I'm a Dummy...

So for the past several weeks I've been thinking about everything that it would take to get the Kickball Tournament going in PH and giving little thought to anything past that.  I wish I had not been so sort sighted.  Tomorrow (Saturday August 23) at noon Tim Finkel is going to do something truly remarkable, and I should be there for it.  He is going to get on his bike and ride it for 24 hours in a row, not only is he going to ride it, he is going to race against several other men that will be on the same single track mountain bike course.  That might sound completely stupid to some people, and to be honest if I didn't share a house with Tim I wouldn't understand it either.  

I tend to think about things, weird things, and recently I've really started to think about this race.  The more I learn about it the more I truly respect the undertaking he is doing here.  Last year he ran the marathon, and from my perspective that seems like something that I could do compared to this monstrous task.  By the way, in no way am I claiming to be capable of either, its just that from my little world it would be the difference between climbing Everest with a helicopter, every bit of technology, and top professional help to climbing Everest the way Sly Stallone ran around the mountain in Cliffhanger only with the 4 fattest Sherpas in the world strapped to my back with big rocks in there pockets.

I was reading Tim's food plan for the race, and I couldn't help but hear that neurotic voice in my head say "Who is going to make sure all of this happens!??!?!?!?!?!!?!"  Out of no where I felt like I should be the one responsible for it, it was then I realized I screwed up and was very short sighted for the past several weeks.  Although he is some very capable hands, at the end of the day they guys with him know what he will need more than I will.  Even if I wanted to go now, I wouldn't be able to because, like an idiot I don't have the right paperwork to get across the boarder with, and you know they are searching a creep like me.  

So tomorrow when you are eating your lunch, Tim will be getting on his bike.  When you are eating your dinner, he will still be on his bike.  When you get cleaned up and get into your comfy bed, bike.  When you wake up....still on the GD bike.  When you flip through the channels Sunday morning, Tim will be on that !$@^&$*(@#$ BIKE!!!!  Who knows what will happen to him.  At this point it has little or nothing to do with physical fitness for him, he has put the work in.  It's a mind game, I don't think it will hit him for the first 8-10 hours, but after that I would imagine it would be like a heroin withdraw at some point.  The little green monkey's might be waiting for him in the dark, he might find nirvana or he might find hell on earth, more than likely both, either way when you really think about it it's a scary deal and he has all my respect for even having the courage to test his metal that much.  This is one of those things that I will be kicking myself about for a long time to come for not being there to see it with my own eyes.

So Much To Say

I doubt I will get everything I want to say out in this entry so expect a couple more this week.  I've just been really really tired from the weekend and have not been home much.  However, the pictures and the stories are coming in so I am starting to piece Saturday night together.

All in all I don't think we could have done better for ourselves from a Kickball standpoint.  Finishing up Friday night with a split is something to be proud of.  We finished 4th in that tournament, one out of trophy contention.  Remember when we were forced to move up to the higher level at the beginning of the year?  Well we were the only team left that moved up and we eliminated a higher level team.  I'm not sure if anyone caught the article in the Free Press yesterday, but our league is probably the biggest in the state.  So with the way we are playing right now, and without exaggeration, we are one of the best Kickball Teams in the state of Michigan, that's a fact.  So I'm happy with the way the season in Oak Park ended, but I'm even happier with the way the tournament in Port Hope went from start to finish and especially the way it ended, with a Bayside Tiger's victory!

It is really hard for me to put into words (I know you don't believe me) what that tournament means to me.  As a kid we would go to the ball fields to watch softball tournaments and have a great time.  No one seems to do that anymore.  I realized a few years ago kickball is nothing more than a product that people buy, and for some reason it is selling pretty well right now, so I thought if I brought it to PH it could be a good time and a positive for the town, and I believe we have started something there.  If I wanted to I could have gotten a team of friends together from Port Hope and played with them, but the fact that the people from my team in Royal Oak took time out of there lives to travel up north 2 and a half hours with gas prices and how busy people are truly touched my heart.  

At the end of last years tournament I thanked everyone for "making my kickball dreams come true", without really realizing I was saying it.  Tim and Ang pointed it out to me later that night, and said "what made it funny was that you were 100% serious".  I was serious, and everyone that played on my team and drove up to PH from the Detroit area and everyone else that drove from all over the state and even parts of Indiana are a big part of that dream.  It's hard to describe the sense of satisfaction I felt Saturday night with a house full of close friend in the home I grew up in, with my parent and brother there, telling me "what a great group of friends I have" and those same friends telling me what great parents and family I have.  A lot of hard work goes into making the Port Hope Kickball Tournament a success, but it is worth all the time and effort that goes into it, and I would like to thank everyone that was a part of it, it means more than you know.

I promise my next post won't be so sappy.  Here is a preview.

She looks like a little Lady sitting there (worst picture of Autum ever. Those pants put on 30lbs in the hips, it's just a bad pic Big A, you don't look like that).  Who is that in the background, it looks like someone in total control right?  Stay tuned...

What A Week!

After winning only 3 games all year we win 3 out of 4 in one night, and the only game we lost was against the #1 team in the league and we were never really out of it.  Go figure.  I seemed like we had the perfect line up and everyone was playing outside their minds!  From the top of the line up to the bottom everyone kicked amazingly well.  I think I had more hits Friday than I did all year, including the one where the girl from Abba Zabba took a line drive right in the face and went down like Monica Lewinsky.  I think I caught the kicking fever from our new comers Tuzz and Hambright who I think went a combined 19-20.  Even if people weren't getting hits it seemed like they were advancing the runners, I wish I had all the scores from the season because I'm pretty sure we came close to matching out total run output for the year Friday.  After the first 3 games we had 30 runs, does anyone remember the score to the last game?  We had 8 0r 9 right?  I know we scored more than 40 runs in the previous 14 games, but I bet we didn't score 60....outstanding people.

All I can say is keep it up and for at least 5 more days.  If we kick like we did Friday, the Port Hope Tournament should be something we can win....but I'm getting about 2 steps ahead of myself.

Lots to do and think about for this Friday.  Our game is going to be at Victoria Field, we have not played there yet this year, so I will have to get you directions this week.  The game starts at 7:30, but what that really means is we will follow the game that starts at 6:30 at the same field.  Not sure who we are playing against, but if I had to guess it will either be Chico's Bail Bonds, Ballzonya, Ballz Deep, or Sons of Pitches...(there are a lot of "ball" puns out there huh?)  I have narrowed it down to those 4.  I'm guessing it's going to be Sons of Pitches, but we will just have to see.  Remember we burned up our first lose on Friday so one more and it's all over.

I was putting together the roster for the 15th in my head and for the first time 3 seasons my name isn't going to be on it, and it has really started to bother me.  I'm still going to make sure there are enough people, and everyone knows where they need to be, and someone is bringing beer...and all that stuff.  However, I came to the realization that I have spread myself to thin when it comes to kickball, and that my friends, is a sad realization and really made me rethink my priority's in life.  I have so many kickball oriented events going on I took the day off of work and I still can't do everything I want to do.  I'll tell you what, when I realized that our 4th game was in hand and we where going to win, it was bitter sweet.  I was VERY happy we won, because now we have bragging rights for at least a year, but I couldn't "savor the flavor" because I knew I couldn't be there on the 15th. 

So Bonsall is being promoted to Coach (even though I think he might be to much of a hot head based on the fit he threw Friday night at the ump).  It will be good practice for him since he will be coaching in the tournament in PH the next day.  Being Tournament Director and Coach would be a conflict of interest.

I'll be in touch with everyone going up north on Friday night to make sure everyone has a ride and is organized.  The way I see it, since the game starts at 7:30 there should be enough time to have all the riding arrangements set up so you can leave right from the field to get up there.  If it gets to late you might want to head up Saturday morning, but we have to play at 9:45 or it screws the whole day up for everyone there, so you would have to be on the road by about 7am depending on where you are coming from.  I think Tim said he was going to be at the game so he can lead you there or I can get you directions if you need them.  If you lose the first game you should be able to get to PH by about 11.  If you make it to the last game of the night you should be able to get there by about 2am.  

Ass of the Week was the easiest decision I've ever made, even though it goes against tradition.  Everyone played really well, so nothing really stood out, but the Ass of the Week has to go to the Shit Show during the 4th inning of the 4th game.  Between Jessy getting kicked out and everyone pissing and moaning....wow!  Never saw anything like it.

Playoffs

So Friday is going to be a "Do or Die" situation, in no way is that an exaggerating.   In order to keep the season going we need to win, something we have had problems doing this year.

After realizing what a stupid saying "Do or Die" is I Google Imaged it to see what came up.  This was the first thing that caught my eye.  In my mind this line never ends, it's just one of the mind boggling things that are done in the Pacific Rim.  To quote one of my favorite movies 'Robocop' "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

I received the playoff schedule on Monday, and everything looked good and in proper order, so naturally on Tuesday the Oak Park Rec department had to send out 2 completely different ones that didn't make any sense.  Friday at 6:30 we will be playing 'The Jerkstore' at the "main fields" where we played last week.  The good news is, win or lose we stay at those fields all night, which mean we will have bathroom access the entire time.  I think we have a great chance at beating the Jerkstore this time around, we are much more well seasoned, Shannon had not implemented her fastball when we played the first time, and we have some new blood on the team this time around, so I'm expecting good things.

Remember, this could end up being a night we stay at the field until close to 10:00 depending on if we win a couple of games.  The most we could play is 4.  

I'm a little disappointed in the turn out but we should have a good team on the field.  Let me know if this is correct.  For guys I have, Ryan, Brian, Tim, Hambright, and Tuzz.  For girls I have Autum, Shannon, Ang, Jen, and Sarah.  We have a good mix and we should be able to compete pretty well.  Any volunteers for beer duty?

Week Seven...

Since Friday night I have had a terrible taste in my mouth.  I'm not sure if it was from the two bitter defeats that we were forced to eat, or the incredible amount of dust I ingested from that dry field we played on.  I played the worst game of the season by far, capping it all off with a play were the ball went from a very awkward place for me to catch it (my hands) to a much more effective place (the souls of my feet).  Some of us had a relatively bad and hard game.  It's not really like me to run out and mention names, so I will leave it at that.  Nothing we can do about it now, but move on to the future.  What does the future hold?  I'm talking about the Playoffs.  (I also found this little gem).  We play the Solo Raiders at 6:30 at Tyler Field, more Playoff information to follow this week.

"Ass of the Week" goes to me for making an Ass out of myself by missing that ball and falling down like a dummy. 

So the "Teen Choice Awards" are on right now.  I was hooked in as I was flipping channels and that little spit fire Miley Cyrus was singing and jumping around the stage in a hypnotic way that made me stop.  I'm not sure what happened after that but I just realized I watched 45 minutes of that show and have lost the ability to feel on the left side of my body.  I'm dizzy and I'm loaded with questions.  1. "Who are the Jonas Brothers, and why did every single person in that arena scream whenever their name was mentioned?  I wasn't sure if they liked them or if those adorable little guys were terrorizing the crowd."  2. "How is Adam Sandler still winning awards and why is he still considered funny?"  3. "When did Dane Cook do something this year, and what could he have done that would have nominated him for an award?  Are they giving out awards for doing something great 4 years ago?"  4. "How in the F does Will Smith win the award for best summer movie.  The category was BEST SUMMER MOVIE and I swear on my life the winner was Will Smith.  He got up and made a speech about how every single piece of "art" (I think I made some "art" this afternoon in men's room that would have brought tears to people's eyes) he puts into the world, he does with his family, his fans, and God in mind.  My question about him was, why doesn't God make him slip and impale himself on the surfboard he won as the prize for being voted the Best Summer Movie?  WHY GOD?!?!  I'll tell you why, because God only hears the prayers of 13 year old girls that look like Jenna Jameson that can scream at full volume without taking a breath for 120 minutes at a time and the only thing they can agree on is that the next season of American Idol can't get here fast enough and Jamie Lynn Spears is going to be a 'great mom', that's why."  It wasn't until after some 15 year old handsome devil I had never seen before told me the best way to spread Al Gore's lie of going "Green" was through MySpace that I finally was able to dislodge my tongue from the back of my throat and come to my senses long enough to shut the TV off.  I just wanted to hear Hannah sing 7 Things and I lost an unknown amount of brain cells.  I don't know how those marketing guys do it but I couldn't stop myself from Googling Zac Efron just now, and I think I'm going to fall asleep to whatever song he has playing on his MySpace page tonight.  I just want to hang out with that guy for some reason.  He seems really grounded and he doesn't follow the trends like the other people out there he's above it all, he's in it for the art, like Will Smith.

For some reason I cannot post a picture tonight, but if you know who these people are do yourself a favor, and kill yourself.

Season's Come and Season's Go...

Friday will be our last "regular season game" this year.  After that it's all tournament style, the thought of this has given me an ulcer the size of Tim's areola.  This week we play at CP2 at 6:30.  That is the 'main' field.  Go to the corner of Coolidge and Oak Park Blvd turn west and go one block to the softball field there.

Leah said she would bring beer, and I think someone else said they would too....I can't remember.  Cross get on that, we might need a lot, especially if people are going go over to The Bonsall's after the game, I expect a Shit Show.  Sounds like we are going to have the meat and potato's of our team this week, and we are going to need it because we are going to find ourselves in a vicious cockfight with Son's of Pitches this week.  They are 8-4 overall, and I have deep seeded hate and aggression toward this team for several reasons.  Nothing would please me more than to come out with a couple of victory's.  Should that happen, don't be surprised to find yourself being high fived, ass slapped, or with both our hands clasped with our arms extended as we spin in circles with tears of laughter running down our apple red cheeks.

I've been battling some sort of respiratory infection Timmy was kind enough to bring back with him from Wisconsin.  I'm coughing like I'm married to Edgar Allen Poe, and sniffing like I'm a stock broker in Manhattan in the mid 1980's.  I've developed quit a little Dextromethorphan habit in the last few days, so if I start talking about little green monkey's or asking to borrow money tomorrow just ignore me and give me a bottle of Tussin and send me on my way.  Got to go, Roadhouse is on tonight, and I've already missed the beginning, so I now I won't be able to catch up on the complex character development or plot line F!  Someone remind me to talk about T-Shirts for Port Hope tomorrow.

Week Six...

With 18 days to go before the Port Hope Kickball Tournament I'm filled with panic and excitement!  But also hope...  

With Double Deuce carrying a record of 3-9 I'm finding the tournament as the biggest ray of sunshine to salvage the season.  The league title has been out of reach since Week One, and we are going to have to play perfect in the playoffs to give ourselves a chance to compete there.  The only way I see it is we need to keep the steady pace of improvement going and hopefully peak on August 16th.  I think we have been getting better and better every week and have nothing to be ashamed of as a 3-9 record would suggest.  I don't know how many of you read Tim's blog, but a couple of weeks ago he brought up the point that he has been finishing his races close to the top, but can't get over the hump and win one.  I feel like we are in a similar situation.  I think each and every person has gotten better as the year has gone on, and we are playing better as a team.  That's why this week was by far the most frustrated I have ever been at a kickball game.  We had all the pieces there to win at least one of those games, but for several different reasons we couldn't put it together.  

When it comes down to it kicking is the biggest of our problems, of whom I am the chief sinner.  It's the one thing we don't have figured out.  I talked to a couple of gurus to come in and help focus on what we need to do, but all the credible ones are working for Olympic teams...I guess we will have to figure this one out alone.  We just need to continue to play the field on defense.  Run to the ball, get into the game.

This is the toughest week yet to pick Ass of the Week.  Autum was mean as a snake and fought me at every turn, but that's about par for the course so no big whoop there.  Cross fell in such a way that I thought he was going to be the Joe Theismann of kickball, but everything worked out fine so I would like to take this time to officially laugh at him for falling and looking like a total ass.  Andrew Scriver saved us, by filled in for an injured player and in true competitor fashion laid out for the ball in an attempt to get in front of it.  But one story is much more interesting.  

For the second week in a row I had to scramble to get players, I managed to come across a den of them right where I spend a majority of my days, at my desk.  Matt Hambright played last week, and his sister Gretchen sits right next to me.  On the other side of me sits Richard Chadwick a long time friend of Matt.  The idea presented itself and there we had it  Matt, Dick, Gretchen, and Matt's wife Julie...boom we playin' kickball people.  Chadwick, being the prideful trash-talker he is, spent about 30 hours straight telling Hambright how awesome of an athlete he is and how much he is going to enjoy dominating one of his favorite childhood games again.  The key word here is "Athlete", I even crossed out "Chadwick" on the batting order and replaced it with "Athlete".  We all get to the field and there's Chadwick, mid-thirty's, 25lbs overweight, lovely and supportive wife and son in tow, and wearing sunglasses and metal cleats....looking good.  Chadwick get's his first pitch of the game and clearly LOVES IT!  He kicks a beautiful hit down third baseline that is erroneously called foul, I think the ump got a text or was checking the Tigers score on the phone at that moment.  However, in the middle of Chadwick's great effort he used up all of his athleticism and blew out his quad on his kicking leg.  I was coaching first and as he ran to me he looked bad, well dressed and stylish, but bad.  He had to do a painful re-kick, and low and behold he does almost the exact same thing and gets on base again....but his day was over.  He managed to make it to the top of the 5th before being replaced, and the second he went out of the game the whole day went to shit.  The next kick was a homerun to his position, and the Solo Raiders might as well have kicked me in the groin with each player in the line up.  

That could totally be Chadwick behind that mask, now go out

there and get some of that sweet sweet Maggy Gyllenhaal ass.  Gross.

For this Chadwick, you get "Ass of the Week", but it's not for what you think.  It's not for talking a bunch of trash for which Captain Karma pretty much Tonya Harding'ed you.  

That kind of mouthy-ness is encouraged on this team.  It's for living the mantra of this summer #1 popcorn movie "Dark Knight", "It's better to die a hero, than live long enough to be a villain.".  You couldn't have played it better, as soon as you went out we fell apart.  Way to go Richard Chadwick, you are truly an Ass.