DECEMBER 31 UPDATE
As you will deduce from the eclectic nature of this final 2002 report, my final resolve of the old year is to catch up with SPY’s email, a cleaning out of the closet, so to speak. AOL made good on its warning and deleted all of my "old mail" file where I was storing some email I wanted to keep for various reasons. In addition to the files below, I have also updated the 2003 and 2004-06 files.
Commitments
Ashley Norman, IF, Cy Fair Intruders Gold, to Texas Women’s University
Sechler, Michelle. P, Topeka Hurricanes, to Butler County Community College
Christen Glascoe, C, Fairfax Firebirds, to Coppin State University
Michelle Krupna, P,3rd, Clifton Cobras Silver, to Dominican College
Brittany Huerta, SS, OF, Davis Batbusters, to Colorado State
Corrections
At the Firecracker pre-Thanksgiving tournament, I met the young ladies who are assisting the Jets – and made a note of their names: Julie Adams and Stacy Silva. I also wrote Long Beach State next to Stacy’s name. Alas, I put Stacy’s name on the page of my notes where I write down college commitments, and subsequently published a report that she had committed in 2002. For the record, Stacy graduated from Long Beach State in 2001, after playing for four years, and now assists the Jets.
Brittany Sullivan, whom we wrote about in the wrap-up on the Firecracker tournament, is a junior, not a sophomore.
Unsigned Seniors
Since our last unsigned seniors report, we’ve learned about a number of seniors still unsigned.
Kristin Talamantes, C,3rd,OF, So Cal Bike at the Batbuster. 3.6, 1090.
Famous in Arizona
The Arizona Star has published (its online service, Azstarnet) its list of Arizona’s top 100 sports figures – including some familiar names associated with University of Arizona softball: Candrea, Finch, Jung, Mims and Beeson.
In Memoriam
West Coast readers have asked that SPY take note of the passing of Jerry Dunphy, a broadcaster from Southern California, whose signoff was a classic: "From the desert to the sea to all of Southern California, good evening." Thanks to Dennis Fraidy.
Humor
A number of pieces were submitted during December, a few ribald, a few leaning toward the raunchy, and one that really made me laugh but it would offend Patrick Murphy. Have to be very selective, given the SPY audience.
I will probably have to say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys for this one:
Blind man
Two nuns are ordered to paint a room in the convent, and the last
instruction of the Mother Superior is that they must not get even a
drop of paint on their habits.
After conferring about this for a while, the two nuns decide to lock
the door of the room, strip off their habits, and paint in the nude.
In the middle of the project, there comes a knock at the door.
"Who is it ?", calls one of the nuns. "Blind man," replies a voice from
the other side of the door.
The two nuns look at each other and shrug, and deciding that no
harm can come from letting a blind man into the room, they open
the door.
"Nice boobs," says the man, "where do you want the blinds?"
__________________________________________________
Seven Wonders of the World
A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present
Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following
got the most votes:
1... Egypt's Great Pyramids
2... Taj Mahal
3... Grand Canyon
4... Panama Canal
5... Empire State Building
6... St. Peter's Basilica
7...China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student hadn't
turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with
her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my
mind, because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can
help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1...to see
2...to taste
3...to touch
4...to hear - She hesitated a little, and then added,
5...to feel
6...to laugh, or smile
7...and most of all ... to love
The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop. Those things we
overlook as simple and "ordinary" are truly wondrous. A gentle
reminder for this coming year that the most precious things in life cannot be
bought, or built. Live Well and be At Peace with Yourself and God
CIA
Did you hear about the three CIA trainees, in their last training session before graduating, one was in his thirties one in his forties and one in his fifties. The first was given a gun and told to go in the next room and shoot his wife. Immediately he refused saying he still loved her and would accept failing the course. The second took the gun into the next room, a loud argument took place, he returned and also declined. The one in his fifties took the gun into the room, BANG BANG BANG, BANG BANG BANG. He returns to the room and exclaims some fool put blanks in the pistol so he had to strangle her to death.
On a Day of Resolutions
I thought you might enjoy a perspective on life from this story, author unknown, about an elderly lady named Rose.
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to
get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a
gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old
lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said . . .
" Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you
a hug ?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded .
.
."Of course you may !" and she gave me a giant squeeze. " Why are
you in college at such a young, innocent age ?" I asked. She jokingly
replied . . . " I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple
of kids . . .""No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may
have motivated her to be taking on this
challenge at her age. " I always dreamed of having a college education and
now I'm getting one !" she told me. After class we walked to the student
union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends.
Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk
nonstop. I was
always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her
wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made
friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the
attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was
living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our
football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and
stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she
dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little
embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said . . . " I'm
sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is
killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what
I know." As we laughed she cleared her throat and began . . . "We do
not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There
are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.
You have to laugh and find humor every day.
You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We
have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it
!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are
nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive
thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay
in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can
grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by
always finding the opportunity in
change.
Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but
rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with
regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose." She
challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those
years ago.
One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand
college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who
taught by example that it's never too late to be
all you can possibly be.
I have not made resolutions. The lists compiled by my daughters are extensive enough that I could get through the first steps of canonization if I lived up to them.
I did not go out New Year’s Eve. I found out who I was paired next to at a dinner by a friend who thinks everyone should be married. It would be politically incorrect to say that my intended companion is homely, but, they keep her in at night so that the neighborhood dogs won’t bark. (I spent the evening and part of the day answering email)
On a serious note, I want to thank all the readers who pushed SPY up to the 742,268 hit mark at the New Year. I want to welcome all the readers from Canada and Latin American who logged on to SPY for our coverage of the Pan Am games; we are even read in Australia. We’ve been busy since returning from Mexico on planning SPY Softball Magazine, and I am very appreciative of all the emails we received offering to subscribe. I will meet with the publishing house in about two weeks and will let all of you know whether we will proceed.
End