September 25, 2006

Author's preamble: Please remember that all jesting, making fun of,
exaggerations, distortions and untruths are purely intentional and should be
taken in good humor. Seldom are names changed to protect the innocent.. are
there any?

On with the news and views. Won 2 Lost 2.

As usual, for the DieHards road trips, the logistics of the trip was well
organized and we all managed to find our way to the Royal for our stay in
Grenoble. The Golden Arrow was a bit slow out of the gate but did arrive in
time for the Friday nite feast and other activities. Many thanks to Magali
for arranging the hotel and restaurant for us. as it was not a particularly
easy task.

One of the menu items was duck (canard) which is normally dead (mort) when
served. It was and it was delicious. That is the only place where one should
encounter an experience with a dead duck. But I will have more to say about
"canard mort" later on in the news.

As for the sleeping arrangements at the Royal, room 7 seemed to be rather
tame this time. There were no rumors at all about stray puppies being taken
in for the nite. Curfew was strictly observed by at least room 6 (which had
the reserve beer) and room 7 (and 7-bis) on Friday nite with nobody in bed
before 3:30am. Since we had a late starting game on Sat, we were more than
rested by the time we reached the field. However, I did notice a lot of car
seats being used as beds for a few hours on Sat.

So, finally when we played our first game, we were all rested, but some of
our game skills were still dozing when we went into the games. I must say,
that I really don?t like those short timed games, especially when the other
team takes a short infield practice during each innings changeover. Did we
lodge an official complaint to have the whole tournament re-played with big
guys with whips encouraging a fast change on the field between innings? It
is very easy to lose those short games rather than be beaten.

That pitching rule for the first 2 innings was a tough one too. Starting
with a 2-1 count means ya gotta throw it down the pipe. If the batter has
skills anything beyond a crippled blind civilian, he/she is gonna make some
contact. That game Peter pitched on Sunday was a killer. He?d pitch 3 or 4
strikes to a batter (foul tips) and 2 balls and end up with a walk. Grenoble
and Meyzieu had some decent players and we could have played real ball with
them. Next time. I would put it in the small payback class and Meyzieu is up
for it I'm sure. A 1-0 count would have been a better handicap than 2-1.

On the offence this weekend, we were less than spectacular. I left the
scorebook at the hotel one day and in the car the next day, so I'm not sure
who was the best hitter.  There were 2 or 3 of us who had multiple hits, but
we kept exhibiting the ?canard mort? syndrome on the base paths, especially
in the games where we needed some runs. This turned  out to be a specialty,
complete with variations, taken to a high level by Romain, closely followed
by, Mag, Charlie, Reg and Jamie. In Jamie's case, it was more of a case of
"cerveau bien cuit" than "canard mort".That catcher had a good arm and
although  Jamie"s brain cells said "go", they should have checked with the
legs first. Magali took the first place award for the "Ooops I'm way too far
off the base when the catcher throws behind me". She almost extracted
herself from the situation with a slide into second, but the umpire had that
one already marked up before the slide. Charlie came in second for that
award by getting picked off 3rd in a similar fashion. Reg got caught by the
ol "line drive picked off by the pitcher" trick.

So base running 101 will be held regularly 6 times a week over the next 17
months until we all get it right. We will practice under game situations in
the Bahamas thru rain, snow, sleet and mad dog weather. Stay tuned to WRG
for the announcement of the schedule.

Saturday nite put us into the Italian pizza row of Grenoble where we had a
good evening eating, consuming wine (not beer), singing and chatting. By the
end of the meal, the DHBTC and others were starting to have withdrawal
symptoms as by then it was midnite and no beer had been either tested or
consumed. One of the French lady players led us all down the garden path
(especially Steve) in anticipation of experiencing the "secret of Grenoble".
After that, we finally found some good beer and then for some strange
reason, most of us went back to the hotel. I don't remember getting so tired
in Italy or Slovakia after a bit of ball. What was different.. could it be
that we were missing Rado whose sense of finding liquid consumption is
unsurpassable? Could it be the wine? Could it be the climate? tell me!
Johanny managed to hold up his share of room 7 at least. But, he does have a
plan making use of well timed power naps.

As to what position we ended up in the tournament, does anybody know? It
seemed to depend on the moon phase, sunspots and number of neutrinos passing
thru home plate at high noon. I'm sure that we would be no worse than third
if the 2 semi-final losers had played a match.. but that never happened,

In any case, it was still a great weekend. We were really lucky with the
weather as you could see during the trip back. Once again, I really enjoyed
playing with all you young folks and looking forward to the next time.

Reg

Coaches Comments:

Peter

  ...well not that much to add concerning the games, we really did a good job
  in order not to embarrass other teams by winning, and I think all we want
  to forget games vs. Meyzieu and Grenoble as soon as possible....
  just in order to complet Reg's summary, we ended up at the 3rd place
  (so tradition is being kept), in absence of the mayor I kissed Jean-Yves
  (the main organizer) and Magali, Magali kissed Jean-Yves, and Steve kindly
  voluntered to substitute Rado, and kisssed Jean-Yves as well ;-)))
  .... Johanny has been awarded as a male MVP player of the tournament (BA 0.800)
  and Steve won the homerun derby, by beating another room 7 folk
  Romain in the finals...

  But this weekend brought up a lot of other things, that I cannot avoid
  to mention:
   
  first of all it was a great fun - as usually during Die Hards activities
   
  we have a new Die Hards song: "The Final Countdown"
  (thanks to the old fashioned audio equipment in the Golden Arrow and the only tape available)
  we have a new Die Hards slogan: what the f..k (thanks to Steve)
  we have a new Die Hards shout: Die WHATEVER.... (thanks to Jackie)
  we have found new way how to consume M&M?s (thanks to room 15&16 and Reg)
  we have discocvered the "Secret of Grenoble" (thanks to Laurie) 
   
  did I forget anything? If so, feel free to complete the picture....
  
  Peter