The Spring Training Tradition

It was dark days for baseball. Major League Baseball had just cancelled the World Series after failure to come to terms on a collective bargaining agreement with the players union. People took sides. How can anyone agree with someone whose average salary is a million bucks a year? On the other hand, how can anyone agree with owners who have been raking in tens of millions of bucks by keeping player salaries down? Greed vs. greed.

Many people swore off baseball at that time. I’m pretty sure I did, too. I even debated the issue with Dr. Webb in Advanced Communications class with Damian (which, incidentally, we won…the only debate Webb claims to have ever lost). I was mad at the owners. I was mad at the players. I was mad at the institution of baseball.

Then something happened. Something so profound that I had no choice but to embrace the national pastime again. I got bored over Spring Break. Yep, that’s how a 12 year tradition was born. Damian and I got in the old blue Honda Station Wagon armed with a Motel 6 book, a cooler of snacks and sodas, various phone numbers of friends who lived in the area, and not more than 60 bucks. We’ve been back every year since.

I’m sitting here at home, watching a spring training game on television. They didn’t have spring training games on t.v. when we first went. When we first went to spring training we walked up to the gate, bought our tickets, and ended up sitting right behind 3rd base. As the years went on more and more people started showing up in Arizona. Now it is more of a commercial thing than before. People flock to Arizona in March for baseball now. Damn bandwagoners! It’s okay, though. Let them come. Let them start their own memories and their own traditions. Just get out of my way in the beer line.

Here are the top 10 memories of spring training over the years…
10. “Blinding” Damian in the car with a bottle of Squirt.
9. Shooting a commercial for “The Gordon Elliot Show” in Mesa.
8. Having Bill Engvall copy my jokes.
7. “Wally World – Population 5!”
6. Convincing Eric Young to toss a ball to me only to drop it because I had 1 too many beers.
5. Sneaking warm beer in a cup from Circle K in a game then having Dave Hicks offer some to Jackie Autry.
4. “See…no tan lines.” “Thank you.”
3. Watching Marty turn into Tommy Lee in the hotel room.
2. Eating chicken wings at Hooters with none other than baseball god, Mike Wolff.
1. Being asked to get off my “f*&$ box” by Mike James.

To traditions and more memories.

Marathon Man

Well, I did it. I have so many thoughts and feelings about this weekend. Most of what I’m feeling right now is soreness. I mean it! I did not expect to feel THIS sore. All last night I’d say to Carrie, “Man I’m tired. I feel like I just ran a marathon or something.” I’ll probably lose one to three toenails. I have a blister the size of Texas. (I don’t have ANY chafing or sore nipples…thanks Body Glide!) It aches to get up. It aches to get out of the car. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the upstairs of our house again. I feel like an old man…well, an “older” man. But, more importantly, I’m a marathoner.
Instead of giving you all a play-by-play of my 6 hours on the road (which I’d be willing to do if you asked), here are the top 10 things I learned while running my marathon…
10. The smell at the starting line of the race is a cross between banana, icy-hot, and diarrhea. (No kidding! I think some people “went” before the race started! Gross!)
9. For some reason, the race organizers make the miles between 21 and 26 longer than the other miles. (Can you believe that!? Those jerks!)
8. You should always have your first name on your shirt so you can hear strangers cheer for you. (It was GREAT to hear people say, “Go Bill!” and “You can do it, Bill!)
7. The minute after you cross you say to yourself, “I can do this again!” Then the adrenaline subsides, the pain begins and you say to yourself, “I’ll NEVER do this again!”
6. Having friends and family at the race makes a HUGE difference. (Thanks Curriers and Armstrongs! It was great to have you guys there to support me and to help Carrie. Ooh, and thanks Carrie and boys!)
5. There are a LOT of kids that run marathons! (Every time I saw one, it made me faster because I didn’t want to be beat by a kid!)
4. Running a marathon makes you very, very, very, very hungry! (I haven’t eaten so much in the last three meals than I have in the last 3 weeks!)
3. You become extremely angry when people say, “Almost there!” before mile 25. (I almost clocked a little girl at mile 14. Of course, I was in a neighborhood in LA where there were a ton of cops, so it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea.)
2. There are some WEIRD people who run marathons! (I saw a guy who ran backwards the whole time, another guy who was dressed like a medieval knight, and a girl who was painted gold.)
1. Finishing a marathon is one of the GREATEST feelings you can ever get! (Only 1% of the population has finished a marathon. Finishing is an unbelievable feeling. It might even be a better feeling than when the Angels won the World Series…that’s huge!)

Enjoy the pictures! They are me between Mile 18 and 19, the family after the race with my medal, me icing my knee, and my nasty toenail and blister.

Two Days and Counting

I’m less than 36 hours away from running the marathon! Wow! I can’t believe it. I am very thankful for the support I’ve received from friends and family. So, thank you.
I am only a couple hundred dollars short of my goal for fundraising and I still have a month after the marathon to raise any more. Our school brought in over $1100 for LLS. Half of the money went to me for my fundraising. You can see the pics here of me getting taped to the wall for the “stuck for a buck” fundraising drive.