8/2/00
Softball: The Strained Conjectures of Historical Causation
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last week’s resplendent 21-17 flirtation with the eerie karma of parallel aerobic universes. Indeed, as the opposing contingent defiantly clawed its way back from a 10 point deficit to a potentially stunning denouement in which their tying run coyly loitered on deck with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, I could not help but notice that their dominant-star-slugger-stud was no longer present to propel his team’s quest for glory. Rather, an ethically equal but admittedly weaker player was called on to save the day in his place, and while he swung with the inherent dignity of a gravid Tanzanian water rhino, the fact is that my heart nearly shattered in empathy when that final fly ball lofted pointlessly into the mitt of a cherished colleague.
Oh sure, one can speculate what would have happened had this giant of our community stayed for that final inning, but I refuse to get bogged down in such chrono-deterministic abstractions. The simple fact is that he had tickets to the Ted Nugent concert, and indeed, had I been so lucky, I myself may have concluded that the risk of missing "Cat Scratch Fever" justified the potential impact of an 8th inning departure. For in1975, I also considered the Nugemeister to be as awesome as Kiss, Foghat and Thin Lizzy combined, and just because it’s a quarter century later, I fully concede that the beauty of this deeply misunderstood musical genre---Suburban 70s TestostoMetal---remains as powerful and transcendent as the most exquisitely executed triple play. Yes, perhaps his team "lost" because his biceps strayed elsewhere, but such are the tradeoffs of life’s rich pageant.
In any case, and as most of your probably know, this Sunday, August 6th, is the 152nd anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Dorthea Sewall, beloved spouse of Arthur Sewall, William Jenning Bryon’s Vice-Presidential running mate in the 1896 elections. Although the Bryan-Sewall ticket lost to McKinley and Hobart, I still believe with every fiber of my being that had the election results been different, Dorthea would have likely gone on to become America’s most celebrated Second Lady. And therefore, there will be a game this Sunday at Codornices at 11AM, followed by a delicious match of ultimate frisbee, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning…..Ray
8/4/00
Softball: Timing
Dear People,
The good news is that there will be a game at Codornices at 11AM, and as of now, there is still ONE slot left. The somewhat disconcerting news is that I just found out that the field is officially reserved at 1PM, which means that ultimate frisbee is a bit less certain. However, I think we can rise to the organizational challenge and at least maximize the odds of quality aerobic time;
1) PLEASE arrive by 10:55 at the latest, which is like 11:15, except that, as you know, its actually 20 minutes earlier. If the mysterious 1PM peoples do show up, the chances are they won’t be ready to play to 1:15ish, and if we actually start at 11, we’ll probably be able to get in half an hour of ultimate.
To motivate the chronologically challenged, a few of us will be participating in a bracing round of batting practice, starting at 10:30.
2) Please bring a cell phone if you have one, to maximize the odds of an efficient mass migration to near-by grasses, if that becomes necessary.
Tomorrow’s game is just one dollar, and as always, includes a complimentary stein of virgin Latvian buttermilk….Raymond
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