Becca's Balls

I don’t know how you stay so loyal.

That was the IM I got right after the game ended from my cousin.  He is a Mets fan, too.  He also tweeted out that he won’t drop any more money for the Mets until there are major changes and the Wilpons are gone.  I’m calling bullshit, but, we’ll see.

This is a cousin who shares Boppy as his grandfather - and his mom is the eldest of the 7 brother and sisters that are our aunts and uncles, so she was the first initiated in 1962 when the Mets franchise was born.  So this is him reacting out of frustration - and I really wish that I could make the same statement and stick to it.  But, I can’t.  He probably won’t either.

But, really, how do I stay so loyal?  People have continually said that being a Mets fan is like an abusive relationship - we just can’t walk away.  I guess my relationship with the Mets is the only one that I can maintain, so I might as well stick it out.  Wait, wouldn’t that be considered, at the very least, a dysfunctional relationship?  I have plenty of dysfunctional relationships, so I’ll agree with that.

Probably because the MetsFanFriends have become, well, the MetsFanFriends.  And, really, while all this sucks, people much older (and probably wiser) than I have stuck it out, like Boppy - after living through their freakin’ team LEAVING, they survived 1962, the Tom Seaver trade, the Nolan Ryan trade.  I survived the early 1990s, the mid-90s, and all the rest.  If we all survived all that, who is to say we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel?  I know, the real light is the passing of the torch to someone named anything other than Wilpon. 

I guess the Mets are the one thing that I can be optimistic about, because every once in a while there is a bright spot.  And, one bright spot sometimes makes it all worth it.  Kind of sad, isn’t it?  But, it is what it is.  Yea, all the nonsense I just spouted makes me want to vomit and roll my eyes.  But, sometimes you just gotta believe in something.  Anything.  Believe.

And so we look to start again…

Monday was an off day.  Sometimes I am just grateful for off days.

Yea, we swept the Skanks, yet we get clobbered by the shitty Feeeeesh.  Really?  Well, we’ve all bitched about it enough, so lets look ahead.

Remember when the Nats were supposed to be the team to beat?  Not just in the East, but pretty much in the entire National League?  It looks like now they have taken 3 steps back over the last year.  So, who is to say we can’t take advantage of that?  No Harper.  Who knows if we’ll see Strasburg (we all know Harvey’s better anyway).  Lets take advantage of it.

Lets kick a team when they are down - people like kicking us, even when we think we are on the upswing.  Lets dish it back.  Lets get this rally started again.  Do I think we are good enough to make the playoffs? Probably not.  Do I think we have the chance to be a heartbreaker or king maker?  Absolutely.  Can 2013 Mets baseball still be fun?  Hell yes.

D’arnaud is starting to rehab… we will probably see Wheeler in less than 2 weeks.  Marcum, regardless of Miami, appears to actually be getting better. 

Yea, we need Ike to get his shit together (or get laid), and David to stop sucking (#BlameMollyBeers), but we have Murph who is having a tremendous season and the surprising solid performance of guys like Byrd (yes, I know he had 2 errors over the last few days, but lets look at the full product).

So, lets play our small ball, and be a spoiler.  Because, who knows, in 2 years, someone might be trying to rain on our parade and destroy our run to the playoffs.  And, we have been talking about “the future” for 3 years now.  While I don’t think we are there yet, this season could give us inklings and sparks.  Why can’t we do it too and enjoy baseball at the same time?

Freihofers wrap up: beating feet with 5000 women.

Every year, thousands of women from all over the country and the world descend on downtown Albany to run the Freihofers Run for Women 5K. Ladies of all running abilities and age groups run - I saw an 82 year old woman running her 35th race, a grandma running her first 5K, moms and daughters running together, women running competitively and friends running in packs.

Many of my friends run each year (or have run over the years), and this year I roped my girl Carley into running it with me.  She had recently started running, and I was glad she was a part of it.

Another thing that was amazing was all the supporters - some were families and friends of runners, Center Square locals doing their annual porch watch or bringing their chairs to the route through the Park, and complete strangers.  People were out with boomboxes serenading us along the way or armed with cowbells or with bullhorns. Some people had no personal stake in watching this race- but were there and amazing anyway.  One of my favorite signs was “Hey, random runner, you are a rockstar.”   Of course, the City of Albany PD, race volunteers, and NYS OGS staff were great, as always.

I will say this, it was hot. as. hell.  By 9:45 start time, it was pushing 90.  While I had hydrating for 2 days, by the 1.5 mile mark I started to feel nauseous, which meant the dreaded dehydration was creeping up.  So, I slowed it down, stopped at the water table, walked it off, and was able to run the last 3/4 mile or so.  While it was not what I was planning on doing, at least I didn’t do something ridiculous and try to run it out and barf or pass out.  Sometimes winning in running is knowing when to sloowww it down.  So, I did.  Oh well. 

But, one of the peripheral great things that came out of it was all those kids either running or watching seeing 5000 women out there together running.  It is never to early to teach the next generation - whether male or female - about empowerment.  Females need to embrace Girl Power, and males need to respect it; everyone needs to foster it.  Young girls need to know its ok to be a princess, a queen, a warrior, a bad ass, a stay at home mom, a career minded chick, a parent balancing work and play, staying single and kidless forever, be an ice queen, and keep being a hell of a time (or a combination of the above).

See all of you on the course next year! GIRL POWER!

Another running of the Freihofers!

This morning is the Freihofers Run for Women - a 5K being run by 5000+ women.  You all know I am not a girly girl, but I think its pretty clear that I am a feminist (or feminazi according to some).  I believe in GIRL POWER - whether that is being a princess, believing anything you can do I can do better, being that strong mother that all children need, a sports enthusiast, etc (or a combination of all of it) - and 5000 women coming together to run it out certainly signifies that.  There are world renowned athletes, and those who are putting feet to pavement for the first time. 

I believe in empowerment of women - from personal to professional worlds, from childhood to parenthood to adulthood.  We need to teach the young women of this world that they have the power, they can do whatever they want - especially because they are a girl.  They are the future - and GIRLS RULE THE WORLD! Be a princess, be a model, be a lawyer, be a stay at home mom, a lover of sports who knows just as much as the boys, be a bad ass labor relations rep (aka raging bitch from hell) - be whatever you want to be because you CAN and you CHOOSE TO DO IT!

See you on the course ladies - I will be out there in my Johan Santana tshirt and my “MAN UP” headband.

GIRL POWER!

Rasche Hall is soon to be no more. Thanks for the memories, old friend.

So, we have known this was coming for a while, but I never thought it would really come.  The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets has grown, and its time to build new barracks (dorms) - since the original ones date back to the early 1900s. “Old Rasche” was the original section (the long side of the “L”) floors 1-5, and “New Rasche” extended on the first 4 floors. Hotel was housed in the 4th and 5th.  We shared the 4th floor with Golf Company, and the 2nd and 3rd floors saw Echo and Foxtrot, respectively.  So, we were in The Hotel in our own little world. No AC - box fans as far as the eyes can see.  And just a square room with a sink, 2 dressers, 2 desks and a bunk bed.  And plain while walls until you got poster privileges or became an upperclassman. 

This summer, Rasche will be torn down and replaced, with Brodie in the future.  They promise that upperquad will still be UQ - the Rock will still be there, the VT preserved, and Lane Hall at the center.  But, it won’t be the same. 

Rasche had so many memories - from seeing the droids warning me “You belong to us now…” Hearing those taps for the first time, The Five Points of Pride, and the introduction of FIRESTARTER…

Moving into room 451 across from C/MAJ Flynn’s room (and him singing loudly to “Breakfast at Tiffanys” and “If You Think I’m Sexy”) and pimping out the Penthouse in room 541…

Assembling and creating the great FLAMING VT…

Late nights keeping tabs on Eric and Danny or afternoons of tossing water balloons out the window after lounging on the giant orange bean bag in Jeff and Mike’s room. Change of command/turn night hallway parties…

Then there was that glorious winter exam ritual - HALLWAY HOCKEY.  I still have a scar on my leg, and so many great, sweaty memories - THIS IS OVER, MAN!  We  had broken waterfountains and ceiling tiles thanks to whatever sport we played during CQ hours. Then moving to Foxtrot and new adventures, new loves, and new friends.  Meeting my kids and my dykes.  My heart was always in Rasche.

Rasche Hall saw a lot of firsts: the first time Manhands found out what a BJ was and watched porn. The first time we learned the art of smuggling in booze in laundry bags and how to climb thru windows to avoid the swipe-in tracker.  The first time I gazed out to Schultz Plain to watch the boys playing volleyball or football or whatever.  The first time we corralled in the hallway to trek to Pritchard to start the Corps/Civilian Snowball Fight.  The first time I met lifelong friends and loves. 

The first… well, you get the point.

I know it is time for the Corps to grow and thrive - but I hate that it is at the expense of such a historical building.  This was one of the first buildings on campus, soon to be no more. 

I cried the first day I stepped into your halls, and I cried the last time I left it.  I’ll pour one out for you, homey.