Released

Every spring the tyranny of kids' sports monopolizes my time in ways that always seem more severe than last year, or last season. Once the final game is over and we go our separate ways, I miss the structure that the seasons gave to the late spring, even after grousing about lost time and and and. This year it was soccer and baseball, overlapping. It doesn't help that I coach both teams, because my mantra is as long as my daughter wants to play, I will be there to coach, cuz that's how I've always envisioned this life.

Except that this year I came to the realization that I can't do overlapping seasons. Spring soccer doesn't cut it anymore, and next year it will be soccer in the fall, baseball in the spring.

So baseball finally ended tonight, at Blair HS's softball field, under the lights. Playing on a groomed diamond, permanent bases and pitching rubber, and smooth outfield grass, evenly cut. If one were to ask me in the middle of the third inning how things were going, I would have stated that the season was an unmitigated disaster, with only 1 win and a group of talentless misanthropes who didn't care about developing skills or being a team. Wow that would've been harsh, no?

But in the error-laden world of Major 60 baseball, in which 10 & 11 year olds play almost to the same rule standards as kids several years older, things do change. Ask me the same question one inning later, in the middle of a 6 run rally to cut the opposing team's lead to 4 runs, and I'd say that this team is on the rise and what a way to end the year, with kids that found ways to eke out that last effort to make the last game fun. Amazing kids who suddenly were interested in the game because they saw that their efforts were finally paying off, drawing walks when they needed to, stealing bases, and getting key hits. Manufacturing runs, closing the gap, and having a blast. If only they could be consistent, but that will come in time. Like the way my son's team plays, in which I was just a spectator, as they were coached by much more able people.

So now I can focus on other things, as I've always thought that my summer vacation starts when school and sports for the kids end. Maybe I'll ride more, finish business around the house, play the guitar more, relax more, write more. Summertime in the city.

Last Friday I was released from yet one other time monopolizer. The Stanley Cup was hoisted by the Pens, and now I'm not watching hockey 3 nights a week. That's a lot of found time too.