Both Ends of the Spectrum

WHHHEEEEW.

Long weekend of tournament baseball for the 11U and 9U squads.

11U - Lost 3 games, first game we were flatter than flat, other two we were better, but couldn't get anything going. Happens.

9U - Won 2 games on Saturday to go #2 seed for single elimination on Sunday. Played a game that had to go California Rules, and we fell short with bases loaded and a great play by the opposition's SS.

So the point here? Two groups of boys, one kind of moving in quicksand and having a tough time, the other is optimistic it can make any play and do great things. I wish my older boys could buy a magic elixir so they looked at the game like the 9 year olds.

Happy M- Day.

T-Stormin'

Thunderstorms abound here in greater North Jersey, so our in-town baseball is on high alert for tonight's games.

I like coaching the in-town leagues for the most part - I get to see kids play that I typically don't, and if you do it well and get all the kids playing, they come back year after year. I coach Boys Majors (11 & 12) and Boys Minors (9 & 10) teams - and without a sense of braggadocio, neither team has lost a game yet. Minors have ended in a couple of curfew-induced ties, but no losses. And when you don't lose, kids have a great time and can't wait to get to games and practice.

What I really enjoy is watching coaches coach their kids and their kids only - too many of these guys. I also like the guys (or gals, let's be fair) who root for kids to make errors, drop balls, etc. Nice and classy.

As I told a pal - I love coaching baseball, I wish the adults would stay away. And if that includes me, so be it.

Trophies For Everybody

Maybe someday I can explain...

MINI HEATWAVE

North Jersey is about to hit it's summer stride with a HEATWAVE this week.

Today - 81

Wednesday - 90

Thursday - 85

Then the t-storms roll in.

Playing in a tournament this weekend, got two games for each squad (9U and 11U) on Saturday; Sunday games based on seeding.

And FYI -I loved the ending of Lost.

Best Team in NY

Nuf said...

Last Game of Season

So with much ambivalence, my 11U Teams spring season will finish up today. Right now we are 3-6; I would have bet we would have been much better by record but that was not to be. We played really well at times, but often got undone by that ONE BAD INNING, which has plagued this team.

We've also had a couple of boys leave; they were basically subs and didn't play much. And the plain and simple fact is, I explained the way the roster and playing time would be handled this season, but I guess some parents can't see the forest for the trees.

We play in a Memorial Day Tourney next weekend, then wait about 3 weeks for summer season to begin. Little decompression time, some practice time again and we'll go at it.

My 9U Team still has 3 games to go since one team is incredibly lazy about playing games. We're 2-5 right now, but we've played well for the most part, and considering the scores of our previous 9U teams in the bygone past, these guys looks like world-beaters.

Mets won last night. Stick that in your Yankees pipe and smoke it!

Mets Up Right Now

Mets are up bottom 6, score is 4-1. Clutch hitting and Big Pelf are the key here.

So what else...

NY rags are gaga over LeBron's free agency

Speaking of LeBron, that' some rumor about Delonte West and his mom

A-Rod has struck out 2X so far tonight

One more than David Wright

Lost Series Finale tomorrow - gonna be a loooong night

College Baseball is hittin' stride

Roy Oswalt would look good at Citi Field for the home team

Summer is almost here

Word is Ms. Woods is looking for a lot of green

Mejia is killing me right now

Trespassers will be violated

SoulSlam Hates the Yankees

Might as well get that out of the way.

Yankees at Citi Field beginning tonight for a three game inter-league series.

The matchups:

FRI Vazquez vs. Takahashi
SAT Hughes vs. Pelfrey
SUN Sabathia vs. Santana

I like our chances. Time to turn the ship around! I guess you can call me the optimistic sort. Or some may say delusional. Stay tuned on this one.

Little problem with Johnny Maine last night. Five pitches and out of game is a big issues. With Ollie P. relegated to mop-up work and Niese hurt - we gots a pitching problem that apparently begins Monday.

And last - here's the hat the Mets will be wearing Memorial Day - I like it!


Little too plain for all the gang-bangers who wear alternate Yankee hats, but hey!

Die Schöne Lache

Put that through babelfish and see what it means!

Anyway, SoulSlam can't wait on you. The pool looks magnificent! Crystal clear, chemically perfect.

Purchased some minor replacement parts for my skimmer. New filter and pump from last year is rippin'. Depending on my weekend, I may sink the ladder Saturday.

Kids (particularly the youngest) have been jumping in to cool off every once in awhile Don't know the actual temp, but it would be a little cold for me (shrinkage abounds!)

The Good Doctor

WHHHEEEEEW!

I'll bet there's a lot of sports figures having anxiety attacks over whether or not they are on the list of Dr. Tony Galea, Canadian blood-spinner extraordinaire.

Some of the names associated so far:
Tiger Woods
A-Rod
Carlos Beltran
Jose Reyes

Word is there are 23 names, including some NFL players.

Interesting...

Must Be The Last Name

The other Ramirez, Hanley, has a bit of Manny in him apparently. We can call him Jake Jr.

If you haven't seen the footage - here it is!

And like his namesake, he does no wrong. Everything is everybody else's problem. Check out the deadspin story for more details.

How long until the trade?

RIP Dio

Saw this late last night while stewing in my misery.

To tell the truth, I was never a huge fan...he had some set of pipes, and to a lot of people he was a legend. I did like some of his stuff though and saw him in concert a couple of times.

Farewell

Word Association

I'd like to start with an easy one -

Word: Ass-kicking
Association: What happened to my 11U Team today in a far, faraway doubleheader. Rough.

Lost first game 6-5 in the bottom of the 6th. OK. We were leading 5-0 at one point and some really bad defense did us in.

Took a 30 minute break and it was back at it. And then the aforementioned kicking of the ass began. We couldn't make a play, a decision, couldn't do anything. It made other games look like a play-date. Final score...wait for it....wait for it...

21-6.

Worst defeat I can remember. Ever. Gotta figure out where to go next.

A Day Off

Took what we call a PTO today, much needed.

Got some household chores in and around; gotta go pick up some pool chemicals so I can perfect my oasis; and so on and so forth.

And for all you Supernatural fans - what a great season finale!!!! Where do they go from here?

Perfect

Dallas Braden, who got some cudos here a couple back for his man-stand against A-Rod, threw the 19th Perfect Game in MLB history yesterday. Nice job. I think he likes the spotlight. Maybe the Mets oughta look into this kid. Perfect.

My 11U Team took a whoopin' yesterday. Mostly because we couldn't field anything. Which will kill you every time. So we were perfect, perfectly awful.

Oddly Free

Most weekends in April-May-June are busy. This weekend is kind of an exception.

Started this AM working our local snackstand during the T-Ball sessions, that lasted all of 15 minutes because of rain and thunder. Finished early, made about 10 Taylor Ham sammies. (All you unfortunate non-NJ residents, click on link for an explanation of sorts.)

Going to a communion party for a pal's daughter this afternoon. Rumor has it the hoops coach is bringing his new beer-pong table later in the day. I'll ref, they can get ossified.

11U Travel game tomorrow at noon on Mom's Day, then a dinner with family. I'm usually running silly on the weekend, so this is a bit strange. I think that is why I was awake most of the night. Well that, and SoulSlam is a bit of an insomniac.

I'll try to relax.

Older and Better ( A Good Thing)

So after my bitter evening of Boys Minors on Wednesday, we had Boys Majors last night in the opening games of the season. My boys won 7-5 in a pretty good game, at least it was baseball. And the ump didn't tick me off, though I can't say the same for the coaches of my opposition (who are pals and coach travel with me).

This league is 50/70, so for you soccer players out there, that means 50 feet from the mound to homeplate and 70 foot basepaths. Full leading and stealing. This type of league does wonders for your basestealing stats.

So away we go.

Pool Update 2010

Filter is running as of this morning. Got everything hooked up after my exasperating baseball game last night. Looking to vac this weekend and then it's full speed ahead.

An aqua nirvana.

The Bad Guy (Being Me)

SAFE..NO YOU'RE OUT...NO SAFE...ERRRRR?

Last night, our local in-town baseball games began. I coach a team in the Boys Minors (9 and 10) and Boys Majors (11 and 12).

So I like baseball, and I like to coach. In travel, we have umpires who are just that, umpires. We pay them $50+ to ump a game. And other than a couple of incidents, they are OK. Except for one guy, but that is another story.

In rec ball, you happen to use teenagers a lot, since your paying $30. But figure a game is two hours or shorter and that's some pretty good money for a teen.

Anyway, I don't argue balls and strikes for the most part. I may make a comment or question where a ball was when it is called against me. What bugs the sugar out of me is when the ump loses the count, mis-calls plays on the bases, and generally doesn't know what the heck they are doing. So I speak up, but apparently, that makes me a bad guy.

Toughen up. It's a namby-pamby world SoulSlam lives in.

Cutting Edge

By the way, SoulSlam got an iPod. It's cool. I feel connected. To all of you.

No facebook though. Gotta draw the line somewhere.

"Where You Been, Money?"

Good question. SoulSlam (aka Money) has been on the periphery of all.

Busier than the proverbial one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

But still here, watching, waiting.

Home Improvement

This is what every backyard needs - a pitcher's mound!

Went to the great west of NJ, off Shades of Death Road to pick up Beam Clay to build this necessity, just like an MLB mound. Nice.

Pool is uncovered as well. Filling up as we speak. Should have the critical update on this perfect oasis in a few.

11U Game Tonight. One manana as well. 9U Team came back from 4 down to win 8-7 last night. Good weekend so far.