Tournament Time

Other than Bonnaroo, this is my favorite weekend of the year.  The weekend of the Nashville Bar Association softball tournament.  It's always hot and this year is no exception.  There's always a lot of softball.  There's always a lot of beer.  For me, there are few things better than spending the better part of a weekend at East Park on Woodland Street - playing and watching softball - with my friends and colleagues.

I've written, many times, about how much the softball league in general, and my team in particular, mean to me.  The camaraderie, the laughing and joking, the trash talk, the emotion, the competition among people who are naturally competitive, the winning and losing, the friendships and the championships.  Yep, I love all of that.  I think I appreciate it more as I get older, too.

It's been a tough year for us, as we haven't really been able to get a full squad there consistently.  Earlier this week, we lost our first game of the tournament (18-6), which I believe has only happened once in the past 25 years.  The year it happened, we came out of the losers' bracket to win the title.  That may not happen this year, but I would like to go on a run and play a few games.

This morning was a good start, as we run-ruled Waller 27-6.  Although we were missing a couple of players, we had the best squad we have had all season and it showed.  Everyone hit for a change, which was nice.  My boy, Shawn, with whom I have played many, many softball games over the years, was back and made his presence known with a 2-run homer into the street, an opposite field shot on the unlighted field.  It was majestic.

Jude and the boys arrived shortly after the start of the game.  J.P. and Joe were stoked because the Blitzballs and bat I ordered arrived earlier this week and I had them at the park.  We were able to get in a little Blitzball in left field after our game before the Independents' game began.  I'm sure there will be a lot more Blitzball this afternoon and tomorrow.

As I walked into the dugout this morning, I was singing - loudly - "it's the most wonderful time of the year."  And it is, for me, anyway.