Keeping in Touch on Tuesday

What a nightmare of a weekend. Not only did I not go bye-bye in the Rapture, but I played some live poker on Sunday. In tournament action, I exited short of the final table when A-8os > J-J. Ace on the flop and I was a goner. I then played some cash games and saw how rusty I have become. The lack of both online poker and live poker sure showed. I'd better get in a couple more sessions before I go to Las Vegas if I want to hit the ground running.

Oh yeah -- my softball hitting streak came to an end as I went 0-3 last night. I actually got on base my first at bat, but even though I hit the ball sharply, the second baseman should have fielded it cleanly. A really generous scorer might call it a hit, but I am playing this one totally straight. But still ... a .588 batting average? I'll take it!

Ken Prevo loves to heap abuse on the poor residents of Illinois. Yes -- I carefully chose my words there! In reality, however, it is not much fun waiting and wondering how much your state governmenet will attempt to make you grab your ankes to take care of their screw ups. Although I have faithfully paid into my pension system every month for  21 years, the state legislators, who passed budgets for several years that did not pay the required amount into the pension system, are ready to pass a law that will screw me and others who have spent the best professional working years of our lives educating students in the state. As soon as the legislature passes the law, which for years has been considered to be unconstitutional, the final decision will be left to the courts. Hmmm ... who do we trust in Illinois? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Finally -- Bulls vs. Heat game four tonight. The Heat looked awesome in game three and the Bulls need to re-group. Can the Bulls pull out game four and the series? I hope. I believe. Maybe I dream?

Coping with Changes in the Online Poker World

Life After Black Friday

We are now five weeks past Black Friday, the day that the world of online poker in the USA was turned completely on its head. Instead of focusing on the related issues such as the status of money at Full Tilt Poker, I instead wanted to focus on the day-to-day reality of the change.

How has it affected me? For starters, it has increased boredom in my life. After a hard day's work I used to look forward to spending some time on Full Tilt Poker, be it playing in one of several blogger private tournaments or messing around at the cash tables. Like many, I really liked playing at Full Tilt. Now it was gone. I have been able to still play at some of my less favorite sites, like UB, Bodog, and Cake, but it is just not the same.

I find that I have been watching more televised sports, especially since post-season play in the NHL and the NBA has been so spectacular. I have watched a few movies and have spent more time cruising around the internet.

What I have really felt, however, is a loss of some of the closeness with some of my blogger friends. Without a regular weekly tournament like the Mookie/Dank, I find that my communication with other bloggers has greatly decreased. Just after a great event like Survive Donkey Island invigorated the blogger community, it is now like we are in a period of extended vacation. Thankfully, some of the bloggers have continued to post on a somewhat regular basis. At least posting and commenting on posts keeps us connected. But, to tell the truth, I really miss the regular routine. A couple of the play money tournaments have been okay, but they are just not the same.

Softball Update

Is it really May? My last softball game was played in frigid, windy conditions. I only got two at bats but went 1-2 with a single (naturally), bringing my batting average down a bit to .714. Ha ha -- I love that -- bringing my average down to .714!


My trip to Las Vegas is getting a little closer and the desire to play some live games is again on the increase. A road trip this weekend might be in order.

A Funeral & A Softball Update

The Funeral

I went to a funeral today for the husband of my wife's cousin. The guy was the first of our generation of the cousins to pass away. It gets you thinking ...

My wife came from this big Catholic family which used to be pretty tight, so she has cousins galore. I had not seen many of them or their spouses for several years -- maybe since the last death in the family some time ago?

It was nice to see that almost everyone seemed to be doing well -- nice families, no tragic stories. Yes, there is something to definitely say about raising kids the proper way ...

Softball

Although my softball team took it on the chin once again, the warm weather seemed to help the "veterans" look good. I was back at second base and had to deal with a nasty wind blowing straight in from left field. Yeah -- popups I can still handle. The flip from the shortstop I can still hamdle. The throws from the outfield I can still handle. Hard-hit ground balls? They are always an adventure!

Strangely enough, my hot hitting continued. A hard liner to center, a shot over the pitcher's head, and a ball that stayed just fair down the third base line meant this old guy went 3-3, raising my season average to a ridiculous .750! Now, I swear all my hits this season have been totally clean -- untouched by fielders until the ball has gotten to the outfield. They have all been singles, but damn -- this has been one hell of a start to the season!

Tuesday Thoughts: Softball, Texas Freedom, and the Chicago White Sox

One thing about life that is certain is that it is always interesting. Sometimes , however, interesting may not be that great.

Softball

Softball seemed to reach a new low for me as a dagger to the heart of a recreational player was felt Tuesday night. My team was cruising early when the new guy on the team, our big slugger, knocked out a three-run home run. Before he even got to third base, the opposing team challenged his hit, saying he used an illegal bat.

wtf -- This is a stupid recreational league! Worse yet, the umpire, before the game, was checking out our bats. So if there was an illegal one in the rack, shouldn't he tell us we can't use it?

The umpire was a total, wimpy moron. He checked with someone, then declared the batter out. The captain of my team chose not to play the game under protest, and I felt like we were the wimps of the world. An inning later, the other team got a player on first and the guys on his team were telling him to make sure he breaks up the double play. Uh yeah -- I was the second baseman. So, as stupid as this sounds for a guy who should not be thinking this, I was prepared to knock the shit out of this guy if he came anywhere near me. As luck would have it, the next batter grounded to short, who flipped to me at second. I made the pivot and the throw to first but the runner was nowhere near me. Probably saved myself lots of hurt!

Oh yeah -- the end result was that we lost by one run. The bat turned out to indeed be illegal, but calling a team on that in a recreational league is a d-bag play. And ... once again I went two for three, keeping my .667 batting average. Not bad for a ... veteran.

Texas Freedom

I had recently been bleeding money left and right. It used to be that money was bled in $20's, then $100's, now $1,000's. I was delighted to find out that my daughter's apartment in Texas, for which I had guaranteed a lease through October, has been rented! Yes -- off the hook to the tune of several thousand dollars. Hmmm ... maybe I should be considering a WSOP donkament ...

The Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox have hit bottom for the young season, sporting MLB's worst record and getting no-hit tonight by arch rival Minnesota. With the Sox starting rotation and band of good hitters, I was expecting much the opposite this season. They are already ten games out of first place and could be 10 1/2 before the night is over. Is it finally time to pull the plug on the Ozzie show and move in a different direction? Frankly, I have gotten tired of watching Ozzie vs Kenny Williams, Ozzie vs Bobby Jenks, Ozzie vs the Chicago Cubs, ... With a last place team and knowing that you can't fire the whole team, I think the manager's hot seat should be steamimg right now. Stay tuned ...

Umm ... What to Talk About ... Poker? -- NO; Chicago Blackhawks? -- NO; SOFTBALL -- YES!

It was hard to think of someting positive to talk about today. Everyone is unhappy about online poker, the Chicago Blackhawks are down 3-0 to the hated Canucks in hockey, but ... there was softball. The temperature was supposed to drop tonight and the rain was due to start sometime, so what a great night for softball!

Now, for those readers who can still call themselves "young adults," the prospect of playing a softball game in the cold and wet weather might sound fun. For those of us who have a few more rings around the trees, we get concerned about pulled muscles, hamstrings, groins, ...

I looked at the lineup card and got the great news -- designated hitter! This gig got even better when the rain started coming down about halfway through the game. We were playing a much younger and more athletic team, but surprisingly we were kicking their asses. However, after the rain started coming down their bats seemed to come alive and we seemed to be standing still. They caught up in the rain and pulled ahead. However, similar to last week, we staged a comeback and pulled to within one run. The umpire decided to let us play in the rain, but the increasingly wet and muddy field did not help our defense as their bats came alive. Alas, we went from down one run to nine in the last inning and ran out of gas. Nothing like playing a cold, wet softball game. We were all soaked.

This "old" guy went two for three -- two singles and a fielder's choice. Yeah -- I'll take hitting .667 in the first two games this season. Take that, youngsters!

Softball Returns; lightning Remains Among the Living

First softball game of the season was Monday night. I got there early and waited forever for most of the team to show up. Looked at the other team. Sheesh -- they looked a lot younger and in much better condition than most of my team.

My captain posted the lineup. I was in at my usual place: second base. Now, of course, there is significance to playing second base. It is one of the places that a team can hide its ... shall we say ... less adept fielders?

When I was around 30 years old I was a softball junkie. One summer I remember playing on five teams at once. I was never one to hit with a lot of power, but I could sting the ball, hit the gaps for extra bases, and I could actually still run and field then. Now ... ha!

The game had a funny beginning. In our league, everyone begins an at bat with a count of 1-1 to speed up the game. All games go a max of 55 minutes. Anyway, the umpire is a co-worker of mine. About six months ago, I assisted his daughter. After helping her, I razzed the father, Doug, saying "I met your daughter. She is a nice young lady -- intelligent, polite, and very attractive. Your wife must be very pretty -- I mean -- your daughter had to get her looks from someplace ..." Yeah -- I thought that was pretty funny. Well tonight he called the captains over before the game to review some ground rules. "Remember -- everyone starts out with a count of 1-1 ... except lightning, who starts with a 1-2 count." Gulp. Payback is a bitch!

In the top of the first inning, the second batter up hit a popup between first and second base. As I felt my way through the sandy wet infield and then the lip of the outfield grass, I kept thinking "Don't effing drop the first chance of the season!" Fortunately, I did not.

My game stats: 2-3 (fielder's choice, single, single), 1 pop out, 1 assist, 1 bad hop, 1 ball I could have reached ten years ago ...

Who won? Well ... we were down most of the game and went into the bottom of the sixth down 12-8. I led off the inning with a clean hit to one of my favorite spots, right-center. The right center fielder was playing way too far back, obviously influenced by my muscular physique! The next thing you know ... hit, hit, hit, walk, hit, hit ... We went ahead 14-12 as time expired, ending the game during our at bat since we were the home team. Yowsa -- undefeated!

I stopped to pick up some dinner on the way home and contemplated the evening -- Chinese food, two hits, opening game victory, no injuries. Life is good ... very good ...

Monday Musings

1) Finished my taxes last night. I already had the federal one done but unsent. Sent it and completed and sent the state form. I came out about even overall, so no big deal either way.

2) Kudos to the Minnesota Wild for beating the Dallas Stars on Sunday and allowing the Chicago Blackhawks to slip into the Stanley Cup Playoffs through a narrowly open back door. The Hawks play the Vancouver Canucks in round one. Although the Canucks appear to have the best or one of the best teams this season, I expect the Hawks to take them down in the opening series. The Hawks do have the ability to do this. Based on their season-long issue with lackluster play, I doubt they will win it all this year. But can they beat some teams in a series or give them a heck of a scare? Yes!!

3) First softball game of the season tonight, weather permitting. New manager this year (one of my home game poker buddies). Looks like I might pay for smoking him a time or two!

Not sure where I will play this year -- either my standard second base, back to the mound (I pitched for several years, gave it up, then pitched some the past season or two), or maybe even more DH-ing as I become more and more of a liability in the field.

Catch ya on the flip side!