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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. Red Wings Jerseys China . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Custom Detroit Red Wings Jerseys .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. https://www.cheapredwings.com/ . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Fake Red Wings Jerseys . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Stitched Red Wings Jerseys . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. LONDON -- In recent years, Serena Williams has been prone to slow starts, particularly against far lesser players. And in some of those matches, she never recovered.On a glorious sunny afternoon at the All England Club, Russian Elena Vesnina stepped onto Centre Court, the latest potential banana peel hoping to trip up the No. 1-seeded Williams.This time, the 34-year-old Serena did not slip. Not even close.With the calm, measured performance of a six-time champion, Williams completely unstrung the unseeded Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 to advance to her ninth Wimbledon final (Saturday, 9 a.m. ET on ESPN/WatchESPN). It was clinical, almost cruel.I felt like I had no chance today, Vesnina said later. She was in a great mood, and her serve was working really well for her. She had a really high percentage of first serves. She was placing it amazingly.Said Serena in her postmatch BBC interview: I was really focused today. ?I was ready. Its never easy out there. Every point you have to fight for.Really? It sure didnt look that way on Thursday.Match time: 48 minutes -- in the semifinal of a Grand Slam, no less. Its been 17 years since a semifinal was over that swiftly.You had to feel for the shell-shocked patrons at Centre Court, who paid 126 pounds ($164) for the privilege of watching. It was over so quickly that organizers delayed the start of the second semifinal to ensure that all spectators had a chance to arrive, causing a murmur to ripple through portion of the crowd already in attendance.The only drama after that emphatic result: Would Serena play her older sister Venus or No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber in Saturdays championship match? It turned out to be Kerber, who had upset Serena earlier this year in the Australian Open final.?I felt like she played great, Serena said of that match. She came out swinging, ready to win. She was fearless. Thats something I learned. When I go into a final, I, too, need to be fearless like she was.The numbers were almost unreal: Serena lost only three points on her serve in the entire match, winning 28 of 31 points. She was a perfect 12-for-12 in the second set. Sixty-one percent of those serves (including 11 aces) did not come back. All told, Serena won 53 of 74 points, a beatdown of ridiculous proportions, considering the stage.This is the best weve seen her from start to finish all year, said U.S. Olympic coach and ESPNN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez.ddddddddddddVesnina, to her credit, had been an overachiever here. She began the year ranked outside the top 100 and, just short of her 30th birthday, had climbed back to No. 50 with her best career result in a Grand Slam. Oddsmakers installed her as a 14-to-1 longshot, which in retrospect seems a tad optimistic.Serena has now been the WTAs No. 1-ranked player for 177 weeks in a row and seems destined to break Steffi Grafs record of 186 consecutive weeks on top. The other Graf milestone, however, is the one she really wants.After failing to win the past three majors -- losing in the finals of this years Australian Open and French Open -- Williams still finds herself one victory shy of Grafs Open era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles.Now shes only two sets away.I think for anyone else in this whole planet, it would be a wonderful accomplishment, Serena observed. For me, its about obviously holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me.For me, its not enough. But I think thats what makes me different. Thats what makes me Serena.The fact that shes doing this at 34, closing in on 35, is extraordinary.Shes already the oldest woman to win a major in the Open era, a feat she accomplished here a year ago at the age of 33. And now she can extend that record by another year.In a moment typical of