Waiting for Baseball to Begin

The team name "Rockies" is certainly appropriate for us so far this year. It took three weeks for baseball evaluations to finish because of snow and cold weather, it felt like we were in the Rocky Mountains. The picture above is one from Friday, Feb 12th, the day before the 2nd time we didn't have evaluations.

This is a spot where I want all the parents and family to be able to go and read stories about how their son or grandson or nephew played in the game on Saturday. We can post pictures we all take, share stories. I was an assistant coach in a fall league Devin played in last year and the coach did this, and it was very nice for me to go back and read about a great play he made, or read a funny story about what he did on the field (on particularly bad days, it was nice to read about my son instead of whiny e-mails from co-workers).

This will be my third year coaching baseball at Johnson Ferry.

When my son was six years old, I checked the box on his registration form that said I would be willing to volunteer as an assistant coach. Two days before practices started I was informed that I was now a head coach. After spending a season as a assistant coach/dad in a little league that was the poster child for poor sportsmanship and all-around un-Christian behaviour - I was terrified! I think I was more afraid of the thoughts of dealing wtih the parents than I was the kids.

However, my experiences at Johnson Ferry have been nothing short of great and positive. The staff is great. The coaches care of the kids. The parents were looking for the same positive experience that I was.

And there were no fights in the stands. No bats being swung at the umpires. In three years I could count the number of obscene words I've heard on two fingers.

So, I'm looking forward to a fun season ahead of us here.