Thank You, David

So with what SoulSlam is sure will be a tearful goodbye, David Wright will start his last MLB game tomorrow night at CitiField in front of a capacity crowd. YSSS and I will be in attendance. We had planned on going anyway, but the announcement earlier this month just made it more expensive than we had planned. But SoulSlam knows YSSS wants to be there. As an FYI, we were at the last game he played before his injury sidelined him in 2016.

What does David Wright mean to the fans? I'd argue he's either the #1 or #2 position player in people's hearts (Mike Piazza the other); he was our "star"; he has a rep for being the most genuine and generous guy off the field. Spinal Stenosis was the diagnosis a few years ago, and it robbed him of his playing time and what could've been. He is a Mets Hall of Famer no doubt and I'm sure they will retire #5 as they should sometime in the future.

I remember back in 2013 or so when my sons and I went to a late September day game vs. SF Giants and David took the time to autograph both boys caps...they were elated. For me he was a player that I could root for when the going got a little rough with the team. I'm sure I will mist up like all the other tough guys Saturday night.

Fantasy Football 2018

SoulSlam's team D Minus is 0-2.

Scored 135 pts in week 1. Lost.

Scored 172 pts in week 2. Lost.

So it's been that kind of start. On the positives, I rank high in power rankings and I'm the #1 owner in the league.

Here's my team:

QB - C. Newton, A. Luck

RB - M. Gordon, S. Barkley, J. White, J. Ajayi

WR - E. Sanders, B. Crooks, N. Agholor, C. Davis, S. Watkins

TE - OJ. Howard, J. Doyle

K - A. Vinatieri

DST - Bears, Steelers

PPR League with a flex (any position but QB). Need a W this week. Playing GTL. The team to beat.

The NFL Season has Begun!

Football began in earnest this weekend (except for the Thursday night game which generally sucks). My Las Vegas Oakland Raiders lost in the late Monday night game. Expect them to go 4-12 this season. Chucky!

My fantasy team (aka D Minus) scored 135 points...and lost. Rough. Couple of different offensive players from my bench inserted and I might've won. Oh, well...week one.

A Lesson In Hiking

SoulSlam likes to hike in the outdoors sometimes. It's nice to be outside, especially in the warm weather months. I will confess, I am a novice hiker I guess. I just hit the local trails sometimes.

So last Thursday, I decided to hike. It was a cardio day and I didn't really feel like being inside at the gym. So after work I headed to the High Mountain Preserve which is coincidentally near my gym. The goal was to hike the red to yellow to red (which I had never done.

So some particulars: it was about 87 degrees this night, and I started out about 6:15pm. I generally wear a homemade rucksack that is home to duct-taped bricks for additional weight (all the better to burn calories). For this hike I decided to err on the side of caution and remove two bricks and hike with only a couple, so I'm guessing I was wearing about 12-15 lbs. I also brought along two bottles of water. Away I go.

Red trail is pretty flat and easy, takes about a half mile I guess to cross yellow trail, which ascends to "summit". Now never hiking here, and only having small trail map, was probably my first mistake. Using the MapMyWalk app, I clocked the first mile at about 22 minutes. Better part of valor and I would have turned around since my goal was to hike for an hour. But noooooooo....

Anyway, I found the summit. It was a pretty steep, very rocky trail up to a meadow. Nice up there. But it's after 7:00pm so I gotta go. Well the backside of yellow was marked not so well IMO. I lost trail a couple of times and had to backtrack. Each time ramping up the panic in my head as I figured that darkness was getting closer and closer. Had to find red trail to get back...which became a problem when that became elusive. Told myself "don't panic" a couple of times, as well as "you're effed!".

At about 7:25pm I got my bearings and trails correct...but under the canopy of trees it's now pretty dark in the woods. Now High Mountain is a pretty rocky, ankle flipping place. So walking in dark takes patience and careful execution. the iPhone flashlight was a lifesaver here. Anyway with red trail located it was just a long walk out (about 2.5mi I assume). Problem now became cramping in the calves. Ouch! Last mile was pretty exciting. Walking like one of the soldiers in the March of the Wooden Soldiers...

So at about 8:20pm I emerged from the woods to the parking lot. A little shaky no doubt. Absolutely drenched. My goal of burning calories aided by the 6.5mi hike, 15 lbs on my back and sheer panic of being lost in woods. Drove home, showered, waddled around on creaky wheels the rest of the evening.

Lesson: HIKE IN THE DAYLIGHT STUPID.

All Over But The Shouting

Summer that is...though not technically. see, 'round these parts it's the day after Labor Day...and Labor Day is the end of traditional summer. We still have about three weeks of calendar summer though...and it's gonna be in the 90's here for a few days. So it's still kinda summer. And since SoulSlam doesn't have to attend school anymore, I rule. Funny thing is, woke up this morning with the "new school year" feeling.

OSSS is at TCNJ starting his junior year. Wow. YSSS is a senior in HS, and his HS allows him to attend the County College of Morris for senior year, killing some birds with one stone. He's got class (for now) on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday so that's pretty sweet. He also has to complete an internship for school, which he is in the midst of. Good boy.

September Blues.