12/4/13

Softball: Predictive (A Broad Epistemological Take on Why we Play)

Dear People,

My side pulverized Jim McGuire's, 22-13, and that's despite his stern pre-game warning that the way I had balanced the teams left my own contingent vulnerable, metaphorically nude and even gravely underpowered. Of course, he hadn't counted on the galvanizing magic of our mojo d'underdog, as best exemplified by Susan, who went four for six on some of the best batting of her long and storied career, and Liz, who marked her long-awaited Codornices debut with a staggering 7th-inning 3-RBI homer to deep center right. To be sure, that one yak-waking blast solidified our core self-image as the little team that could, and tragically, for the Jimster's side, we never looked back.

I mention all this because Jimmy himself has complained that my narrative M.O. always puts ineptitude over glory, and yet I think you just saw how this is clearly a gripe of baseless sour piffle. Indeed, I'm willing to concede right here and now that despite his side's ghastly implosion in the later innings, even Captain McLoser had his own managerial sparks of pure inspirational majesty. I specifically refer you to his blistering 4th-inning double down the left-field line, which, at six and a half feet solid, was perhaps the most deeply understated multi-base triumph in the history of this league.

The fact is that both Frank and Saadia charged toward the ball, but then, and for reasons I don't pretend to understand, they proceeded to merely “observe” or “study” or perhaps just reason with the gently rolling sphere in question, which, over five painful seconds, still failed to roll foul. It was, to say the least, a disturbing spectacle that reminded me of that creepy opening scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, although in fairness to those monolith-obsessed pre-humanoid monkey-things, they gave up no extra bases despite their tiny little pea-brains.

The point is that we don't really know why the various orbs of the universe do what they do, be it that sneaky little hit which defied its apparent Newtonian trajectory, or the inscrutable cognition within Frank's cranial casing, or even the contemptibly cruel sun deciding to broil Comet ISON into a fragmented and vaporous shell of its former frozen splendor (for the utterly horrific latest, see, if you can bear it: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/03/248202813/comet-ison-is-no-more-nasa-says). Yet as a seasoned aerobic people at peace with both the laws of physics and the random behavior of every moving ball, we will always embrace the inherent psycho-spherological mysteries which make every roster viable. And therefore there will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning. . .Raymond



12/6/13

Softball: A Broad Sociological Perspective

Dears,

There will be a game at Codornices this Sunday at 11, and as of now there are still five slots left.

Please bring $4 for the field, which for this week only includes our long-awaited post-match symposium on the nature of people and why they are difficult . . . Raymond 845-7552

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