Dartball, Just Around the Corner....

We got some well needed rain last night....probably will do the yard little good, but my ease the brush and crop fires that have plagued this area the past month or so.  Things will stay pretty normal, temperature wise, for the next week or so...then the forecast says it will cool off and we will get some more rain.  That of course is too far in the future to take the outlook seriously.  Time can and often does change that.

Got a call last night from Scott, the Captain of the Hopewell Church Dartball team....this year they have taken over the running of the Wabash Valley Dartball League from us, and they can now make the schedule, take care of events and post season tournaments and banquets....as I found out from last year, it takes a lot of time.  So the Dartball season will begin this November 7th, I will have a practice and team meeting when I return from Michigan on November 1st.  With basketball starting in mid November, I'm sure I will miss parts of some Monday evenings...but should at least get there for parts of the 3 games each game night.

I am looking forward to getting back to the feathered Darts and Baseball Dart Board....along with basketball officiating, it keeps me off the couch most evenings during the lazy winter months...and that is good.  Dartball is Baseball Played with a ball diamond board, and wooden feathered darts.

Baseball Championship Series to begin this Weekend____

Yankees vs Texas in the American League, and Phillies against San Francisco in the NL....Go Texas!  And since my Uncle Jack and his family are big Phillies fans, I hope they take out the Giants...nothing against SF, and if the Giants win, I'll root for anybody against New York.

That almost seems laughable, or would so if you had known me as a skinny kid growing up in Venice, Florida.  I, along with my buddy Mike Graff, were the biggest Yankee Fans around.  "The Mick", Mickey Mantle, was of course my childhood hero, add Maris, Ford, Yogi, Casey, Moose, and the rest...I lived baseball, and lived and died with the Yankees each season....of course back then it was mostly win, New York's Yankees, the best team money could buy.  Despite some rough years in the 70s and 80s...not much has changed.  The Yankees are still bought and paid for, only these days, I cannot stand them or the worshiping media that seems to think they are the only team that anybody wants to watch.

Anyhow, the "semi finals" begin this weekend.....

Football this week_____

Glad there was no game last night...it would have been a mess, as it poured right around what would have been game time....a downpour that would have made it miserable for officials and fans...players?  Not so much, I loved playing football in the rain, as long as it wasn't a cold one...and last night was still pretty warm.

Tonight, here in Celina, the 7th grade Junior High team plays it's last game of the season, and that one, against Elida, is, as usual, a night time affair, 7pm under the lights at Celina Stadium.  Tomorrow I fill in for the 4th time, with the 4th different crew, at a Green Meadows game at Hicksville, as they take on rival Holgate.  9 Varsity Games in 2 seasons....filling in on 8 different crews, this time with Mosier's crew...Garry and I work a lot of Varsity Baseball together, and under varsity and lower level football...but this is the first time I've filled in on his varsity crew....we will see how that works out.

Up early Saturday for a JV game at Spencerville, and then Sunday Sam and I will work the first week of the Recreational League youth football tournament.  Celina Black taking on Fort Recovery in both JV and Varsity(5th and 6th grades) contests.  Next week will see fewer games and then my season(although the playoffs last well into December in Ohio) will finish up before heading to Michigan for Nick and my annual Salmon Fishing trip.

I noticed that down south, my old school, The Venice Indians, have won 5 in a row after losing the opener at Lakeland....and they take on league rival, undefeated Charlotte, on Friday....that will be a tough task for the Indians, but should be a high scoring fun contest for the fans to view.

back later>>>>

Photos-"The Mick", Mickey Mantle...both him and the Yankees were my childhood heros...times have indeed changed.  Dartball begins in early in November...Darts we use are featured.  The Baseball Playoffs continue...and my Uncle Jack DeVore and me, the biggest Phillies fan around, on his 80th birthday back in 2009, when he was a year and a half younger, and I was 30 pounds heavier than today. And the "baseball board" we use for Dartball.