Being a trailing retired spouse can be mundane and lonely - or it can be a busy whirlwind like yesterday. It all started out around 11 AM. It was such a beautiful sunny Saturday with temperatures in the 70s - I just had to wear my shorts and t-shirt and ride my Vespa scooter to Little League practice. All the time I am thinking about all the snow and ice they were having back home North. I kept thinking - this can't be February.
When I got to Winthrop Field - it was time to be a Little League coach. Let me explain. In my 33 years as a teacher - I performed many tasks - yearbook advisor - newspaper advisor - dance deejay - field trip guide - school bus driver - but I never coached a Little League team. I guess after being with 7th graders all day - my summers were free to travel. Yeah - I umpired a few games when my boys were playing - but never was I a coach.
How did I get into coaching? Bob Gabordi made a plea in the Democrat looking for an assistant. His plea did not ask for expertise - simply someone that knew how to work with kids and someone who did not get caught up in the "win at any cost philosophy." So Bob is the coach and I play one on TV.
On Saturday - Bob decided we would have an in-squad scrimmage game. Since we were short a few players - and I was the only coach with "knees" - Bob asked me to be the catcher for both sides. Yikes - I had not worn the "tools of ignorance" for 30 years - and the only size equipment was "extra small" - but I squeezed in - shorts and all. The mask was so tight I had to remove my glasses. So there I was - behind the plate - all strapped up - shorts and all - pretty blind - with my trusty 50 year old Del Crandell left-handed catcher's mitt. But the best thing of all - I was catching the fast ball of Bob Gabordi - executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat.
I dropped more balls than I caught - and the kids were stealing on me like crazy - but it was worth the price of admission when I caught a guy rounding third base - and I tried to run him back. As I was running toward third base - my foot got caught in the shin protector and I rolled head over heels about two times. I popped back up quickly - to avoid embarrassment - but after eating all that dirt - I finally felt like part of the team - and the town. The red clay soils of the hills of Tallahassee - are now literally running thru my veins.
Practice was over at 1 PM - and I wanted to attend the NCSU at FSU basketball game - but I needed to shower now - and lick my wounds. Lulu called to say she went to the game with friends - Wayne and Shirley - and Wayne landed some great tickets outside. So I washed up and hopped on the scooter to go to the game - about 1 mile from home. The best part of having a scooter in Tallahassee - is the free parking. At the Civic Center - they let me park at the bike rack - free of charge.
I parked the scooter - tied it up - and walked to the ticket area of the arena. I was holding up 1 finger - when a nice fella who was late for the game - gave me an extra ticket - free - and I went inside. Lulu called and I found them - sitting two rows behind the official scorer. What great seats! Wayne bought them outside - and his trailing spouse Shirley did not realize what a coup they were. She is going to expect seats like that all the time :-)
The Noles were winning by 20 at half. But the real show for me was to see them retire Bobby Sura's jersey. Bobby Sura is probably our favorite Seminole basketball player. Bobby comes from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania - close to our old hometown. We took many special trips just to see him play as a Seminole. Wherever he played - a steady stream of busses from the coal regions followed. He had a great 4 years for the Noles - and 10 years later - he is still an NBA player. The Seminoles are stingy when it comes to retiring jerseys - so it made this one special.
You can see by the pictures - we had great seats for the game and the half time show. I included a picture of the scorekeeper working on his computer using "gametracker." If you are a computer junky - you know that you can follow all of the Seminole sports over the Internet using "gametracker." Here I was looking over his shoulder - helping him type the plays - in my world anyway :-)
The game was over - the Noles won by 20 - there was still a glimmer of hope for an NCAA bid. We will be going to Tampa for the ACC Tournament - hoping for miracles - but on Saturday - the planets lined up - a local boy from my hometown in the hills of Appalachia - was having his jersey hung in the Civic Center - and the Trailing Spouse was able to be there - because he followed Lulu to Tallahassee.
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