Post-Conference Updates

Annual Conference
I attended my first Wisconsin Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church. Having never been there before, I was not sure what to expect. It is essentially a business conference, full of reports and legislation. It was like being back in the NCC/WCC boardroom :). It was really wonderful to have an opportunity to meet all of the district superintendents and the bishop. It was also an amazing experience to have my licensing as a local pastor be made official at the Commissioning Service.

Softball
Our team has now won three in a row! We did not make it easy ourselves, squandering a big lead but pulling out a victory 22-15 on Monday night. I witnessed one of the more bizarre abuses of a rule at the game. In the rec. leagues in Oshkosh, if you are caught swearing during a game your team receives an automatic out. Games are scheduled for 60 minutes and games are 7 innings long. If times runs out, the inning that is currently taking place ends and the game is over. It was the bottom of the sixth inning and there was one minute left.

Our opponents had one out and the batter at the plate had flied out. Seeing the time left, he purposely swore giving them three outs. It left enough time for the seventh inning to start, so we had to keep playing. Time ran out before our batter was called to the plate. The game should have been over right there. In fact, the game should have been over when the team abused the swear rule to extend the game. We ended up scoring 10 runs in the seventh inning to bad the lead. That seemed appropriate.

For the record, I had an on-base percentage of 1.000. I walked four times and had a nice single. Too bad I was forced out at second all five times. Grrr...

Movies
I saw Terminator Salvation yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It is a good summer sci-fi movie. You have to allow for some bad dialogue and some completely lame moments. Otherwise, it was entertaining and worth seeing. They even leave the possibility of a sequel. We'll see.

Remote Post: Appleton, WI

My apologies for not posting much in the last few weeks. Christa and I have begun packing in ernest for our move to Oakfield, WI. When you look around the apartment, it is amazing how bare it already is. We shouldn't have too much left to pack when we officially move on the 29th.

Other than that, last week was also a busy social week for us as well. We attended my little brother's middle school graduation, Robby's (Christa's brother) graduation, and the wedding of two of my old staff members. *whew* Needless to say, I have been a little behind in my posting. I hope to be posting more regularly at this point.

From today until Wednesday, I will be at the Wisconsin Annual Conference for the United Methodist Church. As this meeting, we discuss legislation and talk about the business of the church. Sorry NACURH and WURHA folks, there is no cheering at this conference :). This is the first time I have been to the Annual Conference, so I am definitely taking it all in.

Other News:

• I have a softball game tonight. It has been two weeks since our last game and we are currently on a 2 game winning streak. What will happen?
• Christa and I have finally ordered all of the initial furniture for the house. We look forward to placing it in the pasronage soon!

A Triple!

Can you call two games a winning streak? I say so. Compiling 14 runs in seven innings, Strikeforce United managed to withstand a nine run effort by the other team in the last two winning to take the victory: 14-10. There were a few not so solid fielding moments, but the team managed to put together a solid effort, capped by another impressive offensive performance.

I was happy to get a triple during the evening's events, coupled with a walk. All total, I contributed an RBI and a run to the score. It was a good game. Most of it has to do with being patient at the plate and waiting for good pitches. The rest of it has to do with just relaxing and having fun. It's amazing how that works.

Softball Game #2 Report

This was a tough loss for Strikeforce United. We took a 7-4 lead into the seventh and final inning. Our hitting fell along the same lines as our previous game. We were able to string some hits together and produce some runs. Our fielding greatly improved and it allowed us to stay in the game. Sadly, in the seventh inning we gave up five runs and lost the lead.

The drama built in the bottom of the seventh inning as the bases were loaded with two outs. Our batter hit a ball that should have gone foul, but was played while it was still fair. Three opponents converged to "play" the ball, thus blocking the way of the runner. He was tagged out and interference was not called. It was a tough play to call, but it ended the game and we came up short.

Monday's game was a great learning experience for me. One of my teammates offered me some great advice about both fielding and hitting. As a result, I did better in both areas. I had two walks and scored a run in the effort. I am curious to see in this transfers over to the next game I play in.

First Softball Game

We came up on the short end of this game. We lost 23-11. In comparison to last year, we at least managed to put some runs together. We are still plagued with way too many errors. Throws don't get to where they are supposed to, catches are dropped and we get too aggressive. If that doesn't improve, we'll be at the losing end a lot. As one person at the end of the game said, "If you take unearned runs away, this was a 1-0 game."

My final line was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs. I totally botched the one ball that was popped to me, but did some decent fielding of the grounders that came my way. Given that it was the first game of the summer, I didn't practice throwing until 6:30 that night and I hadn't swung a bat since, it wasn't so bad (that was a long sentence...and probably is grammatically incorrect).

Stay tuned for weekly updates as the season unfolds on Mondays.

Softball Begins

With last week's rain out, tonight is the first softball game of the season for BW3's Strikeforce. I am not sure how things will go this season. Above everything else, I appreciate the opportunity to get outdoors and run around in some nice weather; it's exercise. With each passing year, I get to know the folks on the team a little bit better, but most of the team members are people I don't really know or don't really hang out with at all. So it's not a social time for me.

I would also add that I am not much of a softball player. I never played organized baseball or softball, and up until a few years ago, I hadn't thrown a softball since high school. There has been a real learning curve. I throw somewhat better, but I have no patience at the plate and need to continue to improve in that area. I also know very little about strategy and often screw that up.

This year, we are in a league with five other teams. I am curious as to how good they are. Last year, we were competitive in a few games, but we often ended up losing. Perhaps this year's prospects will be better.

I thought I'd give it one more try. Look for an update tomorrow on how the game went.

My dad had talked a little bit about this photograph, and after sending it to me, I am truly amazed.

This is a still photo of the play in the NFC Championship where Favre threw his final pass as a Packer...an interception.

Favre threw the pass to receiver farthest to the left...where the coverage was quite tight.

If you look at the other receivers, they have the defense beat and could easily catch a Favre pass. For a QB with so much poise and experience, it really seems like he forced this one. Just interesting...

Other News:

1. I had my first day of RHD training. It was a little overwhelming when you've been gone for the first week. But, it's all gonna get done one way or another.
2. Tonight is my first softball game in about three weeks. It will be interesting to see how that goes.
   

A Win, Almost..

With some solid rain on Monday canceling my men's league game, it has been a little while for a softball post. It was three years ago when I started playing with Tex's men's team in the Oshkosh city leagues. I had never played any organized baseball or softball in my life; I hadn't thrown a ball since probably middle school. That first summer was rough. I didn't have any direction to save my life, not any power. At times it was honestly embarrassing.

Some similar happened although, it wasn't me this time. Our game last night was close, it was 4-4 going into the seventh inning. We had already given up one run, a run that was controversial regarding whether or not an out made would have negated the run. Anyone, there were two outs and it was only 5-4. The next batter hit a weak grounder to second. I was at first awaiting the throw and it went over my head. In fact it went over the fence and out of play...automatically allowing the base runners to advance. It was now 6-4.

The bats were moving early and we had some base runners. We scored one run! With one out and runners on second and third, a nice hit allowed the runners to move. For some reason we held the tying run at third even through she could have made it home. Our next batter fouled out and that was it. 6-5.

We played some good ball at it was competitive throughout. I enjoyed my time at first base.

A Few Interesting Links for the Day

Here are a few interesting links for you to check out today:

The Power of Watermelon - I found this linked from the Drudge Report. Here's another reason to have that watermelon for dessert over the 4th of July weekend.

What Exactly Does Retirement Mean? - I found this on ESPN.com. Apparently, Brett Favre has the itch to return. Favre has since gone on record to say that there are simply rumors. I want to believe him, but I have this feeling Favre isn't completely retired. Check some of the comments left by readers...they are priceless.

Another Step Toward Moving - I found this on EPSN.com. One more step has occurred to allow the Seattle Supersonics to move to Oklahoma City. From what I am reading, it looks like there is plenty of blame to go around. With the Bucks record recently and the iffy fan base, it makes you wonder if the Bucks may be the next team to move. Not a whole of players are excited to play in Milwaukee.

Big Break-Up - When you think of the contract that A-Rod is under, this could be a messy divorce if it comes to it.

Other News:

• The Neenah softball team lost last night. We lost 10-1. We could not string any hits together. Hopefully, a practice will be scheduled for Sunday or Monday. That would be very helpful.
• I continue to read for License to Preach school. I have gotten through five books or so and need to get started on some of the papers.
• Christa has gotten a lot of scrap booking done over the last few weeks.
  

Focus & Control: A Softball Update

Our Monday softball team came up on the losing end again in our game. It was a bizarre turn of events during the game. In the first inning we scored five runs, and they scored zero. Then we added four more and things were looking up. It looked great until the bottom of the second inning when they dropped 15 runs on us. That was the end of of it. The team did an excellent job of hitting balls just over the infield and right in from of the outfield. It was a rough evening. We managed to put 13 runs up there...but they put up 24.

Now for a little wisdom from Yoda:

Yoda: "All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph."

Yoda: "Control, control. You must learn control!"

Last night I went 2-4 in the game and had four RBI. The big difference for me over the last few weeks has been patience at the plate. I have been better at taking pitches until I get the pitch that I want. As a result, I made excellent contact at every at bat, and two of them happened to go toward the center fielder. I have also learned to not feel so much pressure when I'm up and there and just have fun.

Now I think of Yoda when I play softball. Focus and control. Focus and control.

Bonus Softball

I got called up to help out with a softball team that is composed of many of my teammates from last year. It is a co-ed team that had many folks with Breese roots. It is always a good time to have the chance to play with them. Unfortunately, we lost the game 19-6

The good news is that I probably had my most productive batting night. I went 1-3 with one walk and a triple. I had one run and two RBI.

The bad news was that we played a poor team game. People were cutting to front of each other to catch balls, people were not positioning themselves properly for different batters and sometimes simply looked indifferent. Sadly, I could not overlook this and it ruined what otherwise would have been a good experience.

Regardless of the outcome, it was nice to hook up with old friends.

Yeah, I said that my blogs would be more sporadic...so much for that. Christa turned 24 today...huzzah! She should be getting her new cell phone soon!!

Softball News

Last night's softball game resulted in another loss, 11-5. We have really struggled to put hits together and generate runs. Personally, I didn't have a bad game, but I did better when I didn't swing. I went 0-1 but had two walks. I am actually quite proud of this because I have a tendency to swing at everything. I am beginning to develop a sense of patience at the plate. To round off the evening I also had a nice grab from the one batter who was left handed ;).

Training Update
Please know that with RHD training going on, I won't be available as much so posts may be more sporadic.

What's Worse Than a Loss?

How about two losses? Last night I played in my first ever softball double header with games at 8:30 and 9:30. It made for long night regardless, but it became even longer when we lost both games (15-13 & 15-3).

The first game was a back breaker. We were down by quite a bit early as our defense was pretty sad to start the game. In the later innings, we chipped away at the lead and managed to tie the game going into the ninth inning. Unfortunately, a botched catch of a fly ball added two runs that we were not able to make up. My performance in the game was not awful, but my batting definitely did not live up to previous weeks. When I did manage to get on base, the next few people got out and I wasn't able to contribute.

The second game showed out fatigue. The mercy rule was invoked after five innings. I actually managed to contribute one of the three RBIs we had in the game. Yay...

Next week is our last game and we will end the season below .500. However, as the season went on, I have come to enjoy playing on this team more and more. I am thinking that I will probably join the team next summer if they will allow me.

Softball Update

It's hard to get too excited about my performance in Monday night's game because we lost. We simply could got get our bats going consistently and there was a cheap call that cost us some possible runs. At one point, we had the bases loaded and our best batter was at the plate. He was ahead in the count 2-0 (3 balls is a walk) and the next pitch was obviously going to be a ball. The man on first base began moving toward second a few seconds before the ball hit the ground. He was called out and the inning was over...

...who makes that call? I didn't even know that this rule existed. Why would you do it? it was obvious our batter wasn't going to swing. It was obvious that out runner wouldn't go far with someone on second. Why would you destroy a team's best chance at a rally? Grr...

I went 3-3 that night and every hit I had was a great connection. I even had a double and scored a run. It was a good night overshadowed by a cruddy call.

A Win Makes Everything Better

Despite some shaky offense late in the and some shaky fielding throughout the game, Strikeforce United came out on the winning side in last night's game. The final score was 20-19 if memory serves.

In the first inning we scored seven runs and the next inning we scored five, so I thought the game was going to be a walk in the park. When the runs started to dry up and they started getting runs, it got scary. But, we prevailed and now have a record of 3-4.

After a sub-par hitting performance last week, I managed to go 3-5 with a double thrown in there as well. I had one RBI and two runs scored. Taking my usual position of right field, I did not let anything get by me.

The clubhouse felt looser and people seemed in better spirits. I suppose that comes with winning. I am slowly getting to know the team better and it is easier for me to play when I feel like I am part of the team. If we can keep this energy going for the rest of the season, this will continue to be fun.

New softball Update

In lieu of keeping weekly statistics for the softball game, I figure I can just give a overview of the evening's activities. Sadly, we lost last night's game, but it was a great game. Our game went 10 innings and finished with a score of 27-20. Sadly, I had an opportunity with two outs and two on the ninth to win the game and I popped out. The next inning we gave up a bunch of runs and we were not able to get them back.

I sat out the first few innings as the DH, but came in to play right field for the majority of the game. I had a nice grab to keep the 8th inning scoreless and that was about it in the field. You don't do too much in right field :).

I went 1 for 5 for the evening and my one hit came from an error. Otherwise, I hit a few weak grounders and almost legged out a few singles. It had been three weeks since I last played a game, so I think I needed a week to get back into the swing of things. Hopefully things get better.

Victory!

It only took 19 games and my second season of playing softball to finally be on a team that wins a game! It came down to the 7th inning, but we managed to put one run over the plate in the bottom of the seventh to win the game 13-12. We had some timely hitting in the sixth inning which really gave us the opportunity to win the game. It was nice to make individual contributions in a game that helped the team win.

Games	At Bat	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	BB	RBI	AVG	OBP
2	6	1	4	0	0	1	0	.666	.714

It was really windy last night, so that added an extra dimension to everything. The wind was blowing to the outfield, so catching fly balls was fun. I only had one ball hit to me and I caught it. I also felt for the pitcher because the wind would carry a lot of his pitches.

Either way, we won!

Softball Season 2

Thanks to Thomas Pedersen, I have been asked to join his men's softball team for the summer. Nothing can beat my perfect season (0-17) last summer, but I have the opportunity to try things out with a new team. Our first game last Monday was rained out, but today the nasty weather seemed to go around us and the game was on.

I knew a few folks on the team besides Thomas. DJ, Shane Leach and Rich Scott were the other folks that I knew. Otherwise, it was a bunch of people that I did not know. They seemed very nice, but I did not necessarily feel a connection to the team. They have all played together before, so it will probably take a little time to get into the flow.

I played in right field which is probably a good spot for me. Not too many balls hit my way, but the ones that were I caught :). I proved that I have speed on my side. I ran out a single my second at bat. I accidentally overran third on my first at bat...too fast.

In what became a popular segment last year, I will continue to keep you posted on my results playing in weekly softball games on Monday night.

Games	At Bat	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP
1	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.666	.666

Other News
Christa and I had our second meeting with our pastor regarding the wedding and marriage. He gave us a nice to do list for this week. We also had a good, heart-felt chat about where we were at. I know I am feeling better about the wedding preparation.