I had a moment last week Im not particularly proud of -- one of those projecting my sports dreams onto my kid moments. It was minor, in the grand scheme of things, but it stuck with me. So I drafted this message to him, to remind both of us what its all about.Hey, pal,Weve put in a lot of time together in the driveway and on the rec team. We talk about obscure NBA summer league players and listen to the Pure Sweat Basketball podcasts and follow the summer results of Team Takeovers 10-and-under championship AAU team on Instagram. I love watching you play.And I love that you love playing sports. But what really matters most isnt that I love anything -- its that you love it.Last week, I sent you to the legendary DeMatha Basketball Camp. Adrian Dantley! Danny Ferry! Victor Oladipo! Markelle Fultz!Im going to be really honest here: That was my dream, not yours. You were happy to drive 45 minutes away to play at a prestigious school -- if less happy to get dominated all day by much better, older players -- but the experience left me feeling as hollow as any moment on this sports journey we have had together. Because it was as much about me as you. (Sigh -- maybe more.)There is always going to be a certain amount of projection by a parent onto a kids athletics. That is basically the basis for the gajillion-dollar youth-sports industry. But seeing you in the camp T-shirt that I wanted so badly but never earned when I was a kid, I didnt feel excited for you -- I mostly felt ashamed of myself.Now that you are 10, its time for this to be your journey, all the way. I cant remind you to work on your dribbling; you have to appreciate on your own that the game becomes so much easier and more fun when you have a better handle. I cant encourage you to hustle for rebounds from the bleachers of the gym; you have to want to want them for yourself (or have a real coach instruct you).I cant let my 43 years of perspective eclipse your 10, even if it means that you potentially miss some exciting opportunities. From here on out, your mom and I are just here to support you as you figure out what role you want sports to play in your life.Trust me: Without me contributing so directly -- sharing sideline wisdom or rec-league postgame hot takes or handing you my phone so you can read the latest inspirational basketball quote from Coach Twitter -- youll still love basketball. Honestly, you can (and will!) love it even more than you can even realize right now.Youre going to keep playing and getting better and taking lessons from the sport that are going to be even more important than what happens on the court -- about being a good teammate and showing leadership and developing resilience and having meaningful relationships.Youre going to play ferocious pickup games with your buddies in high school and compete for intramural titles in college that rival anything that happens at the Final Four, and one day youre going to meet someone who will invite you into a weekly drop-in game of other middle-aged people who love basketball, and it sounds silly, but honestly, thatll feel like your NBA, even if you never make it to the high school varsity. Well love watching you learn, grow and -- yes -- play, all the way.Heres a promise: Ill always do my best to say yes if you ask me to rebound the ball for you in the driveway or count your free throws or just stand there mutely as you zip to the basket around me. But it is not fair to you for me to ask you -- Im just the parent ......?you are the player.Go get em,DadDan Shanoff writes about parenting for espnW. You can connect with him on Twitter at @danshanoff, follow Dans parenting effort on Instagram or continue the conversation on espnWs Facebook page. Fake Flames Jerseys .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. Flames Jerseys China . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Calgary Flames Pro Shop .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. Calgary Flames Shirts . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. The Indiana Fever may be the best break-even team in the WNBA though their first 24 games. They seek to continue the solid play they showed in July when they host the Washington Mystics on Saturday night in the first game for both teams since the league took a month-long break for the Rio Summer Olympics.Dont let the 12-12 record fool you; the Fever have a track record built in past seasons of pacing themselves early on and playing their best basketball as the calendar turns from summer to fall.Indiana began the 2016 campaign with a 7-11 start but headed to the Olympic break with wins in five of its last six contests.Going into the break, we were exactly where we wanted to be, Fever coach Stephanie White said. We started to really find a rhythm and find a groove. Our chemistry had come together and we were healthy. It was a good time to get a physical break and a mental break and work on the fundamentals.The final stretch of the 2016 season will be the swan song for Indiana forward Tamika Catchings, who leads the Fever in scoring (13.7 point per game) and will retire at the end of this season after 15 years in the league.(Catchings is) logging more minutes than most people do at age 37 and doinng it at a very high level, White said.dddddddddddd Give her a lot of credit for having the work ethic and toughness that she has. She has the ability to impact the game in more ways than just her numbers. And she still impacts the stat sheet with her scoring, assists and steals.Indiana, which has earned a spot in the playoffs for a record 11 consecutive seasons, holds down the fifth spot in the new-look WNBA playoffs, in which the top eight teams, regardless of conference, qualify for the postseason.Washington, meanwhile, is 9-15 and enters this stretch tied with Seattle for the eighth and final playoff spot.The Mystics were in a deep freeze as they when to the Olympic break, mired in a seven-game losing streak and scoring an average of just 79.6 points per game, the second fewest in the league.Washington beat the Fever 76-62 at home on June 22 during a stretch in which it won four times in five games. But the Mystics last victory was on June 29 against San Antonio and theyll be hard-pressed to duplicate the effort they produced against Indiana earlier in the year. ' ' '