Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Tuesday Talk

Sheez, has it really been 2 weeks since I wrote last?
Little League is getting ready to crank up so I know it will be further between posts. I believe the thing to do is to start a weekly catch-all post so I'm not so concerned about covering any given thing in depth, although I will be finishing up a couple of pieces in the next week or so that I've been piddling with for a while. One is about Ernie Shore, a historic figure in Red Sox history and in Winston-Salem history. The other is about my First Red Sox game.
For now, let's start with this past week.
The Red Sox are in full swing in Fort Myers. Manny is looking buff and Papelbot is already talking trash, so it's going to be a great season. Seriously, Manny is working out like a banshee and the results are obvious. He's definitely looking to up his value for that free agent off-season coming up. The team traveled to DC to meet the president this week. Manny didn't make the trip, way to "be Manny"!
First exhibition game is tomorrow. Can't wait to see highlights when I get home!
Down in Blue Heaven, the Heels are looking as good as they have all year right now, and they're still doing it without Lawson. If Ty comes back to full strength, which may be harder to do than say, he'll be coming back to a better team than it was when he went out. They should be damn near unstoppable!
The time Q (Quentin Thomas) has put in as the only true point guard left has been incredibly beneficial. He's playing like a true senior leader. Ty had to carry all the weight when we lost Frazor for the season because every time Q came in, things seemed to disintegrate. That apparently was just the result of not enough time out there, and maybe too much self-inflicted pressure trying to "be" Ty. With 6 full games under his belt now, Q is doing better than anyone could have hoped, and will be a bonafide 2nd option at PG, capable of spelling Lawson for plenty of minutes, which will probably be necessary as Lawson workd his way back into game condition.
Hansborough is STILL the hardest worker in basketball, and it is becoming almost routine for him to have games that would qualify as "once in a lifetime" for most people. Wake Forest threw MacFarland at him, State threw Grant and McCauley at him, no matter. He just keeps "being Tyler". (sorry Manny)
As I mentioned, Little League is just around the corner. We have enough kids for a 3rd team in the Jr's division (13 - 14) this year, so we're scrambling to find another manager. We actually are only 6 or 7 late sign-ups away from having enough for 4 teams and needing 2 more coaches. I and one other guy have been the only two for a couple of years now, and it's been several years since we've had a player's father as a head coach at that level. That's been kind of nice, but to my knowledge we don't have any other options. Maybe the coaches committee has someone tucked away I'm not aware of. If so, they'd better speak up fast, Bo (the other returning manager) and I hope to split up the teams and get started practicing in the next 4 or 5 days.
On the Home Front - had to run Sockette to the hospital yesterday. Seems she got dizzy and fell while heading to the bathroom. Probably nothing to get anxious about, but when you know all this shit is going on inside you, you just have to worry about what might be happening. They did a quick heart test and sent her home. Why would they look for anything more when she doesn't have insurance? I know, they might have done the same to anyone else, but I kind of doubt it. People don't just fall down for no reason, or maybe they do, but it would be nice to confirm that it was for no reason. There are plenty of perfectly good reasons for someone to fall down unexpectedly, most of which are not actually good.
She gets the week off from chemo this week, so maybe by next weekend she'll be up for riding down to Charlotte for the "Intergalactic Bead Show" that's coming! Yippeee! Actually, I fuss about it and am usually bored within minutes, but it sure is nice see her enjoy something for a while, and every time there are actually a few pretty damn cool things to see. It's a shame it's not this weekend, though. The Diamond Heels (UNC's baseball team) are in Rock Hill just south of town for a weekend tournament. We could do Beads and Balls.
All of these subjects include issues that are well worth delving into deeper - Family health and Health Care ; Little League and youth sports in general ; My Red Sox and the beautiful history of baseball ; those fabulous Heels, their female counterparts, and the Diamond Heels too - and I will....soon.
For now, Gotta go!

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