No Last Hurrah

This past weekend was supposed to be my swan song in "competitive" slow pitch softball. I was to have played at the Minnesota USSSA Corporate State Championship with a collection of talented ballplayers, most of whom played on the multiple league championship-winning Eagan corporate team, The Militia, plus a few others, a couple of whom were teammates of mine on state and world championship-winning teams. Sort of a Dream Team if you don't mind my saying so.

But the tournament never happened. Rain out, you might guess. Nope. Lack of interest.
I don't know if it was an exaggeration, but I was told two teams signed up. For the State Championship.

I'm sure I will compete again some day, like when I'm 50, perhaps at the 40+ level (because of foolish pride, refusing to accept that I'm getting old, no doubt), and probably sub one ceremonious game per year with work colleagues until then, but I am officially retired (again, for real) from playing against the young punks. I will not pull another Brett Favre. (Yes, I know Mr. Bentsen, Brett Favre was a friend of yours and I am no Brett Favre, but I'm just talking about the un-retiring part...the comparison stops there.)

So the previous four weeks I spent actually working on my swing with a batting tee again, something I did religiously as recently as 2002, plus the workouts with the free weights to get my strength back up, went for naught.

This is very sad. I have in front of me the Minnesota USSSA annual Guidebooks from 1992, 2002, 2003, and 2008. Here are the number of teams entered in the Corporate Championships for the previous years per each Guidebook:

1991 - Class A: 11; Class B: 11, Class C: 43!
2001 - Class B: 7 (won by my team, The Norms; interest in Class A had dwindled to the point of no more Class A tournament starting in 2001); "Recreational" Class (No longer calling it "C"): 16
2002 - Class B: 5 (The Norms took 2nd that year, but went on to win Worlds in Panama City, FL); Recreational:12
2007 - Down to one class only; 7 teams

So now, two years later, only two teams signed up, and the tournament was therefore cancelled. I have multiple theories as to what has caused the drop in interest, and it probably cannot be pinned down to one or two reasons, although admittedly I've lost touch with the game in recent years, so it is largely unsupported conjecture on my part.

I think technology is still largely the culprit, plus any combination of factors, such as different lifestyles today, and just a general change in the landscape of "corporate" softball. Ironically, I like what they did with the technology aspect in Eagan league play, using lower compression balls, which my old single wall hit just about as hard as the new-fangled composites. But I also think the State and Local associations are to blame, and I don't like how the combination Sports Bar/Softball Complexes seem to have taken over, or at least become so prevalent.

It's extremely disappointing, and I'd like to comment further in future blog entries. But I'll end this one by commenting on an earlier statement, that I'd like to return to perhaps play 40+ softball someday again:

According to the 1992 Guidebook, the state 40+ tournament of 1991 had 20 teams competing. In 2001 and 2002, it was 12 for both. In 2007, only 7 competed.

I guess if I want to be part of another State championship-winning team someday, I can't get old quickly enough.

Too Lazy to Really Blog

So many things to Blog about, so little time, or desire. So I'll just write them down so I don't forget them, in case even one subject "makes the cut" and I find a half hour to spend on it.

- Favre to the Vikings
- MLB umps sucking again
- Mauer .400 talk resurfacing
- State Corporate Softball tournament cancelled for lack of interest (WHAT?? There were three divisions not ten years ago, with no problem filling the field at the "B" and "C" levels)
- Town Halls (and the lies an unfathomable amount of people believe about universal health care)
- My sons are driving me up the flippin' wall right now, and literally laughing at me as I try to discipline them
- My thoughts on the PGA Championship after being there for two days
- My golf game (my latest "fix")
- My 3-year-old son's 34 MPH golf swing

Boy, if that list doesn't inspire me to write something soon, then...neither will a box of nightcrawlers, or something.

Up Too Early for No Reason

I have absolutely nothing to say right now, although I do plan on a PGA Championship experience update soon. I went out for Monday's practice round, and could have posted something about that, but I am going again tomorrow and will wait until that's over with.

It figures the day I'm up at 5:30 with less than five hours of sleep is the day my wife is attending the PGA early to get some good looks at Tiger Woods. At least if I sleep in tomorrow, most of the guys I want to follow, including Tiger, tee off in the afternoon. But I did want to get a round in myself before heading off to Shakopee (to catch the bus to Chaska).

Oh well, here I sit...to stare at the ceiling until the boys wake up, or blog about absolutely nothing? Maybe a little bit of both, until I, hopefully, bore myself to sleep to get maybe an extra hour of it.

Harry Must be Proud (Not)

I'll try to make this brief. I have made some of my opinions about MLB umpires known here before, and right now do not really feel the need to rehash a great deal.

Let me also preface my post with this: it is not about winning or losing because of the umpires.

OK, that said, it is time for MLB to use replays on more than just home run calls. The egos of the umpires, and union protection to boot, are too strong. Throw in riding Daddy's coat tails into a career, and you get the comfort level of someone who is too lazy to try to call a good game, not man enough to admit it (100% corrct? Yuh-huh...), and a huge black eye on the reputation of the game.

Two "red flags" a game would be a good system to experiment with. Each umpire gets two red flags to throw during the game to challenge calls. You lose the challenge, you lose the flag. No more than four challenges allowed per nine innings, however (games are long enough).

Again, this is about the integrity of the game, a subject I am especially sensitive to since taking Clark Griffith's Sports Law class in law school.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm referrring to the latest in the Ron Gardenhire v. Hunter Wendelstedt saga. Google it if you don't know. I promised to keep this short.

First-Time Seller on eBay

After nearly ten years of buying on eBay, I have finally posted something to sell. Whether this is the seed to my entrepreneurial future, I do not know. (I doubt it.)

Last year, I purchased two full grounds passes to the 2009 PGA Championship. Between my wife and me, we plan on using only the Monday practice round, Thursday round, and Friday round tickets. Saturday is "moving day," and of course Sunday is the final round (weather permitting), so hopefully those will sell at a decent price. I started both pairs at $120 with a "Buy it Now" price of $200. I'll be paying the USPS Priority shipping, nice guy that I am.

If we can fetch close to $400 for the two pairs, that will be nice. It will be worth going to Monday's round, my wife and her mother going Thursday (and seeing/stalking Tiger), and I with a friend (and perhaps my oldest son...kids get in free) on Friday for a net cost of $200 or so.

If it ends up costing more, oh well. The money was spent a year ago, so it'll "feel" like free money when the tickets sell, for whatever they end up going. Sorta like a tax refund...sorta. But they have to sell first.

Plus, the experience will be worth it. I've got an old softball bat that is illegal to use in today's game, but would still probably go for a cool $100. I have some 20-year-old bodybuilding magazines as well, including the rare Bob Paris "coming out" issue of Muscle & Fitness. (What? You don't remember that one?)

Then there's the baseball cards, postage stamps, DVDs....time will tell if selling my PGA tickets creates an eBay selling monster out of me. I'll settle for it paying for my golf habit.

Better than Pro-V1*?

With many of the major golf retailers having sales on golf balls, I took the pleasure in trying out a new brand and model recently. I finally got to play it Sunday at the Wilds in Prior Lake.

The ball I tried is the Bridgestone B330-S. I've been pretty loyal to the Titleist Pro-V1* over the years, but am always willing to try new ones. I like the Callaway Tour i and Tour i-x line, among others, but always seem to go back to the Pro-V1*.

I may, however, stick with the B330-S for a while. I had a nice round going with my Pro-V1*, but after back-to-back doubles on 14 and 15 (two of the three most poorly designed holes on the course, IMHO), I found my nice round turning into an average round.

So I pulled out the B330-S on the drive-able par four 16th, drove the greenside bunker left of the green, and got up and down for bird. On the par five 17th, I hit what should have been a dreadful, low, snap-hook OB, but the ball didn't hook nearly as much as I was expecting after I hit it. I was able to lay up on my second shot, knock a wedge to the green, and two-putt for par.

On the tough finishing par four 18th, a flushed a 3-wood about 290 (slightly aided by a soft breeze), and knocked a wedge to ten feet, which I made to complete the round birdie-par-birdie, and finish with a nice 77.

What I loved about the ball, as evidenced on all three holes, was the lack of spin on the driver and 3-wood (for example, the 290-yard 3-wood was probably only about 250 yards of carry). The wedges I hit with it felt wonderfully soft, and they grabbed the greens perfectly. Further, unlike with the brand-new Pro-V1* on the very first hole, the grooves on the wedges didn't mutilate the cover.

This ball is designed exactly for my game. On the Bridgestone site, it says it is for swing speeds between 103 and 115 mph. The Pro-V1*, on the other hand, may actually be better suited for longer hitters than I normally am, and I've found the regular Pro-V1 to spin too much for my taste. My average driver swing is 105-110, depending on the wind. ("When it's breezy, swing easy.")

(I top out at 120 when I really go for it, but that's about once every four rounds; 125 on the range is the absolute best I can do, but I look awfully silly doing it.)

I recommend going to the site and trying their online ball-fitting resource. I give a huge thumbs up for this ball, but of course, like the guy who is batting .500 after 72 at-bats, it's too early to get too excited. I'll keep you updated.

Give Me One Large Enough, and I Can Move the World

We white collar types who sit in too many meetings each day all have our pet peeves, but I am really beginning to hate the word "leverage," particularly when used as a verb.

Leverage as a business term is fine as a metaphorical noun. Usually. If you are utilizing something as a tool with which to gain leverage, i.e., multiply your power/ability to perform a task, it works just fine to say you've gained leverage.

Leverage should not be used as a word to simply replace the word "use." Or should I say, it should not be leveraged to simply replace the word "use."

"Let's leverage that spreadsheet to improve the process." Uggh.

I guess I should be thankful I have a job that pays me relatively well, and allows me to use such language, excuse me, leverage such language, without having to actually add any intellect to my intelligence-based (allegedly) job.

I think I'll call a meeting to brainstorm around this a little more.