I'm not even going to rag about coming back from weather in the 70s to a stinking snowstorm. Spring training in Florida was awesome so I've got nothing to bitch about.
Our first leg of the trip took us to Atlanta, where the last 10 minutes of the flight were so white knuckle that none of the passengers were talking at all. Even my 9-month old son got really quiet. Most of us were looking out the window to see if the damn wing was going to fly off the plane. I half expected to see some beast on the wing tearing the plane apart like in the classic episode of "Twilight Zone" with William Shatner. Despite the very rocky landing, we all made it OK although I had a major league case of swamp ass. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one.
I'm not going to bore you with too many details about the trip except for these:
* We went to four spring training games and I came to this conclusion: There is nothing more pathetic than watching a grown man beg for an autograph, especially when their voice gets real high and whiny. "NOMAH, PLEASE!" I was hoping the whiny autograph hounds would get hit in the head with a stray line drive, but no luck.
* The biggest cheers at the games weren't for Nomar, Pedro, or Curt Schilling. They came when the announcer would say before every game: "The game time temperature, 75 in Ft. Myers. In Boston, it's 32." And then everyone would go nuts.
* The hotel where we stayed was home to a couple dozen players on various women's college softball teams. Seems there was a tournament in Florida so there were teams from all over. I hate to engage in stereotypes, but they really did look like women softball players, if you know what I mean.
* There was also a crazy group of older women called the Red Hats. They're part of a national group that goes out and does fun things like take trips and wear crazy clothes. The women showed up for breakfast in the morning, all wearing purple pajamas, red slippers, and red hats with feathers. They were all at least in their sixties. They were loud and boisterous. It made me think: why wait until you're a senior to start a club like that? Let's do it!
That's my abbreviated report. I'm back to posting every day. OK, I can't help it. This weather does suck.
Posted by brettdavey
at 11:22 AM EST
