Let the games begin...kinda

Today was the unofficial start to our softball season, with our annual pre-season 'tournament'. It's not really a tournament in the truest sense, because there are no ultimate winners, and you only play teams that are in your arbitrary bracket. But, it does usually serve as a good barometer of where the team stands as the season draws near. And today, we had probably the best weather I've ever experienced at this tourney in the 12 years I've been playing in this league.

(Whoa! I've been playing in this league for 12 years. I can't possible be that old. Although it would explain the gray hair...)

Sorry, random thought there. But the day was definitely beautiful - sunny, mid 80's, gentle breeze - perfect softball weather. Of course, as the coach, I have to be paying attention to more than the weather, right? Well, I have to admit, it was tough being the coach today. Not because of anything that happened, but because there are a great group of guys playing on our team this year, and it makes it all that much harder to decide who plays and who doesn't. Fortunately, I had the gift of two games to get everyone in (should have been three games, but life intervened). I did come away with some interesting thoughts for the season and our team...

- I mentioned this already, but these guys really are something special this year.
- when everyone is playing their A game, we are a force to be reckoned with.
- as much as we like to argue with umpires, playing without one kinda sucks.
- have I mentioned that I have a great group of guys playing this year?
- Home Runs are cool, but singles and doubles win softball games.
- I like to coach and to teach guys how to play the game, but there are time I just want to play and not worry about the coaching part.
- and in case I haven't mentioned it, I thing the guys on our squad are fantastic!

We ended up 1-1 today, and I'm proud of that. We played two of the tougher teams in our league today, and we played well against them. I have to admit, I was concerned when I learned we had been bumped up to the upper division of our league - we were 2-14 against those teams last year, yikes! - but today, I think we proved to ourselves that we belong with these guys. And we had 4 or 5 guys missing today, so if I get a full squad out, we are going to be powerful!

One more practice before we start the season. Just hope the weather holds up on Thursday.