Spring Springs for a Day or Two....The Leftist Lies of the Vietnam War...,

After I last posted on Friday morning, the weather again turned nasty...the late morning sunshine became dotted with storms on the Radar....as I drove towards Lima Central Catholic High School, one menacing dark cloud appeared to the north and west...by the time I arrived at the game site, that cloud produced a couple of bolts of lightning and some lite rain....but as luck would have it, we started the LCC vs Wayne Trace contest just 20 minutes late, after allowing the allotted 30 minutes for lightning delays.  It began to rain again in the 5th inning, but we finished up a 12-4 home team win, and as I headed back towards Celina, the rains came down harder...it continued to rain for most of the evening. Prospects for Saturday's tournament openers did not look good....

As I woke up and began to get ready for my double header at Convoy Crestview, the skies were a mix of clouds and sun....as game time approached, the clouds became more prevalent, but the rains held off.  I took the plate for game #1 between Antwerp and Lincolnview, my partner, Jim Runneals would work game #2 which featured Ottoville and Spencerville.  Both games would be close and competitive.

Antwerp, which came into the tournament with just 1 win against 11 loses, jumped out to a 3-0 over the Lancers...and held on for a 3-2 win, to move on with a date with top seeded Crestview on Wednesday.  Game one lasted just 1 hour and 35 minutes...I was pleased with my performance...not sure everybody else was, but you have to please yourself first.  Game #2 was just as close, but was not going to be played as quick.

Ottoville cruised to a 2-0 lead heading into the 7th and scheduled final inning....the game had began with a few lite rain showers, but things would clear off enough for us to finish the 10 inning, 3 hour marathon.  Last season in the same location, I had umpired(behind the plate) a 14 inning first round game, the longest of my long career. This one, time wise, would go longer, but the innings would fall short.  Spencerville was down to it's last strike on two occasions in the 7th...but managed to battle back to tie the contest a 2.  If not for a spectacular catch by the Ottoville right fielder, the Bearcats would have jumped on top.  The game moved into extra innings, finally Spencerville scored three in the top of the 10th...The Big Green battled back with a run in the bottom of the inning, but left the typing runs on, and the game ended with Spencerville on top 5-3.  They will play the winner of the Wayne Trace/Fort Jennings contest....that game will begin tonight in the 4th inning with Trace up 3-1.  It was called after the rains began to come down hard around 5pm....Garry Mosier and Ryan Thompson had that game...which, if not for the length of our second game, probably would have been completed.

At this hour I am scheduled for Delphos Jefferson tonight, but I'm not sure what the exact schedule might be, due to the rain on Saturday which disrupted some of the tournament sites.

Mothers Day Sun____

After a foggy and cloudy start to Sunday, things cleared off for the afternoon...and I managed to get our lawn and mom's yard mowed...good thing too, because by tomorrow another round of rain is scheduled to hit the western Ohio area....and the next 10 days, like the last month, look to be wetter than normal.

After the MRSI Board meeting at Noon today, I plan on getting my sunflowers planted...Patricia got her flower beds worked and planted yesterday...not complete but far enough along for some progress to be seen.

The lies of Vietnam_____

While the left wing press and politicians continue to spew there lies about the Vietnam War, the troops who served and fought there, and the reasons and outcome...it is obvious that some folks that never served in Vietnam continue to claim they did.  I guess this must be the new "Cause Celeb" ...to claim you did something you didn't.  For all the hate from the young folks who either didn't have to go, or who jumped the Canadian Border, the press, and Hollywood, that was thrown at us when we returned...it amazes me that anyone would want to claim to be a "baby killing Vietnam Veteran(insert sarcasm)".  I guess absence makes the heart grow founder...not only for the veterans that were there, but for the cause as well.  At least the traitors on the far left, who hated us for our service, should continue to do so...after all, we still despise them for their treason.
 
As far as serving in Vietnam...it's really pretty simple to prove or disprove...drag out your separation papers the DD 214....the proof should be right there...Mine Is: "Vietnam Yes" says it all.  As we all know the lies about Vietnam and the lies about those who served there will continue as long as the left wing morons control the vast majority of the media, and the sheep and lemmings continue to believe the likes of the NY Times and CBS:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=36110

I don't have a problem with Veterans stretching the truth a bit...what I have a problem with are the useless bastards that protested us during the 1960s and 70s, and now either claim to embrace us, or worse yet, claim to be one of us.... screw them and the lies they spew.

The entire subject makes me want to puke....

Time to get out and breath some fresh air....



Photos-Hopefully this years variety of Sunflowers and size are equal to, or better than last years great crop....Spring baseball winds down, but I still have a full schedule for Summer...and the DD214...all the proof you should need to dispel any doubts about your service record.

Weekend Wrap-Up/"Ruptured 2003"

10:15 AM

Patricia headed off to church, with the boys both gone(Sam off to Oklahoma City, Hal down to Dayton getting his place ready for the start of classes after Labor Day. I stayed home with Anissa, we headed over to mom's to visit with her and Mike, take the Lima News over etc.

Speaking of Lima...and the area..Football Friday was a mess, most game were either postponed outright or delayed in the middle and played yesterday(Saturday)...Celina led at Lima Senior 7-3 late in the first half when the lightning and downpours stopped play...they finished up yesterday with Lima coming out on top 20-14...Celina had lost their starting QB earlier in the month in a scrimmage, and the freshman QB, although playing well, could not get the Bulldogs over the hump.

I was scheduled to officiate the JV contest(Lima @ Celina) on Saturday morning, but with the change(the JVs travel with the varsity) they moved the Freshman game from Lima to Celina, so we did that one....back and forth they went, in cloudy, wet, and very humid conditions....Celina up 20-13 gives up a TD to LS with 5 minutes left, x-tra point blocked making it 20-19. The Bulldogs managed to fumble 2 plays later and the Spartans take over near midfield...poor clock management by Lima sees them at the Celina 30 with 10 seconds left and no time outs....lucky for Lima they get called for a "motion" penalty(not by me)...stopping the clock...on the last play of the game, the QB tosses a 35 yard er as the clock hit 0:00 the wide out makes the grab, walks into the end zone, and Lima runs off the field with a 25-20 victory...rough weekend for the Bulldogs, all around.

Photo: 9 years ago Hal was a Freshman linebacker(#54), that Celina team in 8th and 9th grade went 15 wins 0 loses, outscoring their opponents 490-89...they never could convert it into a winning High School team however, a new clueless coach, and injuries, made them a .500 team their 3 varsity season...this is a Freshman game with Lima Bath in September of 98.

4 years ago

___________Had been lucky health wise for the past 10 years, no back problems, and since I had started working out with weights and walking, umpire work, and a vitamin regiment...I had only been sick on a couple of occasions.....that's why this hit me like a brick. Sam and I were doing some umpire work just before Labor Day 2003....between games of a double header, I begin to feel like crap....by the time I got home, I wasn't in the mood for a beer or a cigar, and this being late summer with great weather, that should have been the alarm...but ignoring the pain in my side and stomach I also ignored Patricia's pleading with me to go to the emergency room...Stomach Flu I said.

The next day, never left the house, when Patricia returned from school, I was still sitting around in my robe and feeling(I thought), somewhat better....but 7 PM I was rolling off the couch and in major pain....finally agreed to go to the emergency room at the Coldwater Hospital....Probably an appendix attack said the ER DR.....well, you could say that...by the time they rolled me into surgery, the appendix had blown....they put me under(no near death experience, but peaceful to say the least)...needless to say, I was out of commission in the hospital for 4 days, then out of sorts for another month.....the doc basically said, 50 years ago you would have been D.O.A. or SOL, take your choice....before penicillin, I would have assumed room temperature before they got me off the operating table.....

But I survived, and am still here to write/talk about my brush(one of several) with the grim reaper.

prh