Softball: Reflections on the Athletic Nexus of Physics and PolySci
Dear People,
Chris Fure's team stunned my own, 15-12, on a mind-blowing 8th-inning grand slam to the yak-laden bush of deep center-right, and in fact it was the Furinator himself who smashed that ball-perfectly aimed, imbued with devastating yaw, and yet utterly devoid of competitive pretension. Now look, we all know that I tend to be quite chary with the basic narrative of raw athletic accomplishment, and I can promise you that my literary default will always be the alluring grist of calamitous ineptitude (Indeed, for this same game I would've referred you to my own three ground outs to 3rd, but I fear that if I were to unduly dwell, I could psyche myself out and thereby needlessly extend my current 13-year hitting slump). Nevertheless, there are exceptional times when the reign of leadership is executed with such staggering mathematical precision that it cries out to be noted.
Case in point; I believe that Chris' game-winning blast was transcendent precisely because the projectile of the orb in question was a flawless 45° parabola that followed the classic ballistic trajectory of maximal long-distance kickass [ v0cos()t)2+(_2gt2+v0sin()t)2, as if you didn't already know!]. Moreover, while I suppose you could say that he just got lucky, the fact is that I was looking deep into his eyes as he prepared to swing, and I could see the calculus churning in his dark and eerie pupils; Yeah, it was as if Newton and DiMaggio were now melded into one, and in the end, the disparate variations of pure human excellence produced a blast that was nothing less than the perfection of arc itself.
Or maybe it was just a low and tricky line drive that caught Mateo asleep in the outfield. Truth be told, I didn't really see what happened, but I do know that Chris' transformative feat shows that leadership remains at the dispositive core of communal destiny, which of course has gotten me thinking about the intriguing Missabama primaries that are unfolding as I peck these very words. Specifically, I had been grappling with the intrinsic nature of democracy and its annoying little ills, and until recently I felt that the “free beer problem” was not just a common 18th century objection to representative government, but in fact our own system's most corrosive present-day danger. Yet in contemplating the nature of this week's inspiring Republican electorate, I'm starting to think that there may be more fundamental and discomforting dilemmas within the honorable imperative of universal suffrage. . .
http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher/episodes/0/240-episode/video/alexandra-pelosi.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/obama-muslim-evolution-fake-amp-rush-limbaugh-great-republican-voters-poll-article-1.1037530?localLinksEnabled=false
The point is that this weekend will be the last one before Jonny is tragically deported back to Australia, and while he's obviously had his own personal history of feckless captainship, I'd like to think that his record is not so blemished as to call into question our own grand experiment in recreational self-governance. And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…Raymond
3/15/12
Softball: Stout Resolve in the Face of Nature's Terror
Dear People,
Stupid weather permitting, there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11AM, and as of now it is full. As always, please let me know ASAP if you committed and need to cancel, and if you still want in, feel free to get on the wait list or contact me later for news of reopened slots.
Climatic conditions remain moist and precarious, but remember that Codornices has the finest drainage of any public park in all of Berkeley (really!), and so with a little sun and luck, we'll be able to frolic. Maybe. In any case, assume nothing until you get an update, which I'll send out no later than 10AM that morning.
If we do play, this week's field fee is just $4, and that includes a bountiful post-game pick-me-up of of kale, gruel and seasonal greens…Raymond 845-7552
Softball: Sunday 9:20AM: Another Triumph of Landscape Engineering
Dear People,
I have never been so proud of a city field! Despite days of bitter softball-hating cloud-piss, Codornices is glorious, virtually puddleless and playable. As always, there are risks-from a menacing nimbostratus layer above to those residual swarms of malarial skeeters-yet I'll be damned if I'm going to cancel the last game Jonny has a chance to play before he finally returns to Austria (or Austin or Oslo or wherever it is he now lives).
See ya at 11….Raymond 845-7552
PS: It's sill quite cold-wear your woolen skivvies.
PPS: I'm bringing a bucket and shovel for the one puddle by home plate, so don't panic if you get there before me.
PPPS: Two slots now available!...