Sorry For Disappearing

Just realized I hadn't posted anything since Memorial Day Weekend.  Time flies when you're just enjoying life and not worried about lineups.

First and foremost, I have been on vacation.  We spent a week in Corolla, NC, splitting time between the ocean, the pool at our rental home, and the various attractions that make the Outer Banks a restful, affordable and, above all, a family place to vacation.  If the ocean had been warmer, especially early in the week, it would have been absolutely perfect.

A vacation like this would have been impossible coaching, but as an umpire, I am in control of my schedule.  My teenagers even enjoyed their time with mom and dad.  Back home a week, it has returned to normal: the pug is the only one happy to see mom and dad come home from work.  For a week, it was pretty darn good.

-I have been umpiring some travel baseball, and have a couple of observations.

First, the fundamentals are still a mixed bag in the 12U and 13 U Levels, but the kids playing 14U seem to be pretty sound.  The lesson here is simple: coaches, don't slack on your player's when it comes to fundamentals.  Even if they are not talented, they will play at higher levels if they do things right.  I saw a couple of kids with little comparative ability, who could still play competetively because their fundamentals were solid.  They might become the best players in a couple of years: their bodies could mature into a real ballplayer, instead of a great athlete with lousy fundamentals who need to learn them while competing.  That situation doesn't end well.

Second, the number of breaking pitches thrown by 12U and 13U players is WAY too many.  A twelve year old's curve ball is hard to adjust to the the 60 foot distance, making it a competetive liability until they gain control.  Is a win now worth the wear and tear that could end a promising player's career early?  I saw a 13U game where one pitcher threw almost 33% curve balls.  Yes, he threw them for strikes, but would they be strikes from another 6 feet away?  NO.  What's he gonna have left at 16?  Memories.

-I am a Chicago Blackhawks fan, going back to the days of Tony O.  A third Stanley Cup after a lifetime of nothing is almost too much to believe.  A win tomorrow night would secure Lord Stanley for another year in Chicago.

Considering the Blackhawks have been responding to the Lightning's lead, it is even more incredible. Tampa Bay has had control of every game, at least at some point.  Last night, the second period looked like a power play for Tampa almost the entire period.  Just one goal allowed was a tribute to incredible will.  If it hadn't been for a miscommunication in the first period, that game would have gone to overtime.  Lord knows what would have happened then.

Should the Blackhawks win the Cup, it will be by experience.  Tampa's day will come.

-I look for IndyCar to put on a good show in Toronto today.  Street courses, notorious for tight racing, could be a great exhibition today.  The course in Toronto has a nice mix of speed sections, tight turns, and offers several passing zones.  It might come down to the driver who still has "push to pass" available at race end.  Weather not withstanding, it should be a show.

So...am I off base?