OCTOBER 22 UPDATE
COMMITMENTS
Jessica Legendre, SS, Beach Girls/NJ Breakers to Oklahoma
Anne Lawrence 2B,SS, Chattanooga Yankettes, to Birmingham Southern
Tracy Washam, SS,Oklahoma Thrillers/Tulsa Eagles Gold to Oklahoma Christian University
Gina Capardi, 2b-ss, NJ Pride has committed to Fordham.
Danielle Just of, NJ Pride, has committed to Manhattan
Tamra Bradley, P-1st - Mystixx Gold, to UT Dallas
Shannon Causgrove, CA Desperados 18 Gold, catcher/CF, to Colorado State
Stepanie Doyle, P - 1B, il Stone City Sharks, to University
of Wisconsin - Madison
Kelly Papesh, C – IF, IL Stone City Sharks, to University of Northern Iowa
Erin Ota middle infielder/OF, Irvine Sting, now playing with the Southern California Athletics, to Virginia Tech
Trina Salcido is the new assistant coach at Princeton
501C3
Last January, a prospective donor suggested SPY obtain 501C3 tax exempt status. I applied. An IRS examiner decided to make my tiny corporation his life’s work. Now, after months of exchanges, and more than $4,000 in legal fees, Softball Promotions for Youth, Inc, is recognized officially as a tax-exempt corporation – which can receive personal and corporate donations which can be deducted on tax returns.
JOE VERBANIC
Previously associated with San Diego State, Joe is the new head coach at George Mason University in northern Virginia.
STEPHANIE PHILLIPS
There is a rumor going around the internet that Stephanie was recently given 2 weeks to live. PLEASE do not be misled by such rumors. These rumors actually reached Stephanie. Stephanie's Caring Bridge Website is REGULARLY updated with real reports of Steph's current condition. Some days are bad, some days are good, but PLEASE UNDERSTAND that Stephanie, her family, and her doctors are battling daily, just as they have for the past several years! Everyone close to Stephanie and, more importantly, Stephanie herself believe she will win this battle! Please continue to keep Stephanie and her family in your prayers. Check her website for updates!
OLYMPIANS HOLDING CAMPS
Lisa Fernandez will hold a Christmas camp in the Atlanta area, Dec 20-23. For details, log on: http://www.fernandezfastpitch.com/ Lisa’s interview with Rick Barry can be replayed on http://www.knbr.com/)
Kelly Kretschman will hold a clinic at Southwood High School in Shreveport LA on Saturday, October 30th. Michael Bastian will assist. For more information you can contact Coach Greg Frazier at PH # 318-686-9512.
UCLA
Things are a’building up on the hill.\
Kelly Inouye-Perez should finish the addition to her family on or about November 10. Kelly is hoping for a girl.
One of the most storied softball stadiums is finally getting a face-lift. The old stadium is down; just the field and clubhouse remain. New stands, bleachers and a press box should be completed this fall, and Easton Field will have a new look for next spring. Think of the generations of fans and opponents’ supporters who got splinters in their butts as the Bruins racked up those 11 NCAA championships. Walking down the rickety stairs from the old press box wasn’t quite as harrowing as the first Gulf War but just as hazardous.
Not least of course, Sue Enquist, Kelly and staff are attempting to construct a team capable of defending those back-to-back championships. Seemed strange watching the Bruin practice on Thursday and not seeing Keira Goerl – their MVP pitcher and team leader. Natasha Watley and Claire Sua were back to help. Fortunately, UCLA has five players who have been chosen for the USA Elite team – Caitlyn Benyi, Emily Zaplatosch, Andrea Duran, Jodies Legaspi, and Lisa Dodd (who tells SPY she will not be pitching at Plant City next week). Solid core. UCLA has several freshman, including Krysta Colburn (she and Benyi were putting balls over the wall) and Anjelica Selden who was throwing with authority from 43 feet. One senior.
Given what I know about the other schools, the Pac 10 season will be a donnybrook – and any one of the eight teams could be the last standing at the end.
COMMITMENTS
The Ivy League and service academies do not announce athletic commitments. Nothing is official until the player has been given official notification of academic admission SPY has agreed not to publish “commitments” in advance of admission.
METHUSELAH
Roy Kortmann, who is the head coach at LIU, did not attend the Phoenix tournament, and did not make disparaging remarks about my age. His assistant, Bill, made the remarks. And, while he later complimented SPY, his heckling over three days seemed to have encouraged others. My apologies to Roy, who was not named in the article.
2004 REDNECK DEFINITION
Subject:
2004 Edition of Redneck
2004 edition of "You know you're a redneck when..."
1. You take your dog for a walk and you both use the same tree.
2. You can entertain yourself for more than 15 minutes with a fly swatter.
3 Your boat has not left the driveway in 15 years.
4. You burn your yard rather than mow it.
5. You think the "Nutcracker" is something you do off the high dive.
6. The Salvation Army declines your furniture.
7. You offer to give someone the shirt off your back and they don't want it.
8. You have the local taxidermist on speed dial.
9. You come back from the dump with more than you took there.
10. You keep a can of Raid on the kitchen table.
11. Your wife can climb a tree faster than your cat.
12. Your grandmother has "ammo" on her Christmas list.
13. You keep flea and tick soap in the shower.
14. You've been involved in a custody fight over a hunting dog.
15. You go to the stock car races and don't need a program.
16. You know how many bales of hay your car will hold.
17. You have a rag for a gas cap.
18. Your house doesn't have curtains, but your truck does.
19. You wonder how service stations keep their restrooms so clean.
20. You can spit without opening your mouth.
21. You consider your license plate personalized because your father made it.
22. Your lifetime goal is to own a fireworks stand.
23. You have a complete set of salad bowls which say "Cool Whip" on the side.
24. The biggest city you've ever been to is Wal-Mart.
25. Your working TV sits on top of your non-working TV.
26. You've used your ironing board as a buffet table.
27. A tornado hits your home and does a $100,000.00 worth of improvements.
28. You've used a toilet brush to scratch your back.
29. You missed your 5th grade graduation because you were on jury duty.
30. You think fast food is hitting a deer at 65 mph.
31. If you think you've got something in your teeth, you take them out to see
what it is.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
A long-time reader found some old newspapers in an archive, and learned that the story which appeared in the Daily Oklahoman announcing my birth listed my name as Raymond. Astounded, my father checked with St Anthony’s Hospital, and learned that the attendant had indeed made a mistake. But, under Oklahoma law, my father had to prove it was an unintentional mistake, or wait until I was old enough to consent to having my name changed. Fortunately, the potential bureaucratic embroglio was resolved by the attendant, who took notes while talking to my father, and decided unilaterally that no one had Rayburn for a first name and wrote in Raymond. Challenged, she admitted she had heard of Mr Sam and the Recorder of Births and Deaths changed the record, and issued a corrected birth certificate.
I was unaware of this mix-up until I applied for Army Intelligence, and their spooks wanted to know why I had changed my name. More letters!
A Delicate Deceit. My Mother incurred several problems during my birth, and fearing infection, my father was not allowed in the room. Remember, in that long-ago era, the fathers were sent to a waiting room, to chain-smoke until they could see their new-born through a window. (For reasons I will not detail here, I physically assisted in the births of Kathryn and Allison.) My father did wait all day until Mother was out of danger. For years, she proudly told the story of her husband waiting day and night until he could see her the next morning. She repeated that story once during a family reunion just before her death, and my aunt opened a scrapbook which contained another newspaper story which told how several prominent Oklahoma politicians, bankers, et al partied with my father into the night, celebrating my birth. Most of my father’s friends not only had daughters but knew his first wife and son had died during premature child birth in San Diego. Mother was not the forgiving type; she challenged the Judge to explain himself all those years later; he just smiled, looked at me, and said, “It was a hell of a great party. Rayburn, you would have enjoyed it.”
end