Much has happened since my last posting many months ago. The most significant change is that Jim and I welcomed our first grandchild into the world on Thursday, March 30, at 4:53 p.m. CST. Brennan Jacob Riggs weighed in at 7 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 19.25 inches. Jim's column, "All In A Day's Sports", published in our local Jamestown newspaper each Saturday featured who else but the newest little sport in our family. The column follows:

Like Father, Like Son

It was almost 28 years ago that this column told about the birth of my son,
which became a 12-hour ordeal. He was in no hurry to enter the world and
after my wife, Sharon, and I arrived at the hospital at 2:30 a.m., Jim IV
decided to wait to be born at around 2:30 p.m.

In the column, I compared it to an extra-innings baseball game that you
think might never end.

On Thursday my son, who forced those "extra innings" in 1978, discovered
that what goes around comes around. That's because his first born, a son,
decided to pull the same trick. He put his mother, Melissa, through nearly
12 hours of "extra innings" before he entered the world and Sharon and I
were grandparents for the first time.

We'd been preparing for it. Long before we even knew we'd be grandparents,
Sharon began building up the grandchild's booty. She'd see an interesting
children's book or a toy and would say, "We could always put it away for
our grandchild."

After a few years of stockpiling, we found out last fall that we really
would be grandparents. That's when the booty increased, but then gradually
diminished as a gift was mailed from Jamestown to Dallas from time to time.
So our grandchild was getting spoiled even before he was born. But we
didn't know he was going to be a he because Jim and Melissa didn't want to
know if it was a boy or a girl. That was probably to stop me from purchasing
every sports item available if I knew it would be boy.

Now I know it's a boy, but will he become a sports fan? Who knows? He lives
only 12 miles from Texas Stadium, so he probably doesn't have much choice.
Unlike his grandfather, his dad is not fully into sports, but he did become
a hockey fan. And he even roots for my favorite team.

Months ago I sent two pairs of Pittsburgh Penguins booties to the Lone Star
State so my grandchild's feet would be warm while sitting on the couch
watching Penguins games on TV with dad. And more importantly, giving mom
some needed break time.

Yes, he'll be in the city of the Dallas Stars, but thanks to dad's NHL cable
package he'll see every Penguins game. With the way the hapless Penguins
have been playing this season, I know why my grandson was hesitant to be
born.

But as my grandson grows older, I can act totally like a grandfather and go
into the "When I was your age" routine when it comes to sports.
Since he's living in Dallas, I can tell him about the Dallas Stars starting
out as the Minnesota North Stars. And the first time they reached the
Stanley Cup Finals they lost to the Penguins.

I can amaze him with the fact that hockey games once ended in ties. I'll
tell him that when I was a Penguins season ticket holder I actually
witnessed two scoreless ties.

I also saw hockey players without helmets and goalies without facemasks!
Yes, your grandfather is that old.

Then on the subject of baseball, I can tell my grandson about doubleheaders.
Yes, there was once a time when you could see two games for the price of
one.

When your team's schedule was announced for the upcoming season, you always
checked it to see when the doubleheaders would be. Teams actually had
scheduled doubleheaders and they were usually ones on Memorial Day, July
Fourth and Labor Day.

I can tell my grandson that when I was his age, baseball players used to
stay with a team for their entire career. For instance, Roberto Clemente
played in the World Series for Pittsburgh in 1960. The Pirates didn't make
it back to the World Series again until 1971 and Clemente played in that
one, too.

Wait until he hears I went to Game 3 and 5 of the 1971 World Series. I had
ordered reserved seat tickets through the mail and they were only $10 each!
My grandson will be amazed to hear that once there were no playoffs in major
league baseball, but instead only the champions of the American and National
Leagues played in the World Series. There was no such thing as a wild card
that allows a team that couldn't even win its own division to win a World
Series.

Speaking of the World Series, my grandson won't believe that all the games
used to be played in the day. Even on weekdays!

Living in a hotbed for football, my grandson will be amazed to know that
Dallas once had two pro football teams and that the Dallas Texans of the
American Football League used to outdraw the Dallas Cowboys.

Being a Dallas native, he'll probably cringe when he learns his grandfather
was a fan of the Houston Oilers beginning with their first year of 1960. And
now that loyalty has continued with the Tennessee Titans.

That's when he'll think his grandfather might be going senile.

He'll get to see his aging grandfather when we make the 1,330-mile drive to
our grandson's house in a couple of weeks. My golf clubs will be in the
trunk, but my grandson probably won't be able to play this year. I haven't
found booties with golf spikes yet.

He probably won't be asking too many sports questions during this visit, but
at least we can sit on the couch and watch hockey. It will be Stanley Cup
Playoffs time, so we won't be watching the Penguins.