Baseball Memories

Sunday September 21, 2008- Yankee stadium. Perhaps no other sports venue has been so revered in the history of sports. The Yankees have won 26 championships in Yankee stadium and untold number of Yankees stars have become sports icons while playing there. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter have spent their careers playing in the cavernous confines of Yankee Stadium. Today the last game to be ever played at the stadium takes place. For any sports fans this brings on a wave of emotions and memories. I am no different. My memories of Yankee stadium though are through the eyes of a Red Sox fan. When I think of the Yankees and their stadium I think of my Dad. He was an ardent Red Sox fan and an outspoken Yankee hater. My Dad loved baseball. He loved the Red Sox. He spent many summer evenings listening or watching Red Sox games. He lived watching Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and his favorite player Bobby Doer. He watched Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Longborg, and Rico Petracelli. He brought me to Fenway Park to see Carlton Fisk, Rick Burleson, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, and in 2004 we sat together watching Pedro Martinez, Curt Sculling and his bloody sock, Big Pappi Ortiz, and Johnny Damon finally defeat the “evil empire” Yankees to win the American League Pennant. It has been two years since my Dad died.
I have nothing but good memories of my Dad and our relationship. He was everything a boy would wanted in a Dad. He would take me to Fenway Park many times each summer and root for the Red Sox. He taught me to be loyal and loving even when things were not good. When you became a Red Sox fan it was for life. He live for 66 years without seeing a World Series Championship. He experienced many heartbreaks while being a Red Sox fan. The loss to the Cardinals in 1946. The impossible Dream of 1967 ending just short at the hands of the Cardinals. The hard fought World Series defeat by the Cincinnati Reds in 1975. The 14.5 game lead which the Red Sox blew to the hated Yankees in 1978, and of course the ball under Buckner’s legs in 1986. That all changed though in 2004. The Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS. The day of the 7th game my parents flew in to visit us in Texas, and in perfect serendipity we watched the Sox slay the hated Yankees. It is one of the greatest memories I have of my Dad. The Sox went on to win the World Series and erase a lifetime of heartache for my Dad. Sports are not always about competition. They are always about memories. As I sit and watch the Yankees play their final game in their stadium, I am thankful for all the baseball memories I have. They are memories of my Dad. Thanks for teaching me about baseball and making me a Red Sox fan like just like you. Here’s to the Yankees losing tonight and the Red Sox winning… I know that is the way you would have wanted it.

Still no electricity

Wednesday September 17, 2008- Day five and counting. Last night, for the first time we ventured out after dark and upon our return home I realized how dark our neighborhood really is. We obviously still have no electricity. I have stopped thinking that its return is imminent. I am reclined to the fact that it is off and for some reason we will be the people who go 2-3 weeks without it. I nor anyone I have spoken to or heard on the radio has any idea as to where it will come on or what kind of plan the electric company is working on. I am constantly reminded of a saying our principle quotes often, “In the absence of information people assume the worst.” If we knew a timetable I believe people would have an easier time dealing with the loss of power.
Dealing with a 14 year old son with no electric is not easy. The boredom that sets in is driving him crazy. His generation more than older generations or mine is one of constant stimulation. Television, cell phones, computers and constant access to technology is what they have been raised on. An immediate and total elimination of power and thus technology drives them crazy. He is not good at occupying time with books and reading. This storm is becoming costly due to entertaining him with something to do.
The cell phone companies, and in particular Verizon Wireless have been the most reliable entity through this storm. The service I receive has not once been interrupted. In the middle of the storm I called my mother at 5:30am to check on the status of the storm and the call went through with no difficulty. It is odd that they are so far ahead of every other infrastructure industry. Perhaps the energy companies need to look to them for some sort of guidance. It seems that in 2008 in the age of high tech materials and wireless communication and incredible technological advances that our electricity is still carried by thick above ground wires, which are held aloft by wooden poles.
We got news yesterday that school will be out until at least Monday September 23. This is wise decision. It would be very difficult to conduct business while a number of students are still without power. How these days will be made up is a question. It will be difficult to cram everything we need to teach into one less week.
Lets hope today is the lucky day that we hit the electricity lottery. I have hope. I am running out of clean clothes and am dying to watch just one meaningless sitcom.

Patience, are you kidding me

Tuesday September 16, 2008- Patience is an interesting thing. The idea of patience is usually preached by those who are not in need of what we are longing for. It seems that it is the catch phrase for those in charge of the post Hurricane Ike cleanup. It has been preached by the radio talk show hosts. It has been preached by Mayor Bill White and Judge Ed Emmitt and various other county judges. It has been preached by the spokesmen for Centerpoint energy. All of these people share one thing in common; they are speaking from locations that have electricity and gasoline. I am sure Judge Ed Emmit has not been sitting in the dark for the past 4 days. I am sure that Mayor Bill White has not spent 3 hours in line waiting to fill his gas tank. I am sure that the executives of Reliant energy and Centerpoint energy have slept in air conditioned comfort the past 3 nights. The people of Houston and Galveston do not need to hear any more politicians preach about patience. We need to see and experience a sense of urgency by our elected officials. As of Monday, FEMA had 17 POD centers set up to distribute ice and “food”. 17 locations? Houston has 5.5 million people. You do the math. It seems as if the government has learned nothing over the past 5 years. This decade will be remembered for the hurricanes we have experienced as much as anything else. It would seem that after 2 or 3 major storms the governments would learn how to cope with natural disasters. The situation in Houston is comparable to that of New Orleans for the simple fact of the number of people it is affecting. Houston is the 4th largest city in America and as of Tuesday September 16, 2008, approximately 4.5 million still have no power. Many people have no water. Storms will happen and people will be made to deal with hardships but it would be a little easier to handle if the elected officials were more competent and gave us a reason to have confidence in them. I think Ronald Reagan may have been right when he said, “The government is not the solution, the government is the problem.”

Time well spent

Monday September 15, 2008- It has been 48 hours since Hurricane Ike blew through the city of Houston. It seems as though for the most part Houston has weathered the storm relatively well. The most obvious result of the storm is the massive power outage which occurred and which is still a major problem in Houston. As of Monday at 8:30am some 1.5 million homes are still without power and it seems by all accounts that it will be at least until the end of the week until this number is reduced by any substantial amount. According to Centerpoint energy it may be 3-4 weeks for some power to be restored.
I imagine this is what life was like in the 1930’s. It is relaxing reading and listening to the radio. I have not missed the TV as much as I had thought I would. I actually survived the entire weekend without watching ESPN. My son and I though did go out and catch a bit of the Patriots game. I have realized how much our society is addicted to energy. The gas lines and the constant search for electricity which everyone is on so they can recharge their cell phones and lap tops is really quite ridiculous. Civilization went on for 5000 years with no energy(electricity and gas) and yet somehow accomplished great things. The Pyramids were built, the entire Bible was written, the Christian faith reached the entire world, and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were all written without energy. I think 50% of our energy consumption is simply for the creature comforts of people. I read an entire book on Saturday. Granted is was short, Animal Farm, 145 pages, but it was still the whole book. I am far better off for reading it than I would have been for watching 2 teams square off in some meaningless football game. The Russian Revolution and subsequent establishment of the Soviet empire satired in a story centered around an animal farm is brilliant. There are so many great books out there that go unread because of our constant need to rush around and fill our times with meaningless minutia. One can imagine why society was more spiritually inclined in times past. Sitting and thinking leads us to contemplating life’s questions. Down times makes reading the Bible much easier. No television and no power makes our reliance on God and Christ much easier. It should not nor does it have to be this way but it is simply the truth. Our society has become far less intellectual and thoughtful due to the constant barrage of information and busy time we occupy our days with. Lets all remember that in tragedy and poor circumstances can come valuable lessons and reminders. Here is to a loss of power and relying more on our minds than on electricity and gasoline…now where did I leave my copy of War and Peace?

Summer blues

The summer seems to drag on and on
Baseball game after baseball game
hot day after hot day
There is something as too much free time
keeping to a schedule is good
idle time is the devils workshop
Ready for school to begin
here is to August 17th

Run like the wind

Recently while I was at the gym, I noticed a book a woman was reading titled "In memory of running". The woman was ironically on the treadmill running while reading the book and I thought to myself why did the author only have memories of running. What had happened in his life which left the simple act of running only a memory? Had it been a car accident, a disabling disease, or maybe the amputation of one of his limbs? After a bit of investigation, it turns out that the author could no longer run due to his unhealthy lifestyle and massive weight gain. I felt sorry for him that he could no longer run, and that one of life's simplest pleasures had escaped him. I thought for awhile about my current situation, and that for me running has also become only a memory.
I remember as a kid running down the halls of school. It was always fun because it was forbidden. It always seemed as though you could run faster in places where you were not supposed to run, at school, on pool decks or in the house. Watch any small child and their biggest thrill is from running as fast as they can. At baseball camps the 5 and 6 year olds love to run the bases for no other reason than to just run. The first sporting contest was probably two people in a simple foot race to the nearest tree. These thrills unfortunately for me are now just distant memories. Running and the feeling of the wind rushing through my hair are gone.
MD, (muscular dystrophy), has many different diagnosise. Most people are familiar with the disease through the Jerry Lewis telethon. They see "Jerry's kids" in wheel chairs with no ability to even walk. MD though comes in many forms. One form simply disables the person enough to rob them of the ability to run. It kills of the muscle and nerves in the lower leg, thus making even walking sometimes difficult. This is the form which has attacked me. It is really more of a nuisance than a problem, and I do not write this for sympathy, but instead to remind everyone of what they have. God has blessed me more than I could ever wish for. I teach in a school filled with kids which I love, I have three healthy happy kids who are all active and fit, and I am a respected and listened to baseball coach. My life is full and very good. But what I would give for one more 5 mile run.
Everyone needs to appreciate what they have. Health and the ability to do the small things are huge. Look at a beautiful sunset and ask a blind man if he would like to see it. Listen to a choir and ask a deaf man if he would like to hear the music. Ask a man in a wheel chair if he would mind parking in the back lot of the mall and walking to the stores. Appreciating the small things only happens after those things are lost.
To an athlete and a coach running is the essence of sport. Speed and quickness is what all games are based on. Take away the ability to run and a part of that athlete dies. An athlete who can not run is no longer an athlete. It is like a singer who loses his voice. Everything that they have lived for is now gone. Now that athlete can only watch others run. This is why I coach and push all students to play sports. The thrill to watch Chris Salazar run down the sidelines, or watch Jared nelson run the bases is important to me. Seeing Lindsey Nicolini kicking the soccer ball and racing after it, or watching my son Robby run during football practice is therapeutic. Seeing my daughter Brittney run down the sidelines with the football team and do a series of back handsprings makes me so proud. My time at the gym with my daughter Michaela is precious to me. Sports by themselves are not the most important things in life, but using the physical abilities which God gave each of us is. God gave everyone the ability to run because he wants you to run.
Run today. Run down the halls, across the football field, or even across the pool deck. Run the bases, run up the bleachers, or around the 3 mile loop at Memorial park. Run up the stairs, down the stairs or down the middle aisle at church. Where it says do not run...just run. God gave you the ability and he wants to see you run.

perserverance pays off

What in November looked like a lost cause turned out to be a huge encouragement to the Rosehill community last night. With just six available players, and one very patient coach, the Rosehill girls basketball team defeated the Woodlands Christian Academy last night. Led by a team high 13 points from sophomore Hannah Hewton, the Lady Eagles did themselves and their school proud by winning a district game with 4 sophomores, one freshman and one lone senior. The senior, Beth Briner played her final home game of her career, and amid the cheers of the Rosehill crowd played hard despite a severly injured leg. If all the athletes at Rosehill played with as much heart as Beth all of our programs would shine.
Sophomores Casey Sullivan, Gillian Harris,and Amanda Cooper played great defense and as usual freshman Kaitlyn Danielson was a presence in the paint.
Coach Krantz has served the girls well with his consistent patient teaching, and upbeat approach to basketball. Our girls program is in great hands as long as Coach Krantz is involved.
Praises are due to our girls basketball team for their willingness to stick with the program and work hard. They will only get better, and will soon be a team to deal with in TAPPS 2A

Another first

On the biggest stage in the history of Rosehill sports, the boys basketball team played like men, worked like a team, and did their school proud yesterday in front of a sell out crowd of 21,000 fans(ok maybe more like 500) at the beautiful Toyota center. In a double overtime win, the Eagles defeated the Covenant Christian Cougars on a ten foot jumper by sophomore Johnny Tumlinson with 2 seconds remaining to secure one of the biggest victories in the history of the program. In the midst of a season filled with disappointments and struggles the team came together and used speed, quickness and timely shooting to earn a come from behind victory that was sorely needed.
The game almost never made it to overtime. The Eagles scored only five points in the fourth quarter and allowed the Covenant Cougars to take the lead due to their outstanding hustle and defense. The Eagles choose the most inoportune time to go into the worst offensive slump of the game, and had to look to a freshman to bail them out. Josh Rickard scored three the old fashioned way, when he hit a baseline jumper and was fouled with just ten seconds left to play. Showing the maturity of a senior, Rickard stepped to the line and calmly sank the free throw, tying the score, and sending the game into overtime. The first extra period was an excercise in futility as both teams scored only two points thus forcing a second overtime period. In that period Covenant quickly grabbed the lead, but Rosehill fought back and with 17.8 seconds remaining on the clock, they found themselves with the ball and the chance for the victory. Johnny tumlinson raced the ball upcourt and passed of to Jared Nelson who dished back to Johnny inside the key where he scored on a short jumper to put the Eagles ahead for good. The game ended when Michael Bass intercepted the Cougars inbound pass,securing the upset victory. The throngs of Rosehill fans went wild and stormed the court in a scene straight out of Hoosiers. It truley was a memorable moment.
Matt Briner Keith Arrant, Michael Bass, Austin McNight and Jarred Nelson all played well, along with Tyler Kaminski, Jordan Kaminski and Nathan Ramirez all pitching in to spell the starters along the way. Coach Mitchell should be commended for preparing his undersized team in the art of team basketball. The team is young and inexperienced, but with three outstanding sophomores and one freshman, the outlook for Rosehill Christian basketball is beginning to look bright.

Not much to say

It has been a while since I posted on my blog. It just seems that I have not had anything profound to say. Exams, grading and the holiday season just seemed to have exhausted my mental resources, and no thoughts of genius have been coming to me.

One thing I have been contemplating over the last week has been the Tsunami tragedy in the Indian Ocean. People in general respond strangely to death. The terror and grief have been felt worldwide, and I too have been grieving for the families of the lost. The strange thing is that everyone knows we will all die someday. All 120,000 people would have been lost at one time or another. It seems alright to many when one lonely ederly person dies alone in a nursing home. Not true though if you were that person dyeing. Death is inevitable, it is horrific and tragic no matter the circumstances. We should all learn from Jim Elliot when he said "make sure when it is time to die the only thing you have left to do is die."
If you have faith in Christ, share it NOW with the world. If you have not surrendered to Christ do it immediately. How many of those 120,000 people do you suppose figured they had plenty of time to come to terms with their maker. Death is final and it will get us all in the end.