Hitting A Softball Can Be Like Artwork

This guest post from Mickey Garza

Tomorrow night is our first softball playoff game vs SEM. They are a team we have beaten on several occasions. One occasion was when I hit a walk-off HR with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th. It was only the second walk-off HR I had ever hit in softball or softball, so it was incredibly satisfying. I don’t know what came over me, but I knew I was going to hit a HR the instant I stepped up to the plate. The next time we played them, they were prepared for me. They played their OF deep and pitched me outside. I counter-attacked by hitting the ball to the opposite field, which worked out well. The dilemma is that they now know all of my weapons. Since I’m a lefty, they will have one mad deep in RF, one man deep in RC, and one man hugging the line at 3B to take away the backside shot.

I do have one idea, which is to use a 30% swing on the pull side and then up the middle. I saw this done while at the Cherokee Softball Tournament. They only got 1 HR per game. These guys had mastered the 30% swing and could put the ball anywhere they wanted. I have never been so excited about placing the ball before, but it’s like artwork. Once I finish work tomorrow, I’m going to go home, grab a light snack, set myHome alarms home security alarm, and head to the field with new weaponry up my sleeve. I hope it works out.

Training Big

Guest post written by Dan McCloud

Last weekend after taking a Free Hearing Test, I was privileged to witness the New York Marathon in person. The atmosphere was electric and it was really inspiring to witness. While I was anticipating a lot of 20 and 30 year olds, I was surprised to see that there were actually people who appeared to be my age and older running the race.

When I reached retirement age, I closed the books on athletic activities, but seeing these people stay in the game with people half their age really inspired me to get off my rear end and take something up again. I ran track years ago, and after seeing seniors keep with the young people, I think I want to seriously train for next year’s marathon by taking it a day at a time. It’s not going to be an easy journey, but if I can complete it, it would be so personally rewarding. That would honestly be an accomplishment of a lifetime and something to really take pride in. I am going in to the doctors for a physical on Tuesday, and assume that I receive a clean bill of health; I’ll be ready to go.

The Staten Island Yankees

Guest post written by Jerry Newhouse

Before the season ended, I had a chance to take my wife for a great baseball game in Staten Island. While I was searching for Miracle Ear hearing aids, I found myself clicking on a link that said something about the New York Yankees—and ended up being hteir minor league affiliate! To my surprise, there’s a team in Staten Island called the Staten Island Yankees that we’d never known was there. My wife and I are huge Yankees fans, and we thought it would be great to support the younger players coming up in baseball, so we took a ferry out to Staten Island to see them play the Brooklyn Cyclones later that week. The Cyclones are apparently their league rivals, and the game was very exciting.

One of the things I loved best about the experience is that the stadium is very close to the water. In the outfield you can see the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty. It’s a wonderful view, and it makes the experience that much more enjoyable. I think that next season my wife and I are going to go out to Staten Island more regularly.

I can’t see it

I really don’t pay much attention as to how I find things on the Internet. I have emails that direct me to different sites when I log out, and sometimes I see a story that catches my attention and I click on it. That’s how I found this video of a high-school football kick-off being thwarted by 40 mph winds. I watched the video, and though I can see the players chasing after the ball, I can’t see the ball itself. Can you?

Can’t Miss Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

When it comes to Nascar, I can’t ever remember missing a race. There is just something about checking out the race for the Sprint Cup and cheering on my favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson. I know he has had a few problems in the past, but he is going to come through strong in the end and maybe win it all. I have been one of his fans for a few years now and even have a parking plaque in the garage that says only #48 fans can park here. I know its pretty cheesy, but I just love the guy.

The best way to watch Nascar is on the satellite tv in Oregon with popcorn, nachos, drinks along with family and friends. The more people there to watch and cheer the better. A few of my friends weren’t really big Nascar fans, but after a few of the race parties, they have become converts. No one else roots for Jimmie Johnson, but at least we all have something in common and something else to talk about. Hopefully, next season, someone else will volunteer their house for a party or two.