Softball: Moving On (The Sorrow and the Pity)
Dear People,
For the last game of the season before our beloved Codornices is plowed, tilled and sown brutally anew, Pace's team contemptuously crushed my own, 19-9. It was an eerily emotive and bittersweet struggle, highlighted by the long-awaited return of former regular great Bill “William the Billy Boy” Nickel, whose five years away have been nothing less than a gnawing ache in the very bosom of this community.
I was naturally thrilled to have him on my side, and he did not disappoint (initially), blasting an adorable slow-rolling 3rd-inning home-run directly to the pitcher's mound. As you can imagine, his dash around the diamond was a pleasure to observe, for rare is the athlete whose very presence at the plate can turn a languid and routine ground-out into a spontaneous 11-error outbreak of infield-wide river blindness.
Unfortunately, and for reasons I don't pretend to understand, the Nickelator apparently began to fear a karmic imbalance of errorage in the universal whole, and thus his own performance at 3rd became somewhat problematic. Of course this is not to say that he was somehow responsible for several utterly preventable runs, though I would gently suggest that in playing against line drives, it's probably best to avoid those kinesiological tactics that are more generally associated with ping pong. Yeah, it's harsh being rusty.
The point is that athletic comebacks are always a triumph of the human spirit, no matter the actual results. I think that was clear to Bill's gorgeous Alaskan Husky, Bonnie, whose tail seemed to wag with ever increasing pride in her master's glorious return to form. Of course, dogs are painfully dumb-ass and clearly don't know how to judge the excellence of execution in any homo sapien endeavor, yet they do know that the splendor of any given game is not found in its location or time, but in the transcendent aerobic character of its ever determined people. And therefore there will be a game at GROVE this Sunday at 3:55PM, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…Raymond
PS: Grove Park is our preferred backup field and is located at Russell and MLK, one block North of Ashby. It is not to be confused with Grover Cleveland, who was a disturbingly rotund American president, and the only one to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885-1889 and 1893-1897). Really.
3/4/11
Softball: Our Incomparable Flexibility in Time and Space
Dear People,
There will (likely) be a game at Grove Park this Sunday at 3:55PM SHARP, and as of now there is still one tiny little slot left. If it rains between now and then, please check email that afternoon around 3, and assume nothing, since even if the park is closed and unplayable, we may be able to make a spontaneous switch to Maxwell Astroturf field. As always, I will do everything in my power to bring you the aerobic release that you so shamelessly crave.
This week's field fee is just $4, and that includes a post-game facial seaweed treatment with simultaneous ear candling….Raymond 845-7552
PS: Grove is at MLK and Russell, one block North of Ashby.
PPS: Why 3:55 SHARP? Because it will be dark by 6:10. Fortunately, daylight savings starts next week and we'll have an extra hour of light in which to frolic.
3/6/11
Softball: Sunday 1:30PM: The Tragedy of the Commons ;-(…
Dears,
Unfortunately, Grove Field is now an officially closed inglourious-basterd-bog of softball-hostile mud-laden gunk. A paragon of fine drainage she is not. Even worse, I just got back from Maxwell, where a stern Cal lacrosse player told me that his posse would be occupying that glorious Astroturf sheathing until at least 5:00.
Until next week….
Patience/courage/contemplative serenity….Raymond