9/26/12
Softball: The Acerbic Recreational Politics of Place
Dear People,
In a feisty yet well-crafted match of stirring geo-transitional resolve, my team firmly but fairly obliterated Chris Fure's, 9-7. The fact is that every player at Grove Park was yearning for the aphid-enhanced grasses of our Codornices homeland, and so in that sense, this inevitable and universal yearnage gave no advantageous succor to either side (Oh sure, you're probably reading this solo on your iPad at a local pick-up bar, and just seeing the words “advantageous succor” makes you feel even more tawdry and self-conscious than you normally do. I get that, and yet to be fair, I have some serious narrative analysis to record).
In any case, Grove has its own subtle charms, though guaranteeing athletic excellence is perhaps not one of them. I refer you to the bottom of the 7th, when Mike Davey's two-out blast to deep center-right bounced directly through my legs and under Debbie's outstretched glove, giving Chris' contingent their first chance of the game to finally take the lead. Yet Debbie and I held fast to the notion that we were still actors and not mere objects of our own aerobic destinies, and thus she quickly righted her error with a transformative follow-up throw right back my way. I in turn hurled the ball to Maya at 2nd, who threw a blazing bullet to Frank at 3rd, who tagged out the Daveyator, right then and there! Mikey looked stunned by the sudden turn of events, as if he hadn't realized that Grove's path around the bases was also a square, and not the shortened triangular route that his leisurely gait would've seemed to suggest.
The point is that this inscrutable field is an Escheresque web of mirrors, spatial distortions and unfathomable hidden perils within the broader context of a gritty urban overlay, but she is now ours and ours she'll be-at least for a few more weeks. For the bitter reality is that the head of the Berkeley Boys Lacrosse Club has rejected my offer of exchanging venues, despite the fact he had told me a couple weeks ago that he didn't care where they actually played. And so, dear friends, we must adhere to the bogus dictates of a capricious city bureaucracy and temporarily give up our cherished yak-laden mother soil to this utterly grating gaggle of stick-wielding street urchins.
Yeah, it's sometimes wicked hard being us, and therefore there will be a game at Grove this Sunday at 11AM, IF I get enough commits by this Friday morning….Ray
9/27/12
Softball: Quality First
Dear People,
There will be a game at Grove Park this Sunday at 11AM, and as of now it is full. As always, please let me know ASAP if you committed and need to cancel, and if you still want in, feel free to get on the wait list or contact me later for news of reopened slots.
This week's field fee is just $4, and that includes the theoretical use of seasoned professional umpires who will not taint our pristine national brand…Raymond 845-7552
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