Diary of a Diehard

It’s funny how quickly your week can go from great to crappy. Not funny in the sense of a clown getting a cream pie in the face. More like funny in the sense of seeing the guy in Wal-Mart dressed in a Phoenix Suns uniform but wearing a fur coat under his tank top then as you get closer you realize it’s not a fur coat it is his back. Yeah that is kind of how this week is turning out for me. It started out with the idea of having a few days off from work and taking in a different Spring Training baseball game every day of the week basking in the warm Arizona sun and assessing a team’s chances for the 2008 season. That dream was quickly destroyed with a pipe wrench. Then it really went downhill when I realized that I couldn’t read a calendar. When the first half of your week goes this poorly there is not a whole lot more you can do except crawl back into bed and pull the covers up over your head and pray for the bad dreams to end.

Continue reading ‘Why Did She Get One?’ »

Early in the week we had a family council where we sat down and decided what kinds of things we wanted to get done this week. Since it is Spring Break for the kids we wanted to make sure we did something each of them wanted to do. Trina of course was the sensible one. She wanted to make sure the bathroom faucets got fixed. This comment resulted in a large moan by everyone especially me since I would be the one having to fix them. Dakota want to go shoot guns and ride motorcycles. I have no idea why everyone stared at me when he said that. It is not like I suggested arming a biker gang of 10 year olds. Whitney suggested that we should go to the mall and shop. This got lots of moans and groans – from Dakota and me anyways. Tiffany just wanted to sleep which I guess is typical for a 17-year old. I of course wanted to go to a Spring Training game. Trina said she thought that was doable. At that point I probably should have left well enough alone but I just had to push the envelope a little by adding, “every day.” This resulted in yet another lecture about how our lives do not revolve around baseball. I still don’t understand why that personality flaw continues to get brought up. I can’t help it if they have messed up priorities.

Continue reading ‘Calendar Challenged’ »

Some things just seem to go together: Sedona and Red, boys and girls, peanut butter and chocolate (hey I’ve seen the Reeses Peanut Butter cup commercials), Spring Break and baseball. Oh sure that last one might be questionable to some especially if you have ever watched MTV. According to that “network” Spring Break is made up of equal parts college students, alcohol, and bikinis. I have yet to figure out where all those wild Spring Break parties are actually located. Even when I was in college I never could find the people that are portrayed in all those Spring Break movies. The crowds I saw more resembled Revenge of the Nerds than Malibu Spring Break. And yet the stereotype of drunk young adults in clothing optional scenarios seems to proliferate every year. So if kids aren’t spending Spring Break drunk or passed out waking up trying to remember where they left their clothes then where are they going and what are they doing?

Continue reading ‘Spring Break and Baseball’ »

When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded for Randy Johnson in January 2007 everyone wondered what they were thinking. Here was a pitcher who had health issues and questionable success while in New York and was characterized as a surly personality that was not a good clubhouse presence. I happened to be in the minority on that. I felt like Randy had reached a point in his career that he valued family and would be very beneficial in the clubhouse offering to help some of the young players as they began their big league careers. Whenever I mentioned my opinion it was usually met with skepticism and laughter. I felt somewhat vindicated when Randy found success after starting the season on the disabled list. That triumph was short lived when Johnson’s season ended with another surgery to repair his ailing back.

Continue reading ‘The Return of Randy’ »

March 9, 1995 was a big day. Some would say it was a life changing day. Ok nobody would say it was a life changing day except maybe me. We can probably all agree that is was a good day or at least an interesting day. While many will celebrate March 31 as the day the Arizona Diamondbacks were born in 1998 it was actually March 9, 1995 that saw the birth of a baseball franchise. At the owners meetings in Florida the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays were introduced as the newest franchises in Major League Baseball. This was a huge story in Arizona and even more so in our house.

Continue reading ‘Happy Birthday Diamondbacks!’ »

There are not many things I hate more than plumbing. There’s the “great Troy Tulowitzki”, Rally Sally’s upper deck dancing and maybe a trip to the dentist but other than that I can’t think of anything else I detest more. So when I woke up this morning and saw all the women in my house hovering above me with what looked like a broken faucet handle I knew today was not going to be one of those days that I was going to enjoy. It’s Saturday and Spring Training games have begun. Man was not meant to spend the day curled under a sink with a pipe wrench and Teflon tape looking for leaks. But considering that one faucet in the bathroom upstairs has been broken since the National League Divisional Series with the Cubs I had probably used up all the delays I could think of. Curse you Josh Byrnes! Why couldn’t you invite me to Spring Training so I had an excuse for not having to do plumbing?

Continue reading ‘Plumb Crazy’ »

It’s funny how your perception of age changes as you get older. I remember as a kid I thought anyone who was in their 20′s had reached middle age. My parents were ancient when they were in their 30′s. As a kid I remember asking my grandparents what it was like to live without electricity and indoor plumbing because they were so old when in their 50′s. Now as I have a birthday coming up in the next few days I am constantly reminded of how old I am getting. My son firmly believes that I was first mate on the ark with Noah and more than once he has asked me which of the animals were hardest to take care of while we were stuck on that boat. Trying to correct him has become pointless as he will never believe his dad isn’t that old. Now when he brings that subject up I just politely remind him that I am younger than his mom so if I’m that old just think how ancient she is. Trina of course finds very little humor in any of this and makes a conscious effort to remind the kids that while dad is technically correct, the age difference is only three months. Hey, three months is three month and I need any advantage I can get.

Continue reading ‘Getting Old Is Not a Good Thing’ »

About 10 days ago I went online and ordered tickets to a select few games for the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks tickets. These are in addition to the two Diamondbacks season tickets I have in Section 112 Row 8 Seats 7-8. It is important that I keep repeating our seat location. If I don’t I’ll never remember where I am sitting for the upcoming season. I can’t think of many things more embarrassing than showing up for Opening Day and sitting in the wrong seats. The extra tickets were ordered so that the entire family could attend certain games throughout the season. Most of these tickets are for bobble head games or some other special promotion. Also included in these are tickets to games where we have friends or family who will be in town. I figured I needed to get tickets otherwise I’d never get to see them when they come to town since I would be at the ballpark. (Please don’t start with the argument that I should stay home when we have company, I get enough of that lecture at home.)

Continue reading ‘I’ve Got a Golden Ticket’ »

I have a love/hate relationship with DirecTV. Maybe hate is too strong a word. I don’t hate DirecTV in the sense that I do the “great Troy Tulowitzki” my winner for attitude rookie of the year. It is more of a “I can’t stand being bullied about by a media conglomerate” displeasure. I’ve been a satellite user for 25 years. Wow, that sounds so dirty when I say it that way. My love affair with satellite programming began while I was in college. In order to help support myself in school I installed satellite dish equipment. At that time the dishes were between 8 and 10 feet in diameter and had to be moved with a crank by hand. There was no such thing as paid programming and encryption had not even been considered. Not only did you get standard programming on a satellite dish but you also got to see what happens during the commercial breaks when the camera is not live. That is of course good and bad. (No one should ever be exposed to Dan Rather picking his nose.) As technology has evolved my viewing habits have changed to follow suit.

Continue reading ‘DirecTV Woes’ »