So the MACA softball and baseball teams have season-opening action set today (Tuesday). That's interesting. Odds don't look good for any of this happening. We've been through this routine before: weather and conditions not ready for outdoor sports. The rest of the week does not look promising either.
Why not some indoor intramural sports first?
Track and field is in better shape because these teams can travel for fieldhouse meets. They could do this all spring. I suppose the weather causes a problem for preparation.
We are all still stunned, no doubt, by the bleakness of this past winter. I don't recall any reprieves. The extreme cold hung on over long stretches. The wind could be unrelenting. Worst of all, we got socked by the combination of those two qualities a lot.
We are past the month of March. The month did not provide as much relief as it should have. The bright spot was when I could post a photo of Sharon Martin's dog "Goldy" out along the biking/walking trail. That is the absolute No. 1 symbol of getting a reprieve from the winter weather. It ought to be a real harbinger of spring. Alas, we can get teased by the relatively mild days of March and early April. So easy to think "we're in the clear" from the ravages of weather.
It is 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning and the weather is a pisser: intermittent rain, wind intense, too cold. Last night was fairly pleasant so I took a walk, went past the softball complex. Obviously it's an ungodly muddy mess now. Couldn't they have planned a sidewalk? Well no, as the place is not living up to its initial billing at all. Had I given money, I'd be very concerned. No one came to me.
The Tigers were scheduled to play there today. My skepticism about the project finds no relief. Yesterday (Monday) I shared more thoughts on this, which I suggest you read if you're concerned about your property taxes. I shared on my companion blog "Morris of Course."
People got highly concerned about the proposed county jail several years ago, before I began blogging. I did no writing at all for over three years after I left the Morris newspaper. That's quite amazing, as writing is programmed into my DNA. Still, I could not survive at the Morris newspaper. This was during the regime of Forum Communications which ended up leaving town.
Eventually I was persuaded that starting a blog or blogs would be easy. Thank goodness for that, as I was rather psyched out, having dealt with word processing during "analog" times. Yes, going back to the old "manual" typewriters. "Caveman painting times" from today's outlook.
The person who persuaded me was Del Sarlette whose birthday is today (April 5). He and I are past the age which our generation once set for defining "old": 65. We once thought of grandparents as lovable, old, frail white-haired people. I remember the TV host Red Skelton doing a little piece with that imagery, and my dad thought he was getting carried away.
Grandparents needn't be seen as so frail.
Before I forget, below is the link to my "Morris of Course" post of yesterday where I share further on the early spring ordeal of sports, and the "softball complex" in Morris.
Grandparents of today are typically in the mainstream of things. Maybe the man plays senior hockey! The woman plays softball! Well, all the more power to them.
Del and I were in high school when the school had "cheerleaders" for sports. We took for granted this institution. As the years roll by now, it will get lodged in the dustbin of history. We knew at the time that this institution served to "objectify" girls/women. We knew it full well but the knowledge was in our sub-consciousness. Cheerleaders had to be "cute" by the standards we all were aware of. Let's call it misogynistic.
How do you think all the girls felt, who knew they did not fit the template? Oh my goodness, we all knew there were certain girls who "need not apply." Horrendous attitude, inexcusable.
There was one girl in my class, the '73 MHS class, who was on the basketball cheerleading unit for my sophomore year. I think we all knew who this girl was going to be. Sure enough, she was the one.
I wonder if the "cute girls" even appreciated being considered as such. So many of our feelings were buried then. Gays had to stay in the closet. "Fat" kids were stigmatized or teased, whereas today you can be obese as hell with blubber bouncing up and down as you walk, and we think nothing of it! I know I went through periods when I felt the need to keep my weight down unreasonably, for social acceptance.
Boys' pants were made back then to be tight in the crotch. Someone should have been put in jail for that. Clothes were marketed as "slim cut." How the worm as turned, and first we started seeing "relaxed fit" pants and then "loose fit." The horse was out of the barn, or whatever the expression is.
So here it is April 5 and the best-laid plans of high school sports schedulers look to be shot to hell. Such an old refrain. No one listens to me on my suggestion of a one-month indoor intramural season. And I wonder how many people are paying attention to the softball complex.
The community's softball needs could have been largely accommodated on the public school grounds. Such convenient parking there. Parking is dangerous at the new complex: the MAHS activities director has told us so. Is mine a voice in the wilderness? "Mongo just pawn in game of life" (Alex Karras in "Blazing Saddles").
Remember: Del Sarlette's birthday today (April 5).
Addendum: I see where today's scheduled softball game has been moved to May 6. On and on it goes, this challenge of facing the early-spring weather. It is a sign that certain things just don't change. Except that prices are getting higher everywhere, like the Morris newspaper upping its single-copy price to two dollars, effective May 1. Please put pressure on the paper to make its website more useful.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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