"Baby Madness?"

OK, this is too much, even by my standards. (Besides, Gabe has already committed to play for Billy Donovan, so there's not much reason to showcase his "dunk" skills.)

(h/t Deadspin)

Gilbert Arenas Joins Varsity Dads

Agent Zero has his first boy, who he has already nicknamed "Triple-A":

Alijah Amani Arenas.

"Alijah Arenas" is an awesome name.

Here's Gil's complete report, from his latest blog entry:

"I was talking a little trash to him already. I told him hopefully he darkens up a little bit, because he was a little light in the skin. Then I told him he needs to watch the movie 300, because he needs to be a Spartan type of man. I gave him the name Triple-A: Alijah Amani Arenas. We’re trying to get him sponsored by AAA now and get his diapers paid for."

Man, I knew I missed out with "Gabe." (I have GOT to start working on that sponsorship!)

I know it's your second kid, Agent Zero, but welcome to the Varsity Dad club.

-- D.S.

Is Your Kid the Next Kevin Durant?

I'm always trying to tie Varsity Dad posts to the latest sports news, and Texas phenom Kevin Durant's early exit from the NCAA Tournament lends itself to an interesting proposition:

If he decides to turn pro, he will be one of the Top 2 picks of the upcoming NBA Draft. It's a lock. Given his status, he'd be crazy NOT to go pro.

(Of course, Florida's three star players -- coming off a national title -- were all expected to be high NBA draft picks, too. Joakim Noah would have been number 1 overall. But all three decided to return to school to defend their title. But it's not like Durant has a similar incentive; what's he going to defend: His team's single NCAA Tournament win?)

Anyway, here's the question: If your kid showed a professional-level aptitude in something like engineering or finance or journalism and they had the opportunity to leave college early and make a TON of money -- and in industries where the value of the actual degree is dubious -- would you support them?

After all: Can't they always go back and get their degree later on? What, precisely, is the value of a college degree when one substantial end-goal of college -- getting a job and building a career -- doesn't necessarily require one, particularly in the cases of extreme talent?

-- D.S.

How a Future Fan Grows Up Confused

It's a good thing that I got on board early with my wife's Florida fandom. Gabe will have no such horrifying confusion about his allegiances like this poor kid. (via Deadspin)

NCAA Tournament Picks?

Last year, while my wife was 7 months pregnant, she entered a bracket on behalf of the kid in my 10,000-entry ESPN.com pool I was running through my column.

On the strength of picking Florida all the way (naturally), Gabe's entry came in 30th out of 10,000. Not bad at all. (I think I ended up ranked in the 5000's...)

So: Do you go through NCAA bracket-picking with your kids? Any funny stories or techniques to share? Do any of your kids end up with crazy, eerie success rates or upsets picked?

By the way, feel free to enter this year's edition of my pool. Just go to ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge and find the group name "Daily Quickie Readers."

Tom Brady: Varsity Dad Poster Guy?

I had thought that pending new daddy Tiger Woods was going to be Varsity Dad's lead Poster Dad, but he's getting competition from Tom Brady. Serious competition.

You know about Brady getting ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynihan pregnant before they broke up late last year. Now comes news that his current girlfriend Gisele Bundschen is pregnant, too!

Brady: From All-Pro to All-Preg.

So who should be Varsity Dad's Poster Dad: Tiger? Tom (2x)? Carmelo? Gilbert Arenas (any day now!)

AK-47 Adds Another; Melo's La-La Births Wah-Wah

I don't mean to turn this blog into "Athlete Celebrity Baby," but it's springtime and the NBA is full of new Varsity Dad material.

Kirilenko's baby came Tuesday; Carmelo's baby came Wednesday

Melo's baby's name is Kiyan. I like how it has the same phoenetics as the first syllable of his dad's name. (However, I don't expect to see it in the Social Security baby-name database Top 1000.)

AOL's NBA Fanhouse has a post that sums it up. Here's the link.

Carmelo About to Join Varsity Dads

How excited is Carmelo Anthony about the any-minute-now birth of his baby boy? He dropped 21 points on the Hornets in a Nuggets win.

Hmm: How was I spending the final hours before Gabe's birth? There was this, the Friday before. (OK: The link to my final Quickie column before he was born -- the actual day before -- seems to not be working. This happens from time to time, usually with the few old columns I'm specifically trying to get to.)

I actually wrote one of my favorite Lead Items ever that day. Here it is:

Two Words for You: D'Oh. Canada.

What kind of moronic fans boo any national anthem, let alone the wonderfully benign anthem of our wonderfully benign neighbors to the North?

Apparently, Sharks fans do.

It's not just disrespectful; it makes all sports fans in the U.S. look bad. (Hey, Canadians: The rest of us love you! Please continue to bring us fantastic indie rock music, Don Cherry and cheap prescription meds!)

San Jose fans inspired me with their ridiculous jeering (almost as much as they inspired the visiting Oilers).

Sing along to the tune of "O! Canada!" with these updated lyrics below:

"Boo Canada!"

Boo Canada!
So hated by Sharks fans!
But it's no patriot love...
...to rip another's land!

Fans show no heart...
...But they get a rise
From Oilers vi-si-ting!

But an act so snide,
Shark fans are so dumb:
It's only motivating!

God keep our ice...
...Jingoism-free!

Boo Canada?
It backfires miserably...

Boo San Jose!
Your team's now down 2-3!

So: Did YOU spend the final days/hours before your kids' births immersed in anything memorably sports-related?

-- D.S.

Bedtime Reading: Baseball Prospectus 2007

An email from reader "Lew":

"I saw on DanShanoff.com that you had mentioned getting Baseball Prospectus 2007, well in 2004 I did my summer internship at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in their library. Myself and one of the other interns once talked about how cool it would be when we have kids that instead of reading them bed time stories we could read them baseball statistics from Total Baseball. Just curious, what is the varsity dad's take on putting lil ones to sleep with stats."

Great question! I regularly read Gabe from the sports section on the weekends. His patience for it is measured in seconds, not minutes. But the idea to use baseball stats analysis as bedtime reading is an awesome one. I presume it's like other bedtime reading: It's all in the tone, not the content. Of course, you're on hook when your kid asks, "Daddy/Mommy, what's Win Shares?"

Keep the questions coming! I want them to become a regular feature on the site.

-- D.S.

Championship Week Rooting Interest

As if it wasn't enough to root for George Mason in their unlikely conference-tournament run to try to get back to the NCAA Tournament, I find myself rooting for them because they have a key player named "Gabe Norwood," and I find myself naturally rooting for anyone named "Gabe." (And he's clutch, too, which helps.)

Is that wrong, to create a rooting interest based on similar first name? (I mean, it's not like I feel compelled to root for athletes named "Dan" or "Daniel." But with Gabe, it just feels appropriate to root for him.

(For the record, I'm a fan of Gabe Kapler, who retired this offseason from the Red Sox. No, we didn't name our son Gabe after Kapler; however, if our Gabe wants to be the rare Jewish MLB player like the other Gabe, I'm not complaining.)