Team USA

I went to Chattanooga to watch Team USA come together to practice and play softball in preparation for the University World Games. It is going to be in Thailand during August. Moms had called me up a couple of months ago to say she read about it in the newspaper and my junior college coach had been one of the ones chosen to help coach the USA team. I was so excited for her--what an honor!! And well deserved. The team is made up of Junior College players from around the nation. They were all flown in to Chattanooga by (I think) the Coca-Cola and Little Debbie people-thank goodness or they would have just met each other for the first time in Thailand. They are all great athletes, but it really showed that first night that they didn't know each other. They were clicking by the third night and you could see the camaraderie. It made me miss my old teammates.

I have only been to one game since I played in college. I went to watch UCLA play while I lived in LA. It was fun, Lisa Fernandez was there and all, but didn't leave me with the urge to go back to the days of playing. However this past weekend sitting there on the other side of the fence and hearing my old coach's voice made me want to run around and throw and waller in the dirt. My left hand was itching for my glove!

Coach would come up to us in between innings with comments here and there. A lot of "remember when-s" and filling me in on this player and that. It was great to be around her again. She is a very talented, modest coach who has done such a great job with the program down at Gulf Coast. She has been inducted into the hall of fame and has led her teams all the way to Nationals several times. She is one of my favorite "teachers" of all time.

I also met a new friend there. We ended up sitting beside him in our chairs right at the fence on third base line. He is 85 years old and I can see how he might get on people's nerves, but he kept me laughing a lot. The first evening I had an A&F shirt on with my on the back, so he called me "nine" all weekend. He was in the army for 36 years so I called him "general". He was a talker! He has followed softball there in Chattanooga for years and was well acquainted with all the local players. He filled me in on their highlights and where they were going to college. He also said some crazy things for example--in the stands right behind us a guy was saying he'd always wanted to go to Africa. The general turns around and says "Why the hell do you want to go to Africa?!" The guy tells him whatever it is he wants to see and the general replies "well just be sure you get your VD shot before you go". I mean, the man is 85 and I reckon he can say whatever he wants which is exactly what he did all weekend. There were many more comments, but I know I can't type them as funny as he said them. I am not sure I want to live to be 85, but if I do I hope I am able to get around well and be as sharp as the General is. Of course I had to get a picture with this character.







So that Sunday Mom and I treated some of the team to Cold Stone-the yummiest ice cream ever. The Cold Stone people gave us a sweet deal--they let us all go behind the counter and make our own! How exciting!





Oh --and Saturday as we were walking past the stadium in downtown Chattanooga, they shot fireworks.























Sweet weekend. Yay.