2023 Storm, Ravens, Hornets

[johnson2113]

The Storm started the season on New Year's Eve.

They have played a handful of tournaments. 3 second place finishes. A couple of duds. They played one on Super Bowl Sunday. That was a cluster deluxe. Ryanne has become a sniper. The coach instructs her where to serve the ball and she does. She is all over the court setting up plays, and she is getting out there and "spiking" the ball.

The team is really improving. They have two teams now. Still one of the few teams that is not a club. One of the big hitters on the team, broke her ankle in soccer. The "B" team has some real potential talent.



















I have shot a lot of team pictures, whether it be something posed or the team just having some fun. This is the best one. They were playing a tournament that 70-75 courts, courts. Huge tournament. The girls went on a run that had the other team on their heels, they were laughing, dancing, and having a lot of fun. They started hamming it up for the camera. One of my absolute best shots.

[johnson2113]

Bub is a high schooler, now. This week has been high school baseball tryouts.

Bub is absolutely sure that he is not going to make the team.

First off they have, Varsity, JV, Freshman and C-Team, baseball teams. Bub did a prep baseball event. He got invited to another one.

1. He is at the top of all high school catchers in the nation.
2. He is the elite of all high school catchers in Kansas.
3. He is the measuring stick of all freshmen high school catchers in Kansas.

Basically, he is the best catcher in the state.

He just posted a link, he was the fourth most viewed profile in Kansas. The kid that is number one on that list, has already been recruited for college. He, the number one ranked player, a pitcher, came up to Bub at one of these prep baseball events, and asked Bub to be his catcher. The kid is throwing 90+ MPH.

Bub thinks he won't make the high school team.

[johnson2113]

Bub, Brock, Hank and Cole all made the team. And this is all I know. It took Cole over 2 hours to hear whether he made it or not.

[johnson2113]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/34photogr ... 0306593324

I went through the season so far and picked out my favorite shots and made them black and white.

I struggle to decide if like color or black and white better. They both have great reasons to be great.

[johnson2113]

So many things to cover.

First off. What an exciting weekend of volleyball. KC Storm - Black(Ryanne's team) & KC Storm - Blue, both had a great weekend. They both played well through the pool play and ended up in the gold bracket! For the first time they got to play against each other in an important match. The Black team is a much higher-level team, but Blue played well.

KC Storm - Black won the match to advance to the Championship game. They went wire to wire and beat a team that had beat them already. They looked like the old team. Every aspect of their game, every player was locked in. It was a great performance from the girls. They went undefeated on the day. 5-0 in matches, 10-0 in sets.

They are moving up next season! Can't wait they have worked for it and earned it, and they are not some expensive club team. The Sandlot of volleyball teams.

[johnson2113]

I have pictures processing and nothing else to think about today. If I don't write this down, it ceases to exist. It doesn't matter.

Before Bub could play organized sports, the 'outlaws' signed him for karate. His first class one of the dad's came up and said to my brother in law(Kelb)
"He's really good. How long has he been doing this?"
Kelb's response was,
"This is his first class."

I should have known then, hindsight.

They did a coach pitch season. I did not even see one of those games. Football, that's the big attraction. Finally, when he was old enough to play, of course I'm coming. Absolutely, I'm going to shoot pictures. Not a one of them knows anything about the game, except what they may have learned in a couple of practices. Kelb is football fanatic, maybe he coaches Bub a little more than the rest.

I'm out there for the first game of flag football. I barely had my camera and definitely hadn't shot anything more than just family stuff, landscapes, animals. I went into that first game with the intention of just shooting Bub.

I learned really quick, just shoot. Ask permission, later. No one honestly cares. You can practically walk into anywhere or anything with a camera around your neck.

I have to admit this is just about me as it as Bub as it as any of us as a society.

Watching Bub at football. I realized pretty quickly that he is a talent. It's a nice day, I love baseball, Bub's playing. I'll come out and shoot. I keep hearing how great this player is and that player is. I'll shoot them all.

It's machine pitch, how good are any of them?

Machine pitch turns into kid pitch in a hurry. I'm learning faster than I can process.

The first real season of kid pitch, before the first tournament. I ask Bub,
"What's your goal for the season?"
He replies,
"I want to catch a pop-up."
He wants to catch a pop-up as a catcher, behind the plate.

I saw eight pop-ups caught by a catcher that season. Seven of them were by, Bub. The eighth was his teammate that was trying to beat Bub. That saw what Bub was doing and was motivated by him. I watched every single catcher that season, not another one caught a pop-up. Just those two.

Collect some thoughts for part 2, coming up...

[johnson2113]

The Sharks explode (see what I did there? ) and the rise of the Ravens.

At this point, Bub is separating himself from the rest of the team. I still am not 'really' noticing. I'm having fun. I'm shooting pictures, getting to know the parents, grandparents, the players, the sibling. I'm running around with Ryanne and the other kids. Playing on the playground until the games start, buying snacks, spoiling the kids. Bringing a shark mask and getting people to pose with it. We are living our best lives.

The team is playing well, winning some tournaments.

And then Topeka. Bub was still learning to be a catcher and he had one moment, and he got his butt chewed out for it. The coach was right and he deserved, I thought maybe it was a bit extreme, but it wasn't wrong.

We lost the game, got knocked out of the tournament and I was mad. I stomped out, pouting, to start loading the truck. I did not stick around for the mess.

The coach made the boys run a lap, A LAP. And that started the **** show. Some parents wanted him kicked off the team, didn't want him to coach. Tried to get him suspended from the league we play at that had nothing to do with the tournament we played in.

I was p*** off all the next day, went to the league the next night. I'll never forget that man's face as long as I live. He was a dad coaching, he did play at D-1 college, he did absolutely nothing wrong. We hadn't ever really talked, he coached, I shot pictures. He walked by me like he just been shot. I stuck my hand out to him. We didn't say anything. We just shook hands.

To this day, if I ever was going to hire someone and they were coached by him, I would hire them in an instant. He did not just develop ball players, he developed young men. Of all the coaches I have seen over the years, he would be the first I would want to coach my children. He says that 'thing' that quality. A rare man in this world.

I can't say 100% better than me, by this point, I'm all about the team. I would like to think that I would put the team first, like he did. Even after some of the innuendo I heard about what some of those parents did and said. I'm enough of the type of person would cut their nose off to spite their face.

He kept the team together through the end of the season and then built a new team. Ravens, that's the boys' high school team. 'We will get some attention from the high school' HA! 'Here are the guys you will coach'. That's beyond a joke. The high school has a football and baseball team and the coaches did not pay a bit of attention. (Later on this becomes even worse for baseball)

[johnson2113]

The Ravens start at the 'bottom'. A double A team. We take our time. We work our way up. Our coach does the hardest thing and cuts players. Players we all like, but he does the best thing for the team. This is not a club team, it's buddies, friends. The coach does what he can for the team as a whole.

I'll never forget it. We had been working our way up. The day before the state tournament. We are moved up. We were NOT expecting it. Ready for it, yes. Expecting it, NO. We go out there and play awful.

Friday, we lose to a team, we should have beat. We tie a team we should have beat. Everyone is miserable. It is state, we could be cut.

Saturday morning, 6:00AM. I walk into the 'outlaws' house. Everyone is down, despondent. We aren't going to play in the bracker, we are going to get cut.

It is summer, it is baseball. I start jumping up and down in the kitchen. I'm screaming.

"It's state, we're going to be in the bracket, we are going to play.

We go out and win and win big! We're doing the math all day. Watching every game. I'm telling everyone, we're in.

Literally, 12 hours later. The last pool game ends. I'm refreshing the bracket.

I throw my phone down on the couch and scream,
"We're in! I told you!"

We were the 16th seed out of 16 teams. We had to play Saturday night, against the #1 seed.

Everyone is scrambling to get to the field. We go out there and smoke that team. A team that wasn't just the number 1 team in the tournament, but one of the best teams in the state. We were the ultimate underdogs.

Sunday, we go up against another great team. We are ahead by one, going into the last inning. This big kid comes in and hits a bomb to the fence. These are deep fields, 350 to center. This kid hits it in the gap to the fence. He's around second, hits third by the time our outfield grabs the ball. He throws a frozen rope to short, Brock. Brock turns and fires to Bub at the plate. I didn't get the picture because the coach was out of the dugout jumping in the air when Bub tagged the kid out at the plate. We didn't win state but we had an amazing showing. Knocked out in the semis.

But it was a moment that took us from a team to a contender.

[johnson2113]

A little volleyball intermission.

How many people are so lucky to take a minor interest turn into a growing hobby that evolves into a living and breathing passion. That gets to have as much fun as me. That goes beyond an iPhone snapshot that is forgotten and becomes an important part of world history. Who gets to capture people, that lives their best lives, to this point, and have the time of their lives. Something they can remember forever. Not something that will show up in a timeline and forgotten to time. Something that will survive beyond time.

Beutiful, smart, talented, athletic, skilled, Champions.


Now, let's have some fun!

[lime rickie]

Great to see Ryanne and team killing it on the court!

[johnson2113]

Great to see Ryanne and team killing it on the court!

They are everything I hope for this world.

[johnson2113]

Bub prepares to move on... Major level player moves to a major team.

Okay, scratch that, personal rant for a moment.

Dad had his leg amputated. The carpet was a hassle for him to walk over. The folks' decided to replace most of the carpet with flooring. The 'flooring guy' didn't bother to let them know the quarter round was in to finish the flooring. He told them it was going to be at least three weeks before he could finish the job. Their house has been a disaster for a month already. He couldn't finish the job that he has already been well paid for. Never mind that he was talking about renting some of our pastureland on top of that.



I am tired of being nice, I have been nice, polite, proper, respectful.

I am tired of pretending that I am ever wrong. The vast majority of the world has lived in one, (ignorant) world. Maybe not ignorant, no, "ignorance is bliss", they have lived in an ignorant world.

I have lived in the, ignorant, world of just accept it. Then I woke up. I realized you don't have to accept, anything.

Acceptance/Not Acceptance


I do not give a good about what the high school team does. I had hopes for the baseball team, everything I have seen has been status quo BS.

I know Bub Dicky, is and will be the guy. When someone who doesn't have their head up their ass realizes that. I just won't let his potential be wasted. If it gets ugly, it gets ugly. This is the hill I am prepared to die on.

The fact of the matter is I'm smarter than every scumbag, I'm more experienced than every scumbag, I have seen much more than every scumbag.

[johnson2113]

The Ravens take two steps forward and three steps back... Bub prepares to move on.

When Bub first started school I remember a set of parents saying that Brock, was a bad kid. Not a bad seed, not a trouble maker, but a bad kid.

They were kindergarteners. They didn't know anyone or anything. How is this kid a bad kid? Again another lesson I should have learned earlier. Not only was/is Brock not a bad kid, he is a great kid. I could not be more thrilled to see that Bub and him not only became friends, but truly best friends and are still to this day.

The Ravens were just starting to make the strides that they wanted and Brock takes off for a major team. Bub at this point is the only thing really holding the team together. And it's becoming a struggle. We add players but nothing is bringing back that magic of the state tournament. Bub is excelling and improving, but most of the team is just filling their summers.

Then the dempanic hit and everything and everyone went crazy. My sister had a surgery, and we had a tournament. I was in charge of taking Bub and shooting pictures. Routine stuff. Kelb was trying to be at the games and for the surgery, but they really weren't letting anyone extra in the hospital.

The first game went as expected. The umpires screwed us and we lost. I have some fantastic pictures of the coaches chewing out the umps. The second game that night, the umpires were even worse. I'm out in the bullpen shooting and Bub is catching. The baserunner for the other team blows up Bub at the plate. An illegal move now, but the umps call him safe. I'm stripping off my camera gear, but the coaches are out of the dugout raising hell. The Ravens parents are raising hell. I'm like, "What the hell do I do?"

I do what my grandfather would do. No one there to pull on my leash, I get more belligerent than everyone else. How I didn't get ejected that night, I'll never know. I'm not shy about using ugly words, but even that night. I wasn't embarrassed at my actions, never would be in that kind of situation.

That following Sunday, we were in bracket, Kelb made it out for the game. Emily decided she was going to come to. Bub had been blown up at the plate, taking a pick off to the face and then a ground ball during warmups. He steps up to the plate, first at bat and goes yard. I'm shooting pictures as he rounds the bases. The coach's face still haunts me. He knew Bub was gone, I knew Bub was gone. Ravens were essentially done.

[johnson2113]

Too much of the time, I make things about myself, not the most important people.

They took a 'nice' picture, then everything went crazy. It was a lot of fun.

[lime rickie]

Jerred, you are a wonderful photographer and uncle. Chronicler of their youth,

Such great photos, can you memorialize them with the local newspaper, yearbook, etc. ?

[SMLCHNG]

Jerred, you are a wonderful photographer and uncle. Chronicler of their youth.

I absolutely agree!!

[johnson2113]

Thank you! The secret to being a good at photography is just shooting what you love.

I think back to Stripes. "Lighten up, Francis"

Well, everyone else can be light, I need to be miserable SOB.

It pays off. Bub, got moved up from Freshman team to C-Team. Climbing the ladder, these moron, dumb***, *********, coaches will finally figure out baseball. Bub played one game at C-Team and blew everyone's mind. Lots of upcoming pics.

[johnson2113]

Oh, and I get to miss my first Bub game since Guns N' Roses played at Arrowhead and I only missed the second game of double-header that night.

A 'friend' asked me to fill in for 'him' and I get to be the Easter Bunny.

Everyone has been telling me to go to the game. If I get my 8 millionth picture of Bub playing baseball or football or anything it's my greatest joy, but a bunch of kids need an Easter Bunny, way more important than a 15-year old's baseball game.

[johnson2113]

Bub was the 10th batter in the first game on Saturday. A DH plus a 10th hitter.

Came in to pitch and shut everyone out.

Caught the second game.

I can't remember ever caring about seeing the Easter Bunny. The kids were thrilled. The girls all smiled and giggled and just talked and talked to me. The boys came up and leaned on me and said, "You're not the real Easter Bunny." The little ones practically jumped out of my lap. Thirty minutes and missing the games, but watching those kids was worth it. They had a great time.

[lime rickie]

That’s sweet, Jerred. Reminds me of Steel Magnolias when Daryl Hannah character made her boyfriend dress up like this for an Easter Egg hunt.