So close. So busy. So fun.
It's fair to say that the past 10 days or so has been the absolute most busy, taxing, frustrating, exciting, rewarding, and tiring week and a half of my 18 years on Earth. I honestly have no idea where to start; so much has happened recently. Sit back, grab a cold one, and get ready for a long update. I guess I'll start with the good things that happened.
This just in: FIJI kicks ass at sports involving bases. Due to a phenomenal defense behind me, I went racked up a 3-0 pitching record. Apparently I throw a mean 45 foot rolling ball. Who knew? Ayway, we pounded every team in our way on the way to the championship. FIJI had gone 2 years without an IM championship of any sort; that changed quickly.
February 2005. I'm standing in the kitchen of 1120 talking to Mr. Ryan Burklow as we discussed the upcoming softball season. I said that I was so excited to play softball and inquired as to whether the FIJI team was any good. He informed me that he would be pissed if we didn't mercy rule every team that we played. He said that the one guy that would absolutely surprise me as being a gret softball player is Brent Williams. "OK," I said. So we're good. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Our first game: 14-4 in favor of us. Hmmmm...maybe Burklow was on to something. Nothing prepared me for our next game though. FIJI v. Sigma Phi Hairsalon (as Jamie so affectionately refers to Sig Ep as). As I point out in every LJ, FIJI v. Sig Ep = biggest rivalry on campus. The line for our game against Sig Ep:
4 innings, 41 men sent to the plate, over 25 hits, 1 victory. FINAL SCORE: Phi Gamma Delta 22 Sig Ep 3
That, my friends, is an old fashioned ass whooping. But that was only their B-team, what would their A-team bring the next day (if you have the urge to make a Mr. T joke here, give yourself 5 points)? Well...actual competition would describe it. The scene: Top of the 7th inning, FIJI at the plate down by the score of 11-7 staring an improbable defeat in the face. We're a never say die team though. We rally to load the bases with one out. And up to the plate steps Brent. Williams. Remember him? Good, you can join Sig Ep in remembering him for a long time. Brent jacked a grand slam (his second HR of the game) to tie the game and give us hope for the victory. Brent held them scoreless in the bottom of the inning to send it into extras. We didn't mess around. 5 runs later, we held a 16-11 lead. We surrendered one in the bottom of the frame, but prevailed 16-12. Our reward for winning in 8 innings in 80 degree heat? Another game! After a half hour break, we went at it again. During this game, we put on a power display for those in attendance. Brent blasted 2 more bombs, Koening went deep, Frank muscled one out, and even I managed to clear the fence with a home run. For those of you scoring at home, that's 5 round trippers in one game. Again, we went into extra innings, and once again we took home the victory by the score of 16-12. I caught the final out in CF by charging in behind 2nd base as, quoting Shawn, I called "Mine! Mine! Mine!" louder than anyone ever in history. Hey, Randypaugh taught me well. He was Coach of the Millenium right? Either way, we captured 2 championships in 2 days after not having won anything for 2 years. I think we're starting a revolution.
More FIJI stuff...On Friday, we made our secret getaway to Tony's house in Wabash, Indiana for our pledge class retreat. Tradition dictates that we stop at Hooters as a pledge class. Naturally, we ate at Ponderosa Steakhouse instead. OK question: If you're a business owner, and you can't make a steak worth shit, why would you create a restaurant with Steakhouse in its name? That's just bad strategy. The $1.00 steak sucked, luckily I didn't get it.
Second good thing that happened: After a long, pressing semester, pledgeship reached its unofficial end this past Sunday. All of our
This just in: FIJI kicks ass at sports involving bases. Due to a phenomenal defense behind me, I went racked up a 3-0 pitching record. Apparently I throw a mean 45 foot rolling ball. Who knew? Ayway, we pounded every team in our way on the way to the championship. FIJI had gone 2 years without an IM championship of any sort; that changed quickly.
February 2005. I'm standing in the kitchen of 1120 talking to Mr. Ryan Burklow as we discussed the upcoming softball season. I said that I was so excited to play softball and inquired as to whether the FIJI team was any good. He informed me that he would be pissed if we didn't mercy rule every team that we played. He said that the one guy that would absolutely surprise me as being a gret softball player is Brent Williams. "OK," I said. So we're good. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Our first game: 14-4 in favor of us. Hmmmm...maybe Burklow was on to something. Nothing prepared me for our next game though. FIJI v. Sigma Phi Hairsalon (as Jamie so affectionately refers to Sig Ep as). As I point out in every LJ, FIJI v. Sig Ep = biggest rivalry on campus. The line for our game against Sig Ep:
4 innings, 41 men sent to the plate, over 25 hits, 1 victory. FINAL SCORE: Phi Gamma Delta 22 Sig Ep 3
That, my friends, is an old fashioned ass whooping. But that was only their B-team, what would their A-team bring the next day (if you have the urge to make a Mr. T joke here, give yourself 5 points)? Well...actual competition would describe it. The scene: Top of the 7th inning, FIJI at the plate down by the score of 11-7 staring an improbable defeat in the face. We're a never say die team though. We rally to load the bases with one out. And up to the plate steps Brent. Williams. Remember him? Good, you can join Sig Ep in remembering him for a long time. Brent jacked a grand slam (his second HR of the game) to tie the game and give us hope for the victory. Brent held them scoreless in the bottom of the inning to send it into extras. We didn't mess around. 5 runs later, we held a 16-11 lead. We surrendered one in the bottom of the frame, but prevailed 16-12. Our reward for winning in 8 innings in 80 degree heat? Another game! After a half hour break, we went at it again. During this game, we put on a power display for those in attendance. Brent blasted 2 more bombs, Koening went deep, Frank muscled one out, and even I managed to clear the fence with a home run. For those of you scoring at home, that's 5 round trippers in one game. Again, we went into extra innings, and once again we took home the victory by the score of 16-12. I caught the final out in CF by charging in behind 2nd base as, quoting Shawn, I called "Mine! Mine! Mine!" louder than anyone ever in history. Hey, Randypaugh taught me well. He was Coach of the Millenium right? Either way, we captured 2 championships in 2 days after not having won anything for 2 years. I think we're starting a revolution.
More FIJI stuff...On Friday, we made our secret getaway to Tony's house in Wabash, Indiana for our pledge class retreat. Tradition dictates that we stop at Hooters as a pledge class. Naturally, we ate at Ponderosa Steakhouse instead. OK question: If you're a business owner, and you can't make a steak worth shit, why would you create a restaurant with Steakhouse in its name? That's just bad strategy. The $1.00 steak sucked, luckily I didn't get it.
Second good thing that happened: After a long, pressing semester, pledgeship reached its unofficial end this past Sunday. All of our