Playing with a Purpose
70 Games in 75 Days in the Northwoods League
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Day 11: Rain Game
There really isn’t that much to comment on from last night. We went through the whole pregame routine and literally one second after the National Anthem was over, the umpires told us to put the tarp on. I thought that I would miss my first opportunity to start at the Duck Pond, but the playing schedule got moved back one day. During the one-hour rain delay, we sat in the clubhouse and listened to music. I would have loved to do something like the video above (how we got onto ESPN in the spring), but there were tornado sirens and they would not let us outside. Overall, it was a bummer and we will try again tonight.
After the game got postponed, some of the team went to eat at Brickhouse BBQ in downtown Madison. That place was awesome and probably a little too expensive for a college kid with no income. We stayed there for two hours and I came home and immediately crashed. During the school year, I average a little less than six hours of sleep a night, but in the summer, I get back to around eight. Sleep is a necessary part of an athlete’s success- ask Stephen Curry, who swears by getting eight everyday.
Tonight’s forecast doesn’t look pretty- but if the storms stay away, we can get a game in.
aB
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Photo by: Melissa Lee
Woodchucks 7 (2-5)
Mallards 6 (5-2)
Today marked the season opener of the newly improved Duck Pond. In the offseason, $1.8 million had been used to improve the stadium and the entire city of Madison had been anticipating this night. Throughout the whole day, the coaches and players were doing pregame interviews for ESPN Madison and local newspapers. When I got to the field at 2:45 for the 7:05 game, I saw a group of tailgaters already in the parking lot! Not only did they beat the players to the field, but apparently they showed up at noon- there are some crazy sports fans here.
Pregame was a lot of fun. I got to watch our pitchers take batting practice as a reward for pitching a shutout two nights before. There were some pretty awful swings by the group, but I was impressed by Zach White (Wake Forest), Cash Collins (Wofford), and Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State Mankato). In the locker room, instead of listening to music, the team listened to the MLB draft, and I heard two of my teammates from Davidson, Chris Lamb (11th round to the A’s) and Andy Bass (18th round to the Rays), go in the draft! I’m so proud of both of them because I know how hard those guys work on a daily basis. For the Mallards, we also had two guys get drafted- Ryan Bores (26th round to the Rangers) and Chris Burgess (30th round to the Rays).
After listening to the draft for awhile, we noticed fans began to pack the stadium. Tonight’s attendance was 6,511! Maynard Duck, the team mascot, despite having trouble in the pregame with the zipline, came soaring in from the right field stands and the game was underway. I had the night off, but the game was still more than anything I could ever imagine. I grew up in Omaha, NE and I honestly think that the CWS is the only thing that would top what I experienced tonight. The fans got on their feet when Jumpy Garcia (Texas A&M- Corpus Christi) went yard and when Travis Parker (St. Louis University) got two two-out RBI hits. Everything was great, even the announcer. If a fan catches a ball at the game, they can exchange the ball for a hot dog at the concession stand, so for every foul ball, the announcer yells, “WWWWWWeeeeiner.” Sorry, I’m immature, I thought it was funny though. Despite the loss, the fans still had a great time and the team signed autographs for about 30 min. after the game. I felt like a celebrity to all those little kids. Game again tonight at 7:05. The Mackesey’s will be there.
Speaking of celebrities, tonight’s random shout out goes to my sister, who danced on stage with Katy Perry at her concert. It is a long story, but apparently her group of friends tweeted at one of her backup dancers that they knew and he “hooked them up”- big time! Here’s the proof.
aB
