city champs

as most of you know, my little brother, ryan, is incredibly athletic. he loves all things sporty. before he even knew how to read, he learned how to read the sports scores in the newspaper. my mother worked as the after-school care provider at my school for a few years, so ryan grew up playing basketball in the gym. a good friend recently reminded me that he remembers seeing ryan dribbling the ball around the court when he was just 2 years old. my cousin says she remembers him falling asleep on his basketball. needless to say, at 12 years old now, he is very involved. right now he is playing on a select basketball team, and he also plays tennis, baseball, and runs track & cross country.

this year, he decided that it would be his last year playing baseball because he wants to concentrate more on basketball, his first love (i already feel really sorry for his future wife; he'll love basketball more than he loves her!). so this weekend his team, the white sox, played in the city tournament-the last few baseball games ryan would play. i knew they were pretty good, and that they had a shot to play for the city championship, but i wasn't sure if they would win or not. guess what? THEY WON! THEY WON! they won their games on thursday, friday, and then saturday's championship game. it was an exciting game, with the final score being 4-3.

ryan warming up before their first game of the tournament

the team holding up their ginormous trophy (sorry about the sun)

their coach talking to them. he's the one in the middle with his hands on his head. he kept saying, "i don't know what else to say. i don't know what else to say." a proud dad yelled out, "city champs, that's what you say!" love it.

team picture with the trophy. ryan's head is being covered up by the top of the trophy. way to go, ryan.

final score. little league plays to 6 innings (a few bulbs were out)

ryan with the trophy. can you believe how big the trophy is? can you believe my little brother is growing up?!

i am so excited for him, and so incredibly proud of him. i'm glad that they won the city championship this year, but he didn't have to win for me to proud of him. i'm proud of him because he's my brother. i love you, ryan.