GFC Winter '09: Week 4

This week we drew yet another new team that has not won a game this season. Should be another easy win, right? The full moon should have been a sign of things to come. They started off the 1st inning with a couple of runs by capitalizing on a couple defensive errors. Then the popups started. We did manage to push through a run in the 3rd, but entered the 5th inning down a run with our 14-game regular season winning streak on the line. Thanks to some timely kicking (and a sweet bunt by myself) we tied the game, but could not take the lead. With the specter of having the field lights turned off at any moment, we got three quick outs to eek out a tie, keeping our streak alive. Next week we play one of our arch rivals, Uno Mas.

GFC Winter '09: Week 3

We played a brand new team this week. The results were not surprising. Even though we won 5-0, it could have (and probably should have) been much worse, considering we left about 800 people on base. They dropped a lot of fly balls and we did not take advantage. I think they may have advanced a runner to third in one inning, but to quite honest I don't remember; I don't think they had multiple runners on more than once. Next week we play yet another brand new team. There is a good chance we will win. Not like we've won 14 straight regular season games or anything.

GFC Winter '09: Week 2

After two weeks worth of delays thanks to President's Day and some untimely rain, it was time to get back to playing some kickball. Week 2 brought a rematch of our Summer '08 quarterfinal playoff game against Feets Of Fury. The first inning saw us fall behind 2-0, but the fireworks were just starting. As the second inning began and we started to acquire baserunners, the Feets pitcher and catcher collided in one of the most violent collisions I have seen in quite some time. After taking a few minutes to let them get straightened out (the catcher was fine, the pitcher needed stitches), play resumed and we busted open the proverbial flood gates for ten runs over the remainder of the game. With the final score of 10-4, we seem to have found a way to generate offense unlike before. And with our next opponent being a brand new team, it would stand to reason that the runs will continue to pile up for us.

New Soccer Jersey

Over the last year or so I have been on a soccer jersey kick for some strange reason. Given that I am a fairly large individual, and that most jerseys follow European sizing standards (which means they are at least a size smaller than they say), tracking one down that fits has been a bit of a hassle. More to the point, trying to find a Germany home jersey has been a nightmare. Why Germany, you ask? Because 1) that is where my family originally immigrated from (I don't care if was over 200 years ago, Joe; that's still my heritage) and 2) their home kits look pretty awesome. After searching for a good eight months, I managed to track down a home jersey that not only fit, but also has a number kit for Bastian Schweinsteiger already imprinted.



To be quite honest, I do not know a whole lot about this fellow. However, he had some bad ass goals in Euro 2008, he has a ridiculously hot girlfriend, and he looks like Dangle's character in Balls Of Fury. Based on those facts, he's cool in my book.

GFC Winter '09: Week 2: Technical Difficulties

Thanks to more weather over the weekend than SoCal usually sees in a couple of years, all games for this evening were canceled/postponed. And since next Monday is President's Day, the park will be closed no matter what. That means we will have two consecutive weeks without games, on top of the interruption later in the season thanks to Caesar Chavez Day (only in California). In that same two weeks, I will have played kickball in another state (Arizona) and another division (Pasadena). Hopefully we don't have a repeat of 2006 when we had four consecutive Mondays of rain and postponed games.

GFC Winter '09: Week 1

Thanks to the beautiful weather afforded to us here in Southern California, a new kickball season kicked off last night (a terrible pun, I know). With everyone returning from a team that went undefeated during the previous regular season (and thereby securing a bid to Vegas), things are looking pretty good at the start of this new season. In our first game we drew Kickin' It Old Skool, one of the myriad of brand-new and mashed-up teams that have brought some much needed change to what had become a stagnant lineup of teams. In fact, KIOS is so new that they did not become a team until this past Thursday. This was painfully obvious when the umpires had to take a few minutes before the game to give them a quick explanation of the rules and the major differences from baseball/softball. Needless to say, them being paired against arguably the best defensive team in the league had all the makings of a potential blowout. While we did manage to crank out some extra base kicks (even a two-run homerun), the 7-0 win could have been much worse. Despite all the rules changes, the rust of not playing for a couple months, and probably looking past our opponent a little bit, we played pretty well. Our defense was in mid-season form, and the seven runs scored was a veritable offensive explosion for us. Next week we have Feets Of Fury, whom we defeated in the quarterfinals of the playoffs last season.

Random Internet Search

Since I have nothing better to do on this lovely Friday night, I have been looking through Google images under "random funny" when I happened upon this gem:


Transformers were my jam growing up, so finding something like this at random is both insanely hilarious and quite disturbing. Here is a link to completely drink it in. Enjoy!

Cable Company

Anyone who has not lived in the sticks within the last couple of decades has at one time or another dealt with the source of much consternation for the average American: the cable company. Pricing that outpaces inflation, inflexibility for end-user hardware, and the dreaded service calls (a four hour window to show up?) have contributed to the ever rising stress levels of many Americans. Now that I am on my own and dealing with my third cable company, I thought I, like millions of other people, had my balls in the proverbial vice. But a funny thing happened. Out of the blue, my lineup of HD channels almost tripled. Then, after finally accepting the fact that my almost ten-year old broadband modem needed to go, I called about changing modems. The young lady who helped me was courteous and patient as I ran around making sure all my various devices had in fact connected with the new modem. Dealing with any kind of tech support folks is usually akin to pulling teeth for me, but this particular experience was actually pleasant. Come to think of it, the few times I have had to deal with Time Warner's customer support, they have been nothing but helpful, always patient and personable. So maybe the cable company isn't so bad after all.