Archive for the 'My Marsupial' Category

The Reverse of Polarity

Published May 29, 2012 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial , My Sweets Leave a Comment
Tags: , , ,

I used to play with magnets and their wonderful Star Wars force like powers. A quick slide across the table and I was Yoda moving magnets without touching them. “Mmm, move a magnet with my mind, I will.” It’s simple science… opposite poles attract, similar poles repel.

However, life is not as simple. Somehow it happened. The polarity has shifted with my children, and it happened when I least expected. My reach in’s for kisses are met with an equal repel away like two magnets both turned to the south polarity.

The polarity of the camera repels them when I attempt to take their picture. They move equally fast away when I reach in for a hug at the check-out line at Target. The latest magnet to shift is with Rebekah. She gets embarrassed when I say we are on a date.

Well at least she still holds my hand. For now.

That, along with the couch foot massages are my last two Magnets.

The 75th Ride on the Reading.

Published January 3, 2012 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial , My Sweets , Notes, Thoughts & Personal Expressions Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I love the game Monopoly. If I had to pick a favorite board game this would be it. Monopoly is the perfect game. Just enough strategy, balanced with luck. I love the game pieces, the colors of the board, the illustrations on the Community Chest and Chance cards. Monopoly has just enough math for me and I love that the playing board is filled with properties that are named after actual locations around Atlantic City, NJ. (However Illinois Avenue was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in the 1980′s and the actual St. Charles Place no longer exists courtesy of a casino.)

Thanks in part to my Brother Dan and his friend Eric this is one game I know far too much about. Property costs, mortgage rates, and the fact that the famed Reading Railroad is pronounced Redding, not Reading. I have played so much I know what properties are the “real” ones you want to get, and when going to jail can sometimes win you the game. If your in the mood for a quick parlor trick, quiz me sometime. I won’t disappoint.

In 1998 Julie and I got a Deluxe Monopoly game for Christmas. The set has wooden, not plastic houses and hotels, gold colored game pieces including a classic train. A sweet spinning holder for the property cards, and a banker’s tray to keep the cash at the ready. More importantly the board has a dark purple Mediterranean and Baltic Avenue. Unlike the brown of the new sets of today. On January 1, 1999 we played our first game. Julie was the boot and I was the racecar and Julie won. I know this because for that game, and every game since, I have written on the underside of the box lid in a white Prismacolor pencil who played, what piece they used, what the date was, and more importantly who won.

Thirteen years later, game 75 was played last Sunday, New Year’s Day, 1-1-12. We had had several opportunities to play this game, We had the chance to play with Dan and Linda, My Mom and Norbert, Julie’s sister Joanne, and even our friends Mike and Rachel. For one reason or another we opted to not play and Game 75 was held. Held until Sunday.

This was the cliff notes version of game 75:

Julie was the thimble, Joey was the train, Rebekah was the dog, Aaron was the racecar, and I was the old utility van. Rebekah made it around the board first and ironically bought the Mediterranean Ave as the game’s first property. Aaron spent a lot of time in Jail, and I mopped up free parking and landed on Illinos Ave seemingly on every pass around. Aaron was out first, even with a saving move by Julie. She was next, then Rebekah setting up a showdown between Joey and me. In the end this game saw at least two fatal moves, mentions of the “full color spectrum, and 3 house plateau”, and ended up with Joey as the winner.

I’m glad my family likes Monopoly. I’m glad that as a family we can play games that don’t end in arguments. I’m glad that for 2 hours or so we can just worry about getting that last orange property versus a high score on some electronic device. In the end, this game was a worthy 75th, and one that I know we’ll all remember vividly when we pencil in #100, #125, or even #150.

Norfolk & Western Rides Again

Published December 13, 2011 My Marsupial Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

It is finally complete. A 20+ year dream is a reality. The much awaited train track is under our tree. I spent the evening with my son Joey cleaning my old blue Norfolk & Western train at the kitchen table so that Joey, Rebekah, and Aaron can use it on the new track. The problem is that the train has not run in years and I am hoping that it still works. We take the rubbing alcohol, the q-tips and the sand paper to the wheels just like my Father and I used to every Christmas. Joey and I even made a make-shift connector from an old Rubbermaid lid to reattach the coal car to the engine. Once the train was cleaned and all tidy it came to the moment of truth.

Place the train on the track.

My heart was racing as I slowly gave power to the trails via the transformer. I have not seen this train move in a very long time. I was nervous because I was unsure of the emotions I was going to have either way. Whether it worked or didn’t. I wasn’t really prepared for either. I certainly didn’t want to get my hopes up and I for sure wanted it to move. The heart was racing fast. Then, I saw the light come on. The train hummed, sputtered, start and stopped, and finally roared to full speed ahead. “WOW” I said, and Joey cried, “It’s working!” And then the train promptly slid of the track trying to make it’s first turn. We both laughed. It didn’t matter thought. Seeing the train move warmed my heart. It was a great healer for a week full of mental ups and downs.

We tried and tried again, and each time the train would slide off the track. The train was acting like it was trying to shake the years of rust off it’s parts and it seemed determined to make it. The highlight was the ‘ol Norfolk & Western had just completed it’s second loop around the track without falling off when my 14 year old son Joey asked me. “When was the last time you saw this working Dad?”

I never really thought to do the math, so I paused and thought…

“15. Joey I was 15 years old.”

Joey’s eyes got really big with surprise and I could see him mutter a reflective “15 years old” under his breath. He responded with a quick, “Let’s put the train back on the track, and try again.” I certainly didn’t mind.

A Merry Christmas indeed.

All Aboard the Memory Express.

Published December 4, 2011 My Marsupial , My Sweets , Notes, Thoughts & Personal Expressions Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

I like spending time with my Father. It doesn’t happen often but when it does I cherish it. I think about him at least once every day but spending a block of time together is something really special.

The reason for his visit this time was the holiday train track for under the Christmas tree. This weekend I have been look forward to for years, scratch that… decades. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to make a track for under the tree. We just never had the space. Growing up my Father had made one. His was an HO scale set complete with roads, streetlamps, multiple tracks and houses that were colorfully lit from beneath. Some of my favorite holiday memories are traced back to the times I spent playing the engineer, robbing the local bank and having the sheriff come in to make the rescue while the ‘ol blue Norfolk and Western circled the city. The two pictures to the left are old Polaroid photos that I found that detail my Father’s preliminary track layout. I didn’t realize I had these. Coming across them last week in two separate locations within my own collection of train parts and pieces was the Geraldo Rivera find of the century. These two photos have not been together in a very long time. (Time to frame them and give them their proper artistic due.)

As for my track, Santa has been bringing us one HO scale house each year in anticipation of having the space to have our own track someday. After the season, the kids and I would sit around the kitchen table and over the course on a couple nights would build the house. Since Joey is 14 we have a city full of character. My brothers John and Dan and I, divided my Father’s houses up a few years ago that were on his track. So i have 5 additional houses, scattered within my own that makes our final city.

Tonight was fun. Laying out the track parts and arranging the houses. Spending time with Dad in my garage while spending time with Joey and Rebekah as they helped. They didn’t know Grandpa was there with us, and that’s fine. They don’t think about him like I do. I don’t expect them too. I know my Father was smiling when Rebekah went house by house asking “Is this one that Grandpa built?” What about this one? And this one?” Each time I pointed out the next Grandpa house, she’d pick it up and inspect it closely. I liked her comment when she said that “Grandpa was really talented. I wish I would’ve know him” I responded, “Yes he was Rebekah, yes he was. He would’ve loved you. And he would’ve spoiled you rotten.”

I’m glad we have the space in the new house to finally make this track. when I complete mine it will be an HO scale set complete with roads, streetlamps, multiple tracks and houses that are colorfully lit from beneath.

Love at Three Sights

Published November 6, 2011 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial , My Sweets Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , , ,

When I was younger I never believed in love at first sight. My life in advertising as an Art Director had trained me to never buy into the movie or television romances exploited by the entertainment industry. From early on I understood that on-screen romances were driven by plot lines, ratings and had nothing to do with real chemistry. A major component to love. However love is very abstract. It doesn’t follow rules and doesn’t pretend to play favorites and I understand that now. Love transcends the logical and gets you to see life differently. Eyes become opened, and this, at times, happens in an instant.

Such as, the first time I saw my son Joey. That was love at first sight. The doctor held him up, eyes wide open and he was big and strong. I picked him up and everything changed (stealing a line from Ben Folds).

The first time I saw my daughter Rebekah. That was love at first sight. Her tiny frame so fragile. Her cry so sweet. I fell hard that day.

The first time I saw youngest son Aaron, albeit one month early, well you guessed it, and that was before i knew he would grow into a sarcastic and witty energetic fireball.

I often think back to that time when I first saw each one of my children. When i do, my heart swells, and I get lost in thought. My reward is a memory burned into the soft tissue of my brain. It’s like the finger print of the one I love is permanently there for the rest of my days. I hope it’s something my three kids get to experience someday.

So if someone today asked me if i believed in love at first sight I would respond with a revised view of “depends on the case”. If somebody said to me “what about chemistry at first sight?”

Well that’s a definite yes, and a whole ‘nother blog post.

Spiderman vs Batman

Published September 16, 2011 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , , ,

Sometimes the conversations my kids have really make me laugh. Case and point was last Saturday. Aaron was jumping around the house acting like Spiderman. Slinging imaginary webs from couch to couch, from couch to table, table to wall and wall to his brother… then tackle… then wrestle… then repeat.

This sparked a conversation between Joey and Aaron that posed the question of who would win in a fight between Spiderman and Batman. Aaron claims that Spiderman would be easier to kill than Batman. Since Batman has all the toys. (not sure why he was not pretending to be Batman instead of Spiderman) Joey claims that the argument was pointless because any superhero is easy to kill except for Superman.

The converastion went something like this…

Joey said “Aaron Batman is just a guy. He has no powers and his batarangs run out. Let’s say he’s fighting the Joker at the Mall…

I interrupted, “Wait, Joey why is the Joker hanging out at the Mall? Is he robbing Banana Republic, or Payless Shoes?” “No Dad, he’s not robbing Payless, he’s robbiing another store…”

“Like the pretzel shop or Victoria Secret?”

“No Dad… Okay, he’s not at the Mall, he’s at the bank”

“Ok, that’s better, the bank makes sense.”

Joey went on to say to Aaron, “He throws all three of his batarangs at the Joker, and he misses. Then he has nothing. Spiderman just makes more webs, and can scale walls. You see Aaron, Batman is just a guy with no powers and Spiderman has powers that help him, but really they both won’t survive a bullet to the head. No hero would except for Superman.”

Aaron rebuked, “No Batman can dodge them.”

“You can’t dodge a bullet to the head. Aaron tell me a superhero and I will tell you how easy it would be to kill them.”

Aaron, “Robin.”

Joey, “Bullet to the head”

Aaron, “Captain America.”

Joey, “Bullet to the head”

Aaron, “Green Lantern”

Joey, “Bullet to the head”

After a couple more Joey felt he made his point and I was laughing. A.J. shrugged his shoulders and left the room saying “Eh, Batman would still beat Spiderman.”

Joey chased him… and I am pretty sure Aaron flung some Spidey webs to fight Joey off before he got tackled.

The Bedtime Routine

Published September 7, 2011 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial , My Sweets , Notes, Thoughts & Personal Expressions Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , , ,

School starts on Wednesday and with it comes bed times, early mornings and mass chaos before the bus clicks on the red lights and slowly comes to complete rest at the new stop. What also comes is an opportunity again to reacquaint the Mayernik household with some normal routines. For me, it’s getting to tuck the kids in at night. With Summer vacation and the house renovations in the mix, normal routines have been smashed into small pieces. Some normalcy would be welcomed in my head right about now.

Nightime rituals have changed over the years from childhood stories, to reading books, bathtime, and heart to heart talks. One thing that has not changed are the prayers and what my kids call the “God Song”. It’s a song by Michael Card titled God’s Own Fool. When my oldest son Joey was a small toddler I got in the habit of singing this song to him after prayers. Naturally, I also sang, and still sing, to Rebekah and Aaron. It has evolved into a nice tradition that I look forward to when I tuck them in. Now at the ages they are at they know the words. They sing along and it makes them smile which in turn makes me smile. The message of the song is clear: Follow God’s own fool.

Most of Michael Card’s songs are a bit preachy for me and they don’t really find their way from the ipod catalog to the earphones, but this one I find to be particularly good. It has a bit of humor disguised in an otherwise preachy message. And that I appreciate. With Joey going into High School this year he has graduated past me sitting by his bed side at night saying prayers and singing the song. He says prayers on his own now. Maybe he sings the song in his head, maybe not. But I am sure it crosses his mind, and I hope when they are blessed with children. they sing the song too when bedtime calls.

The added layer here is that for their First Communion I sang this song for each of them during their services. It was a nice exclamation point to years worth of singing for, and with them. I’m glad I started singing this song so many years ago. I don’t know why or how it started, I’m just glad it did.

In a flash Joey is starting High School. In a flash Rebekah is 5 foot 1. In a flash Aaron is 9. Where has the time gone? I shake my head sometimes at the humor of it all. The first day.. three new schools, new friends, new bus stops, new home… and thankfully holding on to some old favorite routines.

Here are the Lyics to the song in case you are interested:

Gods Own Fool by Michael Card

Seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God’s Holy wisdom is foolish to man
He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad
And the priest said a demon’s to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane

We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter’s son
For a madman who died for a dream
And You’ll have the faith His first followers had
And you’ll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

The Home that Memories Built

Published July 25, 2011 My Little Buddy , My Marsupial , My Sweets , Notes, Thoughts & Personal Expressions Leave a Comment

“This will be weird. This will no longer be our home. The home I grew up in. Everything will be different.”

That’s what Joey said to me today. And he’s right. It will be different. We are moving into a new house soon and leaving our current home after 10 years. 10 years of winter snowfalls, summer gardens and fall croquet. Bus stop pick-ups and dropoffs, backyard baseball, playroom cleanings and blanket forts. Morning get out-of-bed struggles and afternoon naps. Sunday after church luppers, muggy nights, Halloween trick or treatings, family game nights and Phantom of the Opera dances.

We packed a lot in these 10 years. It’s easy to look to the new house and see the potential of what could be… what will be. But I need to realize that the transition for Joey, Rebekah and Aaron will be a bit more emotional. Our current home is the house they grew up in. Sure we moved from Atlanta, and first lived in Michigan, but for our three children, 609 is their one and only home they remember.

I decided to make a list of ten memories from our home at 609 bay rd. These are in no particular order. How could I pick one as the best?

10. Playing Monopoly for the first time as a family with everyone playing by themselves. This was a big deal. Aaron is old enough now, Rebekah is patient enough now, and Joey can be banker. Life is good.

9. The Garden. We spent many a Summer cultivating our small 10′ x 14′ garden. Over the years it changed location, shape and its yearly crop was always different. We tried herbs, eggplant, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, squash, lettuce and radishes. Really only cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes grow there. Perfect for Summertime BLTs.

8. I will miss seeing the deer come every morning in the backyard to eat the cucumbers from the garden. The time Joey was stopped in his tracks due to the two deer that went galloping by was particularly amusing.

7. The day Magglio Ordonez hit a walk off home run to send the Tigers to the 2006 world series. I picked Joey up and spun him in the living room.

6. After dinner backgammon. Best two out-of-three. Julie would win some, I would win some. Sometimes we’d let each other win just to be nice.

5. The realization that living on a main road means that the snow plows leave a thick icy goodness at the base of the driveway that a Buick can never get through.

4. All the family and friends that made the trek to come see us. We truly appreciated the visits. Most of the time we made the journey. To have the ability to share our home was always a welcome change.

3. There is nothing like the final inning of a World Serious game in the back yard. Me batting left handed, and Joey swinging for “Dave’s Yard” for the easy home run. Rebekah always on my team and Aaron always trying 110% just to impress his older brother.

2. Bath time: Blue Guy and his boat, Red Guy, and Green Guy. Singing the Jaws theme while the frog lurked below the surface waiting for just the right time to strike.

1. The birth of our son Aaron John. He came one month early on July 19th. We had nothing prepared. I spent the weekend cleaning the crib, bassinet, and explaining to my Mother-In-Law, who came that day to help us, why we had nothing prepared.

The new house will be a welcome change, and Joey is right, everything is different. But change is good. It will just take awhile for the new house to become our home. And the current home on Bay Rd has one thing the new house on Majestic will never be able to achieve. The title from the Mayernik Trio as “The Home I Grew Up In.”

Beating Heart Baby.

Published June 23, 2011 My Marsupial Leave a Comment
Tags: , , , ,

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Right? Isn’t that the saying? If that’s the case, the month of June has turned me into Superman.

I have had more blood pumped through the chambers of my heart over the past three weeks than I have in years. And no need to bring out the small violins to play for me. I like it, and it feels pretty good too. I like that my June has challenged the way I think, what I knew I could handle and what I understood to be true. June has pushed the capacity of my brain. It has chewed me up, spit me out and smacked what remained with a folding chair to the back followed by a swan dive off the top turnbuckle. In all, I came out the other side feeling more alive than I have in awhile, and in part I have baseball to thank for it.

Today’s playoff game was a heartbreak. We took a one run lead into the bottom of the seventh. Lost that lead, forced extra innings. Took a four run lead into the bottom of the eighth only to see the game winning run scored by a bases loaded walk. A crap way to end a thrilling baseball game if you ask me, but that’s what happens sometimes. We certainly have been on the winning side of that scenario before. To complicate matters, my son Joey was on the mound and surrendered the walk that pushed across the game winning run. At the end of the game Joey took it hard. He blamed himself, and for once I had no words of baseball encouragement to say. At that moment I was a Dad who felt heartbroken for his son. And wanted nothing more than to give him a hug, and tell him it was okay (and no I didn’t that would have been more horrifying for him being a 13 year old boy, but the thought did cross my mind). Rather, how as a coach do you console a ballplayer that feels like they were the reason they lost an extra inning playoff game? More importantly, how do you do that as a parent?

Well on the car ride back to the house we talked about that final inning. I told joey that I was proud that he asked to pitch. Joey asked for the ball knowing full well he was coming into the game with the bases already loaded with the tying and winning runs on base. He was confident about his pitching. He was confident and strong. Despite the outcome I am proud of him. At the start of the year he wanted no part of pitching. The stress of the thought of being on the mound with all eyes on him caused him to shy away. He caught the bug a few games ago when he had some success and he gained confidence. Enough confidence that he wanted the ball in the final inning of an extra inning playoff baseball game. As a parent, isn’t that all you can ask for? In reality, games are not won and lost by one singular play. (Well I guess technically they are but it’s a series of events that lead to the win or loss.) I told Joey “that as a father I am impressed by him every day of his life on the planet.” Which in turn prompted Joey to correct my grammar and say “no, it’s every day of your life… not mine.” Which I responded not that phrasing was intentional, “Every day of your life I am impressed by you.” He disagreed again and after bantering back and forth for awhile we both ended up laughing by the time we got to Route 104.

In an earlier post about baseball I talked about how every play is a potential lesson in character building. That every out or base hit a learning opportunity of sportsmanship and team play. I am going to add to that statement: These opportunities could be successes or failures. It’s how you handle yourself coming out the other side that defines who you are.

For Love of The Game

Published June 18, 2011 My Marsupial 1 Comment
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Oh my I love baseball.

I love baseball for it’s rich history. It’s design and strategy. I love that every play is a potential lesson in character building. Every out or base hit a learning opportunity of sportsmanship and team play. I have been a coach or assistant coach for my son Joey’s baseball team for the past 8 years. This will most likely be his last year of organized baseball, and for me it’s bittersweet. The realization that another chapter of parenthood with Joey is coming to a close is a hard pill to swallow. I have been cherishing each moment of this season, and nothing was more exciting than tonight’s game.

Tonight’s game will go down for me as the pinnacle game in my eight years of coaching. The ultimate highlight. This game will be talked about, romanticized, and remembered for years, and it’s games like today that reassure me that baseball is the greatest sport in America.

Today we were playing the Yankees. A pesky full throttle team that never lets up. Our kids today were ready, or so we thought. The top of the first inning was a comedy of errors. Literally. Four errors leading to four runs. We had our first ups and went down “one, two, three”. The second inning for the Yankees was a continuation of the first for the Orioles. Walk. Walk. K. Base hit, Error, Error. Overthrow. Base Hit. Walk. In an instant we were down 10 to zip. Nothing. Goose egg. The kids were deflated, frustrated, and snippy. Okay so were the coaches, and I totally felt their pain. The Yankees were pouring it on, not by good play or solid base hits, but by capitalizing on mistakes that we were making on the field. It’s one thing to get beat by a better team. It’s another to get beat by yourself. After three innings were were looking down the bat barrel of an 11-1 deficit, and frustration was at an all time high with the team. Buck, Steve (the other coaches) and I, sat the kids down on the bench before we took our turn to bat in the bottom of the third and I proceeded to speak to the kids like I have never spoken to a team before. I think this was the jist…

“Orioles! Everyone on the bench! Pay attention and listen! Baseball is supposed to be fun. I don’t see any smiling faces on this team right now. We have 12 guys on this team… we only need 9 to play so if you want to sulk and give up, them by all means leave the bench now. (uncomfortable pause) But we are not giving up today! Myself and the coaches are voulunteers. We don’t get paid to be here. We’re here because we love this game. We love this team, and we know you are better than what we see on the field right now. In fact, your parents have paid to have you here so let’s focus! Let’s have some fun, and let’s not look back at the first three innings and only look ahead. Let’s play solid head’s up baseball. Let’s stop the bleeding and let’s get back in this game.”

Thankfully no player took me up on my offer to quit. Not sure what I would have done had one of the kids called my bluff. The next three innings were as I was expecting. We played better defense, hit the ball, sole bases, and played solid fundamental baseball. And by the time we got up at the bottom of the sixth the score was 14-3. I felt good about our effort. I was proud of the kids and how they bounced back after probably the worst three innings of baseball I have seen in awhile. Now, one of the reasons why I like baseball so much is that in order to win you need to make all the outs. In the major leagues teams are required to get all 27 outs in a nine inning game. There’s no running out of a clock. No playing keep away to preserve a lead. Baseball makes you accountable to do your job if you want the win, and I like that. In little league games, teams play seven innings instead of nine, each game however does have a time limit. By the time we got up in the bottom of the sixth our time limit was very close to expiring and the sun was starting to disappear behind the treeline. I had already planted the seed with the umpire that if we had the opportunity to start the 7th inning before 8:25 that I wanted to play. Despite the 14-3 deficit. I wanted our kids to finish out the game and not give up. We did score one in the bottom of the 6th to cut the lead to 14-4 and we started the 7th and final inning.

This is how the bottom of the 7th started for our team: Base hit. Double. Walk. Base hit. Walk. Five kids up—three runs in, and one tough call at third placed us with one out and 6 runs to make up. The kids were standing on the fence, cheering, they were vocal, and more importantly, they were smiling with rally caps on. The next five kids. all got base hits. Let me stress that again. THE NEXT FIVE KIDS ALL GOT BASE HITS. Each and every hit was met with more cheering and smiling. These five hits accounted for another 5 runs. In a flash the score was 12-14, we still only had one out and we had the tying runs on base. The go ahead at the plate. After a fielder’s choice play and one base hit later we were only down by one run. Two outs. The tying run on third. The stress was amazing. My heart was pounding out of my chest, and my voice was hoarse. My kids were on their way to making the most unbelievable comeback I have ever seen. One hit, or one passed ball ties this game. Ties it! The drama was thick. The tension was high. However, the game ended with an Oriole strikeout and a Yankees win. The Yankees finally got us out but not before surrendering 9 hits, 2 walks 9 runs and the most exciting half inning in all of my 8 years of coaching. Final score: Yankees 14, Orioles 13.

I was astounded. So impressed of my team for for not quitting. So proud that Buck, Steve and I were able to coach this game. So thankful for the parents sticking with us and not revolting because we were stressed too. So happy I insisted on playing that last inning.

My kids left the field with their heads high, their spirits up, and despite the loss they left the field feeling like winners tonight. This game was a lesson in character building. It was a learning opportunity of sportsmanship and team play that i relish to share with my grandchildren some day. Even though we lost, the kids learned a valuable life lesson. They learned to never give up, because you never know. You just never know.

Oh my I love baseball.

Next Page »

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 18 other followers

Twitter Updates

Networked Blogs

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.