Tomorrow, I’m one-uping Tom W and getting my 2nd hip replacement.

For those of you who remember my earlier thread, last night we finished our travel baseball season. Our record was 4-14.

From a bookkeeping viewpoint, not an especially good result.

OTOH, 15 boys got to play baseball this summer who otherwise wouldn’t have been playing. We played in a highly competitive league and our opposition was 13 other teams, most of whom had been together for 3 or 4 years. I’m relieved we didn’t finish last or go winless. (I think we’ll be finishing in a tie for second-to-last - some games not yet played.)

Most of our games were close – we lost a whole bunch by one or two runs as we didn’t have the pitching to really compete.

In 7 years of coaching baseball, soccer and basketball, this was my favorite team. We had a great group of boys, most of whom I didn’t know before the season. They consisted of the left-overs - the boys who weren’t picked for the 12 year old travel team, plus some fill-ins, like my son, who weren’t picked for the 11 year old travel team. Many of the boys had never played travel before. We were sort of the Bad News Bears. We called ourselves the Maggots.

Some of the parents “got it” – the others mostly silent – only 3 PITAs – a good ratio. A handful thanked me at the end.

Note to parents – personally thank your kid’s coach – it does mean something.

A revelation – driving some of the boys around, I was amazed when I asked what they were doing this summer, many said “playing baseball”.

That’s it.

Meaning, no camp, no travel – this was it, and if there had been no baseball – nothing. (My son is attending 3 different camps, plus miscellaneous activities.) Had this team not happened, (and I had my doubts two weeks before the season started), it would have been a much bigger nothing for many of them.

Jack, who I’ve written about before, was our star pitcher. Great for his self confidence. Every good year is a plus.

So 15 boys have had an experience that they will remember, many with some big highlight reel moments.

All it cost me was a lot of vicodin and some money. Not a bad trade-off.

I was an assistant coach to my son's 5th grade ymca basketball team. I was not a former basketball player so I just did some things that I had seen in the movie Hoosiers. It was a real great experience when i could see kids "getting it". Some who were really unskilled at the beginning became regular contributors to the team. We had a good record undefeated I think but they did not officially keep talley. Many of the kids went on to be varsity starters on local teams and one kid actually played some pro football.

I am sure your hip deal will be fine, but good luck anyway. Mine is doing great except for my hernia which is a side affect of the surgery, I am told, and the leg being about a half inch longer than the left.

Tom W

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I ended up coaching my son's LL team this year by default since not enough people could make the committment. This despite the fact that I've never played organized baseball and besides sitting in front of the tv or at the ballpark with beer in hand, my knowledge of teaching baseball to kids was essentially nil. It was tremendously rewarding. We were right in the middle of the pack even though there were teams with coaches that were in the "in" crowd that were stacked with talent at every position. The thank you's from the kids and parents made everything more than worth it.

Best of luck with your hip replacement. I hope all goes well and that PT goes quickly!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Good luck with your surgery. I hope you'll feel much better when it's all over.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Good lUck and please keep us posted...Thanks for working with those kids this summer.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Again--you must be an outstanding individual. I hope karma takes care of you and wish you the best on your surgery and any other endeavors which you may undertake.

Can I use you as a reference for my wife?

I actually do this coaching stuff for my kid, but the various sports require me to field an entire team. Once my kid is out, I'll be gone. But I'll miss it. By and large, the kids are great.

Thank you all for your kind wishes.

15 boys are going to go into adulthood with your imprint on their minds...

They will have gained from you something that most kids only dream about, if that...adults do care about teens...

There are some things that will never be learned from a book or handed out at the local store...

Care.
Compassion.
One-on-one attention...

Good luck with the surgery...if any deserves it more, you do.

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Just had one of my parents email me:

Good luck on the surgery. Maybe next year you can teach sliding?

After I stopped laughing, I answered:

And after that, I can teach rolling on the ground clutching your hip in agony.

As I said, some parents got it.