Baseball '09 in the Books and Old Memories Opened

Last night was Ian's last baseball game and they came up short again. The guys have played well, but have a ways to go before they will compete in the top level leagues in the SPR area. Ian kept solid last night, as he did all season, with several plays (probably the most he has had in one game) to his third base which he handled like a pro. Several stabs on grounders and rockets to first and second, and one sweet stop and fake throw to first that had a second base runner (heading toward third) froze off the base about 10 feet; Ian turned to gun him down, but the 2nd baseman was not close enough to the bag so Ian held on to it (mentally way ahead of his age group in about every facet of the game and that one play in particular had me simply laughing inside how slick it was). We are going to miss baseball as E-ball is almost as good at it as he is basketball. With school starting sooner than regular (Aug 12th) and some traveling in July there wasn't really an opportunity for him to play in another league. I am looking to head up a basketball team this fall at The Courts, but for now it is some down time.

Below is a clip of Ian taking a grounder during pre-game warm ups. I try to get clips of him in action during games, but I am so into the action that I stand there with the Bean in hand and never remember to record:



Stopped off at Fudruckers afterwards and had my monthly intake of calories. It is really hard to beat a good cheeseburger and fries. Looking forward to chowing down at Chris Madrid's in SA next weekend (hopefully our only non-Mexican food meal the entire trip). Ended up grabbing Jake another pair of running shoes as it is recommended to have two and rotate on a regular basis. Last stop at Lowes and we picked up some new light fixtures for the entry, dinning room, breakfast nook area (Thursday night 'honey-do'). Got home pretty late and everyone headed straight to the sack.

Really enjoying the new stretch of 13hwy and looking forward to the last 7 mile section. 'Bloody 13' has needed this for a long time and i will feel much better about Jake coming home from SPR once they are done.

ROCKET - Nice to have you on board and great talking with you last night. I need to get to the Metroplex area and see you (and the crew). Still sporting the Mini (funnest car I have ever cornered in, hands down)? Drop a line if you still make the treks to STL as you have a new detour on your way. And yes, you are seeing me still in SimplyFit gear; the stuff won't die and is still in great shape.

After talking with Rod I got to going down memory lane and some of my favorites are of of TdG (Tour de Gruene), which was one of Lance's first races back after his cancer. TdG is a two-person TT in a small town outside of New Braunfels (between San Antonio and Austin) and the course is a 26.something loop with one super tough long climb about 5/8ths of the way through. It is held in October and is the closer for most all road races and a huge festival atmosphere. The first pics from below was from 2001 where 24/7 (Patrick McGrath - great friend and super competitor) and I won our Cat III Division and had a top 5 overall finish:

This set of pics are from the 2003 TdG (2002 cancelled due to a huge flood) and as you can tell Patrick and I were very focused in our warm ups. We finished 2nd in the Cat 3 and 5th overall:

That reminds me... I sure hope THIS guy is ready for my arrival in SA as I plan to pick up where I left off over 5 years ago (minus those darn hot peppers you passes around)!

TdF is pretty decent to watch/follow and the pecking order will start to shape after tomorrow's mountain top finish Will Alberto do the work for Armstrong or take the lead and show the team who is the new "Boss"? I would like to see Kloden stay up there as he is my dark horse for a 2nd podium spot. Cav seems to be doing his thing although I expected more from his today (not a complete spoiler for those DVR'ing it for later) as he gets up slight climbs pretty well (San Remo reference). My personal opinion is that the media is making much more of the Lance .vs. Alberto that what it is although I think there is SOME struggle for control of Astana for now. I have bagged on Armstrong in the past posts, but only as his respect for Contador (and Saste) has been a misplay on his part. Sure he won the Tour 7 times, but that was a whole different set of climbers and I think he is in for a(nother) wake up call similar to the Giro once the roads start climbing. I like him back in cycling and the incredible impact he has on cancer issues, remarkable, but his 'teamwork' with the rightful TdF leader (Alberto) has been sad. Who knows, he might just turn out to be a great lieutenant by the end, but doubt it. As for the other main contenders... sorry, the lights were turned out after the TTT and you are fighting for Astana scraps. This is a great link to some of Armstrong's insights (video) before and after stages.

Fitness: Thursday - rest Friday - 3hr cross ride early AM