Scott Brown says running for U.S. Senate keeps him on the go from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. He even campaigned on Thanksgiving.

But, there are a few hours in every week when the state senator does not allow running for one of the highest offices in the land to interrupt one of his other passions - basketball.

Brown, R-Wrentham, was a basketball player in his younger days, first at Wakefield High School and then at Tufts University.

Now he follows Boston College, where his daughter Ayla is a senior starter, averaging double figures.

He has his staff block off time whenever his daughter takes the court with her Boston College teammates so he can attend the game. "I've always said, 'My family comes first,'" Brown said of his timeouts for basketball.

"I have to schedule in a certain amount of family time."

Brown said running for the seat long held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has him traveling to every region of the state as he tries to meet as many voters as possible.

Unlike his better-funded Democratic opponents, Brown has not been advertising on TV, so he has to rely on retail politicking and interviews with the media.

It is a time-intensive process, but so far he has found enough time to attend the BC Eagles games, too.

Brown said it was a thrill for him to attend the BC-Holy Cross game earlier this week because he got to see his daughter play against Amy Lepley of Norfolk.

Brown said he coached Lepley for four years when she was younger. They competed in the area travel league known as MetroWest.

"I taught her everything I taught Ayla," he said of Lepley, the former Bishop Feehan High standout. "She's a great kid."

The highlight of the game, he said, was when Ayla and Amy lined up next to each other when another player was shooting free throws. "It was a special time for me," he said.

Pick surprises GOP Some local Republicans were a bit surprised that gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker selected Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei as his running mate.

They said they have nothing against Tisei and he is a solid pick, but Tisei is a career politician who undercuts Baker's attempts to position himself as a Beacon Hill outsider.

Of course, Baker is an insider himself, having served in the administrations of governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci.

But Baker is also a businessman and some Republicans were hoping he would pick someone without a Statehouse taint.

The knock on Tisei was summed up by Lt. Gov. Tim Murray.

"Sen. Tisei is a 25-year Statehouse insider who typifies the Republican establishment elite that created record levels of debt and deferred maintenance," Murray said.

"I was a quarterback on my high school football team when Sen. Tisei started serving in the Legislature. We look forward to debating him on the issues and the future of Massachusetts."

Some local Republicans said if Baker was going to pick an insider, they wish he had waited until after the January special election for U.S. Senate to see if Brown was still available.

JIM HAND covers politics for The Sun Chronicle. His commentaries appear in this space on Saturdays. Contact him at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.