Man Crush

Don't kid yourself.  When you pick out names for your offspring, it is a big deal.  Especially in regards to sports.  I have overheard many a man trying out potential sons' names aloud so they know for sure that they will sound powerful and strong when coming out of a loudspeaker in their future athletic pursuits.  You gotta put some thought behind the process because names and their potential nicknames can be a good or very bad thing.  We have a wonderful kid on our baseball team named Daunte........he comes from a great family with strong Italian/Spanish roots.  They have five children.  Five beautiful children. 

Here are two of the (well-named) future heartbreakers, Sergio and Diego, with Eli.

 But I am getting off subject here.  Back to the name thing.  Daunte is a great name for sports, and his last name also starts with a D so that sounds cool too.  The thing I can't figure out is why his teammates all seem to be in such awe of him.  Is it his cool catchers' gear?  The beautiful olive skin tone?  His amazing athletic ability?    I can't be sure, it is probably all of them but I really think it has a little to do with the cool name.  What I am getting at here is that I think my son, Jordan, has developed a serious "man crush" on Daunte.  (I thought of saying "boy crush" but that sounds a little too creepy and I know that Jordan does like girls in that way.)  He just thinks Daunte is so darn cool.  Lately it seems like all of our baseball conversations have gone a little like this:

Me:  "What should we do after the game today?  Do you want to go for a swim?"

Jordan:  "Can we please go to Daunte's pool?  It is sooo warm, and it is 8 1/2 feet deep!"

Me:  "How did your new sunglasses work for you during the game?"

Jordan:  "They were alright but I really like Daunte's sunglasses."

Me:  "What is different about them?"

Jordan:  "His are in a better shape and they are colored and he has like two cases for them.  A soft one to protect them from getting scratched, AND a hard case to protect them in his bag."

Me:  "How do you like wearing your chest protector?"

Jordan:  "It's okay but I really want one like Daunte's.  It has padding all around it and it is much softer.  Balls just bounce off of it and don't even hurt him."

Jordan:  "Mom, I really need new shorts.  Mine are way too short and they don't look good.  Daunte has really cool shorts.  They are really long and baggy and almost hang down to his ankles."

Me:  "Wow.  Are they like gangster shorts or something?"

Jordan:  (in a very serious voice)  "No, I think they are just ghetto."   -what my 8 year old child knows about the ghetto is a mystery to me-

Me:  "Hey, get your stuff together, Dad wants to take you over to the field to practice fielding when he gets home from work."

Jordan:  "I really don't want to go to the field.  Dad is really hard on me and throws as hard as he can and uses the whole bucket of balls every time."

Me:  "He does that so when the ball gets hit hard to you during your games, you will be ready for it."

Jordan: (ponders this for a moment.....)  "Gosh, I wonder how hard Daunte's dad is on him."

Me:  "He must be even tougher on him than your Dad is with you."

Jordan: "Yeah, probably a lot tougher."

I could go on and on.  Also, most of the 99 phone calls Travis gets every day from team parents usually end up involving Daunte in some way.  We just can't seem to figure out if it is a jealousy thing or what.  Truth be told, he is a great athlete, he can play several positions very well, and we think he is a super kid just like the rest of them.  But the fact is, these boys are 8 and 9 years old and to be comparing themselves to each other just seems a little silly.  

Its gotta be the name.