Life 2.1

NEW ORLEANS - The 2009 Summer Intramural Softball Playoffs were canceled Monday due to a strike by the league’s players and coaches. The players walked out after learning of the new video game by EA Sports’ called College Intramural Softball 09, which used the names and likeness of all the players without their consent and without compensation.

Rumors persisted that the games would go on, but the fans were instead treated to a “show” of three scab teams playing a round-robin.

“We walked out,” The Staff manager Justin Newell said. “We didn’t even go out to the field. If they’re going to profit off our names and our personas, we have the right to negotiate royalties.”

Power-hitter extraordinaire William Thacker concurred. “They’ve got a guy on the cover and in the game, named me, looks like me. Has my sweet lefty stroke and crushes home runs like me. But there’s no salary for either of us. That’s wrong.”

Thacker, who led the league with five home runs, claims his name and images is all a man truly possesses in the world. “I worked hard to build my image. My name is my brand. Thacker isn’t just a power-hitter. Thacker is a franchise. If they want my likeness, they gotta gimme the loot. “

Loot is what centerfielder Kevin Wilkinson was demanding from EA Sports. Albeit, his concerns were not for royalties. Wilkinson seeks damages for defamation of character.

“I have the lowest offensive ratings in the game!” the .071 hitter lamented. “Both Colleen [LeMasters] and the other girl are like a 58 for contact and power! I have a 25 for contact and my power is a 12? A TWELVE! I thought the lowest rating possible was a 45!”

The length of the standoff between EA Sports and the players association will most-likely take months, eliminating any chance of resumption of the playoffs.

“It’s over,” Newell said. “We had our post-season party last week.”

On the field, some team in blue – which was in no way affiliated with the Athletic Department of the Division I program that hails from Uptown in the Big Easy – was crushed in two games and played horrible defense, confusing many of the fans who came out for the playoff opener.

“That wasn’t the staff? They had blue shirts on,” one (confused) unidentified fan said. Alas, it was not. Contrary to rumors, The Staff, nor any of the other teams scheduled to play took the field. This became apparent upon watching the imposters play, as the general fan consensus was that there was no way that The Staff could have played that poorly or lost by such a huge margin.

League commissioner Derek Bugg was outraged that imposters were using the intramural field without his permission. “You know what, though, I’m not gonna sit out there and yell ‘Get off my lawn’ like some old white dude. I just went home to see my girl. Whatever.”

The Staff, Team Sniggs and Los Pollos Locos finished tied for the league championship with identical 2-1 records.

*The above is a recap of how I spent my Monday night, as a member of The Staff (obvi). Game recap and story written by guest blogger Kevin Wilkinson.

3 Comments | In: Life in the boot-shaped state | tags: softball. | #

I have been super busy with work. Like, working seven days a week, busy. But the other side of the coin is that work=baseball and I think we all understand how I heart baseball.

I am very fortunate to work with a great group of guys. They are my boys, I can’t help it. I love watching them succeed and have fun doing it. I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda jealous. They get to go out and play baseball everyday and do team things. I miss that.

I think I miss my freshman and JV teams the most. We had seriously good chemistry. Our JV team went 22-8-2. I have a vague recollection of our frosh team notching 30 wins but unfortunately I didn’t scrapbook the memory. I know, I’m just as shocked as you are.

But I love this team dynamic and this is a good group that I get to work with. But it did remind me of some good friendships I had in high school. Granted, because I played softball and the seasons were the same, I wasn’t around baseball as much, but football was a different story.

It’s true that I started out high school as pretty much the only person from my group of middle school friends to go to Napa High. Thankfully, I had football stats to keep me occupied and I’m not gonna lie, it certainly didn’t hurt to have upperclassman football friends.

And the more I got to know them, the same feelings that I have now grew: I was proud of their accomplishments because I saw how they worked everyday and they were my boys. And in return, they looked out for me too; then again, it maybe was because my uncle was a coach. Perhaps.

At any rate, I have always loved being a member of a team and I have learned a lot from being a part of a whole working towards a greater goal–I love the atmosphere and the camaraderie…the nicknames, the superstitions, the inside jokes. I have always loved them and miss them frequently.

I had all this with softball in a traditional sense; with football, I had a unique look inside the team as a female: a periphery team member to an all-guy team. I loved both instances. I think back to Lisa braiding my then-long ponytail, putting in a braid for each win (hence the reason a 30+ win season sticks out in my mind. That’s a lot of braids swinging around one’s head during a game!) or how she and I would each have a Reese’s Stix candy bar on the bus trips to away games. (Do they even make those anymore??) I remember throwing the ball around the infield during inning warm-ups and meeting in the pitcher’s circle to kiss our middle fingers, then tap the ball before Justine or Crystal threw the first pitch of the inning not sure how that one came to be or what significance it had, but we did it.

Some days, I go out to practice (aka “work”) and think I am totally jealous of the guys right now, having the team around them and making all those memories.

But on the flip side, I’m also loving being on the inside of a team again. And I have to say, they have all been cool with having a girl around. I can already feel it happening–they are growin’ on me. I have a new crop of boys–good guys who I want to see succeed since I see them working at it every day. I want their work to be rewarded. It doesn’t hurt that their victories make my job easier.

But it got me thinking about my own team experiences and of course, those involve football. I will say, and this will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, that Napa High football was like an extended branch of my family, after being a part of it for so long and watching both of my brothers succeed on the football field.

So even though the kids on the team this year aren’t the same guys as my boys of old, I still am pretty proud of their accomplishments and how they carry on the traditions that have such a significant meaning to me.

This article that appeared in the Napa Register today got me thinking about all this.

A New Generation

I’m still pretty proud of the continued tradition and happy to have my own team again….even if that team isn’t one that I get to take ground balls with every day.

No Comments | In: Sports, because, have you met me? | tags: baseball, softball, team, teamwork, traditions. | #