A Story for the Books

On August 18th, 2016 I lost my grandfather. He had been in the hospital for a few days and we thought he was getting better but he passed peaceful in his sleep that night. I went to visit him the morning of the 18th and we talked about the usually, Red Sox and weather. Before I left I gave him and hug and a kiss and told him I loved him. It was only a few days before that that I found out he had been listening to Carrie Underwood in the hospital with my mom and my aunt. My aunt told me Carrie was one of his favorite artists, I never knew that until that week.

On the morning of the 19th I was in Rhode Island visiting my best childhood friend with my sister. I sent a text to my dad asking "How's Gramps doing today?." He sent back "wake your sister up and give us a call." At that moment I knew something was wrong. After we got the news he passed I felt like that whole day wasn't real. I couldn't think all day. All I could think about was what my Grampa told me a few days before he "loved watching me playing ball growing up" and I told him "I loved you being there." That was the only thing that kept running through my head all day. There are some things I wish I had gotten to do with my grandfather, go to a Red Sox game with him, watch some of his favorite John Wayne westerns or take another trip with him to Wells Beach. But the one thing I really wish I did was listen to our favorite singer together. The day of his funeral we did, How Great Thou Art sung by yours truly. And now every time that song comes on I will think of him.

A few weeks passed and I was talking to my friend about getting a tattoo of a baseball for my Grampa. I had a lot of things coming up, weddings softball stuff and more Carrie concerts of course so I didn't schedule an appointment. About a week after that I had been frantically checking my email for a Carrie meet and greet for the NH date on September 30th. On September 15th I got one, "Hi Kristin, you've won..." The first person I called was my Gramma and she was so excited for me. I told her Grampa did this, he made it happen!

A week passed and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to tell Carrie. I knew I wanted to tell her the story of my grampa and how her music has made a big impact on my life. I also had the idea of her writing something out for me so I can get it tattooed in memory of him. I came up with the idea "Play On" because after he passed him telling me he loved to watch me play the sport I absolutely loved to play stuck in my head. The meaning behind the song was perfect too, never giving up!

Moments before I met Carrie I was so nervous. Thinking to myself.."What if she doesn't write these words for me? Will they let her sign my vinyl too? Is my hair okay? Can I take one of these breath mints?" My turn was next, here goes nothing..I told her about my grandfather and said she was "sorry for my loss" I asked her to write "Play On" for me so I could get it tattooed for him and she did. Then we bonded over softball. I gave her a hug and thanked her for everything. On October 7, 2016, Mookie Betts' birthday (my Grandfather'

s favorite current Sox player) I got "Play On" in Carrie Underwood's handwriting tattooed on my forearm.

And every time I look down at my forearm I will think of my Grampa and know to "Play On"

RIP Johnny Pesky. Red Sox GREAT

Sports Journalism

I’ve experienced
many sporting events and can recall in detail most of them, but the game I
remember the most is the Celtics playoff game in 2009 I attended. It was the
first round of the playoffs and Boston was facing Chicago at the TD Garden. The
game was close throughout the second half and at no point I felt I could leave
my seat. I can remember the Celtics had a better advantage because our players
weren’t in foul trouble. The game was tied with only a few seconds to spare.
While Coach Doc Rivers called a time-out, the whole arena knew he was building
a play for shooting guard Ray Allen to take the last shot. He had already
produced over 20 points in the second half for his team and was ready to tag on
three more. As the game resumed, point guard Rajon Rondo received an inbounds
pass from Paul Pierce and dished it off to Allen as he came off the screen from
teammate Glen Davis. He took the shot from the top right side of the three
point line and drained it. The TD Garden went crazy! Now there were only two seconds left in the
game, the Bulls had the ball, and there was no time for them to score. One of
the Bulls players took an inbounds pass and attempted a half court shot and
missed. At the end of the game, everyone on the team ran over to the “Player of
the Game” and congratulated him. It was a game that helped motivate the team
throughout the series and gave Coach Rivers renewed confidence in Allen.
As we walked out
of the TD Garden, I recapped the game in my head, thinking about every
situation that could possibly happen within the last few seconds remaining. That
night proved to me that a game isn’t over until time runs out. I never lost
hope in the Celtics, but the odds of Allen making that 3-point shot with so
little time left was unlikely. People always underestimate the abilities of
athletes and assume many things about the game. Spectators and sports analysis
frequently make predictions and place arguments about a game before it has even
started. Going into the second game, the Celtics were down 1-0 in the series,
so this was an important game to win. So when the “experts” analyzed this game,
they gave Chicago the upper hand since they had momentum going into Game 2. As
we know from the Red Sox in 2004, it is very hard to come back from a series
when you’re down by a few games or being one away from elimination, but it can
be done! Two Red Sox pitchers Josh Beckett and Jon Lester were there to witness
this game. These Red Sox players who were at the game could relate to Ray Allen
in some ways because their team had counted on them to win a game before. Emotions
from one athlete to another are very similar because they have been in
relatable game situations before in their life.
This playoff series
ended up going to seven games, with the Celtics winning. They moved on to the next round to play
against the Orlando Magic. Even though they didn’t get past the Magic or win
the NBA Championship that year, they proved something to people by getting
farther then most predicted. One of their leading scorers, Kevin Garnett, had
gotten injured at the end of the season and was out for the playoffs, so most
didn’t think the Celtics would make it past the Chicago Bulls in the first
round.
Even
until this day, it’s still hard to believe that Ray Allen made that ‘buzzer
beater’ shot to win the game and I was there to witness it. The intensity and
competition of that game occurred throughout the night, but when the game came
down to the wire, a true athlete came through and went beyond his ability to
lift his team to victory. It is not until that moment that you recognize the
true respect you feel for those players because they bring so much passion to
the game and make it even more enjoyable to watch. I remember this game so well
because it was my first playoff game and my first Celtics game ever! It would have been a fond memory for me, even
if the Celtics did not win, because either way I was experiencing something new
for the first time. There is something about that night that made me feel a part
of something bigger than myself and I finally got to say I saw a thrilling game
in person. We have all witnessed some amazing comebacks in sports, but I think
until you sit in the stands or watch it in a stadium with thousands of other people
there is no greater feeling. When the game is down to the wire and athletes
reach beyond themselves and come up with more heart, more strength and more adrenaline
then the crowd can handle, they prove that time and time again, “It’s not over
till it’s over.”

NYC

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood posted her spring tour a few days ago!! She will be touring for about three months with Craig Morgan and Sons of Silvia. Tickets go on sale next Friday for the Amherst, Mass and I'm going to try and get tickets for me, my sister and my friend. "I want meet and greets and front row seats, settle for nothing less" -Amanda







(picture above was taking in Amherst, MA 2/07)





Other tour dates can be found on the CMT website



A Review on Carrie Underwood's Holiday Special...


Carrie had her own variety show last Sunday night with special musical guests and some family. There were performances from Brad Paisley, David Cook, Sons of Silvia, Dolly Parton and of course Carrie. Her mom, sister, Christina Applegate and Kristin Chenoweth were also featured.

There were some great performances and funny skits. It was two hours long but it was really only hour and a half long because of all the commercials. Anyways I think she shoule do another one next year and if you missed it it's on fox.com, I really enjoyed it, so check it out!!

PS 11 days until the secret is revealed and 12 days until Christmas!!

Luke Bryan

The Luke Bryan concert I went to this weekend was sooo awesome!!

The opening act was Houton County, never heard of them before but they were pretty chill. Luke Bryan was soooo amazing, he performed for over two hours!!! He played all his hit songs and most of the songs on his new album, Doin' My Thing. Ahhhh soooo good

That had to be one of the craziest night ever and everything was happening around us. Between the drunk girls and old guys dancing, idk which was worst. The best part was when we saw a guy get tazed way the police. Three security guards had to escourt him out because he throw a punch at one of the security guards. ahahhaha

At the end of the show Luke signed for his fans and we got his autograph!!! So amazing. I bought a t-shirt also after the concert."don't be a tape player hater" peace

CMA Award Show

Okay so here's what I think about the CMA Award show last night...

I think Kenny should have won Entertainer of the Year hands down. I saw Taylor and Kenny this summer...wow big difference in concerts!! Kenny is so much more entertaining!!!! Being at his concerts is like being on a whole different planet because he puts all of his heart in the shows and connects with the audience.

Well Carrie should have won female vocalist of the year because her vocals are phenomenal and she has better range then Taylor.
The album of the year could have went to either Keith or Taylor had great albums. I also thought Jason Aldean's album was very good this year too(Wide Open), why wasn't he nominated for anything?

Wow how about Rascal Flatts not winning Vocal group, that was surprising!! They also didn't perform.
Darius Rucker, well deserved new comer win. I saw him this summer and there were two, yes two encores for him. Never have I ever been to a concert with two encores until Darius Rucker!

Male vocals could have went to anyone, they're all amazing vocalist.
I knew "In color" was going to win song of the year, that is such a great song and single of the year could have went to anyone too.

Sugarland is going to win the Duo of the year for years to come. They have amazing chemistry and are great entertainers, they should have been in the entertainers category as well.
Musical Event of the year, well deserved Brad and Keith. I love that music video!!

Next year there should be more calibrations with non-country artists, because that's what I look forward to the most. I would like to see Carrie and Kelly Clarkson write a song together, that would be kick ass. Peace Out