11/17/99
Softball: The Curious Scope of Social Endeavor
Dear People,
Congratz to all on last week’s joyous 140 minute 25-21 orgy of calamitous athletic brilliance, seeped as it was in the bittersweet stew of unparalleled ineptitude. I think special note must be made of the bedazzling 4th inning, when a maverick and rookie captain, seeing his desperate team shed 11 runs on 8 errors with only one out to show for their efforts, risked all on a breathtaking strategic coup in which he forced every player to suddenly take up the position of the person next to them!! This master stroke did indeed stop the immediate hemorrhaging, and while the pitiful sods when on to suffer a heartbreaking loss, such brazen action in time of crisis should serve as an inspiration to all of us (And from what I’ve been reading, especially to those in the international banking sector, come this January).
And speaking of inspiration, I happened to have just been skimming one of my favorite hard copy reference sources---the 1998 edition of The Encyclopedia of Associations---when I noticed that the "International Federation of American Pigeon Fanciers" (IFAPF) is located right here in the States, in Belmont Hill, Pennsylvania. As some of you may not know, the IFAPF "promotes the breeding, training, racing and exhibition of pigeons," and in addition "maintains a hall of fame." Given the sheer grandeur of it’s organizational mission, I’m somewhat surprised that there are only 4,200 members, but I suppose that’s to be expected when one considers the scurrilous press that these venerable birds have received over the years.
The point is that sometimes when I’m waiting to bat, biding my time under the fine oaks of the Codornices bush, I’ll look up momentarily from the intensity of the game and gaze skyward upon the wistful integrity of the emu, pelicans, and pigeons that are there each and every match, always offering their unwavering moral support. I honestly don’t think that we as a softball-playing people have ever noticed their ornithological love, and in the case of the latter, I fully confess that I wouldn’t even know what a hall-of-famer looks like. Nevertheless, I believe that my readings on the IFHPF have revealed yet another dimension of the athletic life to which we have been way too oblivious. Therefore, there will be a game at Codornices this Saturday, November 20th at 11AM, IF I get enough players by this Friday morning. So make that commit; Do it for the beloved pidgins and other flying rats of Codornices park, who enliven the somber firmament of every game we play…Raymond
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