a funny thing happened on the way to the gym

"why does bottled water have an expiration date" was the question posed to me by one of the players as he was getting on the bus to go to the gym. i said "it must be marketing". the strength coach said he thought it was the plastic. i told them i knew ice had an expiration date on it and the way i remembered was after hurricane katrina fema trucked in truckloads of ice that went bad and had to be thrown out. then i remembered the civil defense used to store barrels of water and crackers and i don't remember an expiration date on them. when i mentioned the civil defense, several players asked what that was. i tried to explain but i could not find the words nor do i know if the civil defense still exists. i need to google that one. i asked the original player who brought up the subject how old he was. when he answered "24" then i knew why he and the others had never heard of the civil defense and what they were about. then, reality hit as i realized i am old enough to be these guys father!!!
i am in the process of altering my lifestyle. i broke my ankle in may of last year and except for 1 stint on the treadmill, i had not worked out since. i have a total gym xl at home and it is an incredible piece of equipment. prior to my ankle accident, i was on it at least 4 times per week. it felt good to workout and i missed it. for a while. after several weeks turning into months, it becomes a very expensive dust collector. it is in the same spot where i left it.
so, i am back in the gym with a group of professional athletes and watching them and what they do, i know i will never be able to do what they can do. youth is on their side. age and gravity are on mine and i am losing. point is, sometimes in life we see ourselves as we were and not as we are. i joke with several of the players about switching clothes so i can play in their place. i know i can't do what they do. what i can do is get them from point "a" to point "b" as safely as possible. it is still a thrill to do what i do. it is also a thrill to be with these players and live thru them. i have my own function here and i will do it to the best of my ability just as they do theirs to the best of their ability.
by the way, why does bottled water have an expiration date?
until next time...

body piercing saved my life

he was standing in front of me waiting to get ice cream when i noticed in bold letters what was on the back of his shirt. it plainly said "body piercing saved my life". he turned to say something to one of his children and i noted that he appeared to be in his 50's, maybe 60's. he did not look like the typical "piercer" and so i looked closer at his shirt and then i noticed the nails and the faint image of Christ and then i fully understood what it meant. while a little whimsical, it is a bold statement to his faith. sometimes i am amazed at what Christians believe. it is more amazing what they do not believe and that is all that Christ did for me and you. while waiting for the players to get on the bus, one of the players interrupted his phone call to show me the new book he was reading. it is entitled "i don't have enough faith to be an atheist". he told me it was a "deep thinkers" book which may exclude me from reading it. keep in mind this player is the same one referenced in one of my jacksonville posts. he was the one who asked me about going to church Easter morning. once again, the spirit is moving and i am puzzled with these 2 events. wherever this leads, i can say with confidence that the spirit is moving. i strongly believe there are no coincidences in life. all of our days are well planned by our creator. so, what happens next i will keep you posted. yesterday, i went to the vitamin store and as i entered, one of the employees said, "today is the day that the lord has made" and as i started to finish, three of us in unison said "and i will rejoice and be glad in it". turned out they were ordained and had been on mission trips lately. after we talked, i realized how much i had been blessed by their words. living on the road as i do, i get hungry and thirsty for the word. and always, without fail, god shows me he is still there with me. his timing is precise and he is never late. it is with a grateful heart i too can boldly say "body piercing saved my life".
until next time...

back in d.c.

got a call yesterday (thursday) from our dispatcher. one of our coaches (the same one i take the team on road trips in) had blown the turbo and they wanted to know if i would take our newest coach up to washington and when the repairs are made on the other one, bring it home. i had my son with me at the time so i had to call his mother and make sure it was ok. we packed and headed out the door and within a few hours we were on our way.

this was my 4^th trip to washington this year. in earlier posts, i have mentioned my love for the washington area. it was and still is, my dream to take all of my children (4) up there for a week and show them the area. i was excited as was my son. i had told him many times before how badly i wanted to take them and he was as excited as i have seen any kid. only problem was as soon as the repairs were made we were to head back home. after several phone calls, the owner told me i had to take my son to d.c. for a day so he could see it. When your boss tells you something like this, you do it. i am very thankful to be working for a very family oriented boss.

with blessings from the boss, all i needed was the coach as by now the other driver had picked up the one i came up in. mid afternoon friday, the shop called and said the coach had been repaired and ready to be picked up. i called a cab, picked up the coach and we were headed to d.c.!!!

let me back up. we stayed in manassas, va. which is about 30 minutes from d.c. the whole trip from manassas to d.c. was “wide eyed wonder” and i was so happy to be able to do this. we started off with the white house, went to the capital, jefferson memorial, washington monument, and drove by countless others. we were trying to figure out what to do about dinner so we ended up at union station. we stayed in dc about 4 hours decided we would have to come back tomorrow and do it again.

the next day, there was some special event on the mall so we went to the lincoln, drove around some more and finally ended up at Arlington National Cemetery. we walked around for a while and went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. we got there about 10 minutes before the changing of the guard and we decided to stay for that. watching to changing is very impressive and i could tell my son was too. as we were leaving, he attempted his best “heel clicks” like they do and i felt a warmth rush thru me. it was a moment in time that you know will be remembered for a lifetime. i knew this trip left had impressions on a young mind.

after this, we both knew it was time to go home. i was sad and began to feel my eyes “sweat”. Arlington always does that to me. i am so grateful for what these men and women did for me and this great country. as we walked, for the most part it was silence. in the words of a series of commercials, this moment was “priceless”.

until next time…

ollie ollie raleigh

yeah, i know. kinda goofy for a blog entry. sometimes while driving, i (or my mind) play word games. being ADD, it just sorta happens. for some reason, i got to thinking about childhood games and for some reason, “red rover” popped in my mind. i had a real red rover (you know, the SUV) pass me and i thought the whole thing was kinda cool. makes me want one with a vanity plate. anyway, remember the game? “red rover, red rover send (insert a friend’s name here)”. and then we would join arms and whoever we called would come running and try to break our arm-in-arm grip. but there was some other game and i can’t remember much about it except for “ollie ollie oxen”. anybody out there, please let me know.

this series was our worst road trip this year. we went 1-4 against a team in last place in their division. as a matter of fact, they had a 9 game losing streak until we arrived. we won’t discuss this series much further except to say our next road trip is a 6 game series against the same team so stay tuned. we leave in 10 days!!!

overall, this trip was odd. losing 4 games, i put some scratches on the coach just after it got repaired/painted from where another driver scraped a retaining wall at dollywood. we had a 27 mile shuttle to the ballpark one way which means with 3 trips daily, i was doing a lot of driving. most road trips, it is 1-3 miles from hotel to park. gives me something to look forward to!!

at this writing, we are still 4 games above .500 so overall we are not doing too badly. i still believe in these guys and i am confident most will go on in their careers and achieve great things. they are talented and well coached. they have always treated me with respect and courtesy and never been rowdy on the trips. i can’t say enough good things about these players.

until next time…

jackson tennessee

jackson is my home town. i was born here in 1956 to 2 wonderful parents. as i have said earlier, i had “ward and june cleaver” for parents. i moved from here in 1979 and have called another part of the state home since then. this time was different. i was driving a 57 passenger motor coach back to my hometown along with my 9 year old son and the baseball team.

my mom still lives here and will be 82 this year. she lives alone in the house i grew up in. she is independent and i know she gets lonely. most all of the friends she and daddy had are gone. my schedule sometimes does not give me sufficient time to get back to see her as often as i need to.

coming back with my son and the team was kinda odd. occasionally when i come home i run into someone i grew up with. i was hoping to see some old friends at the park but that never happened. i love baseball. i love my family. combining the 2 is nirvana. i wish i had all my children with me. having 3 daughters around those players would not have been good. this is a great bunch of guys. putting them around my daughters is something else altogether.

anyway, it was a great series. we went 3-2.

i did get the opportunity to go to the cemetery to visit my father, brother, nephew and grandmother. my nephew died long ago as did my grandmother. my nephew was only 6 weeks old when he died. my grandmother was 83. my brother was 54 and my dad was 81. i miss my brother and my dad. my brother was every young kid’s dream of a big brother. at the time of his death from renal cell carcinoma, he was one of the managers in charge of research and design for the international space station. kinda cool for a job. his friends were astronauts. as a matter of fact at his funeral, jim buchley spoke. i forget how many shuttle missions he went on. i do know at one time he held the record for the most number of space walks and time spent spacewalking. needless to say, i have some really cool souvenirs.

of all the people in my life, i miss my dad the most. i guess that now, i am really starting to grieve his passing. i still feel some sting as i wish for just one more phone call, or one more of his “hey son” when i would see him. i can still see his face light up when i would see him. i also remember seeing him break down and cry when i would leave. just like i am doing as i recall all of this.

until next time…

Down in Mississippi And Up To No Good

that is a song by jennifer nettles and sugarland. it is a neat song and fits well with what i am about to write. the date on this blog is not correct. this event took place may 19th or so.
we had an early game against mississippi and some of the guys looked like they needed a diversion. i suggested going to a casino in vicksburg which was about 45 minutes away. about 15 said "if you're going to a casino, i'm there" so i had quite a few that wanted to go. i got permission to take them away for the night. only 1 showed up to actually go.
so off we went for the 2 hour drive that was only supposed to take 45 minutes. a big truck jack-knifed and the interstate was shut down. being on a bus, we had about all we needed to sit and wait. bathroom, drinks (non-alcoholic of course) and room to stand up in an air conditioned environment. i felt sorry for those other people who had to shut their cars down and sit in the heat. i truly did.
after we arrived, he was going to show me all about "craps". after about an hour, he lost about $200. i like his philosophy about gambling. to him it was entertainment. he compared it to going out on the town for a night. dinner at a nice restaurant, a movie or play, and then dessert somewhere. figure out how much you are willing to play for that nights entertainment and that is what you go in with, if you spend it all, it's time to go home.
i had about $40 with me so i started playing blackjack. at a $5 table. after about an hour and a half, i was up $300. he was still at the Craps table and i was having fun. he came over and we stayed another 2 hours and i was still up $200. he went back to the craps table and came back about 15 minutes later broke. i gave him a $5 chip and he started playing blackjack and went up about $200. he went back to the craps table and lost again. it was time to go and i was still up $150. he decided on one more roll at the table so i went back to the blackjack table and won another $100. it was definitely time to go.
i can see where people get addicted to gambling. it would be so easy. keep in mind my friends philosophy. it is entertainment and that is what makes it fun. learn when to walk away.
until next time...