Happy Labor Day!

Yes, it is Labor Day and I 'sort of' have the day off. Since I am currently teaching a course, my students e-mail me all times of the day and night for advice or clarification of the syllabus. It's not written in Greek (since the only Greek word that I know is ouzo), but sometimes they catch an error or poorly written sentence and want or need some advice. Other times, they don't read it at all and have to ask me to reiterate something that is already clear. In other words, during the academic year, I am always 'on.'

This week fall ball begins. Here is the breakdown as I understand it. There are three 'starters' for weekend series. Two of the jobs are wrapped up and 1 is tenuous and could be Buddy's if he has a spectacular fall (not a good one...must be spectacular). Also, during the week, the team can play two games against any east coast team. The starting pitchers are generally the ones who have proven themselves during the fall and continue to do so during the season. It is Buddy's goal to start on the weekend against conference foes and not during the week.

Therefore, he must overtake in the fall competition the following players (I hope that I can remember correctly):
1. 'California': California transferred last year from the west coast, is a leftie, throws 90 mph and is one of his biggest competitors.
2. Nemesis: Nemesis continues to be Buddy's nemesis on and off the field. If I hear one more negative, bad rapping, stuck up, selfish, condescending, and spoiled remark about him from my son, I will jump out my second floor office window. Once again, in case you have missed this one...we told him repeatedly last year...do not live with him...."Oh no, Mom, he has changed." Yeah, changed like a leopard and his spots change with the seasons to match the shoes....right...I hate always being right....Over the weekend, Nemesis spliced the common room television cable and ran a wire from his bedroom to the living room so that he could watch television while lying in bed. The guys are not amused as they have to jump over the wire that runs from the living room up the stairs, down the hallway and into the bedroom. "Mom, it looks 'ghetto'...." Too bad....deal with it, kiddo, 'cause the guy has changed, right?
3. Florida: Not an issue yet since he is a freshman, although he mentioned a few times that he was going to take buddy's job as mid relief. This will happen only if Buddy is named a starter.
4. A variety of other players who do not have the statistics that Buddy put up last year or were injured last season. He is not worried about them....just the first three guys.

So, friends, let's watch this fall as he works diligently to be named a starter. His goal is to pitch against teams that passed on him while they were recruiting. Last year, he crossed one of the teams off the list, when he closed the winning game, walked up to the coach, and asked if he remembered him. The coach was gracious and congratulated him. Perhaps our hero still has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to two teams that are on the schedule in the spring. If he does, so be it. My advice is to once again, channel the inner anger and let them have it with your fast ball, curve, and slider....BP mom will be watching....

Enjoy your day!