The Fort Wayne Komets Hoist Another Cup!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and the original projected weekend weather was warm and sunny for the duration...the Weather Channel lied again. Of course given the fact the WC is now owned by the Obama lap dogs at NBC, it should come as no surprise, they can't figure out politics or the weather...comes from still believing that "Global Warming" is real....

Garry and I headed off to Bluffton to work a regular season game between the homestanding Pirates and visiting Napoleon. I'll see the Pirates again this week, as I work the District at Elida...Bluffton takes on Liberty-Benton in game #1. Meanwhile the Wildcats, coached by Coldwater product Justin Firks, had been eliminated from the tournament, but were looking for win #20....Bluffton got the pitching, and just enough hits to come away with a 4-0 win.

We stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lima on the way home, had a couple of beers, and by the time we strolled out to the car, the sun had been replace by leaden clouds....the rest of the weekend, like every weekend for the past 6 weeks, left something to be desired, weather wise.

Yesterday I headed over to Mom's to clear out some weeds from the plants around the house...running smack into some Poison Ivy, I worked around it best I could...now I wait to see if I stayed away from the vile little weed.

I used to be pretty susceptible to getting PI, but not so much of late....maybe the cortisone shots I got the last time I had a nasty case, have keep me safe...but I'm not taking any chances...I should know if I made contact in short order, it usually doesn't take long for the blisters to show.

Once home, Patricia and I worked the back yard weeds...and I ended up planting more Sunflowers of all varieties, and some other border flowers....still a few more to add, if the weather cooperates, which at this point is iffy.

Weekend Sports_____

It was a pretty good weekend for my professional sports teams. After the Philadelphia Flyers came back from 3-0 down in both series and game 7, they took out the Montreal Canadians in game #1 last night. A 6-0 blowout to go up 1-0 in games, but as we know, it's only 1 game....it will still be a long series in my opinion. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated San Jose to take a 1-0 lead in the West....

The Cincinnati Reds, with Hal in attendance on Saturday Night, took two of 3 from the St. Louis Cardinals, to move into first place in the NL Central....the first time the Reds have lead the Division this late since August 2007....can they hold on? Probably not, but at least they are keeping the season interesting past the first month.

The Fort Wayne Komets, Another Turner Cup:

The Fort Wayne Komets have been around for 60 years or so in that northeast Indiana town...by any estimations, franchise wise, they are among the most successful, both in records and attendance of any Minor League team.

http://www.komets.com/

For the first time in their History, the Komets, are on a 3peat roll, defeating the Flint Generals by 4 games to 1 to wrap up their 3rd straight cup....all this while leading the International Hockey League in attendance, by a proverbial mile....usually 8000+ seats out of 10,000 seats are filled, many nights are sold out. The Komets put out a good product, and the food and beer are priced at reasonable rates.

One of the Komets selling points is their long time broadcaster Bob Chase, who has been the radio voice of Fort Wayne since the beginning.....now in his mid 80s, Bob has been the Komets play-by-play man since before I started listening to them back in Venice, Florida, with my little transistor radio. Pulling in WOWO Radio out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, back in the late 50s.

http://halloffame.komets.com/Chase.html

The Komets, Flyers, and Cincinnati Reds...it was a pretty good weekend for this fan.

Photos-The pennants of the Komets and Flyers have been around the house since the 1970s, they are about as old as my 1977 Buick, and in about as good shape. The Komets are on a roll of 3 straight Turner Cups in the IHL....

The Flyers...What A Comeback!

After completing my game at Fort Jennings last night, I headed home...as I did, I tuned the XM Radio to the final game of the NHL Eastern Semi-Finals between Boston and my favorite team the Philadelphia Flyers...the Flyers had gotten off to a bad start, and were quickly down 3 games to none in the series, and the season seemed lost. Showing some guts, Philly pulled back to 3 games each, and had the momentum going into game 7 at Boston....The Bruins quickly stole that by scoring 3 quick goals in the first dozen minutes and all that comeback effort seemed lost....

I was resigned to say good-bye to the season, even when Philadelphia scored late in the first period to make it 3-1.....all of a sudden The Flyers seized the "moe'" and things were knotted up at the end of 2...3-3.

A late power play goal by Simon Gagne, and The Flyers had pulled off the miracle...a 4-3 win in both the game and the series, coming back from 3-0 down in each...only the 3rd time in NHL and the 4th time in pro sports history a team had done this...Montreal is next, a 7 vs an 8 seed, something else that has never happened.

GO FLYERS!

Off to Bluffton for a Saturday game...Garry will work the plate/back later>>>>

Marathon Man....aka 14 Innings Behind the Plate

Despite a tornado watch, and a 80% chance of strong thunderstorms(which didn't develop locally), I headed for Convoy about 3:30 yesterday for the scheduled Sectional Baseball final in Division 4...a game between Fort Jennings and Antwerp, with the winner to move on to Coldwater for the District.

The Senior Fort Jennings pitcher(the grandson of my old Celina buddy Whitey Klosterman), walked the first batter, who came across to score without the benefit of a hit, after that he was lights out....pitching the allowed 10 innings, giving up just a single, and another walk, before being taken off the mound(as High School Federation rules mandate)...Fort Jennings tied the game at 1 on their last scheduled at bat in the bottom of the 7th...on a suicide squeeze no less.

The game moved on, finally reaching the 14th inning, where Jennings would push across the winning run on a misplayed double to right...2-1 the final, Antwerp pitching was equal to Fort Jennings, and the game was the longest of my High School umpiring career.

Up until this time, I had done a 13 inning game in the field, and a 10 inning game behind the plate, making it the longest I can remember. Despite the inning length, the pitching was such(only a total of 4 walks and 11 hits total in 14 innings) that the game was only 55 minutes old when the 7th inning started...it ended up going 2 hours 40 minutes, which would make it a long game in the regulation 7 inning contest...but a quick moving and interesting game to work....despite the length of it, I never lost concentration, or got bored. I was however glad to see it end...my right knee was feeling the effects squatting down for that much baseball.

When I got home, I poured myself outback with a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout and a good cigar.....a 1876 Torpedo...a few minutes after I sat down, Garry showed up with a 6 pack of speciality beers, mixed variety...we sat and finished those over the next 90 minutes and discussed baseball....he had worked a regular season game at Fort Recovery, and we are scheduled to work a regular season game tomorrow together at Bluffton against Napoleon, both teams are still in the District hunt.

Tonight I am at Fort Jennings....less than 24 hours after finishing up their game that lasted 14 innings, as they play a Putnam County League game against Ottoville...needless to say, I plan on asking my partner to do the dish(plate).....my knee needs a rest.

back later>>>>

Heroes and Villains of our Youth

It seems that we wait for an eternity for Winter to end...then we wait out Spring for the weather to turn decent, then we wait some more.....

This Winter in Western Ohio was long, not overly cold, but plenty of snow. The Spring, while warm in April, has been windy, and now 3 weeks into May, we are saddled with more rain than we can use in 2 months. The past few days have went from cold, rainy, and very windy, to downright wet....more rain yesterday, overnight, and this afternoon, once the fog lifts, we are expecting strong storms....especially north and northwest of here.

What this means for me, and the Sectional Baseball Tournaments, remains to be seen....I doubt if most got played last night, this afternoon's games look in danger of postponement as well. I will wait with cell phone in pocket, and see if I get that call, if not, I'll head for Convoy about 3:30 and work the plate for the Sectional Bracket final between Ft. Jennings and Antwerp, 2 teams that I am familiar with. If that gets pushed back, my game at Fort Jennings tomorrow, a Putnam County League game, will be cancelled...as of now, my season, beginning next week, will be down to the Elida 3 game District Tournament in Division 3, then the Regional Final, same place, same division. After than, it's on to Summer Baseball with ACME and American Legion on the agenda for June and July.

In the meantime, I will wait on the rains, and the phone calls.....

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Heroes and Villains____

I was thinking, always dangerous, the other day about what is facing this country...no matter how you turn the key, it's not good......

We have a corrupt President who is out to turn the country into his own personal failed Kingdom, and he is doing so by dividing us by race, religion, age, and political ideology...he is also driving the country's economy towards hardcore Socialism, and economic disaster, and pushing the courts to something the Founding Fathers would be shouting to disband...yes indeed, 2010 is nowhere close to 1775 in America, except that we may be heading for another Revolution. I know which side I will stand with, after all, at 61, not much they can do to me that will have a long term effect.

The thought process got me to thinking about growing up in South Florida...yes, we moved to Ohio in time for my High School years, but I always consider growing up, to be the years before those. I have written about growing up in 1950s Venice in length on this blog...just click on the Venice, Florida, label to find those. Those were the simple years...my life consisted basically of fishing, at the Beach on the Gulf of Mexico, hanging out with friends, playing baseball, catching snakes, toads, and exploring the then unexplored areas of south Sarasota County...Wild Boars, Snakes of every variety, Coon Hounds, and wild crtitters of every variety were part of my life.

We were naive, and now 50 years later, I am glad I was....my heroes were simple, and didn't take a lot of thought...Mickey Mantle was then, and will always be my favorite ball player, I loved the Yankees, the Cleveland Browns, and the Florida Gators. Funny part is, today I cannot stand those teams...leaning more to the Reds, Bengals, and Ohio State, along with Duke in Basketball. My music taste followed Elvis, The Everly Brothers, and Ricky Nelson. I loved Westerns, and Film Noir Mysterys, when I would go to the Venice Theater on Friday Nights.

When it came to politics, I grew up a fan of the Republican Party. Dad and Mom were Republicans, more or less...not sure how often the voted, but they were Republicans..as was Grandma Houseworth, a hard core Pentecostal Conservative of her day. Mom's side on the other hand, the DeVores, and the other Irish American Catholics on that side, were union supporting Democrats, the surviving members of that clan, still are today.

Eisenhower, Nixon, and Goldwater, were my political heroes...the Kennedys, LBJ, and those of that persuasion were on my despise list.....The 1960 Campaign was fun, for an 11 year old, even though my side lost.

Times have changed, Ike, Tricky Dick, Goldwater, and even Mickey Mantle, have been shown to have warts...The Kennedys, LBJ, Jimmy Carter, and those like them remain, in my mind, American Trash, although JFK was much better than the inbred bunch that remain the Kennedy Dynasty today. The current resident in our White House, will in time, do more to destroy America, than even LBJ and Carter did.

Our kids and grand kids, although they might disagree, have no heroes...Pop Culture, Political Correctness, garbage Rap Music, and gadgets of every kind are their heroes/gods...and we as a nation and people are poorer for it.

back later>>>>

Photos-Mickey Mantle remains my favorite sports figure of all time...warts and all, nothing will change that from my childhood. Barry Goldwater was a political favorite, I actually met him at Nha Trang AB in Vietnam, when he was a General in the Air Force Reserve, and visiting...Goldwater's support for Abortion and his later writings took the shine off his star, at least for me. The Kennedy Bunch...JFK turned out to be the best of a sorry lot, Teddy the worst, I'm sure a special place in Hell is reserved for him. And Nixon/Lodge in 1960 seemed pretty good compared to Kennedy/Johnson, but especially when you consider the trash that currently resides in the The White House and Congress.

It's a Jungle Out There

Yesterday appeared to be the one 'dry' day of the week.....

After the Noon Hour Board Meeting at Mercer Residential, I headed over to Mom's to cut down a couple of small trees that were infesting one of the flower beds in her yard...then it was home to tackle the young Maple Trees that were growing tall among the bushes that guard the east side of our yard.

The bushes have become a catching ground for the "helicopters" that the Maple Trees produce every spring...thousands upon thousands of the seeds flying around the yard each year and deposit themselves wherever they wish...the problem being when they drop into the bushes that line the yard, they are impossible to detect until they start growing...and they need to be gotten rid of....I let only one grow in the 15 years we have lived here....and it rests near the raspberry bushes in the back yard...having grown some 15 or 20 feet high in those years....

The cutting down of the interlopers took an hour or so...and I deposited them curbside for the weekly brush pickup which occurs in Celina throughout the Summer....the yard, with the winds and rains of late, has indeed become a "Jungle".

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Once that chore was completed, I showered and headed off to Spencerville to work with Chuck Etzler, as the Bearcats took on St. Henry....last year Sam and I did this late season match-up with the Visiting Redskins coming out on top by 20-1 or so...this year would be different.

Just a short 1o days ago, St Henry was sitting near the top of the Division 3 state baseball rankings, with a 16-2 record and undefeated in MAC play....they then proceeded to lose 4 games, including 2 in the league, and then were knocked out of the Sectional Tournament by Bluffton. Meanwhile underdog Spencerville, was staggering along with a handful of wins, when they drew Wayne Trace in the D4 Sectional at Crestview...they came away with a 1 run win, and are still very much alive and will face the host Knights in Convoy tomorrow(weather permitting)....

Down 4-0 Spencerville rallied back and pulled out a hard fought 6-4 win....2 teams fortunes moving in different directions to say the least....

Tonight I am scheduled to umpire at Delphos Jefferson as the regular season winds down, and the Tournament action heats up....that is not going to happen however, the rains, even though no confirmation yet, will likely wash that one out(Game has been Cancelled due to wet grounds)...Wednesday is an off/make up date, and Thursday I am scheduled to head to Crestview for a Sectional Final between Fort Jennings and Antwerp, with the winner moving on to District action....rain and results will decided when and where I work.

back later>>>>

Photos-The random wild Maples that I cleared out of the bushes set waiting for pickup along rain soaked Brandon Avenue...The lone Maple that I have let grow in the back yard, serving as a refuge and feeding station for the neighborhood Squirrels and birds...and finally a cluster of the "helicopters" that hang each May from the backyard Maple Tree.....

The Road to Bascom...Sectional Baseball

For the 3rd straight season, Sam and I have been asked to do the opening games at the Hopewell-Loudon High School Sectional...and for the 3rd straight year, the weather has been something to contend with.

Storms rolled through West Ohio Friday night, and those in the Northern part of the region were more sever than we had....add the 40 and 50 MPH winds, and the drop in temperature between Friday and Saturday, you knew the conditions were not be favorable to baseball playing.

I left Celina at 9am for the 95 mile or so trip north and east...Sam had a similar mile drive up Route 23 from Columbus. As usual I arrived early. For the 12 Noon start, I was at the High School at 10:45...Sam came chugging along about 11:30. The conditions were "raw" to say the least. The digital thermometer in the Intrepid read 47 degrees...the wind was blowing out of the west/northwest at about the same(47) in mph...a few sprinkles were being blown along on that strong breeze....these were going to be "interesting" playing conditions.

The games started at High Noon, and both were quick affairs...2 teams, Bettsville and Old Fort are both beginning their second year back in varsity baseball play...and for the second straight year they would play veteran clubs that had them outmatched. Both game were run rule affairs lasting 4 1/2 inning. In the first game Danbury moved on with a 10-0 win over Bettsville, a game that was competitive until the bottom of the 4th when the Lakers scored 2 unearned runs to put the game out of reach...I did the plate and the game lasted only 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Sam had the "dish" in game #2, and after a scoreless first inning, Tiffin Calvert had their way with Old Fort, and pulled away for a 23-0 whitewash....that game lasted a little over an hour and a half...we were done by 3:45pm and on our way to our respective destinations....home!

The interesting take on the second game...was the weather, it turned worse as the day progressed. The winds stayed strong, it rained a bit, it mixed with what can only be described as snow, a light, wet, snow....pretty miserable, but around the area, most Sectionals in Baseball and Softball were kicked off...to delay that start of the tournament season on this first weekend would be a minor disaster, pushing the regular season finishes and the tournament season back, making them even more at the mercy of the weather...which looks to be wet, real wet for the coming week.

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There were some shockers in the area game wise, to open the Sectionals.... State Ranked #8 St. Henry was defeated by unranked Bluffton in D3, Ridgemont defeated Lima Central Catholic in the same Sectional, opening the way for Coldwater to ease it's way into the District and probably the Regional again this year....but you never know, strange things happen on the way to the State Tournaments.

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Spencerville won yesterday while St Henry, as mentioned, lost....which makes my scheduled regular season game between those 2 teams at Spencerville tomorrow a contrast to past years...usually SH is still in the hunt, while in recent years the Bearcats have been ousted early....a flip flop this season. After tomorrow however, rain and storms are back in the picture...and could play havoc with the schedule. Time will tell.

back later

Photos-Arriving at Hopewell-Loudon High School under the clouds and winds...which was blowing out hard to left field at the diamond.

Working Fifth Third Field in Dayton

Big storms are forming and moving north...looks like Paulding, where I am scheduled to work tonight, had a few storms roll through...Bascom, Ohio, home of Hopewell-Loudon High School, where Sam and I are to hook up for a Sectional Double Header tomorrow, has had rain as well....if we get the games in, tomorrow looks like about 50 degrees with winds to match...rough baseball weather, just in time for the beginning tournament action. As Sam and I are heading north from Columbus(Sam) and Celina(Me)..Patricia will head south to the Dayton area...for Hal's girlfriend Lisa's College Law School graduation party....Sunday will be a day to relax, or if dry, maybe do some planting in the flower beds out back.


Speaking of Dayton____


I left Celina about 1:45 yesterday for Dayton's Fifth/Third Field...working my way around traffic, and getting directions from missed detours from my scheduled partner Jerry...I found my way to the Stadium Parking Lot about 3:15...Jerry and I took our time in the umpire dressing rooms before walking out into the bright sunshine.


A double header was scheduled, Jerry and I were working the first game, Graham and Bellefontaine....Urbana and Tipp City followed, and that game was worked by 2 West Central Association umps.


The game lasted 6 innings, with Bellefontaine coming back from a first inning deficit, to win in a run rule 14-4...working in a professional ballpark is different to say the least. Went through 18 new baseballs, and a couple of "field" balls, as foul balls were flying into the upper deck at an alarming rate...the game was interesting to work in a completely different setting...I worked up a sweat behind the plate, even though the temperatures were only in the Mid 70s, with low humidity...a well worked game that saw no problems or complaints(that we could hear anyway) from the coaches.


After the game, I made my way the 75 or 80 miles towards home using a combination of I-75, Ohio 29, and some back roads...pulling into the drive-way and opening up a couple of cold ones and taking a well needed shower.


I am not sure what the next few days, or next week will bring as far as baseball is concerned...the weather looks to have some rain in the forecast, for the last regular week of the High School Baseball season, and the completion of Sectional action.....then it's on to District, and Regional action for me...the State Tournament ends the High School season the first weekend of June...then it's time for Summer Baseball, in the form of ACME and American Legion games.


The Season goes by way too fast sometimes.....
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I talked with Rick yesterday, they have moved into the new house on the 17 acre spread...still waiting for the completion of the septic system...and are using the holding tanks until the ground dries out.


We also discussed the upcoming Mushroom Hunt in north lower Michigan....looks like Rick, Clint, and the boys were head up on Wednesday May 19th....if the hunting is good, I will leave after the May 22nd District final and join Rick...looks like the boys will be shifting back and forth...so the plans are not complete, but I hope to get a couple of days in, after missing out last year. We will see how that goes.


That does it for now.....back later>>>>


Photos-Top, the large colorful scoreboard at 5th/3rd Field in Dayton, and looking out at home plate where I would work for the next 2+ hours in the sunshine...as the outfield welcomes Graham and Bellefontaine to the Park. May 2008, at Mesick, Michigan, which was the last time I made the Spring Mushroom Hunt...Clint, Rick, and a 25 pounds heavier me...this year(like last) the hunt moves north some 90 miles to near the Boyne area....hopefully I can get in a day or 2 of hunting....

Off to Fifth 3rd Field in Dayton

Worked a 17-11 game at Wayne Trace last night, with visiting LCC coming up with a high scoring win, as showers and thunder storms skirted Blue Creek Township....today I'm off to work the long anticipated game between Bellfontaine and St. Paris Graham at the Dayton Dragon's(Reds Class A Farm Team) home field in downtown Dayton....

Will report back with details of how it went, tonight or(most likely) tomorrow...

back later>>>>

"Weighty" Milestones, 2nd place, and long drives...

After I posted yesterday, saying despite my game cancellation at Antwerp, I would head that way anyhow, and take Mom along with me...we would visit Uncle Jack, her younger brother, in the northwest Ohio town...go out for a bite. and talk with Jack and some of my cousins. Well not 15 minutes after that, I received a call from the Athletic Director at Edon High School...Edon is located up near the Ohio Turnpike, a couple of miles east of the Indiana State Line and not far from the Michigan Border...right in the middle of that Tri State Corner of Ohio. Seems Edon was rescheduling a game that had been hit by the previous nights storms, that game was a BBC League encounter with North Central out of Pioneer, Ohio...the team Antwerp had been scheduled to play yesterday. Edon is just about 84 miles from Celina...normally I might have stepped back from this game, but with me taking Mom north to Antwerp anyway, I said..."Why Not"?

Edon is about 25 miles north of Antwerp, right on Ohio 49...so I figured I would drop Mom off at her brother's place...they could talk, and if I got done at a reasonable time, I would join them and my cousin Linda and her husband Tom at the local Pub/Restaurant, The Oasis, in Antwerp, and grab a bite to eat and have a beer.

I met up with Jim Siler at Edon, Jim a 35+ year veteran umpire was scheduled to work with me at Antwerp...so it was an easy 15 mile drive from his home in Hicksville to Edon. Jim asked me to do the plate, since he has North Central in the opening round of the Sectional this weekend...I said "No Problem". The game began with underdog NC having 1 out and a runner on 2nd base....3 runs later they were out of their first inning up 3-0. After that both pitchers were on, and the team from Pioneer came out on top by a final of 4-2 over the hometown Bombers...only the 3rd loss for Edon, now standing at 16 wins 3 defeats on the winding down season.

The game was a pleasure to do...2 good teams, 2 coaches who didn't complain, despite a couple of calls that could have went either way....only an occasional muttering from some old geezers in the stands about my "low" strike zone(it's obvious they had never seen me work before), and we were out of there in less than an hour and a half. Talked post game with Jim, and headed south to Antwerp and the Oasis.

I met up with the family and had a couple of beers, and a good sandwich...we visited another 90 minutes or so, and Mom and I headed the 55 miles back to Celina...finally arriving at 9:30 last night...a long day indeed.

Tonight, if the storms don't arrive before hand, I head to the old family stomping grounds at Haviland and Blue Creek Township, where Wayne Trace will host Lima Central Catholic(the 5th time I have them this year, which may increase since I have the District and Regional they are assigned to if they get by Coldwater and other powerhouses)....Tomorrow it's off to Dayton's 5th/3rd Field for the Bellefontaine/Graham game at that Minor League Diamond.

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184 and counting____

This morning I climbed on the digital scale, it read "184.8" pounds....below 185 for the first time in at least 20 years....and less than a handful of pounds away from the goal I set for myself last Labor Day....25 pounds in 8 months, the slow and steady pace is working. The Blood Pressue remains good, and the sugar was better on the last check 2 months ago...I will drop a couple of more pounds, and then continue on the course I mapped out at the end of last summer....I cannot see me going back to the old self...this diet of sorts has been pretty easy to stick with, and I will not return to the old ways...I just don't see that happening.

Hal...2nd place, again!____

Sad to say youngest son Hal, still looking for a High School History/Social Studies job came in 2nd, for the 2nd time in recent interviews..."If we had 2 jobs you would get one", they told him...that of course in good to hear, but does not get you what you want. Making the final 4 and last week teaching a class, Hal once again waited for a call...yesterday it came, and he finished runner up.

The job at Wapak would have proven tough on his car, and he would have had to spend part of the week living with us, and the rest down in Beavercreek, where he would continue his work with Autistic kids...so although we are all disappointed he didn't get the position, because he really wants to teach in a classroom setting, this may work out in the long run. A job closer to Dayton and his girl Lisa, who has her graduation from Law School party this weekend, may be best...meanwhile he will continue to work his full time job with Autistic youth and be glad he has quality work in this Economy of the ObamaNation.

Enough yapping for now...time to go mow a yard ahead of the approaching storms....

back later>>>>

Photos-Me this morning at 184 and a decade ago in my weight training days some 30 pounds heavier....but 10 years younger.

Baseball and Wall Clouds....

Finished up the NWC Game at Lima Central Catholic about 7pm yesterday...a 3-1 win by the home team over visiting Columbus Grove. I had checked the weather radar about 3:30 before I left for LCC...and some storms were forming back in Illinois and northern Indiana. They appeared to be moving rather quickly, and I figured...they would hit between 7 and 8pm. That turned out to be a pretty good guess.

Dave West and I told both coaches to keep the game moving fast as they could, within reason. They did, and we were done in an hour and 45 minutes or so. As I headed south and west towards home driving the back roads, I noticed the sun was being replaced on the western horizon by a large single mass of black clouds. As I maneuvered the 35 miles or so towards Celina, the clouds appeared more menacing and dark...And I found myself wishing I had brought along the camera...Drat! I had left it at home, so was forced to drive into the approaching storm without benefit of a camera to prove the ominous Wall Clouds that I was approaching.

As I got to the halfway point, just outside of the small town of Neptune...Garry called, he was on his way from a game at Fort Loramie, and was approaching the same storm from the south....it broke loose a few minutes later, with plenty of wind, some small hail, but not a large amount of rain...enough, but nothing out of the ordinary. The above photo was hoisted from the National Weather Service....

The game tonight has been postponed, and I could opt to grab another opening, but will forgo that....I had planned on taking mom to Antwerp, so she could see her brother Jack...so I'll still do that, and go out and have a beer with Uncle Jack and his family, while him and mom visit....the rest of the week looks hit and miss with more rain showers and storms. Tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday, have the chances of rain, hopefully Saturday gets played, otherwise the Tournaments will be pushed back and thus causing havoc with those. Sam and I are supposed to be at Bascom Hopewell-Loudon, a long drive, and we certainly don't need the hassle of a rain out for that one, but Mother Nature will decide that, not much we can do about it.

For now Thursday looks rain free, and that is the day I travel to Fifth Third Field in Dayton(Home of the Cincinnati Red's Class A Farm Team, the Dayton Dragons)...to do the first of 2 games I have there this season...Bellefontaine against Graham....long drive, but I am looking forward to doing at least 1 game at the pro ballpark.

The first round of the baseball season moves on...I picked up another Sectional Tournament game, this one at Crestview, in Convoy, a Sectional Final in Division 4...will work this one with Chuck Etzler, another veteran umpire, who plans on calling it a career after this season...and he will go out with a State Tournament game...he has had several, and deserves them, he's a good umpire, who I am scheduled to work with next week in a regular season game as well, marking the 4th time we have teamed up this season.

That's about it for now....as you can tell from my last few posts...not a lot of going on out of the ordinary in this life....

back later>>>>

Rains, Oil Spills, and the world moves on...

Plenty of rain around againn over the weekend...enough to wash out my double headed for the second straight weekend, but nowhere near what the folks down in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, had to deal with...add the "Obama's Katrina"..aka Gulf of Mexico oil spill to the mix, and it was pretty much a disaster news cycle. Then of course you have the failed attempt at blowing up a section of Times Square in NY...and you ask yourself..."How much better are we off, how much safer, under The ObamaNation than we were under Bush"? Not much, not much at all folks....Barry's On-The-Job Training isn't going well, despite the best efforts of the Lap Dog Main Stream Press, and so called counter culture speakers like Jon Stewart, and Nazi Bill Maher to keep him afloat....Obama is a failure, and no amount of BS by Left Wing talking heads is going to make it better.....

A busy week, depending on the rains, is ahead for me....Tonight at Lima Central Catholic, with my old Buddy Dave West, for a NWC game with Columbus Grove...tomorrow I am scheduled to umpire in Antwerp, which will give me a chance to take Mom with me, so she can visit with her youngest brother, Uncle Jack....Jack had a fall a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sure is antsy about getting back on the Golf Course....even at 80, he still plays often. I'll drop mom off at his place, then pick her up when the game is completed.

Wednesday it's LCC at Wayne Trace, and then Thursday, weather permitting, I will make the drive to Dayton and get an opportunity to work a game on the Dayton Dragons Diamond at 5th/3rd Field, between Bellfontaine and St. Paris Graham....Friday north to Paulding for a game, and then Saturday, Sam and I are scheduled to kick off the Spring Tournament Season with a Sectional opening day double header at Bascom, Ohio,(a 100 mile drive each way) to Hopewell-Loudon High School, where this will be our 3rd straight year working this Sectional together....As I said though, weather permitting....seems the rains are coming about every 3rd day and last for a day or 2.

Tomorrow my wife, a few years younger than me, marks her birthday...she was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, back sometime in the 1950s....

Lawn mowing is also on the agenda....such is the exciting life of the semi-retired...

back later>>>>>

Obama's Lap Dogs in the Media continue to roll over and play dead for their Master...and a shot of Fifth/Third Field in Dayton, where I am scheduled to work on Thursday.