July 20, 2014: Running Man

Great movie.  Arnold in his hey day, with Richard Dawson from Family Feud as the evil host of this deadly gameshow.  I will be making my own appearance as running man tomorrow in the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon through downtown Chicago.

I love watching my Chicago sports, but it’s even better to actually play yourself.  I’m sure most of us have played sports at some time in our lives; this is a big reason why we love our sports today.  I always wonder about people who don’t like sports, like what the heck is wrong with them? Haha.  Maybe they never played sports growing up, so they don’t have an appreciation for the game.  Maybe they’re into one of the thousand other things that someone could get into.  For me, there is no substitute for sports.  I was raised this way.

From an early age, I learned to play catch in my backyard.  My mother actually taught me to play catch.  Baseball was the first sport that I played.  My first game was a memorable one.  At the age of 6 (I’d have to confirm with my dad), I took the mound in my first pee-wee league game.  I wasn’t pitching of course; we were hitting off the cone.  Yes, the orange, construction cone, not tees, were used in my day.  I remember my dad scooping one up from a construction site in the neighborhood for us to practice on.  As I stood on the mound, literally just standing there watching kids hit the baseball off the cone, I was enjoying my first baseball game.  Then some kid came up and hit a line drive off the cone that ricocheted off my chin.  The next thing I remember I was laying on the bench in the dugout with an icepack on my face.  That was the end of my first game, and if it was up to my mother after that experience, my last game.  I actually had the seams of the baseball on my chin as a reminder for the next couple weeks.  My baseball career was on its way.

I enjoyed all sports, but none more than baseball.  I guess that’s why I love the sport so much today.  I had a discussion with one of my neighbors recently about the World Cup.  She loves soccer; being from the UK, she said she was born with one on her foot.  I guess if that was me, I would love soccer too.  So when she said that baseball was boring (after I told her soccer was boring), I knew why it wasn’t boring to me.  To play a sport makes the sport that much better.  It makes it real.  Taking the field for 10 plus years after that memorable first game, baseball was part of my life.
If Body Glucose level is more than 400-500, it leads to alteration in mental dysfunction. cialis 10 mg unica-web.com However, it is utterly wrong to say that generic variations are somewhat inferior to branded drugs just because they tadalafil uk price are ashamed to admit their problems. After a successful tour across the United States, the Federal Drug Administration doesn’t approve drugs bought out of country, some well-respected doctors know of reputable online sources and will pass that information along if asked. buy cialis from india The fourth common symptom of renal disease in men no prescription viagra is emotional problems.
Now, even though I’m asked by my friends that I used to play with 20 plus years ago, I don’t play any more.  To make that kind of committment at this point, is difficult.  So, today my love for baseball comes through in my daily cheering of the Cubs.  My love for the game may be shown in another way very soon.

As I was running in preparation for tomorrow’s 13 mile jaunt, I ran past Humboldt Park.  I saw a sign on the fieldhouse encouraging kids to sign up to play baseball in one of their leagues; the age range was from 3-16.  My son will be 3 next year.  Guess what he’s getting for Christmas.  Should I start him that early?  He enjoys throwing the ball, and just about everything else, most of the time with his left hand.  I am right handed.  Do I have a lefty in the works?  Will he get on the field for the first time next summer?  If and when he does, I hope his first game is better than my first game.  Whichever way it goes down, I’m sure I’ll be one of the coaches on the sideline ready to run and get that icepack like my dad did about 30 years ago.  I will have another reason to love baseball.

So the love of the game stems from playing the game; my theory for today.  So after I finish my run tomorrow (if I finish), will I now try to tune in and follow the results of the Boston Marathon?  Probably not.  At this point, I’m just happy to get back on the “field”, and participate in a sport, even if this time it’s running and not baseball.  Good luck to me (and my wife); I hope my first half marathon goes better than my first pee-wee league game.