Random Thoughts X (The 9th Regeneration)

[harimad]

Still in Des Moines, there are quite a few clubs in DSM area. They may produce some good players, but not a club we would want to work with. I am convinced there is no perfect club, though. We like our club we are with for what we want at the moment. The travel wears on our daughter, though, as far as travel to/from practice. Tonight was in Waukee which is an hour each way. We have access to our indoor facility as part of our club dues, but hard to get her down there. 45 min each way just to go hit balls. If she was an only child it would be doable, but too many other kids to put all our time and efforts into just one kid and one sport. Ames is lacking for indoor space that is easily accessible.

It is really tough, no doubt, being a softball parent (or player!). It's a 30 minute drive to the indoor facility (Wasco Diamonds) for us, and 40 minutes to the outdoor fields. Between team practices, hitting, and pitching, we're there 4-5 days per week. There are some families that drive from Rockford (45 minutes), Dixon (60 minutes), and even Milwaukee (2 hours, ugh).

And we aren't even at the level of Iowa Premier, Illinois Chill, or (and especially!) the Beverly Bandits. We get to play them often though, so that's always fun.

 

[mctallerton]

My money is on plantar fasciitis.

That's my bet too, some Rx insoles will really help. Mine was gone in the like three months.

 

[harimad]

It's happening.

View attachment 47105

Doesn't look like anything to me.

 

[wxman1]

Is there a chance the white blur could be a light or a light source that the camera is showing as over exposed?

Possibly as there is a night light thing in the opposite wall but the camera is stationary when we see it.

 

[BCClone]

It is really tough, no doubt, being a softball parent (or player!). It's a 30 minute drive to the indoor facility (Wasco Diamonds) for us, and 40 minutes to the outdoor fields. Between team practices, hitting, and pitching, we're there 4-5 days per week. There are some families that drive from Rockford (45 minutes), Dixon (60 minutes), and even Milwaukee (2 hours, ugh).

And we aren't even at the level of Iowa Premier, Illinois Chill, or (and especially!) the Beverly Bandits. We get to play them often though, so that's always fun.

We just want some place to do skills, had one that let our daughter do some practices but have been pushed aside with the season starting. Really helped with hitting. Wanting to change her pitching style to about what they are but rarely got any work with them.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

Does it get better after walking on it a bit?

it did earlier this week but has gotten worse. Had Thurs and Friday off and was hardly on my feet much then was on them for a full 9-10 hours Sat. Have today off and been off it as much as I can.

 

[NWICY]

Rulzzz, maybe try the good feet store or something similar? When my arches fell I could barely walk, arched them up and got much better. Good luck on getting your feet better.

 

[Omaha Cy]

My son is 2 months away from turning 3. Thursday I noticed his blanket was in the trash can. WTH? I pull it out and send through the washing machine, and have a talk with him. He doesn't really give a good or clear answer on why he did that.

He drags this thing around the house with him, and chews on it at night. We call it the "Stink Blanket". He doesn't really need it outside the home, but it's still a pretty important part of his life. In the past, if he didn't have at it bed time, he would be concerned.

Saturday night we can't find it and my wife asks him. He said he threw it away. OK. I guess he's done with it and moving on. Unfortunately my wife is wrestling with it being gone and posts on facebook if I should go rescue it. Most everyone said to let it go. He's probably fine moving on. Well, I went out this morning and found it. Luckily it was in with just some regular trash and nothing super gross. It was pretty hot out yesterday, so I thought it would be bad. It's getting washed right now. I'm going to file it away somewhere and if he wants it then we'll get it out. Otherwise I saved a childhood memento and that's that.

 

[jcyclonee]

I keep humming that Aerosmith song from that 1990's movie Armageddon....can't get it out of my head.

Thanks. Now it's my ear worm.
I don't want to close my eyes...

 

[jcyclonee]

Proud of the basketball team on Saturday. What an effort. It's too bad they didn't isolate Burton on Swanigan a little further out earlier in the game. However, Burton wasn't hitting his shots in the 1st half anyway so it may not have helped. Also, it's too bad Purdue made those four really tough shots just before half to stretch their lead. Normally, zero or one of those shots would go in. Oh well. I'll miss these guys.

 

[Cybirdy]

They're chained light posts, it's weird. There's like 2 or 3 right by the mall

Anyone else notice orange spray painted bikes around Ames? Wonder if it's some sort of gang sign

They're chained light posts, it's weird. There's like 2 or 3 right by the mall

The only gang they are a sign of is people into fitness. There is a new fitness place opening called Orange Theory and the bikes are a marketing decice. Obviously they get people talking.

 

[Cybirdy]

It is really tough, no doubt, being a softball parent (or player!). It's a 30 minute drive to the indoor facility (Wasco Diamonds) for us, and 40 minutes to the outdoor fields. Between team practices, hitting, and pitching, we're there 4-5 days per week. There are some families that drive from Rockford (45 minutes), Dixon (60 minutes), and even Milwaukee (2 hours, ugh).

And we aren't even at the level of Iowa Premier, Illinois Chill, or (and especially!) the Beverly Bandits. We get to play them often though, so that's always fun.

I've heard of players playing on teams 3hrs away. That is just insane. If she wanted to go all out and wanted to play in college, we would make sure we were getting the best experience for that. Right now she wants to have fun playing, and we want to make sure she continues to develop her skills. Here it is technically up to each school district, but most will not let you play club during the school season. She will start HS practice May 8th, so our club tourneys run this upcoming weekend through mid-May. She is on a 14U team, so the majority of the girls are playing junior high ball as opposed to HS ball.

 

[Desiigner]

The only gang they are a sign of is people into fitness. There is a new fitness place opening called Orange Theory and the bikes are a marketing decice. Obviously they get people talking.

Good luck to them. They're going to have a hard time trying to compete with ames racquet and fitness, especially with the new gym coming this summer.

 

[harimad]

I've heard of players playing on teams 3hrs away. That is just insane. If she wanted to go all out and wanted to play in college, we would make sure we were getting the best experience for that. Right now she wants to have fun playing, and we want to make sure she continues to develop her skills. Here it is technically up to each school district, but most will not let you play club during the school season. She will start HS practice May 8th, so our club tourneys run this upcoming weekend through mid-May. She is on a 14U team, so the majority of the girls are playing junior high ball as opposed to HS ball.

My daughter wants to play in college, so I'm continuing to chase the scholarship for her. But it really gets ridiculous sometimes, the lengths you have to go to when the softball-industrial complex owns you. But... we don't have to push her to work out, and academically she's been on high honor roll every quarter. So we're going to stick with it a bit longer.

She's only in 8th grade, so she hasn't had to compete against girls 3-4 years older yet, but next year when she gets to play HS ball I think she has a good chance to make varsity. There aren't any other pitchers at her school throwing 60+ like she is. But if they get weird and decide she's not a pitcher, she might make the lineup elsewhere. She's got good power at the plate and has put a few over the fence already.

 

[harimad]

Good luck to them. They're going to have a hard time trying to compete with ames racquet and fitness, especially with the new gym coming this summer.

Orange Theory is fun. Everyone wears a cheststrap to monitor heartrate, and there are monitors on the walls to keep make sure everyone is staying in their fitness zone. It is very Biggest Loser-ish. Lots of people like that atmosphere.

 

[Cybirdy]

My daughter wants to play in college, so I'm continuing to chase the scholarship for her. But it really gets ridiculous sometimes, the lengths you have to go to when the softball-industrial complex owns you. But... we don't have to push her to work out, and academically she's been on high honor roll every quarter. So we're going to stick with it a bit longer.

She's only in 8th grade, so she hasn't had to compete against girls 3-4 years older yet, but next year when she gets to play HS ball I think she has a good chance to make varsity. There aren't any other pitchers at her school throwing 60+ like she is. But if they get weird and decide she's not a pitcher, she might make the lineup elsewhere. She's got good power at the plate and has put a few over the fence already.

Good luck to you guys! I will admit I had to go through a bit of a grieving process when her decision changed. But considering the only school she wants to go to is Iowa State it was a very big dream.
The pitcher she caught for the last 2 years was hoping to pitch somewhere (probably small school) and later in life wanted to coach. She has hip issues and will have surgery after school is done. A full year out of competitive sports.

 

[jcyclonee]

Here's some quick notes of our Mexico trip.
- Zipline canopy tour is a blast. If you have a chance, do it.
- Pretty sure our son drank about a thousand non-alcoholic daiquiris. Pretty sure the neighbor's daughter ate about a thousand ice cream cones.
- If you're in Mismaloya and looking for a boat rental for anything, I highly recommend Chava. He took us to two different snorkeling spots and went down to the bottom himself and brought up a blowfish and a pufferfish for the kids to see and touch. His family has lived in the area for 4 generations and his insight into the people, villages and sights on the south half of Banderas Bay was incredible.
- Six out of the 9 of us got sick to varying degrees. 5 of the 6 were better in about 12 hours. The neighbor's wife ended up going to a Mexican hospital for dehydration. The trip was still great and it is something we can make fun of her about for the rest of our lives.
- Almost everybody at our resort was from Iowa, Minnesota, Mexico City or Vancouver. The first day, I saw somebody wearing an ISU shirt. It turns out he grew up in my home town. I talked to some ISU co-eds from Cedar Rapids. They seemed like very nice people so you CR Clones can be proud.
- Did the neighbor and I really buy Corona muscle shirts that one night? Yes. Yes, we did.

 

[harimad]

Good luck to you guys! I will admit I had to go through a bit of a grieving process when her decision changed. But considering the only school she wants to go to is Iowa State it was a very big dream.
The pitcher she caught for the last 2 years was hoping to pitch somewhere (probably small school) and later in life wanted to coach. She has hip issues and will have surgery after school is done. A full year out of competitive sports.

I'm hoping she'll continue to be interested in Iowa State (and that Coach Jamie will be interested in her). She dreams of playing in the SEC, but I think that's not likely at this point. I do think Power 5 is possible (especially a school like ISU that isn't a power program), but she needs to learn that it's very difficult to get a scholarship to Washington or Michigan or Oklahoma.

 

[Desiigner]

Orange Theory is fun. Everyone wears a cheststrap to monitor heartrate, and there are monitors on the walls to keep make sure everyone is staying in their fitness zone. It is very Biggest Loser-ish. Lots of people like that atmosphere.

So it's crossfit gym? Boring

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I can't fomat Excel for this application, so the columns suck and I'm not going to retype them. These are the current standings not including the KU/MSU game which is currently being played.
Rank Team Name Score Correct Best Score Best Correct Champion
1 Clone Lawman 37 32 123 47 Gonzaga (148)
2 Pants 36 30 106 45 Iowa St. (142)
2 NWICY 36 31 88 45 Iowa St. (151)
4 Bawbie 35 31 129 47 Arizona (155)
4 CG 35 30 93 43 Villanova (154)
4 NWICY2 35 30 93 43 Villanova (160)
4 Chaser 35 31 101 45 Iowa St. (154)
8 Harimad 34 28 84 41 Iowa St. (161)
8 Nickels 34 29 134 47 Arizona (127)
8 SaraV 34 30 88 42 Iowa St. (157)
8 Woo 34 30 132 47 N. Carolina (147)
12 KC 33 27 79 39 Iowa St. (149)
13 Hoppity 32 28 110 40 Arizona (160)
13 Wxman 32 28 120 44 Gonzaga (156)
15 Cooler 29 25 125 42 Duke (146)

You'd think the administrator of the pool would be able to cheat better.