Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Softball in Tucson

I love getting paid to watch my nieces--nephews and my own children participate in their given sport. I feel like it gives me a leg up on the list of
"favorite Aunt"status.
I love the chance i get to support them in what they are doing--and i love the chance i get to "hang" with them--and maybe even catch them on film.
Today i got to drive my niece down to Tucson for a softball game. She was the only person to get on base for her team and she did make some good plays but...the team did not fair so well and it had a rather ugly ending. There is something about driving girls on long road trips...win or lose...they act the same. Girls just get "over it" faster than boys do.If only they would apply that to other aspects of their lives...

I did have my camera with me--and they were kind enough to let me sit on second base and take this picture of my niece in right field

"YOOOHOOOO
--Hey look at me--
I want a picture of your face--
Am i embarrassing you?"

I promised to stay out of the way--kinda like the ump
--but this one almost hit me--
"HEY--not so close next time"
--remember i am sitting here--
"what?"
"just because you are a base runner you think you can take over the base?" Honestly--i was just sitting there cuz i didn't want to get my pants dirty.
"OK fine you can stand on that corner i am not using..."

"Hey sweetie--don't chew on your glove--
I will give you some gum when we go back to the dugout"
--"What?"--
"Am I being distracting out here?"
"You want me to sit back in the stands?"
FINE!!!
--this is me stomping off--
only i can't take a picture of myself doing that
"UMMM coach--I just want to apologize for my Aunt,
--I didn't know she would be here today"
"Although she did give up her spoon so i didn't have to eat my salad like a rabbit--leaving her spoonless to eat her chili" (OK i added that part--she didn't really say that--although she should have since that really did happen--I always wonder what they say in those little huddles)

"Please coach can you make her stay in the stands--and maybe put some duct tape over her mouth so she can't say anything to embarrass me?"(not that i would ever do that)
"As much as i would like to do that Ry--we forgot to bring the duct tape with us--plus we need to keep her somewhat happy so she will drive us home safely..." Girl in the middle was saying "I like your aunt--she makes me laugh"
--"Yah--
she really is funny...
when you are not the one related to her...."
So here i am sitting in the stands watching her bat
--or bundt or bunt
since bundt is a cake
and she was not making a cake
--she also was not bunting...
attempting but not executing
and then a swing and a miss--
which scared the pitcher--
so she decided to hit my niece with the next pitch--

THUMP
she took it like a girl who has three brothers
--TOUGH I SAY--
just like her aunt who also has three brothers--
but i would have curled up in a ball and cried and made the girl feel sufficiently bad and then jumped up and said
"JUST KIDDING"
because i am just that kind of girl.
I show this picture just to show you that she was OK after being hit by the ball--and to reflect on the score--SHE is the only hope of scoring
think how much better a picture this would have been--if only i was not sitting behind the fence--maybe i can stand behind the Ump--or perhaps the first base coach?
She is off--
somewhere along the line i think she slide
--but i missed it--
maybe it was my obscured view...
Here she is on second
--right where i had been sitting--
think of the closeup i could have gotten if i had still been there....
(my mean spirited niece)
I think she kicked dirt over the base just to make sure that i would not return to sit there again
look at the speed on that girl...
i think she was visualizing running away from her Aunt
She did make it to third--aren't you glad i was there to document it? That indeed there was a bright spot--be it ever so minor--in the game?
This is where her base running ended
--and the game shortly there after...
I have the feeling it is going to be a
L---O---N---G
season


I also had the Varsity boys baseball on my bus (can you believe co-mingling of sports?--say it isn't so...) The girls game got over early enough that i was able to watch some of the baseball game--which involved a young man i have known since birth. It is fun to support your friends kids....their game faired much better and they walked away with a win....

No comments: