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In December, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on family.Ive heard a number of women say something to the effect of My dad wanted a son, but then he got me! to explain their lifelong love of sports.However, my dad didnt care if he had a boy or a girl. Either way, they were going to love sports no matter what.Gender, be damned.Raised in a small town in Connecticut, my dad, Gerry Maine, grew up watching and playing sports with his dad. From basketball to baseball to boxing, they loved them all. I never got a chance to meet my grandfather -- a dentist, who wrote Notre Dame football game recaps in his spare time just for the heck of it -- but Ive always felt a part of him lives on in my dad when we talk about Bill Russell and the glory days of the Boston Celtics or Muhammad Alis earliest fights. Those were things my dad and grandfather watched together.While my dad ran varsity track in high school and played baseball during his childhood, his true passion was basketball. While he may not have had the height or talent to make the school team, his love for the game never wavered.And he passed that on to me -- from the day I was born.My mom was a professional dancer and remains to this day one of the best athletes I know, but she has never cared for watching sports on television. So I became my dads defacto buddy, sitting on the couch watching the UConn Huskies or the Celtics starting as an infant. While I dont remember going to my first UConn game as a toddler, my dad bought me my first soda at halftime, and my moms plan for a sugar-free child went out the window.I was four when a basketball was first put in my hands.In second grade, I had my first chance to play organized basketball. A league called Saturday Hoopsters took place at my elementary school, and I remember walking down the street on the first day, side by side with my proud dad. He didnt hesitate when they asked for parent volunteers to coach.I loved everything about the game, from the musty smell of the old gym to the sound of the ball on the squeaky hardwood. I also loved walking to the school with my dad and spending time with him. On our walks back, we would dissect everything that took place. Saturdays were my sanctuary, and I looked forward to our ritual all week.Our mutual love for basketball soon extended to other sports as well. My boundless energy needed to be harnessed, so I started playing soccer around the same time. While my dad was well versed in many sports, he knew nothing about soccer. But that didnt stop him from signing up to be the coach for my sister, Erin, and my team when no one else stepped up. He bought a Soccer for Dummies book.My dad was the frequent carpool driver when other parents wanted to sleep in or had other things to do. He was always there, whether as a coach or as a devoted fan in the stands.With a fused neck due to Ankylosing spondylitis, among other serious ailments, he has never let his health stop him. While his condition is visibly apparent and has left him unable to turn his head since he was in his 20s, I dont remember noticing that as a kid. He never once complained and still played with me like any other parent might.It didnt take long for sports to be my absolute everything. And if I wasnt playing something, I was watching. While my dad had always been a fan of the UConn mens basketball team, he hadnt watched much of the womens team, but that changed as soon as their games were first televised on a local channel. We watched just about every game during the 1994-95 season.The Huskies went 35-0 that year and won their first national championship. I was obsessed with the team, in a way that many of my peers were about heartthrobs Jonathan Taylor Thomas or Leonardo DiCaprio. Together, we attended the Huskies victory parade in downtown Hartford, went to pep rallies and to just about every event celebrating the team.While I barely stood over 4 feet at that point, I was determined to one day play for coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies. Im sure it was apparent to everyone but me that this wasnt going to happen, but my dad encouraged me to go for my dream.I spent about every moment in my free time shooting around on the basketball hoop I had begged for in the driveway. The hoop was a combined birthday and Christmas present. My dad shot around with me whenever he could. We usually played H-O-R-S-E together, or with any other neighborhood kid -- and I almost always lost. My dad never let me win. But Ill never forget the first time I beat him. I couldnt believe it.Like my dad, my talent for the game never matched my passion, and I never did get recruited by Auriemma. But I did play throughout high school, and my dad came to almost every game. He arranged his work schedule to have a few hours off in the afternoon and would go back to the office or to meetings in the evening. It made for long days, but his support meant (and still means) everything to me.After a successful heart surgery this year, Im training for a 5K race in the spring -- my first organized run since high school. While I know I have no chance at winning, I do know Ill have the most dedicated fan cheering me on.Thanks, Dad.Blue Jays Jerseys China . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/1126h-t-j-zeuch-jersey-blue-jays.html . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Cecil Fielder Blue Jays Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Reese McGuire Jersey . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half.Mikayla Boykin was in middle school, already an emerging basketball star in Clinton, North Carolina, when a college coach came to watch her in open gym.Playing one-on-one against her brother Michael, who is 13 months older, Mikayla refused to back down. The game got so physical that the two youngsters nearly came to blows.I was thinking, This is not good for my family, said mom Nicole Boykin. My husband called the college coach to apologize. But [the coach] said, I loved it! [The coaches] loved her competitiveness.Michael Boykin is now a 6-foot-1 freshman guard at Division II Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina.Mikayla, a 5-9 senior combo guard at Clinton High, is rated much higher and has a scholarship to Duke. Despite missing the past two high school seasons due to knee injuries, shes the No. 20 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 for the 2017 class.As a freshman, Boykin showed what she could do, averaging 26.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 4.2 assists for a 24-4 team. She was the player of the year in Sampson County and made second-team all-state.In my 16 years of coaching, shes by far the best player Ive ever coached, Clinton coach Chris Owens said. Shes the type of leader who makes teammates better.Boykin, healthy once again after enjoying a successful AAU season this past summer with the Carolina Flames, seems poised to have a big senior year.When she first got back from injury and was only at 70 percent, she was still the most explosive player in the gym, Flames coach Arne Morris said. Thats how talented she is.Cheerleader for a dayThe Boykin parents -- Tim and Nicole -- had it all figured out after the birth of their first two children.Tim, a former high school football and basketball standout, was going to pal around with their eldest child, Michael, and take him to the gym. Nicole was going to put Mikayla in cheerleading and, once she got older, they would get their nails done and take shopping trips to the mall.There was just one problem: Mikayla was having none of that.Mikaylas brief cheerleading career started at age 4 at a football game ... and ended a couple hours later.She sat on the floor and folded her arms, Nicole said. She didnt do even one cheer.At halftime, Nicole approached her daughter to find out if Mikayla knew the cheers. As it turns out, Mikaylas ability to memorize cheers was not the problem at all.Here was the issue: I always did stuff with my brother, Mikayla said. It felt awkward not to be on the football field with him.After Mikaylas protest, the Boykins got the message. Her cheerleading career ended abruptly, and she signed up the next day to play basketball at her local recreational league.Mikayla and Michael immediately became a dynamic one-two punch on the basketball court. In many games in their early years, they would score all of their teams points.By the time Mikayla was in seventh grade, she had become a big deal in recruiting, according to her father. At a middle school game, Mikayla had a 33-point fourth quarter while Duke and North Carolina coaches sat in the stands.And by the summer of her eighth-grade year, Mikayla had committed to Duke.Morris, her AAU coach, was concerned she was making her big decision too early.I saiid, Are you sure? Thats when I saw how mature she was, Morris said.dddddddddddd She broke it down for me. She was thinking of what kind of job she could get after basketball. She was thinking of the connections she could make at Duke.Mikayla is from a small town. Its one of those places thats tough to make it out of, but she recognized the value of a Duke degree.Tim Boykin said academics have long been a priority for Mikayla, who has a 4.0 weighted GPA and wants to major in business administration. She wants to own a company with her brother, who is also majoring in business.There is nobody that we know personally who has come from Clinton and gone to school at Duke, said Tim, emphasizing how special this is for his daughter.She is looking at college like a trade-off: Im going to trade you my basketball skills, and [Duke] is going to teach me what I want to learn. Stronger and better?Mikayla likes to rap and often comes up with lyrics along with her dad. How good a rapper she is depends on who you ask. Teammate Ashlyn Williams said Mikayla often tries to trick her by telling her she created a rap that actually already belongs to an artist such as Drake or Meek Mill.With basketball, however, there is no denying Boykins talents. Williams said she first met Boykin five years ago at an open gym. Williams had already heard about Boykins skills -- Clinton is a small town of about 9,000 after all -- but she hadnt seen her play.When Williams walked into the gym, it didnt take her long to find Boykin.She was shooting 3-pointers in warm-ups and barely missing, Williams said. It was pretty obvious who she was.I introduced myself, and she said, Im Mikayla. I said, Yeah, I kind of figured. But as gifted as Boykin is, she has had to deal with considerable adversity. In the summer after her freshman year, she went up for a layup, and her left knee buckled during an AAU tournament in Tennessee.I blacked out, Boykin said. There were 20 seconds that I still dont remember. I dont remember my mom coming over.When I actually got myself together, I just saw the Duke coaches staring at me from across the court. They looked calm, like they knew I would be OK.Boykin wasnt so sure.For the first month after ACL and MCL surgery, she was depressed, according to her mother. But after that, she got on track and made it back for the 2015 AAU circuit. Thats when she was reinjured when she bumped knees with an opponent in a Virginia tournament, causing her to miss her junior season.Now Boykin is back, and she claims her left leg is even stronger than her right. Shes hoping to lead Clinton to its first state title since 1990.However, she and her teammates now have a new issue to deal with -- Hurricane Matthew, which tore through North Carolina, ripping through the roof of the Clinton gym. The court was flooded, and Clinton likely wont be able to use its home gym this season.Boykin, who works a part-time job at a local park, donated money to a fund that helps victims of the hurricane.It hurt me to look around and see a lot of people flooded in, Boykin said. I wanted to help with the cause. ' ' '