Fictional Fantasy Baseball

I recently drove from Silesia to Fort Knox, KY. The trip took about 10 hours including a couple stops for gas, lunch, and a little traffic. Along the way I had a lot of time alone in the car to just let my mind wander about crazy subjects. I think when passed Marshall University in West Virginia I thought about how great the movie We Are Marshall was. I started thinking about some of my other favorite sports movies. Then I thought about if I were to put a team together of sports movies characters, who would be on it? This was a lot of fun and passed the time very well.

Here is what i came up with.

C- Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) Bull Durham

1B- Jack Elliot (Tom Selleck) Mr. Baseball

2B- Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra) Take Me Out to the Ballgame

SS- Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) The Sandlot

3B-Roger Dorn (Corbin Bernsen) Major League

LF- Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) The Fan

CF- Wille Mayes Hayes (Wesley Snipes) Major League

RF- Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) The Natural

DH- Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) Mr. 3000

Pitching Rotation

Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) Bull Durham

Mel Clark (Tony Danza) Angels in the Outfield

Steve Nebraska (Brendan Frasier) The Rookie

Chet Stedman (Gary Busey) Rookie of the Year

Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) For Love of the Game

Bench

C- Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) A League of Their Own

Util- Lou Collins (Timothy Busfield) Little Big League

Util- Michael "Squints" Palladorous (Chauncey Leopardy) The Sandlot

Util- Pedro Cerano (Dennis Haysbert) Major League

Bullpen

Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) Rookie of the Year

Eddie Harris (Chelcie Ross) Major League

Closer

Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) Major League

Bench Coaches

Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) Major League

Jim Dugan (Tom Hanks) A League of Their Own

Manager

Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) The Natural

Until Next Time

Maine & Fenway Trip

Hello again.

I haven't written much or had much to write about over the last couple weeks.

I recently returned from a trip to Boston and Maine with Jessica's family. Maine was alot of fun as we camped out. On Sunday Jess and I went to the Red Sox game at Fenway. (Thats me in the 'Yaz' shirt.)That was a great experience. That old ballpark has alot of history and its unique layout makes it a must see for any Baseball fan. Our seats were pretty much in straight away center field about four rows up from the fence. Great seats!

This weekend is a family BBQ at my parents house in Silesia. I am sure there will be great stories to share from that one. After that I am off to Ft. Knox KY.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July!

Airport Fishing

Here is a little story i wrote to illustrate being on a Div. I Hockey team and gettting delayed in an airport. Hope you enjoy.

“Whooooaaa,” the lady shrieked as the prize she thought she had in her grasp leaped from her like toad from a lily pad. Twenty or so players erupted in laughter as another victim fell to the team.
“That’s four Cheeks!” I yelled as we continue to rack them up like Gretzky racked up points in the late 80’s. I went over and grabbed the bait off the ground and prepared to cast it into the busy airport walkway again. The more people that reached for it, the greater the roar of laughter, and the more people we drew into watching this very amateur candid camera skit.
The prank is simple. A string, fishing line, or thread pulled out of the carpet attached to a dollar bill by a sliver of scotch tape. It usually has to be a three person gig. First, the runner is in charge of casting the bait into the hustle bustle of the airport terminal. Simply walking out and dropping the dollar amidst the crowd and then looping around inconspicuously. Often times a pause to check the time, a reach into a pocket or kneeling to tie a shoe provides the concealment and distraction for the drop.
The next position is the fisherman. He lies down behind some bags or chairs and is in charge of pulling the string, and subsequently the dollar away from the unknowing victim. The last position and arguably the most important is the spotter. The spotter sits next to the fisherman and looks for people who eye the bill and begin to alter their path so they might scoop up the buck without being seen by others.
“We got one here.” Cheeks (Eric Sefchik) whispers to Pierson, the fisherman, as Cheeks is thumbing through a local newspaper looking inconspicuous. The man is well dressed wheeling his luggage behind him and walking briskly towards his gate. His scarf is floating behind him due to his stretching stride. He veers left and moves his newspaper from his right hand and pins it under his left arm which tows his luggage. “He’s ready to bite.” Cheeks adds.
The man strides up, peeks over his shoulder, and then straight ahead. He stops in front and with a slight bend in his knees lowers his out stretched arm toward the cash. “Now,” Cheeks implores aided by a kick of his foot to Pierson’s side. The timing is perfect as his fingers get within inches before the bill takes flight and zips away. The man is frozen. Shocked for a second he realizes he is the victim of a prank. Staying bent at the waist he looks at the group of young men, all in uniform, bellowing with amusement. He laughed and walked on to his gate, surely to remember this jaunt through the terminal.
Harmless fun is not always without consequences. When the fish aren’t biting there is a tendency to improve the bait. Drew Pierson had the idea last year to up the ante when pedestrians were uninterested in a one dollar bill. “Let’s get it going! Put this on the line.” Drew demanded as he handed me a twenty.
“You sure about this Drew?” I asked in amazement. Sure enough he was adamant and we cast the twenty into the stream of pedestrians and sure enough the bites came furiously at first. Then we had a man fall for the pull but he persisted. He located the string and as the fisherman pulled furiously the man still chased. He lunged his foot out and clamped the line to the ground. Uh oh, I thought as the man had neutralized the cash. He calmly looked at the guys who quickly went from laughter to shock as he snatched the bill from the line and smiled.
“Good joke. Thanks for lunch later. See ya.” The man stated as he walked off with his friends laughing. We were all shocked. Pierson thought he was going to come back. He didn’t. That man got the best of us and rode off into the sunset like Clint Eastwood. All the guys chipped in a reimbursed Pierson but a valuable lesson was learned. When fooling around you should always be prepared for the consequences.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. My sister Meredith encouraged me to start this after my Army Hockey diary gained a little success. If you aren't familiar you can read them here http://www.goarmysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48075&SPID=4588&DB_OEM_ID=11100&ATCLID=3683255.

I will be making posts as often as I can. I plan on keeping everyone in the loop as to my where-abouts as well as posting some other stories and anecdotes that I think you will get a kick out of.
Thanks.