Tying…it’s like…better than losing

The outlook was rather breezy, for the Spider Run 9 that day

As they gathered at 5:30 at the locale of 5 Richmond Way.

At first Bleeder showed up in day glo, then Taxi Cab did the same

Then TYA and Swirly, BT, Pucker and Toucan came

Finally trickling in was Swiper, with those glasses in which wood could carve,

The 8 of them huddling near the lake, waiting on the Q from MARV.

And with that, ends the attempt at putting a whole backblast to the rhythms of “Casey at the Bat” (if you didn’t read it in that cadence, go try again, and then roll your eyes and, at least, try a fist bump for the effort.  I guess we could always try haikus again.

The Thang

Starting at 5 Richmond Way.  Heading north (north is always up, right? If you are running up you are going north).  Hit College Drive and head east.  Take that and go south on Henri (runs parallel to Three Chopt).  Dive back east down Grove.

4 Milers–going to Greenway and then turn around, SAAB style and run back

5 Milers–keep going to Oak.  Go South on Oak and get to Cary street.  Then SAAB it back

6 Miler (singular)– Go across Cary and do Hillcrest.  Salute TYA’s house when you run by.

So that was the run.  Almost perfect weather and a good mix of uphills and downhills.  It almost made you feel like the BRR, with the hills and the breeze and the lack of humidity.

No real announcements.

Sippy Update–Saw Sippy today at Byrd Park at a Little League game (more on that in a minute).  He’s doing ok.  He has two more appointments with the physical therapist and he’s guessing that after the 2nd appt he’ll be cleared to run again.  That’ll be a good thing, I miss Sippy.

Speaking of Byrd Park…allow me to have somewhat of an ode to Richmond Little League, if I may.

If you are ever on your way home around 6:45 on a weekday night, and the weather is as perfect as it was tonight, with a cool sunset and a nice breeze, I plead with you to at least drive by Byrd Park (heading south on Shepard Street) and I swear, if you’re not careful, you’ll think time has stopped, or at least gone backwards.

There are usually two baseball games going on, “Jerome the Hot Dog Man” flipping burgers and dogs and kids running around and playing all different types of games.  There are no IPads, there are no flat screens…just kids running around outside the fences and playing ball inside of them…it is almost…idyllic.

On this particular night, the Minors 9 Braves, coached by the indomitable BT, were matched up against the Yankees.  It’s been a tough start for the M9 Bravos, as these kids are venturing out into their first experience in kid pitch.  While I’m not one to report records of teams comprised of 9 year old boys (most of whom still sleep with some sort of stuffed thing), lets just say that BT’s team has a lot of wins left in them.

But tonight, the M9 Braves were on fire! They were playing inspired baseball.  And who was at the helm steering this ship, but our own BT, who 13 hours earlier was tracking through the near west end running up and down hills, mentally preparing for that night’s battle.  There he was, bent over in that aggressive coaching position with his hands on his knees, with his “Cons” turf shoes on which are, and I’m not kidding here, at least 24 years old.

The Braves got out to a big lead and you could feel the buzz of their first win in the air.  But the Yankees were undaunted, and in 9 year old baseball where the coach comes out and lobs them in there after ball 3 (a rule constructed on a run with Splinter and Sippy one morning) no lead is safe.

Look, there’s butterflies, there’s nervousness and then there’s the feeling a competitive dad has in the bottom of the 4th (and last) when his team is close to securing a monumental win. That’s where BT was.

In the end, a ground ball plated a runner for the Yanks and the teams left the field with a 7-7 tie. A good step for the M9 Braves, definitely something they could build on.

BT is left to go back to his house and second guess the moves he made, the motivational talks he gave in between innings.  He’ll check his batting order and wonder if he switched a couple of kids around if he could squeeze a run or two out of this group.  It’s a tall task, BT, remember, many of them still sleep with plush ducks.  But they are certainly extremely fortunate to have you to gather them up after each game and provide encouraging words of wisdom from an extremely caring coach.