The Fall Season

Hello all,

It's been nearly a month since my last posting. I'm hoping with the onset of colder weather some of my activities will slow down a little and allow me more time to do meaningless stuff like this.
The Fall softball season is winding down as tournament season starts up. For some reason, we were scheduled to play 3/4 of our games with a starting time of 9:15 pm. I don't know about you, but at 9:15, the last thing I'm thinking about is dragging my fat butt out of the house and preparing for a game. Also, if you factor in that after our games we are required by state law to stand in the parking lot and discuss strategy, this makes for a long night. Our strategy sessions typically last about 2 minutes with 1 minute of it talking about how great I played (jokingly). An hour and a half later, we decide that we should get home. This led to our epiphany as to why we were scheduled to play so late....because the director knew we'd be the last ones to leave anyhow, so why not just schedule them at the end???
Even though playing ball gets a little old after a while, I still look forward to getting together with the guys. I feel like a school kid being let out for recess...the doors open up and you just run and laugh and be stupid. That's about what happens in our games. We get together and laugh, goof around, crack on each other and just have a great time. The game is secondary. We still play very well even though we had our two season unbeaten streak broken early this season. Teams are starting to catch up with us. I'm pretty certain that it isn't them getting better but, instead, us getting a little slower and probably a lot less serious. I have to say that we win a majority of our games with defense and great execution. I truly believe that other teams envy our ability when it comes to situational defense, lining up cut-off throws, being in proper locations, etc... What is really neat about it is that since we started (in about 1992) we've done with a "homegrown" team of guys who all went to high school together. What's more, we are all close friends off the field. I've never seen a team that could boast that. We started our first few years getting thumped on a little. Spent a majority of the next years dominating...and we are now in the "Fall Season" of our illustrious softball careers. And while we are starting to lose our edge a little, I don't think there are too many more teams around that get the respect we get. Mouthy teams are a lot less mouthy when they play us. This is partly due to the fact that we have a few guys that wouldn't mind mixing it up a little bit, but I think it is mostly because we are able to just blow up and score 15 runs in an inning.
I've been a part of some huge games. Seen a "Perfect" game thrown by Mark Rose. 9 batters. The tenth batter was running late and hurrying to get his shoes on and get loose. No need. He never got to hit. I've never seen that happen before. We've played guys with watches and jeans (to which it is mandatory to ask the guy, "What time ya' got?") and we've played state champs. We won the Ft. Loramie tournament which, to us, was the biggest thing around. Why? Because drinking beer was demanded of your team and they served mushroom burgers. The organizer would call us the month before to confirm we were playing because they had to order a truckload of burgers for us. I've seen one of our guys hit 5 homers in a game..each farther than the one before it. The last at bat, the outfielders were gathered in centerfield leaning against the fence talking...the ball launched 10 rows deep into the cornfield behind them. We won the championship there one year and it really felt like the freakin' World Series. Mike Rose took a pitch (that looked like a strike) to make it a full count. With the bases loaded and down by three, he deposited the next pitch over the fence and onto the road. Game over, championship won! Our prize. A warm 12-pack of Shaeffer Light beer.
Best beer we've ever had.

Food Worries

I was sitting here at my little lunch break thinking of really important issues. Like... when they have the nutrition facts on the back of a package, why are the Serving Sizes always so odd. For example, on a bag of Cheetos, the serving size is "about 21 pieces". About? If it's "about", why not just round it down to 20. Why 21? Also noted is that the serving size is "about 2". If my math is correct, and there's an excellent chance it is not, then that means there are 42 Cheetos in this package.
But, let's get to the heart of the matter. What is a Cheeto, really? Is a Cheeto a finger length sprig of dangerously cheesy goodness, or rather a knuckle-length morsel which brings on a severe case of cheesgasm? I don't know. Is it really necessary for the Frito-Lay Co. to label the bottom of the bag "Cheese flavored snack"? Was there a big board meeting where all of these high level execs sit around a large mahogany table and decide, "We need to let the consumer know that this isn't actually cheese, but instead, just cheese flavored snacks!" When three of the first five ingredients are Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, and Thiamin Mononitrate, I'm gonna guess that this isn't a wholesome cheese snack derived from some fine wheel of cheese somewhere.
While we are talking about food, I think we need to talk about cereal for just a moment. In this day and age, when you always get a little less of the things you need in return for your hard-earned money, how is it that when I eat Raisin Bran and/or Lucky Charms I am bombarded with an unproportionally high amount of Raisin and/or Charm? I gotta tell you, Raisin Bran without the raisin is just plain Total. When I get a nice raisin in there, well, it's like a party in my mouth. But just like any party, you only want a few of your close personl friends. You don't want to open the door and have your biker buddy and his 56 member posse trailing in. You need some order! Just like Lucky Charms, I can't enjoy the magical deliciousness if my mouth is scraping through too many marshmallow treats. It's like eating packing peanuts with a few toasted oats thrown in. If you owned a cereal company, wouldn't you skimp a little on the "extras" and stay a little heavy on the filler? I would think! Apparently, this is the reason why cereal costs $4 freakin dollars a box.
I don't know. I think we need some federal legislation to straighten things out in the snack and cereal industry. Someone has to get a handle on the madness!

Good Luck, Steve

At this point, I feel like I should start to post some very worthwhile things. Yet, I really don't have anything new and exciting to say. I could go into a long talk about how I went to the grocery this evening...yeah, that works!
A friend of mine, Steve, is retiring from work tomorrow. We are having a little carry-in lunch for him (this is the reason for the late night trip to the grocery). He's really a great guy who always made me laugh somehow. I can recount at least 10 different stories through the years of him doing something crazy at work that I'll never forget. The smokebombs under peoples cars...the Chevy Chase-like falls during company meetings. Walking around the off-site facility in his underwear, pretending like he didn't know you were there, talking on the phone telling the "other" person how hot it was over there and if he could "just get a fan". We've had a lot of great talks through the years. We've had a few good battles too. This is a man who skips his lunch to stop by your house to drop off a card for your newborn baby...all while wearing a doctors mask, for effect. Just a really good guy. I'll miss him much. Happy Trails, Steve and I know you'll enjoy your retirement.