Also...
Sports! I had a softball tournament plus two soccer games. The tournament was the annual one for the alumni league-- I played in it last year for the Duke team. It was way the hell out in Red Hook again which I frankly find infuriating--Red Hook is a huge pain in the ass to get to (no direct subway line--you either take the bus or walk to get to the neighborhood) and it just takes forever, especially when you're lugging equipment as I was. The last thing I want to do on a Saturday morning after a week of 13-hours days (work + rehearsal) is get up at 7 am to ensure I get to a damn softball game on time. I get there late of course and find out we have four females (we have to have at least two on the field for the tournament). One of them was at my position, 2nd base--I will be the first to admit she was quite good, better than I. The other two were not as strong as I--one of them was on the bench and the other was at right field. As the innings went on it got a little embarrassing--I think that our obnoxious shortstop, who fancies himself as captain even though Ken does all the actual work, had actually forgotten there were two people who hadn't yet played--and one of them was a team regular. Eventually I went in at right field--you don't see much action out there but it was fun anyway. I did have a pretty good catch
We won the first game and it was all very exciting. So we went on to the next round where the same thing happened, and then shortstop said something that really stuck with me--he said "oh yeah, we're definitely putting the subs in."
I have been playing with this team regularly--almost every Saturday--for three years now. And Steve (shortstop) has been pestering me to play in the tournament for that long. I deserve a hell of a lot better than to be called a "sub."
So, I don't think I'll be playing with the Chicago team next summer. I may change my mind because I love the rest of them, especially Ken, and I am sad, but I just cannot stand Steve. I cannot stand his condescension, his sexism, his hypocrisy at critizing everyone for their errors and never even acknowledging when he messes up (and he makes tons of errors in the field), the way he hits on waitresses when we're out, the way he thinks it's a huge deal when he gives me a compliment and his complete utter fucking cluelessness and lack of tact and social skills. Oh yeah, and the 'roid rages but the whole team hates that.
Moving on--I played a soccer game that evening, full-field, and didn't do too well. I napped for a bit between the tournament and the soccer game and sometimes that does a number on me--I'm slower, less energized. But yesterday went better--my Dolphman team had the opening game of our fall season. The team is getting smaller and smaller--we had only 1 extra player yesterday, and overall only 4. (Three weren't there yesterday--2 because of Rosh Hashanah, and we're not sure about the other one.) I mentioned this to Alyssa and she said yeah, we didn't take any free agents. Oooh, we are an exclusive club! Last season we lost Pete, our Totally Hot British Dude, because he was going to be out of the country--we wanted him back for this season and he wanted to play but it conflicted with his other team ARGH HULKSMASH. Because in addition to being Totally Hot he is also (and frankly more importantly) an amazing player! We hope to get him for the winter.
Anyway our first game was last night and we won, 3-2. We were up 3-0 at the first half and I said grimly "great job--I want at least 4 more in the 2nd half." Alyssa laughed and said "FOUR more?" I said yep--when you relax you start making mistakes and that's when the window opens. What happened? THEY SCORED TWICE. I'm just sayin'. However I had a pretty good game--I was able to get around several players and even did a pretty cool trick. Someone passed me the ball, kind of a bouncy pass, and I chipped it up and over the defender who was coming up behind me and then I picked it up behind her back. Basically I passed it to myself. Very pleased!
We all went to the bar afterwards--this is the same field where we played in the spring, so it's the same bar as then, and the barback recognized me and even remembered my name! I had a really, really good time with the team last night. Hard to say why--maybe we've just been together long enough. Also the other teams who were there seemed really cool. That's one of the better things about this league, that most of the the people involved (players and staff) are very friendly. The captain of the team we defeated was telling me how the previous week they'd had to forfeit--not enough team members showed up. I said if I paid $125 to be in a league and had to forfeit one game out of a 7-game season, I would be PISSED. I told him if he ever needed subs and it didn't conflict with my game, I'd be happy to.
One the way home a couple sat next to me on the A, speaking French. I was dying to say something but I am often paralyzed in these situations--I can be extremely shy around strangers plus I didn't want to bother them, plus the French have a rep for being very judgmental about their language. In my head I was going back and forth over whether or not to say anything--finally I decided it's always nice to hear your language when you're in a foreign country. I turned to them and said "Pardonnez-moi, est-ce que vous êtes français?" Their faces lit up! The man said "Oui, oui!" I said "Parisien?" "Oui, nous sommes parisiens." "Je parle en peu--je suis conversationelle mais je dois parler avec facilité pour mes études à l'université." "Que-est ce que vous étudiez?" "L'histoire médiéval." They nodded. "Et je dois parler une langue médiévale--pas anglais, bien sûr!" They laughed. I was able to keep it up for awhile but I had to switch to English once or twice. It absolutely made my night. I have to get out of my head sometimes and not worry so much about striking up a conversation with perfectly decent strangers!
We won the first game and it was all very exciting. So we went on to the next round where the same thing happened, and then shortstop said something that really stuck with me--he said "oh yeah, we're definitely putting the subs in."
I have been playing with this team regularly--almost every Saturday--for three years now. And Steve (shortstop) has been pestering me to play in the tournament for that long. I deserve a hell of a lot better than to be called a "sub."
So, I don't think I'll be playing with the Chicago team next summer. I may change my mind because I love the rest of them, especially Ken, and I am sad, but I just cannot stand Steve. I cannot stand his condescension, his sexism, his hypocrisy at critizing everyone for their errors and never even acknowledging when he messes up (and he makes tons of errors in the field), the way he hits on waitresses when we're out, the way he thinks it's a huge deal when he gives me a compliment and his complete utter fucking cluelessness and lack of tact and social skills. Oh yeah, and the 'roid rages but the whole team hates that.
Moving on--I played a soccer game that evening, full-field, and didn't do too well. I napped for a bit between the tournament and the soccer game and sometimes that does a number on me--I'm slower, less energized. But yesterday went better--my Dolphman team had the opening game of our fall season. The team is getting smaller and smaller--we had only 1 extra player yesterday, and overall only 4. (Three weren't there yesterday--2 because of Rosh Hashanah, and we're not sure about the other one.) I mentioned this to Alyssa and she said yeah, we didn't take any free agents. Oooh, we are an exclusive club! Last season we lost Pete, our Totally Hot British Dude, because he was going to be out of the country--we wanted him back for this season and he wanted to play but it conflicted with his other team ARGH HULKSMASH. Because in addition to being Totally Hot he is also (and frankly more importantly) an amazing player! We hope to get him for the winter.
Anyway our first game was last night and we won, 3-2. We were up 3-0 at the first half and I said grimly "great job--I want at least 4 more in the 2nd half." Alyssa laughed and said "FOUR more?" I said yep--when you relax you start making mistakes and that's when the window opens. What happened? THEY SCORED TWICE. I'm just sayin'. However I had a pretty good game--I was able to get around several players and even did a pretty cool trick. Someone passed me the ball, kind of a bouncy pass, and I chipped it up and over the defender who was coming up behind me and then I picked it up behind her back. Basically I passed it to myself. Very pleased!
We all went to the bar afterwards--this is the same field where we played in the spring, so it's the same bar as then, and the barback recognized me and even remembered my name! I had a really, really good time with the team last night. Hard to say why--maybe we've just been together long enough. Also the other teams who were there seemed really cool. That's one of the better things about this league, that most of the the people involved (players and staff) are very friendly. The captain of the team we defeated was telling me how the previous week they'd had to forfeit--not enough team members showed up. I said if I paid $125 to be in a league and had to forfeit one game out of a 7-game season, I would be PISSED. I told him if he ever needed subs and it didn't conflict with my game, I'd be happy to.
One the way home a couple sat next to me on the A, speaking French. I was dying to say something but I am often paralyzed in these situations--I can be extremely shy around strangers plus I didn't want to bother them, plus the French have a rep for being very judgmental about their language. In my head I was going back and forth over whether or not to say anything--finally I decided it's always nice to hear your language when you're in a foreign country. I turned to them and said "Pardonnez-moi, est-ce que vous êtes français?" Their faces lit up! The man said "Oui, oui!" I said "Parisien?" "Oui, nous sommes parisiens." "Je parle en peu--je suis conversationelle mais je dois parler avec facilité pour mes études à l'université." "Que-est ce que vous étudiez?" "L'histoire médiéval." They nodded. "Et je dois parler une langue médiévale--pas anglais, bien sûr!" They laughed. I was able to keep it up for awhile but I had to switch to English once or twice. It absolutely made my night. I have to get out of my head sometimes and not worry so much about striking up a conversation with perfectly decent strangers!