RSS FeedSoftball, Social Distortion and Love
What a busy day yesterday! I got up and headed over to the park for the first softball practice. It was a perfect day for it. It wasn’t nearly as cold as it had been the previous few days and the park was basically empty so we had no trouble securing the baseball diamond to play on. About 18 of us showed up. For the first 30 or 40 minutes we were taking turns batting and fielding. When it was my turn to hit I realized that it was probably the first time I swung a bat in more than 10 years. After a few warm up swings I belted a few of them deep in to the outfield. That felt really good.
We broke up in to two teams and played a few innings. The other team ended up being stacked and they basically destroyed us. But we had a good time and got some exercise in the process. Win Win. We are supposed to hit the batting cages one night this week. I sure hope I can find a left handed bat.
More than anything, I’m just glad to be able to report that after hitting, fielding, running and throwing, I’m not injured. I am a little sore today after using some muscles that I haven’t used in quite some time. But other than that, I’m fine!
After baseball I came home and worked for a while and then took a nice nap in the afternoon. I don’t know if there is anything better than an afternoon nap. I seriously think they should be mandatory. After the nap it was time to get dressed and head over to the House of Blues to see Social Distortion.
Technically speaking this was our second time seeing Social D in about 45 days. They played 3 nights at the HOB back in December. We went and saw them in concert the same night as the Las Vegas half-marathon that we ran. Thanks to being overly exhausted and sore that night, we saw them do about 3 songs and then we had to head for the door.
For the show last night we met up with Jake and Diane (and Diane’s brother, Mark). We found a decent spot to stand near one of the bars and chilled out through the opening band. By the time Social D hit the stage, the place was absolutely packed. They sounded great and the crowd was really in to it.
One thing I did find funny, though. If you take a look at the average Social D fan at the show, they are pretty hard core. Both guys and gals alike are heavily tattooed and just a bit rough around the edges. But so much of Social D’s music, and especially their concerts, are filled with country music. I’ll bet if you ask all the fans in attendance, away from the show, if they liked country music, I’m sure you’d get way more “Hell No” responses than anything else. I dunno, to me, that’s funny.
But tonight we are heading out to the Mirage to see the Cirque Du Soleil show, Love. Our daughter is a Beatles fanatic and we are taking her to see the show for her 15th birthday. I’m sure she’s going to love it.
Watching Football History
I don’t consider myself to be a football fan, though I do enjoy watching the game from time to time. But, the decision to watch the game tonight between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants was a no-brainer. The Patriots came in with a record of 15-0, one win away from a perfect 16-0 regular season. This is something that hasn’t been done in over 30 years. There is something special about watching historic games.
The Giants, who secured their playoff position had nothing to gain by winning today, so many people thought they would rest all their starting players. At the beginning of the game, it seemed the Patriots thought that, too. They got off to a slow start while the Giants came out with all their big guns firing. The Giants scored first and had the lead at the end of the first, second and third quarters. But, in the fourth quarter, the Patriots took over and scored twice to take the lead. The Giants would score with about a minute left in the game, but it was too-little-too-late.
The Patriots broke a bunch of records in the game, too. Most touchdown throws in a season by a quarterback, most touchdown receptions in a season by a receiver and most points in a season by a team.
It was an exciting game that had back and fourth action throughout. It’s no wonder that Football is the biggest sport in the country.
Congratulations to the Patriots. Good luck in the playoffs.