June Rolls In....Wet and Warm!

With Patricia away in Wisconsin for the Memorial Day Weekend, I had a chance to do nothing....of course that is not quite true...but it sounded good....the time fly by in the blink of an eye, and I stayed relatively busy. Sam was home for about 1o minutes on Friday, he drove from Columbus to umpire an ACME Scrimmage, then headed back to Ohio State, where finals await. Hal came home Sunday afternoon, we had a few beers when I was done with lawn work, and headed over to my sister's place where the family downed a few and watched the brother-in-law grill some brats and burgers....Hal and a few college and High School friends from years gone by, got out the cards and X-Box and finished off the evening doing those. Hal returned to Beavercreek yesterday afternoon. I also watched daughter Anissa for a few hours each day, then she would return to her place, where the caregivers would work with her the evening and overnight hours.

I completed my First ever Regional Final Assignment in High School Baseball(to go with the 4 District and 3 Sectional Tournament games this season)...last year I had a Semi Final. It's amuses me that although usually, not always, I am the oldest umpire in the crew at 61...I'm not the longest serving when it comes to years served in the high school game. This weekend was no exception.

My Partners for the Regional were Bob Grubaugh, a mid 50s/20+ year Veteran of Baseball, and Softball(he has a State final 4 Softball game this week), and Ron Goleman, who at a few months younger than me, has well over 20 years in baseball and basketball. Bob is also from Celina and Ron is my Association Secretary from Van Wert, who got me started down the High School trail. The final featured #2 ranked Clear Fork against #9 rated Blumdale Elmwood, who had taken out top rated Coldwater on Friday...Clear Fork, despite 6 errors, got out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th inning and held on to win 6-4 to move on to the State Division 3 Championships from Thursday through Saturday this week in Columbus.
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The first 3 days of the 4 day weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, were sunny and warm...yesterday? Not so much....the rains arrived early afternoon, and it poured and stormed on and off for the rest of the day. The next 2 weeks, if you believe the forecast, will have plenty of rain to go with the already wet Spring season...just in time for the beginning of tonight's ACME and American Legion Baseball seasons that will make my month of June full, depending on rain amounts.

June, along with April, are usually the busiest when it comes to umpire work...although April usually is plagued by rain outs, more so than June. Things change to Summer Tournament action in July, and then Football beckons at August signals the wane of Summer. Something I am not ready for....I want some dry and warm/hot to enjoy for the next few months before the reality of Ohio's short warm weather season comes to a close.
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ACME, Junior ACME, the JV of the Summer season is what I have on schedule tonight at Celina's artificial turf...when that is completed, I head to the Dayton Airport at Vandalia to pick up Patricia., although she may be waiting for me to arrive for an hour or so.
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The wet and sun mixture has managed to keep the cash crop of weeds around the growing and changing flowers in the back yard...the 80 or so Sunflowers and other Summer Flowers, are going to have to battle the weeds for water and space....meanwhile the grass, needs mowing about every 4 days....No Drought in Western Ohio, to say the least.

I managed to catch a few Reds games on radio and the tube...and the Philly Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals..sorry to say the Flyers are down 2 games to none, losing a couple of 1 goal games at Chicago. Last night's 2-1 defeat was a much better game than the 6-5 defeat on Friday...I still have some hope, the Flyers have been down before(see 3 games to none, and 3 goals to none in the 7th game against Boston)...and are playing pretty well...game #3 in Philadelphia, for sure a must win for my Flyers.

Meanwhile the Reds. lost big time at St. Louis yesterday, but still find themselves in a first place tie with the Cardinals...2 more games left at Busch Stadium in the series.

June is going to be busy that is one prediction I can make.

back later

Photos-The back yard flowers are changing from the Spring to Summer Variety, meanwhile the first of the Raspberries appear..all will have to contend with birds, weeds, and the ceaseless rain.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Gang, I am taking the weekend off(unless something real exciting comes up)...with the rains pushing back the Regional Baseball Tournament Finals back to tomorrow, the Mrs Houseworth being with her family in Wisconsin, and me doing the what I need to do here at home.

I honor the Memory of all of my fellow War Veterans, and salute those Veterans both of whom have served and are serving now. And a flip of the Middle Finger at our so-called Commander-in-Chief, Barack Insane Obama...the "man" who is selling our country out....and his supporters.

We are on the cuspis of a "real" change...Obama and company just haven't figured it out yet....Salute to the Real Americans...and screw the low lifes and invaders that want to bring us down to their levels. We know what this weekend is about, and where "our" country has to go to return to it's glory days.

I will post if I feel a need, otherwise enjoy the long weekend.

Back at you later>>>>


Remember the American Veterans...not the American Politicians, on this Memorial Day Weekend:


photos-
March 2010 Vietnam Security Police of the Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, March 2010: Left to Right....Wayne DeZarn, 632nd SPS Binh Thuy, AB, RVN, 1967-68, Rick Adams, 823rd Safeside 1969-70, RVN, Mike Tillman, 366th SPS, Phan Rang, AB, RVN, 1966, Sam Lewis, 35th SPS, Phan Rang AB, RVN 1967-68, Jack Smith 377th SPS Tan Son Nhut 1967-68, and Pat Houseworth 14th SPS, Nha Trang 1969, and 377th SPS Tan Son Nhut 1970----Remember what Memorial Day is all about!

Honoring One of Our Own...42 years later!

I headed out towards Dayton yesterday about 9 in the morning...I decided to drive the Jeep with top down, the temperatures were scheduled to hover around 85 with some humidity, a perfect day to get my forehead sunburned, and my white hair even whiter from the bleaching the sun would give it. As I filled up the Wrangler at my favorite Marathon Station on the north end of Celina, and grabbed a large coffee for the trip, my phone rang...one of our VSPA Buddies, Dave Maltzen, was on the road from northern lower Michigan, and headed to Wright-Patterson for the ceremony as well. Now that's a man, 6 hours from his area of Michigan to celebrate this honor for one of our own. Dave would be the long distance traveler of the half dozen of us to be on hand from our association:

http://www.vspa.com/

After giving Dave my best directions down I-75, I started out, but would forgo the Interstate and take the 2 lane US 127 as far as I could before heading east on I-70 towards the Air Force Museum...it was a great day for a drive, the aging Jeep did it's job and I was at the Museum at 11:20, a full hour and a half before the Luther Young Bronze Star presentation. Mike Tillman, Jack "Old Cowboy" Smith, his wife Roberta, and Tommy Webb, were already there...Bob Griffith, who works at the Base, came along a short time later...Dave got there as we were heading towards the Security Police Defender Statue. We would join some 100 others, including Luther's family and old Military bosses, for the Ceremony. The 88th detachment of the Security Forces Squadron were on hand, along with a color guard and small Air Force Band from the base.

Sgt Luther W. Young, Bronze Star with "V" for Valor____

I did not know Luther Young personally until yesterday, but here is a short story of how he came to be honored:

Young was stationed at Ben Hoa Air Base...Ben Hoa, much like Tan Son Nhut was located near Saigon, the South Vietnam Capital, during the war....except TSN was at Saigon and Ben Hoa, also a large base(some disputes over whether Tan Son Nhut or Ben Hoa was the largest)...Sgt Young was assigned "C" Flight Security and his primary post was a watch/guard tower in the Bomb Dump...during his time there, 1967-68 Ben Hoa was under major rocket and mortar attacks from the North Vietnamese Army. On one such occasion Young stayed in his tower, a dicey thing considering that if the Bomb and Munitions Area was hit, Luther Young would have been vaporized in a heartbeat. Young declined orders to climb down from his post, and lucky for the several dozen pilots and aircraft crew members he did...he called the alarm for incoming, just in time for the crews to leave their barracks and head for the assigned bunkers...seconds later that Air Crew Living Quarters suffered a direct hit....those men could thank Sgt Luther Young for saving their lives.

Luther Young served out his year at Ben Hoa, and decided to serve another tour in the war zone...he took his 30 days free leave to be home with his family before heading back...as bad luck would have it, Young's brother, a Marine, was killed in action while Luther was home on leave...with that, his Vietnam service came to an end....and Luther spent the remainder of his 4 years stateside.

Forward 40 years_____

In 2008 Luther Young's Ben Hoa Commander Col. Martin "Marty" Strones, remembered the young Sergeant from those days and began a campaign to find Young and see that he got the recognition he deserved...he contacted another leader of the 3rd Security Police at that time, Lt Col Kent Miller, and also Major General Mary Kay Hertog, who at that time was Commander/Director of the Security Forces in Washington D.C.Today General Hertog is the Commander of the 2nd Air Force at Kessler AFB in Mississippi. Through their work, they found Luther Young in Independence, Missouri, and began the work to honor him for his service with valor.

Yesterday at the Security Police Statue on the grounds of the Air Force Museum, Luther Young received his just honor...a honor he did not campaign or ask for. Luther Young, like most of us in the VSPA was a young one term Airman, he became an unlikely hero, and was honored so yesterday in Dayton, Ohio.

My Salute Luther, you earned it!

After meeting many of Luther's family members in attendance, and saying so long to my 5 cohorts in the Vietnam Security Police Association...I climbed in the Jeep and headed the 80 miles home..taking I-70 this time to Ohio 49 where I headed north through the farm country with the knowledge that summer is at hand and it's time to enjoy the season.

back later>>>>

Photos-Sgt Luther Wade Young wearing his Bronze Star with "V" attached/The Defender Fortis Statue just before the Ceremony/Major General Mary Kay Hertog, with Luther Young in the foreground during the awards ceremony/5 Old Vietnam Sky Cop in the Museum Cafe...from left to right Mike Tillman, Pat Houseworth, Tommy Webb, Bob Griffith, and Jack Smith/Tommy Webb(L) and Dave Maltzen(center) talk with 3rd SPS Retired Lt. Col Kent Miller/and Bob Griffith talks with his old stateside commander Col. Marty Strones...Col Strones was the Commander at Ben Hoa who began the paperwork to get his Airman Luther Young awarded the Bronze Star with V for Valor.

Off to Wright-Patterson AFB

Have not had much time to hang around the blog or Internet of late....and today will be no exception.

I will be leaving in a half hour or so for Dayton, and the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base...this will be my 4th trip there in the past 15 months or so, mostly for events/reunions related to my service as a Security Policeman while stationed in Vietnam. No war hero stories on my part, but plenty of found old and new friends from those days.

Today will be a little different, I will be there to join in a ceremony honoring and presenting the Bronze Star with "V" for Valor for a old "Sky Cop" that I don't know in person...but being one of our small group, and getting this award almost 45 years after the events, is reason enough to honor him, get some photos, and come up with a story for the next issue of Guardmount Magazine...the on-line paper for our Vietnam Security Police Association:

http://www.vspa.com/

Sgt Luther Young was a tower spotter/guard at Ben Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, back in 1967-68, at least a full year before I arrived at Nha Trang...his job on "C" Flight(Overnight) Security was spotting activity and incoming rockets, and warn the base and his fellow SP's...for that, he will receive his Bronze Star today at the Defensor Fortis Statue on the Grounds of the Museum. I should mention that Luther Young's Tower was located in the Ammo Storage area at Ben Hoa...one well placed Rocket or Mortar from the VC or NVA, and Luther would have been just a vapor/memory, despite the danger and orders to leave his post, he held his position and many lives, including those of the base air crew, were saved. Several of us old SPs from our days in Vietnam, will be there to salute him, this afternoon.

Story and photos coming tomorrow...back later>>>>

Photos-The Defender Statue honoring Air Force Security Police of the Vietnam War, located on the grounds of the Air Force Museum...and a few Old Sky Cops at the statue from our Mini Reunion back in March. Wayne DeZarn, Rick Adams, Mike Tillman, Sam Lewis, Jack "Old Cowboy" Smith, and me....some of the same gang will be there today to honor Luther Young.

FLYERS OUST THE CANADIANS.. Bring on the Black Hawks!

Philadelphia knocks out Montreal 4-2 Monday Night and 4 games to 1 to take the East....

Something has Gotta Give...Chicago hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1961...Philadelphia, not since 1975....GO FLYERS!!!!!!

Wrapping up the Weekend 5/22-5/23/10

In the old days, when I actually held a real job, the weekends always seemed to fly by, and were never long enough...they still aren't, but these days, with working baseball and other sports at various times during the seasons....that just doesn't seem to bother me as much. Not that I like to see the weekends fly by, but it's just not as big a "bummer" these days.

After the rains cancelled most of the Baseball and Softball Tournament action on Friday, things were pushed into Saturday and even tonight. It worked to my advantage...

I got a call from the Elida Tournament Director early Saturday Morning...thinking "OK the games are moved back to Sunday afternoon"...wrong! The District Division 3 Final between Coldwater and Bluffton would be played as scheduled...however, the Division 4 final between Delphos St. Johns and Miller City, would be played at 5PM since it had been washed out the previous evening. Dave's question was "can you work the 2nd game as well"? Seems all 3 other umpires had something going on. One a Wedding, one a Softball final, and something else with the 3rd...so Bob, Mark, and I, got a chance to work 2 District Finals...

I was scheduled to work the D3 at 3rd base, and the rotation would have me move to first base in the second game....I switched with Bob on that one, since I will be working 3rd base for the Regional Final at the same location this coming Friday, I figured, might as well practice. You see, seldom do we work a 3 man crew in High School Baseball....the usual 2 man crew works regular season through the Sectional...you only work 3 man for District and Regional Games...then a 4 man crew if you are lucky/good enough to be assigned a State Final or Semi Final contest.

The field was in excellent condition and both games went smoothly and quickly(both less than 1 hour 45 minutes)...the 2 MAC, Midwest Athletic Conference, schools won going away. Coldwater took it's 4 straight District with a 11-1, five inning win over Bluffton, while Delphos St. Johns, a team that started out 3 wins and 7 losses, improved to 15-10 with a 6-1 win over Putnam County Champion, Miller City, in a game that featured a couple of mammoth blasts over the Center Field Fence. If Coldwater wins it's D3 Regional Semi at Elida on Thursday, Bob(plate) and me(3rd base) will see them again, our partner for that contest to decide the D3 Regional will be Ron Goleman(first base), who is the Secretary of our Van Wert Association.....

With baseball done for the weekend, I spent the early hours of Sunday mowing lawns...first over to Mom's, then home to finish the job that Patricia had started...I spent the rest of the afternoon, smoking cigars and drinking cold Miller Lites out back...bad habit to waste a Sunday Afternoon like that, but you know, sometimes it just seems the thing to do...at least I was outdoors in the rare good weather.

It appears that Summer will pay a visit for the next 10 days or so...and if you can believe the extended forecasts(and you can't very often), no rain in our area until the late days of the Memorial Day Weekend...

Patricia is finished with school for the year on Thursday...and then will fly out to Wisconsin to spend a handful of days with her parents and visiting siblings...I'll finish up my High School season on Friday with the Regional Championship, and then daughter Anissa will visit for a few hours each day on Saturday, Sunday, and Memorial Day Monday, otherwise it will be me, the Airedale, and the Cat to fend for ourselves, well Sam has to be home Friday to replace me in an ACME game, but otherwise the Bachelor Life for a few days....Patricia will return Tuesday Evening...and by that time I will be fully into the Summer Baseball season, with ACME(Summer High School) and American Legion games...of all the months of sports April and June are the busiest...I looked at the schedule, and barring rain outs or cancellations...I have June 8th and 2 Sundays open in the Month...and those may get filled as well. July will see things slow down somewhat, then it's football time in mid to late August...

Here I am looking ahead to the end of Summer and it's still May....that is sad indeed!

Errands to take care of and chores to complete...back later>>>>

Some Flowers Bloom, despite/because of the Rains?

We managed one decent day, well almost a decent entire day in between bouts of rain, storms, and drizzle...

Yesterday I headed out to Elida to work the 2 semi-final games of the Division 3 District there....unlike last year's blowouts, this season the Elida District got off to a good start...2 well played competitive games. Perennial power Coldwater had to come from behind and rally to defeat Evergreen in the late game...last year it was a run ruled 5 inning game with Coldwater winning, this year the Cavilers got a scare before prevailing by a 5-3 count...with me behind the plate for the second straight year in this match up.

The first game, with me as first base umpire, saw Bluffton pull out a tight game over Liberty-Benton by a 4-3 count...plating the winning run on a wild pitch. The 2 winners will square off tomorrow at 2pm...At least that is the schedule, with the overnight rains, and more on the way...time and field conditions will tell. If the games get moved back, we would have that final on Sunday Afternoon.

By the time our umpiring crew had cleared out of the locker room, the clouds had moved in...by the time I arrived home in Celina at 8PM it had started to sprinkle...it became another full fledged downpour in the overnight hours.

Despite little sun and plenty of moister, cool temperatures, and clouds...the fence area flowers have continued to bloom, a variety at a time....the photos today were taken this morning.

Enjoy the weekend, I'll be back with more later>>>>

The Districts

The District High School Baseball Tournaments began around Northwest and West Central Ohio last night....the time of the season where the pretenders and contenders are seperated. Problem is, sometimes you get very good teams in the same Sectionals...that was the case for Division 3 in this area...where you had Coldwater, Lima Central Catholic, Bluffton, St. Henry, and Riverdale, all in the same Sectional at Lima Senior...3 of those 5 teams were going to be eliminated, even though all 5 were certainly good enough to make a run to the Regional or maybe the State Tournament in early June....Coldwater and Bluffton came through, and will play today at Elida in the Semi Finals, where if successful, they would meet up Saturday in the District Championship Game...Elida is where I'll be in a few hours, working those Division 3 games at Elida for the second straight year.

Last night however, I headed to Coldwater, where without the home team in action, the Division 4 Districts began....one of the umpires was Chad Snyder out of Arlington, I worked with Chad in the Elida District and Patrick Henry Regional last season. 4 teams I am well familar with, Fort Jennings and Crestview out of the Northwest Conference, and Parkway and Minster from the MAC...the conferences split the difference last night, with Parkway knocking out Jennings 13-9, and Crestview shutting down Minster 3-0(a team that had defeated them 18-1 during the regular season) to move on to Friday's District Final. Although rain may push both Friday and Saturday finals this weekend...What else is new?

Anyway back to Elida.....

A good facility(although few can top Coldwater for atmosphere and field conditions, not to mention good lighting for night games like last night's second contest)...Liberty-Benton will take on Bluffton in the opener at 2pm, then Coldwater in a rematch with Evergreen in the 5pm game. I am scheduled to work first base in the opener, and do the plate in the second game...however it looks like that may be switched due to one of our crew running late from work, which means I would do the opener behind the plate and the Coldwater game at first base....for the scheduled Championship Game on Saturday, I will work 3rd base. Once again, rain is in the forecast, so who knows if that will get pushed back to Monday or Tuesday...Mother Nature will decide that.

I will head out about noon after taking care of some chores....

Despite the forecast of rain for Friday and Saturday, we will get through today sunny and dry. Yesterday I pulled out the lawn mower and as I did the sun finally broke through at about 3pm...for the first time since early Saturday afternoon...it has been a miserable spell, weather wise.

Mushroom Hunting___

Not so for Rick, Clint, and the gang, Mushroom Hunting in the Boyne Falls area of Northern Lower Michigan...300 miles north they are getting warm and sunny weather through the weekend, while, excluding today, we will remain, wet, cloudy, and cool....go figure?

Sad to say for the 2nd straight year I will not be joining them....but when it comes to hobbies and entertainment, if the higher ups in the State of Ohio Baseball World come calling for District and Regional Assignments, I have to answer...the money is good, but aside from that, the ego is big, and I take the games, hopefully next year, I'll get back to Michigan and the Hunt.

Back Later>>>

Photos-The Baseball Tournament Time is at hand, and I'm deeply involved...and the last Mushroom Hunt I was on...2008 in Mesick, Michigan....Rick, Clint, and the Boys, are a hour or so north of there this time around.

Another Gloomy Tuesday in Western Ohio

Did I actually spell Gloomy-Gloomly in the original title? :} Where the Hell was spell check when I needed it???


To say the weather has SUCKED in West Central Ohio and the lower Midwest the past couple of weeks would be an understatement....the weekends have been wet, windy, and somewhat cool, the weekdays even worse....Today in no exception. After the miserable 53 degree and rain all day we experienced yesterday(cancelling my final Regular Game for the High School Season)...today, while somewhat dryer, is equally cloudy, and clammy out of doors. The good news is, things are slated to improve in time for the District Baseball Tournaments scheduled for tomorrow through most of the weekend, although showers could reappear Friday and maybe Saturday. My D3 District at Elida is set to kick off on Thursday Afternoon at 2pm. Liberty-Benton from the Findlay area will take on Bluffton in game one, then for the second straight year, I am scheduled to work the plate for the Coldwater vs Evergreen game at 5pm....the Championship of the District will be held, weather permitting, at 2pm Saturday, with the winners of game one and game 2 in a match up to move on to the Regional, also at Elida, next week...where I am scheduled to work 3rd base for the Championship on May 28th. In the District, in addition to the plate in game 2, I have first base in game 1, and 3rd base in the Championship.


Spent much of the morning on the phone with my old buddy Andy....Andy, his wife Amy, and their 2 young sons live in Louisville, Kentucky....both are from the Cleveland area, but moved to Louisville a few years back for Andy's job....he called me this morning from Dallas, where his office sent him.


Andy, although much younger than me(he just turned 50), and I have been friends since our days at WCSM Radio...I was the Program Director in 1981, when we hired him to be the afternoon DJ...we have been close friends ever since, even though we don't see much of each other these days. We plan on ending that this June when the Indians come to Cincinnati to take on the Reds, we will hook up for the final Sunday game of that late June series.


Hal also called, bummed that he got a speeding ticket this morning near Dayton...only his 2nd one in 10 years of driving....I told him I've had 5 in 45 years...and 3 of those were withing a 2 year span.



I cropped some limbs off the back yard Maple Tree, those being stressed by the heavy load of "Helicopters"(Maple seeds) and the recent rains...a couple limbs were cracked, and a few more hanging near the ground...so I dispatched of those....








That has been the excitement thus far today...living a way too sheltered life I am. I am looking forward to game #2 in the Philly-Montreal NHL East Series...Go Flyers! Other than that? Pretty boring around here....


Rick, Clint, and Rick's Boys will head for the Michigan Mushroom Hunt tomorrow, I'll miss it for the second straight year....baseball and the chance to do Tournament action comes first...although I do wish that they had waited until next week, we will see what they bring back in this early sojourn to the Boyne Falls area.


back later>>>>


Photos-The Gray Skies Continue in West Central Ohio....and a look at the vines on the west side of the garage as they looked in the final days of last fall, and today as they have made their comeback from the dormant Winter....

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>>>>