Good Day for Baseball

The boys had a good day at practice.  Bryan got some time on the mound today and did great and Jake learned how to push himself just a bit harder and the results were amazing.  Walking away from it all, I hope they understand they have a gift and that their Dad does know a thing or two about the game.

Mental Utopia

Sitting on the bus reading my Ethics text when the thought occurs to me, there must be a method to this Ethics Windbag after all.  Except I have the feel that he's either a babysitter or the real prof's stand-in.  If he would lecture concerning the reading material, I honestly would be intellectually aroused.  The book really blows my socks off.  Today I got to read about the difference between the Law of Nature and Divine Law of Nature.  Both are polar opposites in my opinion, with the latter always claiming to be the truth, the way and true end-all.  Nature of Law states all things exist on this planet for a reason.  Rain is for plants, plants are for animals, animals for men.......circle of life type stuff.  Divine Law touches upon the same topics, but says that God made it that way.  Looking at it subjectively, it doesn't make a bit of sense.  More so when looking at it from a moral point of view, why do we have morals and by what moral system do we abide by?.......and where did that system originate from?  Perhaps beginning of mankind or based on spiritual beliefs.  The Divine Law couldn't be further from the truth.  If the circle of life mumbo jumbo was in play before God made his presence known, why take claim to its original existence?  Was he sitting behind the scenes and watching everything play out like a movie?.....who the heck knows.  Furthermore, perhaps that was already in mind way back in the day, especially when they derived our system of time, BC or AD.  That in of itself is just a point of reference, similar in the astronomical world where the solar system could be looked at from an earth-centered point of view or a sun-centered point of view.  Why pick the time of Christ as a reference point?  Why not compare it to a person in ancient times dropping his morning glory in the sand with the world then appointing the reference point as before-squat or after-squat.  Seriously, it don't mean diddly squat.  Now we're back to square one where you can only be on one side of the fence.  Enter an old Point Loma prof I had that claimed to be a devout Christian that was a strong believer of the Big Bang Theory.  Seriously?  Perhaps this guy's Bible was missing the Book of Genesis.  Sounds to me like he was a "Make Love Not War" kind of guy that would drop the A-bomb at the same time.  Makes the blood boil I tell you.  Thought instantly re-enters my head of the ding dong saying no Sunday baseball.  Hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites.........isn't your deity the one that gave my boys the baseball talent to begin with?....and you're saying they can't use that talent on a certain day of the week.  You say to give thanks?  Trust me bucko, this family is thankful every day of the week, and twice on Sunday................HA....................because they play double-headers.  I think the point is driven home.  You really want to see how I truly pick apart situations and trains of thought?  Words sometimes don't do it justice.  A scene from Good Will Hunting is a pretty scary similarity.

Gretchen - I'm Not Worthy

Periodically I like to watch some music videos on the laptop and get completely spaced out.  Perhaps get a little "Into the Void", so speaketh Ace Frehley.   I'll put some on here from time to time.  This one just screamed, POST ME.  I love me some Heart and what would the world be like without Ann & Nancy Wilson? This video has got to be the best mix of country and hard rock I have ever seen and heard.  Who better than Gretchen Wilson & Alice in Chains. I literally had an OMG-WTF moment when I first saw it, felt like a 747 flying right over my head.  Gretchen sings it almost better than the original, and then Nancy comes out later to join in.................forgetaboutit.  Enjoy!!!!!!  (may take a little while to load, WAIT FOR IT, its worth it)

My Ode to Jobu

Psycho Circus

That's right compadres, today has been a circus and psycho is putting it lightly.  Day started off OK I guess but I really felt a pick-me-up was needed because I was truly groggy.  I can't lie, I metaphorically felt like throwing on the robe and flip-flops and sprinting down the driveway to get the morning's paper, praying.....and hoping.......there would be some fresh Nanu tirade.  No such luck, but I wait patiently, with the popcorn on standby.  Word to the wise.........Good things come to those who wait.  I then jump on the bus to SOU hoping I get to learn something from the Ethics Windbag, but no such luck today.............THANK GOD.................I get a few texts on the way out to Ashland telling me that the dentist office majorly messed up with my dear Bryan's dental treatment......and the wife wasn't happy.  Word to the wise.....don't mess with this woman's kids......she WILL cut a bitch.  So, to help Bryan and to prevent my wife from committing Murder 1, I got off the bus by Valley View Rd, near Jackson Well Springs on 99.  Holy shiite muslims, I felt like I was in a psychedelic trance with Purple Haze playing the background.  To see a buttload of roadie trucks for bands to hit the Woodstock stage honestly wouldn't of surprised me.  But hey, to each their own right?............so.............I cross the street to hit the bus home.  I stand there for a few and start hearing some voices out of the bushes.  I pull a quick double-take to make sure the voices aren't coming from my head.....which they weren't.  Still in the haze, I joke to myself thinking that its actually Jimi, Lizard King and Mama Cass having a half-baked pow-wow in the bush.  Perhaps Elvis is still in the building?  Bus pulls up and I take my seat being very thankful that I'm headed home...........back to 2012.

So, after calls being made and asses being chewed, my dear Bryan got the treatment he needed and the wife stayed out of jail..................damn it.

Insomnia Diary

Here I go again, another night of where the body is dead tired and the mind not wanting to follow suit.  Perhaps its meant to be.  Things do happen for a reason don't they?  Truth be told, some of the best thought and ideas I've had to date do happen during my insomnia marathons.  Although I have class in the morning, so the sleepy meds better kick in pretty quick.  Speaking of class in the morning, Good Morning Ethics.  I swear if the Prof loses me again the first five minutes, I'm going to pull a Spicoli and have a pizza delivered to class.  I'm not pulling any punches here, I personally hold the Prof accountable.  His job is to teach, mine is to learn from his teaching.  If you instead choose to go off on a 45 minute tangent unrelated to the subject matter, then I feel every right to order a damn pizza.  Heck, might as well enjoy myself to supplement the incurred boredom.  Don't get me wrong here, I give 110% at school.  But if you're gonna stand up and be a windbag, then I'll consider you a waste of space and a complete waste of my time.  Come on, at least tease the intellect a bit.

Another sick twist on this, perhaps its my mind that's being high-maintenance.  Metaphorically speaking, my mind is like having a girlfriend that needs, needs, and then needs some more.  My mind constantly needs attention and needs to be kept busy, it never shuts down.  I seriously tease a meltdown if I don't have a laptop and internet connection when I'm not at the ballpark or spending time with my family.  Slug it a lack of intellectual satisfaction.

Baseball...baseball....baseball  Broken record and I dare not lift the needle, why, because its baseball.....duh.....big red truck.  I swear when it comes to baseball, I'm either "old school" or just an old soul.  Baseball at the Little League level has changed immensely.  Now that my playing days are done, I see the game in a different way.  I see it as a classroom in which a multitude of life's lessons can be learned from it.  I'm very proud to say that I feel I'm more than qualified in being a teacher in that classroom.  I love to Coach, to me its everything.  I Coach because my kids play, but I teach and treat all the players the same.  I don't put "Johnny" above the rest of the team and I certainly don't put my kid on a pedestal and pick his supporting cast.  Its truly awful to see that in Little League.  Then I think to myself, why do I scare people?  Why are people afraid of me?  I'm not there at the ballpark with an agenda and I'm certainly not one to shake establishments.  In the purest form of the phrase, I simply want to Coach.  If you don't like it, then that's fine.  I have no problem passing on my knowledge to my own kids and giving them a better opportunity in which to succeed.  Call me selfish, I really don't care.  Think about it though, you're a hypocrite to think that I'm being selfish by saying that since its those who don't allow me to coach that are truly the ones giving me the forum to better my own kids.  Now I feel like I'm in Rodney Dangerfield's shoes and not getting any respect.  Slug it being an untapped resource.  Do I feel the role should be given to me because I'm Steve Acree?......no.  Do I feel the red carper should be laid out for me?...........no  Do I feel the role should just be handed to me?...........absolutely not.  It does though make me wonder why you have those out there who don't know the game and are there for all the wrong reasons, yet they're qualified to call the shots?

This must be Russian baseball, because it sure doesn't look American
-Coach G

To not allow me to coach is like Mick Jagger telling Keith Richards that he doesn't want to write songs with him anymore.  I know the game and that's all that matters.  There is only one judge and one jury that matters to me when it comes to coaching, and that's my Dad.  He's coached on the biggest stage in Little League.....the Big League World Series.  He's MY judge and MY jury.

It's very bad to steal Jobu's rum.......its very bad.
-Pedro Cerrano, Major League

Are you saying Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?
-Harris, Major League

Oh No You Didn't

As much as I enjoy blogging so far, I must admit that I love reading my sister's blogs also.  Low and behold upon reading do I discover that somebody has pissed off the Great Nanu, with a Blood is Thicker than Water twist.  I love my sister to death, but to watch/listen/read her go off is like being a kid in a candy store.  To the victim, "You're done, you're toast, you will be yesterday's news".  You see, of the endless list of great qualities she has that I truly admire, she also has a gift for putting people in their place.  Many will try to match and they will all fail in comparison.  As for me, I just sit back, munch the popcorn and enjoy the show.  I s**t you not, its like having a ringside seat to watch Picasso paint another masterpiece.  Truly a work of art.  So, to the person on the receiving end, Mr T comes to mind.

I pity the fool!!!!!

......and Another thing

I think any person that volunteers their time to participate in Little League should be applauded, and thanks.  Those that step forward to ensure the enjoyment of those young ones learning the game are truly diamonds in the rough.  With that being said, don't even bring gender into it.  Don't claim to be a man and say to a woman that women don't belong on Little League boards.

Riddle me this.

If you know off the top of your head who Cody Webster is AND the significance of Howard J Lamade stadium, then, maybe, I feel you have the right to Coach Little League.

Don't you just love those that think they walk on water?

So Therapeutic

Good afternoon Campers, I sit in my recliner looking outside and think to myself, “it’s a damn good day for baseball”.  Thank God there is fall ball practice today so the baseball demons can exercise.  Moving on…………..got music and baseball on my mind.  Though this train of thought started with the most off-the-wall catalyst….and that’s going to the gym and seeing somebody watch Kenny Rogers on the View.  I instantly laugh inside because the first thoughts that come to mind is all the MadTV sketches they did about him and his drinking.  Moving forward with that train of thought, he must have been drinking because of the song he did about baseball.  All I can hear in my head is, “The ball goes up and the ball comes down”.  Hey Kenny, what frickin’ sport are you talking about?  Perhaps you had Michael Jordan in mind? So sorry Kenny, I used to like The Gambler, but now I’ll settle with Still the Same from Bob Seger.  Thank the good Lord for putting John Fogerty on this Earth, somebody to me that truly captured the true essence of the game in Centerfield.  Think about it, how can you not have a baseball song without the mention of the Mudville Nine, Joe D and Casey at the Bat?

Tangent – Christi asks me last night about my one of my posts, and asked who Crash Davis is.  I told her he was the catcher in Bull Durham.  That then got me thinking about another part of his rants from that movie and how he believed that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.  Sorry Crash, but simple physics and a little piece of land called the Grassy Knoll that will easily refute that one.  I do though thank you for teaching me on what not to do on a winning streak.....roflmao

Music, Music, Music.  Why does one listen to music?  Perhaps to satisfy an audible hunger?  Personally, I have to go to Clint Black on this one with State of Mind:

               

                Ain’t it funny how a melody

                Can bring back a memory

                Take you to another place and time

                Completely change your state of mind

Holy smack, I made a reference to country music.  Coach Gabrielson was right when he said that one day I would eventually like country music.  I have to admit, I do miss taking BP in high school with Rodeo, Thunder Rolls and Friends in Low Places blaring in the background.  Back to Clint, I’m more on his wavelength.  I can hear a song, any song, and know exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it.  But my gosh….Stevie Nicks……forgetaboutit  Talk about being truly hypnotized by a voice, wow.  I will though indulge that I was musically born in Apple Valley, label it a musical resurrection with a heavy metal magnitude.  That’s when I saw the video for Hide Your Heart from KISS. I instantly thought, “are these really the guys that wore makeup and literally scared the crap out of me when I was four?” We’re talking the Love Gun, Rock and Roll Over, and Alive II era.  I remember the makeup and thinking Gene Simmons was the devil personified.  Anyways, the fascination grew after seeing that video in AV.  That led me to the nearest store that I knew sold music, and I bought my first KISS cassette (yes, a damn cassette)….low and behold……it was Destroyer.  Detroit Rock City, God of Thunder, Shout it Out Loud……forgetaboutit.  That group has been and always will be my most favorite group.  Their songs are truly an escape for any type of mood I’m in.  Celebrate life, women, motivation, mock religion, etc…the list is endless.  KISS has taught me three things, and you can let your mind wander and spin it any way you want.

                And on the the 8^th day, God created Rock and Roll

                God gave Rock and Roll to Me.

                I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock and Roll

Religion, Religion, Religion.  Two good KISS songs that truly fuel my distaste for it sometimes, Unholy and Thou Shalt Not.  Don’t just google the lyrics and read it, you have to follow along while listening to it to grasp my true meaning.

Oh boy, here we go.  I’m now enraged again about a certain topic and I don’t care what you think about it or how you take it.  I do though have to provide a bit of background to serve a bit of justice to my closing thought.  I am an inactive Mormon and still hold very dear friendships with “active” members.  I still believe a lot of what the religion entails, though oh man, either you’re in or you’re out with this group.  Reference Revelation 3:15-16.  You’re either hot or cold without lukewarm being an acceptable option.  Not a single care given on the stereotype, but you can thank those “devoted” members that will give you the world when you’re active and then spit in your face when you’re not that give the forum in which to have that stereotype.  To know me is to understand that I love baseball, no other sport exists in my world.  So when a particular somebody tells me that I need to keep the Sabbath day holy by not allowing my kids to play Fall Ball on Sundays……nowadays all I can do is scratch my head.  Enter Jeremy Guthrie, devout Mormon (current pitcher for the KC Royals) and somebody I can honestly say I don’t have a bad thing to say about.  LDS folks, I do though question your tact on this next statement.  If I am to keep the Sabbath Day holy by not allowing my kids to play baseball on Sundays, why do you have the audacity to have Jeremy Guthrie speak at Church and give my kids a forum in which they are able to ask him what pitches he throws and what it was like to play with and against Robby Cano.  Think about it, here’s a guy that is Mormon and pitches on Sundays when needed, and then in the same building in which I’m told no frickin’ Fall Ball allowed, you give this guy a forum in which he can talk about baseball?  Of all days to allow him to talk?………………………….ON A SUNDAY.

Where’s my red solo cup?.............Its beer thirty.

Econ / SoA

Learned some great concepts in Econ class this afternoon, though I have to admit, the Prof needs to get other ideas on what the wants to use for examples, especially in the case of displaying how sunk costs is tied into one's quest for total utility of a certain project.  Except this guy decided to use a Clapton CD as an example.  Ding Dong should have known that he was going to lose the class with that one from the get-go.  Example from Prof: My $10 is considered a sunk cost in purchasing a Clapton CD, and my total utility will be achieved in listening to that CD.  Now, let's say I walk out of the store and drop the Clapton CD, thus, losing my potential total utility.  Ultimately, a true Economist will not go back in and re-purchase the CD since one doesn't want to incur double the original sunk cost.  I about had half the mind to raise my hand, and confess anybody in their right mind would incur the double sunk cost to get their total utility from a Clapton CD for the sheer fact that its Clapton.....the Eric Clapton....you know: Layla, Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love. 

Funny side note from this class also.  The Prof has the audacity to walk through the aisles during lecture to ensure that we're taking the notes that he tells us too.  One day I'm going to note on my paper, "To Instructor, please face the class and say that you're an Economics Instructor, and that you're not smarter than a 5th grader".  I'm quite sure I would lose my "A" on that one.

Oh, then the end of class he has us break into our groups for a quick meet & greet before we're done for the day.  He then takes a quick roll of the groups, calling to Group 6 without any replies, so I say.....Bueller.....Bueller.....Bueller.   Note to self:  Don't raise up any more flags indicating your age, because this class obviously had no inkling what I was talking about. 

Sons of Anarchy
Great show and I can't get enough of it.  Although Mr. Kurt Sutter, I'm still a bit pissed that you let Opie get off'd.  Dude, you had the perfect combo going with Jax and Opie.  They were another one of my Lennon/McCartney, Mick & Keith, Gene & Paul, and last but not least, Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis.  Besides, Opie was a Titan, you know, Remember the Titans? 
Stay Gold Opie, Stay Gold

...........

And the "what the heck"s are rolling in.  Hey, when you get an idea, run with it and hit it head on.  If you have to use the restroom, run there. 

Preamble

I'm quite sure many of you are thinking, or perhaps somewhat wondering to yourself, "What the heck is he doing?"  Let me enlighten the curious ones.  I was sitting in my Ethics class and had an epiphany.  I must concede the irony of the setting in which this occurred.  I hold no apologies to you Mr. Ethics Instructor, though only a sense of gratitude.  You lost my intellectual curiosity the first three minutes of class and you allowed my mind to go aloof.  This epiphany by definition, was most certainly an experience of sudden and striking realization. 

-The belief that I have got to be the most misinterpreted and misunderstood person I will ever know.

&

-How do I want others to perceive me?


So, like my sisters before me, I'm going to blog.  Blog or not to blog, tis that is the question.  I'm choosing to blog, perhaps as a way to let people into my mind and really know how the wheels turn.  I will concede and disclaim to almost all of you, you think you know me, but you have no idea.  Don't be afraid, I haven't lost my marbles nor am I having a mid-life crisis.  Though I do concede the irony in that statement since having just recently celebrated my 38th birthday.  Moving on........

Riddle me this.  Should one start something like this tip-toeing in the shallow end to test the waters, or do you cannonball in the deep end and not care who you splash? I'm quite sure a debate is stirring.  Although as for me, I'm cannonballing in all senses of the word.  Well, not in the way Bill Murray does in Caddyshack.  Cinderella story......here at Augusta

So, going forward, I will post almost anything that comes to mind.  If I enlighten your day, then great.  If I offend you or rub you the wrong way, too bad so sad.  I do though have to fill you in on a few things about me as a preamble, intro, preface, etc.....  Consider it a Crash Davis rant.

1.  I have an unshakable love for my family.
2.  I hold the game of baseball very dear in my heart, that also, is unshakable.
3.  I believe in the concept, "to each their own"

In addition, I have experienced the following surreal moments in my life.

1.  Remembering this like is just happened two minutes ago:  watching a weak ground ball to A.J. Martinez at third base that led to the final out of the Western Regional Championship game, that punched our ticket to the Big League World Series in 1992...........and that I got to experience with my Dad.......because he was my Coach.

2. Catching in a game in that World Series as USA West playing against Venezuela that ended up being a 15-inning 2-day game, hearing and being the recipient of a crowd that chanted "USA, USA, USA".  Then turning around, and realizing that it was the team from the Soviet Union that was dominantly doing the cheering.  That my friends, is what makes the game of baseball more than a game.  I still get the goosies thinking about that moment.

3.  Welcoming each one of my children into this world.

The above beliefs and moments are what shape my life and formulate the person that I am.  There is though one other thing in my life that I hold dear that I only allow a select few to know.  Again, "you think you know, but you have no idea".

Moving forward......buckle up.....it may be a bumpy ride.