Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Time To "Rein In" Our Rainouts

Commissioner Venture inspecting Belmont 4.
"Looks fine to me if we fill in shortstop a little."
Hi, Gang. I’m reclaiming the blog from Phyllis and the other merry posters for at least this week because I think it’s time we had a word about rainouts and our “rainout policy.”
At one time, we considered ourselves a “rain or shine” league. If a game was on the schedule, by golly, that game was going to be played. Now, I don’t know if we’ve gotten soft or what, but the postponed games are piling up and it makes our decision to go from a 13-game regular season to an 18-game regular season a little suspect.
Let’s take Belmont 4, just for instance. It isn’t a perfect field. We all know that. Our team, the defending champion Catahoula Refugees had a game scheduled there for Monday and, yeah, sure, it was a little damp. Some heavy mist. I inspected the field in the afternoon and found it playable, but those Green Tambourines – and, I admit, some of our own players – thought conditions might have been a touch mushy.
(Speaking of mushy, have you considered signing up for the EdVenture Mushroom Hunt that will take place along Forbidden Drive near Wissahickon Creek next weekend? It’s a fun “ralleye” event and you get to eat anything you find. Spots are limited and make sure to purchase a “Guide to Edible Fungi” book that will make the day much more enjoyable. Remember, just $49.95 per entrant, not including required $12.95 collection bag and required $6.95 picking tongs. Everyone gets a T-shirt!)
Neither team, and that includes ours, submitted the required 300-word narrative to inform the league council of the request for postponement and that goes for the other two games that were rained out on Monday. If we can’t have rules, what can we have?
In any case, we have an interesting week coming up, because one of the previously-postponed games – Bishop’s Collar at South Philly Tap Room – will be made up on Monday at Chamounix 2, marking our first use of the seventh permit we acquired this season, thanks to Ray, who refuses to play there. For the unititiated, C2 is on the west side of the river, not far from Belmont Plateau and aside from having an infield surface that appears to be some sort of “Chia Pet,” it appears quite playable. Can’t wait to hear.
Results from Tuesday’s games were like this: Fleisher Art Memorial 23, Team Green Tambourine 13; Pen & Pencil 9, National Constitution Center 3; Bishop’s Collar 11, Zoo 4.
Lot of good games on the schedule for next week, with a lot of playoff seeding battles beginning to take shape. Keep an eye on the Zoo-Art game and, of course, the defending champion Catahoula Refugees versus the Tap Room, which made the finals a couple of years ago.
And don’t forget to purchase your narrative forms ($8.95 for a pack of 4) and register for the Full Moon Treasure Ralleye, which will be held on the full moon, whenever that is.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

What Fire, Officer?

Yay, Hoagiefest! I don’t know what else to say, except, yay, Sports! And yay, Softball!
It was an awesome night on Tuesday for our annual celebration of scheduling things
Ran out of the Cordon Bleu
 hoagies, sorry, sad Nick.
when that icky Benson isn’t around. Yay, scheduling!
It wasn’t a perfect night because the Collar lost to the Pen & Pencil and that cute Russ Krause. That was a bummer, but, yay, Russ! Yay, cute guys! At least Ron didn’t show up and eat all the hoagies. Boo, gluttony!
We had lots of everything, but did eventually run out of beer and LPR, and P’s, of course. Yay, commando!
Those bad boys built a fire again. I have to admit that Colach had a lot to do with that. He seems to like burning down all the trees on the Dairy Fields. I can’t explain it. But, Yay Exuberance!
Next year, I think we’ll schedule this when we play that dreamy Art Museum team. I know we’ll win that one, and those cute guys won’t have to ride their bikes all the way over to get to Hoagiefest! Yay, convenience! Yay, cute guys!
Not much else to report. Commish Venture said inappropriate things to all the girls. But that’s nothing new. The Green Tanquerays showed up BEFORE our game and started eating hoagies while we were still playing. We were too nice to say anything, plus there was a game and we were losing. Boo, losing!
Maybe I had a few beers and some LPR, but
I'd never forget to say hi to cute Russ Krause.
We’re already planning next year’s event. Let me run this by you. What about Lobsterfest? The Commish says we have it in the budget and if we order too many lobsters, we can do butter shots with the leftover stuff. Yay, butter shots!
Tell me what you think. I love planning. Yay, planning!
This week’s scores:
NCC 14- FI 13: Love that they did it in the mud on Monday. Yay, mud!
Catahoula 16- Art Museuem 6: Boo, mean Catahoula! Hang in there, dreamy Art guys!
Zoo 23-NCC 7: We are tangled up in the standing with the Zooies, so Boo!
P&P 19-Bishop’s Collar 13: Boo. Except for cute Russ, and maybe George Miller’s dog.