Softball A Bit Screwed Up; Flyers To The Rescue!

While I eagerly await Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals I thought I'd rant about a couple of issues. As you know, today was day one of the Liberty Bell Classic softball tournament. In our D division each team played three round-robin games. Then the double-elimination portion began -- once you lose two games you're eliminated. Our team, the Tabu Nighthawks, had to play three consecutive games, at 11 am, noon and 1 pm.

Our first game was against a New York team that was filled with C-division (i.e. much better) hitters. Needless to say, we were clobbered. The fact that these teams want to not just play in tournaments, but essentially crush the real D teams -- loading up on players who are highly ranked, and possibly cheat by giving them rankings lower than they deserve -- disgusts me to no end. There's no real accomplishment here, there's no huge cash prize. So they get a trophy. Big freakin' deal. They may win a tournament but they're still losers. Pathetic.

Anyway, we rebounded with two wins in the round-robin and, after a brief break, won our first game in the double-elimination. That means we have at least two more games to play. For winning we were rewarded with a game at 8:00 am tomorrow.
In all the tournaments I've played in over the last three years, including two other Liberty Bell Classic tournaments here, if you're in the winner's bracket you get to sleep in a little later and play a later game on Sunday. In this tournament the team we beat in the last game doesn't have to play until 9. I have no idea how they're running this but they really screwed it up. Since I need to take public transit and don't live close to the fields, in order to get there in time (assuming SEPTA doesn't have problems) I'll have to get up around 6 am! They're having a block party downtown tonight. Obviously I won't be there. There isn't a chance in hell I could go to the block party, come home late tonight and get up early for the game tomorrow.

If that isn't bad enough, my feet are seriously hurting. It got worse as the games went on and it makes it difficult to run. It's not a problem when I'm pitching. It's a huge problem when I'm batting. In the last game I grounded into two double plays because I was too slow running to first base. And it wasn't helped by the condition of that particular field. The dirt around home plate and along the base lines is much closer to the consistency of sand. Ever try running really fast on a beach, wearing shoes? Yeah, that. Then add my foot issues to that. It wasn't a pretty sight.

All of this, in addition to a couple of things I won't go into here, has me really annoyed. But a Flyers win tonight will make it all better. The Chicago Blackhawks are an excellent team, but the Flyers finally have improved health issues. Even Brian Boucher may be available to back up Michael Leighton in goal. Of all the players who were hurt this year only Ray Emery is still out. They've gone through a couple of Cup runs over the years seriously depleted due to injuries; the fact that injured players have come back makes me hopeful, despite the Blackhawks' superior record. And the way they've performed in the postseason gives me reason to believe. So I'm going out on a limb: Flyers in 6. The Cup comes home! That's what I whispered to it in this picture (taken in 2004 at the Hockey Hall of Fame): "You'll be home soon." Okay, not really, but it's true.