Funny Guy Friday... Musings from my funny hubby... Boonsboro, or bust...

     As a result of winning a District Tournament, our family had the pleasure of traveling to Hagerstown, Maryland, last Saturday, for our son's 10U Little League All-Star State Tournament, technically located in sleepy Boonsboro. 
     Unfortunately, my daughter and I had to leave early on Monday, so I could get to court, and she could get to a summer program she had to do for school. The two of us were on the road at 5:30 a.m., and had a very nice drive home.
     Part of the conversation involved ideas that she had about things that happened to Matthew over the weekend. Things that I could use in my weekly FGF blog. She takes great joy in poking fun at her brother, and now, she wanted an ally.
     As a parent, I told her... Okay, here we go.
     In our first game, the kids appeared to be nervous, and not quite up to their usual level of play. I spoke to the head coach and he relayed this little story.
     During a pitching change, Matthew was playing third base. He was approached by the third base umpire, and they began to chat. After mostly yes or no answers from Matthew, the umpire asked where he was from. After thinking about it for a few seconds, Matthew replied... I'm from Maryland. 
     Really... from Maryland. What are the odds of someone participating in the Maryland State Tournament being from Maryland?
     In our next game, Matthew did great. He got two hits. Well... one hit, and one reached on an error, but everyone was saying two hits, so I will go with it because he did hit it fairly well... and he played three innings behind the plate. 
     The two hits made our fans happy. I was happy. His mom was happy. But nobody was happier than Matthew. This fact was driven home after the game, when Matthew took a shower, all the while belting out Queen's WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS.  
     This made me chuckle because they lost their first game, 15-1, and were eliminated in their second game, 8-6. No matter. Although very disappointed about the loss, he was excited about his play, and his team.
     We did get eliminated, unfortunately, but it was a great experience for the entire family, and most especially, for Matthew.
     From the very beginning, the boys that had been on last year's all-star team made him feel like part of the gang. He got the opportunity to play with a group of nice, talented kids that love playing baseball. He learned what it was like to compete as a team with a goal in mind, and he made new friends along the way.
     Individually, it also showed him that he has to continue to improve in order to continue to compete. It was clear to me that by the end of the postseason, he had, in fact, improved.
     It also marked the first time that he played on a baseball team that I did not coach. I had gotten to know the coaches from coaching against them in the regular season, and I had no concerns. 
     They approached the team with the perfect mix of fun and discipline. I am sure that every kid on that team looked forward to going to practice... and each kid on that team was disappointed that the season had come to an end.
     They had done a great job, despite my warning before the tournament that, any decisions that the coaches make that do not work, I officially disagree with.. and as a parent, I would have done things differently... and my ideas would have worked! I suppose that makes me an official Little League parent.
     As always, a few more wins would have been nice, but the kids had won their District, and they all had a great experience at the State Tournament.
     As for my lovely daughter... she too is going to make it into today's FGF. 
     You see... right after she convinced me to make fun of her brother, she stopped changing the radio stations just long enough for us to hear a quick story about Mel Gibson. After the story... while reaching to change the radio station for the millionth time, she asked if Mel Gibson was the voice of Bugs Bunny. Mel Blanc must have been rolling over in his grave.
     Can you imagine Bugs having to move out of the country because of crazy rants? Maybe Yosemite Sam, but not Bugsy. I informed her that all Mels are not the same. 
     However... all of my kids are the same. And they better watch what they do or say, because you never know who is blogging about it.
     By the way... I do ask my kids if it is okay for me to humiliate them. Eventually, they say okay.