the base is....crumbling

i always found it funny that when i was a little kid my dad would always talk about guys from high school that he never saw anymore....i thought to myself that would never happen to me, because a lot of the friends that i had in high school i used to talk to and hang out with quite a lot....but today, i could feel it....we're a month away from everyone departing to college....jj is gone forever to florida.....kazour is off to johnstown, justov and ferg are goin to slippery rock, sadburn is staying home, stasny i'm not sure what he's doing, rossi is leaving for psu, gerner is off to psu as well, booter may be dead in arizona, nobody's sure, and there are countless other people that i could name that i'll most likely never talk to again.....tick tick tick tick, it never stops....

so today i was awoken by kazour saying that he wanted to play tennis in a match that would be him and i vs. tom and jj....we played and dominated them and then we switched teams and it was tom and i vs. steve and jj and tom and i were victorious in the tiebreaker....after we went to rita's and i got like the equivalency of chocolate ice cream in rita's terms.....after that, i went to the bank and to get my hair cut and then over to nicks....the game was enjoyable, we were only playing for real like half the time....i bubbled once again, lost 20 bux b/c it was a rebuy tourny....basically i was in a good spot to cash and cota doubled up and i made one stupid play after outdrawing nick with 66 v JJ, but he got me back later in the game by rivering a two outer 10 to take the victory in that pot....after that we played side games(mostly PL Omaha)....it was characterized by myself having the nuts and then having the second best hand on the turn and my opponent having the best hand at least three times to cost me big pots.....just bad stuff i'll tell ya.....i fought back and took down two huge pots, one against kloby and one against brandon....all in all it was a good night, i'd have to definitely say that my favorite person we play cards with is kloby......he's entertaining and he's there to play cards, not mess around.....close behind is gerner and nick for pure entertainment value....on the night i was down 40 but still satisfied....if i play longer i definitely make it back and then some....nick was up like 250 when i left and that's just crazy for him.....so after i walked over to kazours and him, tom, ferg, and i played poker till like 1250....we then saw keifer, went to a closed wendys, and went to bk where those assholes never gave me my apple pie.....we sorted through the food on fergs deck and we just chilled there for awhile until he left for the airport to go to florida.....so we dropped off tom and then kazour dropped me off and now i sit here, in front of my ancient monitor, typing up this lousy blog report and arguing with nayhouse about a pretty important issue.....

i really like this poem that i'll give to you....it's only a brief selection of it, the real version is much longer and contains elements that i don't think necessary to this poem.....anyways, my favorite work of andrew marvell....

To His Coy Mistress
Andrew Marvell

But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.

marvell and his picture always remind me of booter.....i wonder if we'll ever see him again?

mh

satisfacto

i doubt that's how you say "satisfied" in italian or spanish, but i like to make things up.....more or less i'll give a run down of the last week....

sunday- we won game 3 against peters in convincing fashion, like 10-2 or something....it was good, greiner got the win, i think i was like 1-2 with a walk or something

monday- rainout

tuesday- interesting story there....so we play game 1 of the championship series against bethel park and they are absolutely annihiliating us like 12-1 or something....i even came into pitch....but in the bottom of the fourth massive amounts of lightning and rain abounded the field and we were forced to cancel the game and our slate was wiped clean(thank god)

wednesday- we played the real game 1 even though it looked like it would rain again....we were actually winning the game....the tempo, the momentum, everything was in our favor....nayhouse just could not find the strike zone in the bottom of the fourth and it went from a 3-1 lead for us to a 10-3 blowout for them....just horrible, not all nayhouse's fault, we just quit once we got down...

today- so this was it....i kinda felt it like this might be the last baseball game i'd ever play in my life....and today it just felt right....they took an early lead against us, but we just kept fighting back....in my first AB i got a single over the third baseman's head which led to 2 runs....somewhat poor pitching, bad fielding, and a lack of energy really brought about our demise....we did do one thing good though....well actually, ben aul hit a 2 run homer to make it a 10-4 game....and the next inning with one out and a guy on first i hit a gap shot double, but both tomko and i were stranded....we got the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth with no outs, yet we failed to score any more than one run.....ahhhh it was a good season and we were clearly overmatched in the championship, but we worked hard all year.....it was a good season all in all...

rog invited me back to play legion next year and i'm not really sure what i'm going to do, that is if i'm ever going to play again....i think i proved to myself that if i get myself in shape like i did last year(that's running 5+ miles a day, constant lifting, military style pushups, pullups, situps, and that kinda thing) that i'm more than capable of hitting the shit out of the ball....i think my glove is pretty good, although i'd like to get a first baseman's glove....if i play i'm going to work all winter and at least walk on for the psu mckeesport team and see where that gets me....like i said, i will never play baseball or any sport for personal glory...i'm most satisfied in sports in general when a) i'm consistently contributing to a team and we are having at least moderate success and b) when the people around me are worth staying.....in guyasuda and city both things were very prevelant, this year, i definitely liked the guys on the team, but sometimes i felt that i couldn't contribute as well as i should and that's something that i'm definitely going to have to work on....

tomorrow i think i'm playin tennis with the boys from high school that all used to hang out together since jj is moving to florida forever(i never really used to chill with him in particular, but he's still a good guy) and we're hoping to get a few games in before he departs on saturday....also i'm gonna hit the bank and a haircut(first one in three months) and maybe a little pool or cards, or maybe something else if anyone is interested?

today i'm going to put in some music lyrics b/c i'm really lacking a lot of good poetry right now, i've been a little busy lately and i need to get caught up on a few books and magazines i've been meaning to read

Time
Pink Floyd

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you’re older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

pink floyd is incredible....nuff said

mh

I'm ready for war

i will get to the title later.....

friday- it was game 2 of our series against peters township....this time we were home team....we got an absolute awesome effort from kyle "mumbles" lynch....i played stellar defense(except for one play) but i still could not hit worth shit....the game ended 6-2 and the only reason those rich bastards scored is because of errors....it's like we came with so much intensity to the field and they didn't even want to be there....i hope they show up like that for game three....anyways, i went over nayhouses and we ordered food as him and i watched team america while schleich talked to random girls on myspace lol.....

today- i just felt in a lazy mood today....i've said this two or three times but this is really the last week of my freedom if we lose tomorrow....if not, well then we shall see because i really don't want to get a job and then have to tell them 2 weeks in that i need 5 days off to go to the beach(how pointless is that!?)....so i woke up today, ate breakfast and then nayhouse called and we decided to chill here....we caught baseball and then played basketball for like an hour.....i think we played ssbm and high rollers and then his wife called....i kinda feel bad for the kid about what's happening to him on monday in regards to her, and i will elaborate no further on that.....after, i got something to eat, sat down and played a little poker, then just talked to people online....just a lazy day.....i also got ready for tomorrow by watching "for love of the game"....if u don't know the storyline, it's about a great pitcher who is in the last game of his career and ends up throwing a perfect game....sounds like what could happen to me tomorrow minus the perfect game part.....

so i'm ready for war now....tomorrow is game three of the series against peters....6 pm at peterswood park if anybody is interested....it's going to be one hell of a game, make no mistake about it....we have greiner on the hill which means i'll be at first all game.....i'm pretty confident in greiner, he shut west mifflin down like it wasn't hard at all....however, this is peters and they are undoubtedly a better baseball team....so, we'll see how it goes, hopefully i'll be reporting about us playing bethel park in the finals!

this is the first of two installments tonight, the first is from richard lovelace and it fits my situation perfectly

To Lucasta, On Going to the Wars

Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind,
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.


The second part is what i consider to be the most moving speech of all time. It was given by Winston Churchill as the British People's and his back were against the wall in 1940 after heavy Nazi bombing of their capital, London.

"Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

dejavu

title later, kids

yesterday- woke up really late.....got lunch and then went golfing with bradburn at south park 9....we played with two other dudes who were both about as good as me.....it was geniune fun, i was playing real good until i pulled a phil mickelson and shot a 7 on the sixth, an 8 on the seventh, and a 5 on the eighth.....that just about fuxd up my round....after bradburn and i went to brentwood carnival and tried to play poker but they kicked us out b/c there was no open room....after i went over to the "cheap thrill of gambling", the money wheel, and lost 6 consecutive times....after, i came home, and played the 130 full tilt tourny....i got outdrawn by a 10 on the river to send me packing....till about 5 i talked to anna and we talked about just about everything....which was cool

today- woke up at 12, got breakfast, then played poker with my brother....played the other 130 tourny and dominated it....was up to like 12k then just blew it cuz i had to leave for my baseball game....we played peters in the second round and they had beaten us every time this year....we jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third before jarod waldo made a bad pitch and they scored 2 runs and got 2 more before the inning was over.....we battled back and regained the tie at 5-5....they got two more runs off nayhouse and i finally got my first AB in the top of the seventh....krosky started it with a single and i followed with a single....boo hit the ball and the shortstop made an error putting him on.....so reed struck out, then puck got walked making it 7-6.....bases still loaded.....obringer comes up and tries to kill the ball....nothing taken aback from obringer but he has to put the ball in play here....anything on the ground and i score, but he struck out....2 outs and bill schleicher flew out to end the game....i was quite upset, we had a chance and blew it(but an ump's call at 2nd gave them the 7th run, so we kinda blew it).....once again, we have to strave off elimination tomorrow or i will never play baseball again.....all the memories and thinking i'll never play nor probably see jon "boo" caldwell again b/c he leaves for vaca tomorrow and i'm more than likely done playing baseball this year....

this one is called ode by wordsworth....it's probably my favorite selection we read in all of twelfth grade.....enjoy


THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Apparell'd in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.
5
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—

Turn wheresoe'er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.


The rainbow comes and goes,
10
And lovely is the rose;

The moon doth with delight

Look round her when the heavens are bare;

Waters on a starry night

Are beautiful and fair;
15
The sunshine is a glorious birth;

But yet I know, where'er I go,

That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth.


Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
60
Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come
65
From God, who is our home:

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing Boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
70
He sees it in his joy;

The Youth, who daily farther from the east

Must travel, still is Nature's priest,

And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended;
75
At length the Man perceives it die away,

And fade into the light of common day.

all in all it's all good

the title is self explanatory....

today was kind of a crazy day.....this will probably be my last post in a week or two because i'm supposed to get a call about when i start work and we have baseball playoffs and from august 8- august 12 i'm away in ocean city and afterwards i have to start getting ready for school which starts 2.5 weeks after that(that surely sucks).....so anyways, back to today.....i woke up at like 12....well i should say, i was awoken at 12 by my brother. His friend slept over and they wanted to go out to eat and my mom decided she was hungry too. It was all good but somehow I ended up pulling a muscle in my back. I tell you, getting old sucks lol....so i came downstairs and put the heating pad on it and watched 04 wsop reruns.....i took kazour down to caste and went to eckerd while i was there.....then i left for my game and got there around 5....it was game 3 of the best of 3 series vs. west mifflin and i was superbly confident yet humble because i felt like we were a huge favorite....well they jumped on krosky in the top of the first for 2 runs....however, we evened the score in the bottom of the first.....in the bottom of 2 we scored two more runs making it 4-2....the rest is more or less a blur to me, it was always us getting up and them fighting and clawing back....they got it all the way back to 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth when ben aul hit a three run shot to provide us the insurance.....what a clutch hit that was! greiner sealed the deal and we got what we wanted, a chance to play peters.....we get the legion guys back for that game and all in all i'm not exactly thrilled to have them back.....schleicher made a sacrifice to come to supercolt instead of legion but the other three made their allegiance clear and now i'm going to be pissed if one of them plays over somebody that has come to every supercolt game....we don't need the legion players, actually, we haven't won a big game with them yet as the supercolt and colt players have solely won every big game so far this year that needed to be won.....after that tonight i went to my brother's game and watched his team get beat by mt. lebanon 6-1......after, i came home and played on the fulltilt 130 am game.....i was extremely focused tonight....about 1.5 hours into the tourny i had around 8000 chips.....i raised to 600 and one caller came to the right of me.....flop was Q 7 2 rainbow.....i checked, he bet, i raised, he went allin, i called....he turned A10D and i had pocket queens for a set....unfortuanetly, he hit running diamonds....that's okay though, luck is a huge factor in poker and i'm really happy about the my concentration, patience, and focus throughout the whole thing....if i could play like that every tournament, every cash game, i'd be a thousandaire in no time.....so, tomorrow, idk what i'm doing, hopefully golfing then playing poker at the brentwood fire hall carnival......

let's give it up for my boy shakespeare tonight....great sonnet, probably my favorite of his

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no, it is an ever-fixèd mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his heighth be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

the tides have turned

ill get to the title later....

i haven't updated since like wednesday....thursday we were supposed to have a playoff game but the umps never showed up...after that nayhouse and i went to the carnival at st. wendelyns....friday, we were supposed to have it again but it rained real hard and bradburn and i went to the carnival....saturday i probably just chilled....

yesterday- i woke up early to go out to breakfast....seriously, my mom, my brother, and i haven't gone out to breakfast(well my dad wasn't there but still) in a long time....we went to dennys and the food was good....then, i came home and drew and i caught and he pitched a little, then i cut the grass and just chilled till like 430....i left for my game then....we played west mifflin in the best of 3 series....i wasn't in the starting lineup which kinda pissed me off....they threw rosenthal and we really weren't able to do a lot against him....we just couldn't get the big hit and we committed five errors leading to three unearned runs and we lost the game 5-4....that sucked....i didn't play all game which made me even more pissed off....later that night i played poker online till like 3 which was cool

today- woke up at like 11....just chilled watching the real world(wtf is up with that melinda girl, talk about a slut) and doing little stuff around the house...then around 2 i went down to the bank and to subway(i gotta go there more often, they got this new hot chic down there) and then i did some more stuff around the house until i had to leave for my game....i was in the starting lineup today and i was happy because if we lost it would be the last game i ever played....after one inning neither team had scored....however, top of the second bill and ben both got on and i hit a liner through the middle to score ben...we ended up gettin 3 runs that inning....they responded with 2 in the bottom half of the inning....next inning i got another hit to bring home two runs and we ended up making it 6-2....it remained that way until the bottom of the fifth where they scored one run making it 6-3(this is where i made a good catch on a line drive to save a double)....but we responded in the top of the sixth with two more making it 8-3.....they got it to 8-5 and we scored once more in the top of the seventh to make it 9-5....that's how the game ended....i can't remember a better game that i've played all around all year...i made several good defensive plays to assuage conroy's leaving the ball up sometimes....i also went 2-3 with 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored....it was a great all around team win, good pitching from conroy and solid defense....i definitely felt that we outplayed their best team without our legion guys....so game 3 is tomorrow....for all the marbles.....for my career to continue, we have to win....come out to winklevoss field in west mifflin to support us, game is at 6, hope to see people there.....

next issue....i've been blowing people off lately and i really feel like shit about that.....kazour and noob in particular....kazour asked if i wanted to play pool like three nights ago and i really had no desire to go....tonight noob asked if i wanted to come over....i really wanted to, it would have been hella fun, but i would have been in bad shape tomorrow, and i really want to try to be fresh as can be for this game 3.....i feel complete nostalgia when i walk onto a baseball field....back to the days of coach pitch, shane liska and the orioles, bwaa fall ball, eric schleicher and the cardinals and winning the championship, the mariners, winning the 'ship again, striking out 17 guys in one game, and the best season i've ever had, sucking in pony league, our sq. hill team sucking 2 years ago, our great sq. hill run last year, losing to lincoln place first round in city, losing to morningside on a lousy call in second round of guyasuda playoffs, and this year with the baldwin team....i fell like i owe it to whatever baseball gods and my teamates that have given me all these great memories to go out and play with maximum intensity all the time....when baseball season is over i'm ready to do stuff again, but until then, let's go baldwin supercolt....

one last thing, i've been having these crazy dreams lately....like every night, i dream about different people....some are about ppl i haven't talked to for years and others are just so weird....idk, anyone like good at reading dreams that can tell me what this means?

tonight once again we'll go with frost....he's a great writer, i forgot about this poem until i was sorting through my 11th grade notes last weekend, what a great poem this is

Neither Out Far Nor In Deep
By Robert Frost

The people along the sand
All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.

As long as it takes to pass
A ship keeps raising its hull;
The wetter ground like glass
Reflects a standing gull

The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be-
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.

They cannot look out far.
They cannot look in deep.
But when was that ever a bar
To any watch they keep?

finally

i'll explain later....

monday- god, my memory is terrible....oh yeah, i had an interview at 115 with quaker steak and lube....i think it went well, the lady said that she would call me next week which i think is a good thing(?)....after that, bradburn, little bradburn, drew, and i went to play tennis....it was bradburn and i because the two little kids are pretty good....the first set we won, the second they won....after that, bradburn came down and we did a mix of things, from super smash, high rollers casino(game for ps2, i encourage anyone that likes gambling to spend the 20 bux, u won't regret it), and sng on pokerstars....good stuff.....later in the night i continued reading angels and demons and super system 2(yes, my stubborn ass bought a poker book lol) and i am really enjoying angels and demons.....i don't want anyone to spoil it for me, but i have a bad feeling the antimatter is going to go off before langdon and vetra find it(at least that's what would happen in the real world)

yesterday- woke up early for some reason....ate breakfast and then my dad came home and asked if i wanted to go golfing....i said that i couldn't b/c i was supposed to go with bradburn but then my brother wanted to go but we needed a fourth to play....drew was whining like crazy and i either had the choice of going with them or taking him with bradburn and i(i didn't want to torture bradburn)...i really started getting into golf this year, i want to play a lot more now....i ended up shooting a 97 on south park 18 which isn't bad for me at all....the highlight of the round was chipping in for birdie on number 3(the par 5) and all in all it was a good, fun round....i came home, ate quickly, then gerner came and picked me up and we went over to nick's house...the first game was 20 bux....i was around 1800 when the following hand came up:
I picked up queens in early position, I raised double the blind, hoping to attract callers. The only caller was rob marnik and the flop came down A 9 4 rainbow...i bet 150, he raises to 400....now you have to remember, in most circumstances i immediatly lay this down, but robby and i have a history in which i catch him bluffing a lot....turn is a J, i check, he bets 200, i raise allin and he instantly calls...he shows A3 and the river is a blank....i had maybe 70 chips left and just threw them in there and lost...after awhile we played side games and i ended up down only like 6 bux(i'm side gaming much smarter now) and we played another 10 dollar game....6 players, two were out in the first 5 minutes, i took down a huge pot and it was three way action between kloby, nick, and i....kloby lost all his chips to nick and nick had me 4:1 going into heads up...i just kept chopping, bluffing, value betting and got it to 2:1....nick reegoiated the payout to 40-20 which I didn't mind seeing that he could catch cards to beat me(he caught 4 river cards so far)....i just kept chipping away, he doubled up on another river card, and 5 minutes later, i put the nail in his coffin with A-2 v K-9 and ace high was good...i was happy about the way i played that more or less....afterwards, more side gaming....i was up like 1o bucks and nick decided he wanted to play pot limit omaha...now there's a game! I felt like i was a huge favorite in that game and raked in probably four or five big pots on the night(i'll admit, i got lucky in some of them) but on the night i ended up 115 and kloby was up like 230....i payed nick 46 so the debt is down to 100....that's a small relief....anyways, i came home, took tylenol, and just went to bed cuz my head was killing me....finally i won at side gaming!

today- woke up at like 12 to find my uncle was here....i talked with him for a little bit then watched the reruns for the 2004 wsop...then for 2 hours i wrote the thank you notes which i've been putting off for like a week now(sry about that).....tonight, it's king crab legs then poker at zwirek's....hoping for another big night, we shall see....

edit(2 am)- forgot the poem for the day....this is called dust of snow, by robert frost....short, yet very interesting....hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.

mh

a stroll down amnesia lane

i will reference the title later....

friday- i don't really remember, bradburn and i got some golf stuff at dick's and we just chilled here and played some sng's

saturday- we had a game at robinson really early at like 1030....that really, really sucks...but i was able to get up early and i got to the game a little late...but anyways, i started at first base and remained there all game...it was awesome, i was 2-3 and made several good defensive plays and we won the game, 7-1....after that, i stopped at subway and got chicken bacon ranch which is delicious and then i had to cancel plans with erin because my neck was really sore again....well i ended up taking tylenol and it felt 100x better and i went to play some tennis....i was defeated in both sets by my brother and dad......well idk, drew is pretty good and my dad is just incredible at tennis and 2 v 1 is sorta difficult...after that, i was quite tired....i slept until my dad woke me up at like 9 and from then until about 12 my brother and i played cards....the only betting involved lost me 5 bux as i lost saying that he would be the bring-in in seven card stud and i actually had the lower card....that's okay, if i beat him at limit and nl holdem, we'll be even(i already beat him at seven card stud and pl omaha) so we'll see how that goes

today- woke up late. no suprise, haha....i got breakfast and then left for my game around 2 @ winklevoss in west mifflin...i stopped at wendy's on the way there and got my lunch in too....the first game i sat, only because rog told me i was starting pitcher for the second game(score) so that was fine by me....the first game we killed them like 10-4 or something like that...in between game, i ate five apples and pretzels and peanuts for dinner.....the first inning was good, i did very well....the second inning i let up 3 unearned runs with like 4 errors...happens...we fought back to make it 4-3 and i held up in the third shutting them down....fourth inning i walked two guys and my arm hurt like a word i can't say here and rog took me out, good call....they went up 6-4, but like a starving homeless man, we always come back for more....we rallied again in the fourth to tie the score....then we had a four run sixth to put us ahead going into the top of the seventh(i think kyle lynch's extremely hot sister was our inspiration) and greiner closed out the game and we were winners of our second doubleheader this yr....we finished the year 8-10-1(i'll comment about the team later)....so we dumped the water on briggs and got the hell out of there....i did nothing the rest of the night....

i don't think i realized how great the people on the team were until tonight....seriously, we never quit....even though rog is an asshole, any one of us would get up and defend him....we've gone from the bad news bears to a respectable "never quit" team....we're going to kick the shit out of mt. lebo in the first round and then we are going to at least give peters a run for their money....it's been funny, the last two years, all three teams that i've been on(city, guyasuda, supercolt) have all started apart and grown into very close teams....i remember why i play baseball now. I play it for the love of the game, the love of the competition, and the comradery that comes out of a baseball team....so thanks to everyone who made perhaps my final season a great one....

poem today is by robert frost....it really is good because he wrote it in the early 1900's before the rumors of "the world ending by nuclear war"....if you think it will end that way, better think again according to this man...

FIRE AND ICE
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

mh

and this is for.....

okay, so this conversation recently took place...

maui481: but you know what would make me sooo happy
Mrhmrh102: wat
maui481: if you dedicated a blog-thingy to me

so.....this blog post is dedicated to erin because she is awesome....i mean, seriously, how many girls can compete with me in basketball...oh wait, she couldn't....or baseball....or cards.....well, i think they limit these posts to like 150k characters so i cannot write in all ways in which i am superior(jk lol)....no, but seriously, she's awesome, she's always cool to talk to and although she probably has more blond moments than most of us(imagine that), she is still a great person to hang out with...<33333333......anyways, here is what i've been up to

tuesday- nothing....well, that's a lie, but i don't really remember...oh yeah, yes i do...i went over zwirek's and we played a tournament....i had a massive stack but took 2 bad beats and one unfortunate allin where i had A2 and my brother had AK.....AK was good to knock me out in fourth getting my money back....drew got second and won 30 bucks....
yesterday(wed.)- so i got a message from ben saying cards at 2 and i was pumped....i got there and it was just me, ben, and conroy....that didn't look good...we played ping pong and watched tv until 3 and then we started a cash table....the highlight of it all was i caught a royal flush, my first one in about 2 years of playing.....that's just awesome....i ended up like 15....first game started at 5 and it was defined as i went allin with the board showing 3446....i moved allin with sevens and ben called....he had J5 of spade and had 10 outs to catch out of 42 left in the deck = 23.6% or around there....so he got the 2 of spades....so his straight and flush were both good lol....that was tough i guess, if i win that, i've got a massive stack and at least cash....so we started dealer's choice....horrible idea....actually not....i mean, a lot of these games require a lot of luck and ben and gerner may be two of the better players but they are also two of the luckier players i would say....my best hand was five deuces that was toppled in queens " by ben's five eights....eventually, laying down hands only gets you so far, you have to catch some kind of luck and that simply didn't happen for me....then nick and i lost the ping pong tournament in successive games and that hurt....back to dealer's choice, back to getting beat by fives of a kind, royal flushes and no great luck for me....acey ducey pot was crazy the one time, it got to like 120 which is good for a 1 ante game....gerner potted it successively and lost the first, then he got 2-Q...now that takes balls to pot because in a full deck 14 out of 50 cards can burn you giving him only like 76% chance to win....i mean, he had a lot invested, but that takes balls, no doubt....the second game robby hit a 3 on the river and put me down to an insignificant chip count and i was out within the next 5 hands....after everyone left, ben, jason and i talked for like an hour about just about anything and it was good times....

today- woke up early. REAL EARLY....try 7:15 early....it was for a good cause though, as my dad and i went to my aunt janet's mom's funeral...it was weird, they go to a ukrainian catholic church so that was definitely a new experience from me and considering about half of the service was in ukrainian but all in all it was okay....afterwards, everyone went to armstrong's....now that's the place to go if you want to see hot girls.....nice nice....there was even this one chic named alexis that was hot and she was with our party....i was in the bathroom and i figured out that i'm not even blood related to her so we were talkin for awhile(like the last time i saw her was when i was maybe 8 and her looks have most certainly improved since then) and that was all good....after, i came home and slept/put on the heating pad for my neck and then took some tylenol and nayhouse picked me up for our game...we played west mifflin and it ended up tied 10-10 after seven innings(darkness) i was like 1-2 with a sacrifice(where i was safe) and hit into a double play(safe again) but called out both times....i played well defensively minus the ball that rj threw into the dirt and i failed to scoop that led to two runs....whatever, it was a good game in my book....

tomorrow i'm not sure what i'm doing....it's weird, i would always do stuff on fridays when i was in high school but now that i'm out, it's just another day of the week(sighs) and i want to do something tomorrow so if anyone would like to join me in that notion, leave me one or give me a call....i'd prefer not playing poker, although i could play if you twisted my arm and made me play lol....until next time

a final selection from....eh we'll pick byron today....i actually don't have a title for this one, because i just typed in "famous byron poems" on google and it spit out this....i like it though lol

Oh that the desert were my dwelling-place,
With one fair spirit for my minister,
That I might all forget the human race,
And hating no one, love but only her!

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more.

the dog days

yeah these are the dog days of summer....i haven't updated since friday, so here we go

saturday- we had a game at robinson...my first time up i hit my best ball of the year...i guess i turned very awkwardly to look at where the ball had traveled and i snapped my neck...i felt it go numb as i slowly jogged down the first base line...it hurt like a bitch but i still stole a base, was stranded, then took myself out of the game....damnit, that's bullshit, i get a good hit and i injure myself doing it lol...eh whatever, the rest of the day i was stranded because i really couldn't do anything
sunday- my neck was feeling a little better...and it had to because i was taking my brother to his game at 4 o clock...the situation was this: if they won, they'd play at 8(no no no no no) but if they lost they would play at 6(please)....but my dad got there beforehand and we played a match of tennis...in reality, he's probably much better than me, but i felt that my disability didn't help at all...he beat me 6-1 then we settled down to watch the game...they played the home team, bethel church, who was 3-0 and my brother's team was 2-1 at the time....well they just schallaked this team like 11-2 or something and that brought about the fitful 8 o clock game....in between games we got pizza and i played some basketball....the game didn't actually start until 830 and they were playing wheeling who had beat us like 15-1 earlier in the tournament....well drew pitched the first 3 and gave up only one unearned run....after that, the floodgates opened(sordof) as it was 5-0 going into the top of the sixth, our last chance....ryan synder grounds out...one out....drew gets a hit between third and short...finally, we touched their pitcher...alex g. gets out...2 outs....then, bam, tyler v. hits a two run homer....5-2...brad j, the last hitter in the order follows it up with another homer....now the ppl from gbwaa are on their feet(we're not supposed to win this game, we're 1/3 of baldwin and they're drawing from all of wheeling, they're clearly the favorite)...now we have top of the order, john gibson walks....it goes 3-0 on sammy p and the kid comes back with three straight strikes to end the game....oh well, it happens, what a great game though...after nayhouse decided to sleep over....it was ridiculous, i won four 10 dollar heads up matches to put my bankroll at like 38 bux after nayhouse lost two 5 dollar ones....arg lol....

today- we woke up late and nayhouse, my brother, and i went to eatnpark....nayhouse was attempting to flirt with the hostess but he's not very good at that sort of thing....lol....after, drew called matt bradburn and the four of us decided to go play tennis....what fun that was....the two little kids insisted on playing as a team and my dominate play along with nayhouses net play won us two sets in a row at 6-0....then we switched teams to be me and matt bradburn vs. drew and nayhouse....first set went 6-6(8-6) that ended with one of the best shots i've ever seen in my life by nayhouse....wat a bitch lol....next set i got pissed and we won it 6-0(we are clearly dominant)...after that, drew and i went to my grandmas b/c both of my parents worked....it was very enjoyable, the food was good, and i got to see my two cousins, dan and mike, and mike is moving over on sherwood which is quite exciting, he's a cool guy, he was telling me about the bars up at psu....i was like, "there are bars there", and he said, "yeah, there are a few"...heh...well after that we left at 8, and i played some pokerstars and i played the heads up match of my life in a 4 man heads up tourney...in the finals i played for over an hour before the two of us decided to split the money....i bow down to my equal in heads up play.....

these last few days i've been in one of those moods that represents someone telling me something that is usually big news and i'll just say "oh, that sucks" and not really care....idk why, it's not that i'm tired of people's problems, it's just i'd like to hear of something else but them....it's what i like to call a "comfortably numb" mood....not a care in the world....it appears we will be going to the beach this year, so that's cool, even if it's only for four days....my current music addiction is a 70's band called kansas, who i have listened to for years....i just found their greatest hits cd though and i've been playing it for like the past week....

to end this, i'm going to include a selection from uncle walt(walt whitman) and this is about president abraham lincoln after his assassination


O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!
5
O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.


2O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
10
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,
15
You’ve fallen cold and dead.


3My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
20
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

been awhile + funny column

yes, it has been quite some time since i last posted here....it feels like the old days with once a week posts, but nothing has been quite worth posting here....

saturday- grad. party was fun....thanks to everyone that attended
sunday- doubleheader against mt lebanon = 2 victories....it was so hot all day but we won the game and we almost started a fight with them after the game(we almost start a fight with every team)
monday- something of non relative importance i'm sure
tuesday- i think today was poker day...in the holdem tourny i didn't even make it to the final 8....my pocket 9's were beat by ace rag when an ace spiked on the flop....oh well....afterwards i was pulvarized in side gaming....i'm not sure if it's a lack of skill or something, but i am consistently losing in side gaming....part of it is that i think and the other part is that i can't complete a draw....oh well, i got 100 online and by the end of the night i had doubled it playing 2/4 limit
wednesday- got up feeling like a million bucks....started at the 2/4 limit and put in a hard 1.5 hour session leaving me up like 55 bux.....bradburn and i hung out and by the end of the night i had gotten courageous and leaded to 5/10 limit....now there's a rush if you've never felt one....ended the night at around 350....
thursday- it's funny, really, what happens when you get up a lot of money....you want more of it....granted, i gave away 70 to cass and 50 to ben, i was still at 230....it started by me losing 20 and the 2/4 tables....then my instincts tell me "move up, move up to 5/10", so i do....i'm just getting crushed up there, those guys are fearless and quite masterful at their trade(most of them are professional players) and i'm down to 80....then i hit a 30 minute monster rush to put me up to 340.....i should have quit, seeing that i knew that their skill was far superior to mine, but i have a hard time stopping when i get up that much....yikes....the next hour i found out why being a pro poker player isn't all that it's cracked up to be....i got annihiliated in almost every pot and yes i couldn't hit many draws, but winning in limit poker is being the guy who plays the marginal hands the best....and those guys were surely better than me....the storm started to brew and i was down to 150....then the only thing that saved my last 12 dollars was this huge lightning bolt that had to be no more than 20 feet from my window....i was like, okay, im done, and i shut off the computer....i went to war of the worlds and saw carmelo there, the movie is scarier than i thought it would have been....good movie though....that night, i decided i was back....i finished first, then second in consecutive sng's and my bankroll was somewhat secure....
today- so i get woke up this morning at 10:25(on 6 hours of sleep) by my dad with the phone....nayhouse calls and we decided to go to breakfast....it was good, i'm not usually up for my favorite meal of the day but it's always nice to be....after, we went to best buy and i got chapelle show season 2....then we went to nayhouses and played mario tennis for gamecube and then went to pick up his little cousin(may i remark that his little cousin's sister is pretty hot imo, just thought that i'd add that in there?lol) so after that, we watched chapelle show, got something to eat, went to my brother's game(congrats to drew who hit a grand slam and his team just owns everyone, they are representing baldwin well) and then home....tonight....well first, congrats to cassidy(chris cass) on his 17th place finish in the 20+2 NL game this afternoon....get used to these finishes poker world, the south baldwin boys are here to stay(i know that sounds extremely homosexual) but in general i feel that as a group we are playing such better poker than a year ago...games are tougher to beat but the crew is still entertaining as always...tonight i started out well on online poker....i just absolutely crushed a table, it was the best poker i played in my life that i can remember...next, bradburn and i did an sng where i took a tough AQ v AJ beat or i would have surely cashed...simoultaneously(sp?), i was playing another sng where my 33 got busted by 22 for about 5k and that would have secured first place....oh well, those kind of beats happen....then i just got crazy and went to 2/4 limit and instantly lost 20....went back to 1/2 limit and battled for a 6 dollar profit....
current bankroll- 42 + change
current profit- 92 + change
it's a hard way to make an easy living, you can say that again....

so i decided to end this post with a column of funny comments i've been collecting for about 5 months....i have found all of these comments humorous....i've had to take out some comments for privacy's sake so if you want to see these comments, IM me....these are all from people i know and many of the jokes most of you won't get, but some of them are quite good

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Funny Column Section
Copyright 2005

Nayhouse [8:40 PM]: i could be doin work, or someting else, but my life sucks so i beat off

Nayhouse [8:58 PM]: im gonna be like, im my own valentine, n take myself out for pizza or wendys

Nayhouse [11:46 PM]: i also got the setup on my flash drive so we can reput it on the computers
Nayhouse [11:46 PM]: haha, take that winters

N00bit [10:16 PM]: we'll wash our balls 2gether
N00bit [10:16 PM]: (gay meaning realized)

N00bit [9:29 PM]: i'd rather place 5th and devour all the other teams one by one

Bethanne [9:26 PM]: was mrs.geis happy?
Bethanne [9:27 PM]: thats a firsty
Bethanne [9:27 PM]: first*

Justov: i just wanna jog around the mall with the soldiers and look like a bad ass

Mrhmrh102: that's like the whole destiny thing...
Erin: yeah
Erin: you never know whats gonna happen
Mrhmrh102: nope
Mrhmrh102: look at macbeth lol
Mrhmrh102: he didn't think those trees would come for his castle
Erin: yeah
Erin: but he sucked
Mrhmrh102: lmao
Mrhmrh102: why did he suck, exactly
Erin: because he was boring , he didnt know how to talk...

Nayhouse: drew go to bed
Me: he'll be asleep
Nayhouse: ...if u kno whats good for u u'll go to bed goodamit

Dealer: hartman77 has timed out - hand is folded
rizasaria: looks like hartman passed out

Immekus [11:16 PM]: in memory of brandon
Immekus [11:16 PM]: im pushing it in with q 6 o
Me [11:16 PM]: lmao
Me [11:16 PM]: did he die lol
Immekus [11:16 PM]: no
Immekus [11:16 PM]: but
Immekus [11:16 PM]: he owns

Me: bucknell beat pitt too lol
Erin: now thats not surprsing
Erin: pitt blows

Immekus: and no im not talking to any misses
Immekus: i dont like girls u should know that

Immekus: god
Immekus: now im down 4$
Immekus: on the day
Immekus: this is horseshit
Immekus: i dont play for 5 hours to go even

Me: wat happened to the days of always laughing
Anna: hmmm
Anna: i think it was when u stopped talking

Leigh: i mean he already has that messed up finger i might feel bad

Nick Immekus swam with dolphins.
Nick Immekus is why the world is round.
Nick Immekus is fake.

Me: i suppose...i heard he was a good guy though
Erin: yeah he seems like a pretty chill 84 year old

Maura: i wanna have a 3 sum w/ him n mike bradburn

Me: he's so stupid, he'll never kno the difference if i bullshit
Ferg: haha
Ferg: yeah im gonna throw in fake quotes

Mr. Yount: So why didn’t Strephon, the man that he was supposed to be, just ask his lady upfront how she looked so good?
Booter: Because he wanted to know the truth.

Me: and bullshit
Ferg: i like ur style hartman
Ferg: we should write a joke paper on four elements we use to bullshit english papers

Anna: lol we took this test thingy and it said i was gonna die 8 days before i was 21
Anna: because of suicide
Anna: how bullshity is that
Anna: i mean cant it be 8 days after im 21 lol

Me: me n aj will be neighbors
Me: lol
Bethanne: hahahah ..no he will b livin on the street

Anna: ur gay
Anna: lol
Me: u wish
Me: then u wouldn't like me

Leigh: i dunno like what the hell did he expect me to say yeah hes such a sweetheart but he broke up with me

Leigh: see all the weirdos like me

Maura: well chris has been goin out w/ this girl for 9 months...
Me: oh i see
Maura: they could have had a friggin kid!

Nayhouse: dude if i droped out, i guarantee i would have still been there for webpage 2day

Me: im like...wait a sec, nobody home, y am i not watching porn?
Nayhouse: lol
Nayhouse: im like my mom is home, y am i not watching porn

N00bit: i'll be drunk that day...and the following week most likely

Leigh: most likely to kill themselves because of prom...
Leigh: id def win that one

N00bit: yea...we'd treat to mcdonalds then shake each other's hand and say bye...go home and fuC them

Nayhouse: it sucks when u and ur boyfriend find the same ppl attractive

Nayhouse: I was debating it for a second, but then I was like, oh there’s a vacuum cleaner over there that’s more attractive.

Erin: i hate bush
Erin: i think that in another life he was a child molester

Nayhouse: you realize you could go from 20 cents to 30 cents now

Maura: n then i told chis his gf was fat n ugly and he liked her cuz she reminded him of a mcdonalds hamburger n he got mad..

Me: anyways...how was the party today
Erin: oh god
Erin: it was so much fun that i just got up from lunch and left

online player: taking your chips is like taking candy from a baby
hartman77: like taking the virginity from your mother

Brownie: With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

(Ben is talking about himself playing second base)
Ben: looks like I finally found a position jazz
Jazz: What, missionary?

Me: Yeah, thanks for inviting me.
Nayhouse: I did invite you that one time and you never showed up.

Roger: Humble me. Humble me son. I’m 55, I deserve to be humbled.

Nayhouse: I’m Jewish, you know what that means
Me: What?
Nayhouse: I need the money up front

Masten: What’s that Hartman, wasting money on books again?

Me(said subconsciously): There’s nothing wrong with a little Holocaust.
Nayhouse: Yes there is!

Matt Bradburn: I’m gonna kill you with a nine iron!