pink baseball

It begins . . . my daughter's love for playing baseball begins tonight (softball will be an acceptable replacement since she is a girl and I usually play in a church softball league).

We had 45 minutes to kill while waiting for our table at the Olive Garden (known as the O.G. to college friends). So we went to Big 5 to kill some time. The place was stocked for the beginning of the spring season of baseball (Little League sign ups have already begun, and I am stoked to start umpiring again). There in the corner of the baseball section was the 3-5 year old gloves in pink and purple (NOTE: Ashlyn is two and a half, but will be three once baseball is under way this year).

I gave Ashlyn the choice of what color, obviously pink.

We played catch outside the store and again outside the O.G. She wanted to keep playing "catch" in the restaurant.

She got real excited when I got my glove out at home and we played catch again. She said, "You're good Daddy." She already has an eye for talent!

(FYI: That's not gum in Ashlyn's mouth in the above picture. It's her pink, of course, Triceratops vitamin.)

warriors win

After 13 years of no playoff games. 16 years of no playoff series wins. 31 years since a 7-game playoff series win. The Golden State Warriors have done the unthinkable. They became the first 8 seed in NBA history to defeat a 1 seed in a 7-game series.

Can basketball have really returned to the Bay Area?

softball update - week 3

Our bats came alive this week. We scored 15 runs and made it through all 6 innings. However, our defense continued to struggle and we gave up 25. In previous weeks the "under-30's" on the team had struggled at the plate so we had been regulated to the end of the lineup. This week we started two rallies of 4+ runs. Personally I went 1 for 3 with a walk and an RBI. Not great, but my hit was a double that a faster runner would have legged out as a triple. Needless to say Softball was a lot more fun this week.

softball sucks

FYI: Softball Sucks.

My adult league team is 0-2. We got slaughter ruled (mercy rule for kids so they don't get their feelings hurt) 21-1 after 4 innings in our first game, and then 18-3 in 5 innings in our second. Both times we were down one man in the field (normally you have 4 players in the outfield). So the first game we got creamed, but the second game was close, 8-3, before we lost Tony to an ankle injury. Then the other team unloaded 11 runs by placing the ball in between our outfielders. Softball Sucks. But I am still going to play this next Monday. Our goal is to field a whole team and make it to the 6th and final inning.

pardon the interruption

It's time for me to express my commitment and love for PTI. This daily TV show is really the only TV I feel I am addicted to. The rest of TV I can leave behind, but don't take away Tony and Mike!

ESPN's Pardon the Interruption gives you an overview of sports stories. Tony Kornhesier (Wikipedia/Washington Post) and Mike Wilbon (Wikipedia/Washington Post) give their commentary on the events, the culture, and the implications of sports news. It is far more insightful than you might think, though sometimes it does stoop to the glitz and glam of entertainment news.

Rebecca, my wife, says that Tony and Mike just yell at each other. I say you can turn down the TV if you think they are yelling.

behind the plate

For those who may not know, I spent a couple Springs behind the plate as a Little League Umpire. With the need for something to help em unwind, I decided to get back into it this year. I had my first two games on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

It was one of the best experiences of my life. There is something "good" about the competition of baseball. Perhaps now over shadowed by the intensity of football and the flash of basketball, it remains a sport that anyone as a child can play.

The joys of being behind the plate is simply to protect that goodness. As an umpire you set the tone. There is the pre-game meet with the coaches (usually driven fathers that have forgotten the kids on the field are just that, kids). There is the chance to talk with the teams in the dugouts and go over the strike zone, and easily forgotten rules. These serve an opportunity to remind everyone why we play the game. There are no big league contracts at stake. This is a time of learning and fun.

It's good to be back.

super bowl

Here's to all those years of waiting. Glad that Peyton and Dungy got their Super Bowl rings. There are not two more deserving guys. To the students who I watched the first half with, "What's the score now!?!"