'tis the season of baseball

It's been a little over a week and MLB season has started, but that's not what this post is about. Friday night, I went with some friends to a college baseball game. Our Ole Miss team was playing Georgia. They lost, but who cares! I had a great time.

Swayze stadium, which, as far as I can tell, is not named after Patrick Swayze (unless some rich donor's farewell gift in honor, I dunno, of Roadhouse), is a fantastic place. Mucho, mucho money was spent in its creation. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that you can sit in a special section and bring food and beer to the stadium. Heck, they even have barbeque grills and picnic tables.

Plus, when we weren't paying attention to the game, one could watch kids from a safe distance cavort and play. The social dynamics of tots is a fascinating one to watch -- belongs on the Animal Planet. They had grass to run around on and a pebbly pit to play on. One kid found a giant rock, bigger than his head, and carried it around. This was the source of much fascination in the group. I waited for them to construct a dais and start to worship it. Suddenly, I understood what Aaron felt when there was a lack of clear leadership.

Anyway, it was a clear night, and it was fun to watch the game. Though some wobbly plays (errors) occurred with embarrassing frequency (hold the ball, don't rush the throw, boys), there were some great plays as well. The centerfielders from both teams were especially impressive. We got to see a few homeruns as well -- one just to my right.

We will have to plan this again because it was just perfect. I will watch my Braves on TV and maybe even catch a game or two in person this summer, but for this season, I can tolerate college baseball. I am ashamed to say I never made it to a minor league game while up in CT! Maybe if and when I visit?

Catching Up

So, my friend's father passed away peacefully last Thursday night. He was just a few days short of his 92nd birthday. We should all be so fortunate to live not only as long but to be as independent as he was until the end. The memorial service is next Thursday, and I will arrange for someone to cover my afternoon class so I can attend. There's more family drama but I'd rather not write about that. I'm trying to be helpful but distant.

I'm watching the Red Sox/Indians game tonight (looks like the Sox will have won by the time you read this post). I really like having baseball on while I'm multi-tasking (made some phone calls, wrote some bills, now blogging) because I grew up listening to it on the radio. It's rather soothing, especially when it's not your team clinging to life in Game 7. Though I am a die-hard Braves fan, the Sox are my adopted team. Living in Connecticut is weird since there is no national team but rather is split down the middle between Yankees and Sox fans (and the occasional weird Mets fan). I've been to Fenway a few times (when the Braves were in town) and enjoyed it. It's the only park I've been to besides the ones in Atlanta (Altanta-Fulton County Stadium and then Turner Field).

My mother has turned into an obsessive baseball watcher. She's been glued to the TV watching all the playoffs and got really, really irritated with me when we discovered that I had a thirty second lead on what was going on. (Me: "Oh, he just struck out" HER: "WHAT?") For some reason, her broadcast was being delayed. My sister also watches it. It's a safe subject that all of us can talk about.