Red Sox Fan Baptized at Fenway

I actually have a scenario that tops this, but it is literally played out in the opening pages of my as-yet-unpublished book, so I am resisting the temptation to describe it for you. (But now it may even seem like a rip-off, which sucks, because this scene has been on my desktop for 2 years.)

Anyway, hat-tip to Friend of DS Mike Tunison at With Leather for this one.

Fox Travis vs. Gabe Shanoff

It is now obvious that they will be college hoops recruiting rivals for decades to come.

Top Baby Names of 2007

Darren Rovell has some interesting insights on the sports application of the SSA's Top Baby Names of 2007, always an annual highlight for those obsessed with parenting. More later.

Happy Mother's Day to the Varsity Moms

Obviously, Varsity Dad isn't about men... it's about any parent who wants to raise a great sports fan.

Certainly, moms can want their kids to be great sports fans as much as dads might -- perhaps even more!

Take my case: Gabe's entire (if limited) Gator-driven worldview of fandom is driven by his mom's influence (and her family's, by extension).

And so for giving Gabe a strong compass of fandom at the earliest possible age, that is one more reason to wish his mother the happiest mother's day.

And a belated happy mother's day to all the moms out there!

-- D.S.

Is Tim Tebow Available For a Bris?

After reading this about Tim Tebow performing circumcisions of babies in poverty abroad while on spring break, I mildly regret his unavailability in May 2006 for Gabe's bris. But if there's ever Shanoff Boy No. 2... Hmm...

Honestly, this story could be the Varsity Dad Event of the Year.

Ballpark Lessons, Part Nth: Dugout Seats for Infant?

If you have front-row seats behind the dugout on the 3rd base side, do not sit your infant on your lap facing left-handed batters. There was a guy at the Rockies game last night who did this, and it made me so uncomfortable -- it would have been a horrifying "told-you-so" moment.

Even though I am judgmental by nature, I at least try to be pretty live-and-let-live about parenting choices (particularly about sports):

I wouldn't bring my infant (the couple brought their toddler, too, not that she was any less safe in those seats), but I certainly wouldn't sit where they did.

Have you ever brought an infant (under 1 y.o.) to a sporting event? How about a toddler? What age is too young? What age is "old enough?"

-- D.S.

(PS: After the game, I was at a bar having dinner and wearily left at 11 p.m. Another couple with a toddler was still going strong at one of the bar's tables. Again: They might have their own sleep schedule for their kid, but I couldn't envision it working for me.)

(PPS: I am absolutely not averse to bringing infants or toddlers to bars. In fact, most of Gabe's first 3 months were spent bar-hopping in the afternoons, sometimes just the three of us and sometimes in these weird gatherings of Brooklyn moms... and me.)

How to Pick a Kentucky Derby Winner

Last night before his bedtime, I'm reading Gabe the book "Smash-Crash!" which was pleasantly quirky and non-sensical... right up until the 50th reading, at which point -- like many of you -- I have learned to tolerate his love for it.

Gabe is going through a huge "trucks" stage, for what feels like the last year (with no end in sight): Garbage trucks, fire trucks, dump trucks, flat-bed trucks, milk trucks, green trucks, blue trucks, even buses... it doesn't matter. Can't get enough of them.

And so when I was evaluating the Kentucky Derby field this year (the race is tomorrow/Saturday), one name stood out from the others as my pick:

"Big Truck"

What a no-brainer. Can't wait to watch the race with him tomorrow. And it is a luxury of my position as a sports columnist that I get to proclaim this pick to the world.

Any Derby names that resonate with you and your kids? (I presume if your kid's name is John or Jack, you'll be loving the horses with those names. If your kid's name is Pyro, congratulations on having a leading contender -- but you've got other issues.)

-- D.S.

Spurs Dynasty Extends to Baby Names

AOL Fanhouse has a post from this Greensboro newspaper about a Spurs-loving family.

Parker Duncan Ginobili Till?

Fanhouse's Will Brinson already started this game, but it's worth continuing:

Tebow Arenas Sandberg Shanoff?

Hmm...wonder if my wife has any players she would want included?

-- D.S.

A-Rod Becomes a Dad Again

Congrats to A-Rod and Cynthia Rodriguez on the birth of Kid No. 2. (No name announced yet.) Two kids is the new one kid.

(Unrelated: Took Gabe back to The Swamp this weekend during a trip to Gainesville. Pics if I can get them uploaded. Oh, and I finally got him his own Tebow jersey. The smallest they had was a Youth "S," so he'll be wearing it about six years into Tebow's NFL career.)

Like a One-Man Hockey Fight

Less than a month from turning 2, one of Gabe's latest accomplishments is to take his shirt off himself.

But as his mother put it:

"He looks like a one-man hockey fight."

Judge for yourself:

Sports Inoculations

Nice piece by Clay Travis on inoculations he'd give his baby son, the future sports fan.

How Gil Arenas Celebrates His Kid's B-Day

From Gilbert's latest NBA.com blog post, comparing Caron Butler's lavish birthday party to Gilbert's son's birthday party:

My son’s birthday party was a different story.

That was the bomb. I spent a total of $30.

I went to Safeway and bought him a nice little cake, and then I went to 31 Flavors and bought me a cake. I needed a little ice cream cake of my own.

Then I had Doritos in the house, and the milk and orange juice in the house. So snacks and beverages were covered.

Then I bought two lollipops, because if my son has a lollipop my daughter would want one too.

Then I bought a balloon without the string, because I couldn’t find somebody to put the string in.

And I bought one candle.

While we were singing “Happy Birthday,” my daughter was singing, “Happy Birthday to me,” even though it was her brother’s birthday.

“Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me.”

I have a big deejay booth downstairs in my house and we had a lot of fun. I played music and they danced and they spilled and they ate everything.

I have to seriously consider that for Gabe's upcoming 2nd birthday. Hey, Gil: Want to make an appearance?

-- D.S.

Your Kid Will Laugh At Your "Blog"

Jason Fry -- a classic Varsity Dad and proprietor of Faith and Fear in Flushing (the best Mets blog around) -- also doubles as an outstanding columnist for the Wall Street Journal during his days.

He has a must-read column about how the future of technology relates to parenting. It's not about sports, per se, but you can see the sports implications.

You will tell your kid stories about "Too Late For This Edition" sports scores in the newspaper or clicking "refresh" on your ESPN.com scoreboard page or even the way you do your Yahoo fantasy league draft, and your kid will laugh at you -- if he even understands what you're talking about.

Remember how your grandparents could remember life before TV, and you thought that was unfathomable? That will seem quaint by comparison to how your kids see your life with technology now.

-- D.S.

March Momness: Moms Out-Picks Sons in NCAA Brackets

So I just posted on the DanShanoff.com blog about how my wife is having a stellar run of predictions -- she is currently tied for 8th out of 695 participants in my Daily Quickie Readers tournament challenge group.

Gabe is not faring nearly as well, and it's partially my fault. Last year, Gabe finished in the Top 10 out of more than 1,000 participants in my DQR group. His mom made the picks in Gabe's name... he just got all the credit!

This year, we tried something new: In each first-round pairing, I asked Gabe which team he preferred -- knowing the school names would be less meaningful than their nicknames (many of which are familiar to him, like animal names), I used nicknames to ask him.

For the crazy options, like the 1-seeds, I picked for him. I wasn't about to let him pick the Mount St. Mary's "Mountaineers" over the "Tar Heels."

He is currently tanked out in the bottom 20th percentile -- and it's my fault. Even though Gabe didn't get a ton of first-round picks right, I was responsible for picking his bracket after Round One: And I did an atrocious job. I would have been better off going with the National Bracket. I would have been better off letting his mom make his picks, like she did a year ago.

Instead, I totally obliterated his bracket. I hope his mother will forgive me.

Meanwhile, speaking of moms, my own mother -- who usually gets some guidance from my picks and ends up regretting it -- went away from my picks this year. Now she is in 2nd place overall out of nearly 90 people in her pool.

It's obviously March Momness.

Varsity Kid in the Wall Street Journal

OK, so it was my column in the Wall Street Journal, so I had the flexibility to make a gratuitous reference to Gabe's insanely good record with NCAA Tournament picks:

2006: Gabe finished in the 30s out of more than 10,000 participants in my ESPN.com Daily Quickie Readers pool group through the old column. (And he was still in the womb!)

2007: Gabe finished in the Top 10 out of more than 1,000 participants in my ESPN.com Daily Quickie Readers pool group through the DanShanoff.com blog. (And he wasn't even ONE!)

Of course, his mom (making his picks for him and the true NCAA Tournament bracket savant of the family) was picking Florida to win, which helps. Not sure how it'll go this year.

The good news (or maybe bad news) is that this year, I'm going to walk Gabe through the pairings and let him declare his own picks.

He's almost 2. Parents with kids this age (or who had kids this age know), his answers to questions are highly suggestible based on the way you ask the question.

Here's the question: So do I give him the choice between school names (which he won't possibly know or understand) or team nicknames (which, for many, he will)?

I'm leaning toward nicknames, but picking your bracket based on nicknames seems awfully "Duane from What's Happening picks NFL games based on helmet logos" for my tastes.

-- D.S.

Congrats to Suzy Kolber: Varsity Mom!

Huge congrats to Suzy Kolber, who had a girl, Kellyn, on Wednesday. "Kellyn Kolber" has a very nice alliterative ring to it.

I'm not always the biggest fan of alternative spellings, but "Kellen" would be a boys' name (not to mention raise questions whether she was naming the kid after Kellen Winslow II).

Of course, the birth begs the question whether I should start the spin-off blog: Nursing Suzy Kolber. (What do you think, KSK Mafia?)

Brenda Frese is a Varsity Mom

Congrats to Maryland women's basketball coach Brenda Frese on the birth of her twins, Markus and Tyler. (Her team was obviously excited, beating rival Duke in Durham for the first time in 8 years.) Best wishes to mom and kid(s!)

Speaking of Terps, Brien from East Coast Bias took his 8-month-old son Cole to his first Terps game -- here is Brien's report.

Josh Marshall on Fatherhood

This isn't about sports, but Josh Marshall is about as smart and talented of a player (and businessperson) in media as I know -- someone whose opinion and work I totally respect and admire.

He turns 39 today; I turn 35 tomorrow. His post about his birthday is one of those "wish-I-wrote-that" or "yeah-what-he-said" things that will make my own attempts ring shallow. But he really captures the essence of the impact of fatherhood -- particularly new fatherhood -- on your life.

Here's his post. It's a must-read.

-- D.S.

Baby Naming: Maximus Szczerbiak

Hat-tip to the unstoppable Tom Ziller at Fanhouse for passing this along to me, about Wally Szczerbiak's new baby, named "Maximus." And he's not even the first "Maximus" among NBA players! Read on.

The Bobby Knight Question

I don't like to talk about kids-becoming-athletes on this blog -- this is about kids-becoming-fans.

But there is an age-old question that is a bit of a litmus test for a sports-minded parent:

Would you let your kid play for Bobby Knight?

In my experience, there are two opposing camps: (1) Absolutely vs. (2) Never. There is rarely a middle-ground.

Assuming your kid will never be good enough to play basketball for Bobby Knight (or at any college level, for that matter), it is still an interesting discussion point:

If your kid WAS good enough to play for Knight, would you even want them to? Look forward to hearing your comments on this.

-- D.S.