" (competitive) division, even though half the team was just in 3rd grade (and one 2nd grader). Colton had his buddies Randon and Garren on his team, and Randon's dad was coach. 

 Colton's Crew

Cooper's Crew

Colton's games were all at the Gene Fullmer Recreation Center.  There is a track above the court, and I really like to get some jogging or walking in during the games when such an opportunity presents itself. But if I'm doing that, then I can't man the video camera to get highlights. I compromised a bit. I'd walk while the boys had their "practice" portion, and then I'd come down and video while Colton was in. If he was sitting out, I'd go back up and get some steps in. I did get enough footage to make a couple of muvees. I shared the first a bit ago (Basketball Update) and here's the one from the rest of the season ...

Colton - Junior Jazz 2014

Cooper had been a little reticent about playing again. After a rocky start in Fall, he had really enjoyed that season, but he was nervous about the "new" team, even though there were some of the same players. It just wasn't gelling the same, he wasn't getting the passes, the playing time, the scoring. He didn't care for the "kid" refs that he felt didn't call everything (he worries about getting hurt). He played the first few games, then as the season hit it's holiday hiatus ... he didn't want to go back. We only hit a couple of the remaining games. Here's Cooper's videos (all from the first part of the season, December 2013) ...

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

The boys have tickets for Jazz games in March. We missed the "player appearance" this year, as Colton was sick and I was taking Keaton to one of his games. I felt bad Cooper missed it, as it was Gordon Hayward, one of Cooper's favorites. Colton ended up being sick and missing his last game. Cooper did go to his last game ... he didn't really want to but I "encouraged" him to. I like closure, and he needed to pick up his pictures and trophy.

Thus ends this season of Junior Jazz. Cooper says he does NOT want to play on a team anymore, and I don't think I'll be pushing him. I know Colton will want to keep playing. He'd like to play basketball more than just winter, but there aren't as many options for him at this age, but as soon as he's a year or so older, then he can play year round if he wants. We'll see ...