Diamond Notes (7)

Tomorrow I play softball in Wabash, IN. I would like to explain why.

My regular team (Smalltown Fastpitch) is not playing in Wabash. Instead, I have been "picked up" by another team (Goshen Gators), who happen to be short some of their regular players for the weekend. This happens fairly regularly throughout the course of a season. As a matter of fact, this season my own team has picked up at least one player for each of the tournaments we have played in.

Here is another interesting thing about this particular tournament. The winning team takes home a cash prize. That's not normal. Neither is the format of the tournament.

We play three games in "pool play" tomorrow (11, 3, & 5). Based on our performance in pool play we will be entered into a single elimination bracket on Sunday. The top two teams from each pool go into the "gold" bracket. The bottom two teams from each pool go into the "silver" bracket. By the end of the day Sunday there will be a silver champion ($300 cash prize) and a gold champion ($500 cash prize). It's not much, but it's a lot more than any other tournament I've ever played in. Not sure who they found to sponsor this, but kudos to the people in Wabash.

Hope we don't lose all of our games.

p.s. Don't you feel enlightened about the workings of men's fastpitch softball now?

rise

Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow

Gonna rise up
Burning back holes in dark memories
Gonna rise up
Turning mistakes into gold

Such is the passage of time
Too fast to fold
And suddenly swallowed by signs
Low and behold

Gonna rise up
Find my direction magnetically
Gonna rise up
Throw down my ace in the hole

updates

Turned on my computer today for the first time in a week. Here's what you've missed.

1. Went to Port Huron. Watched a lot of fastpitch softball. Went to the beach.
2. Went to see U2 in Lansing. The acoustic version of "Stay (faraway so close)" was a highlight, but as always, "Where the Streets Have no Name" brings the house down.
3. Went 1-3 with two walks in a win on Tuesday night. The smell of something dead and decaying--from somewhere beyond the rightfield fence--was oppressive.
4. Started Phase 3 of P90X. Got tickets?
5. Mowed the 73 acres (ok, slight exaggeration, but it does take about 6 hours) at St. Mark Missionary Church.
6. Drove to Benton Harbor to play an inning and a half of softball before we got rained out.
7. Hosted reading group at my house. We sort of talked about "The Things They Carried." What a great book.
8. Had a long meeting discussing some curricular changes.
9. Read I and II Kings. Observation: There were a lot of evil kings.
10. I could go on, but you probably don't care about the rest.