Playing the Ol' Guit, Coaching youngins', and Winning a Great Game. Bois Guillome vs Dunkerque

Hey guys. I know you are thinking that I have all the time in the world to sit down and write about what goes on over here but you are wrong....The past couple days I have been incredibly busy and have been drained by the time I get home. So I finally have some time on my hands this Monday morning to share what has been going on the past couple of days. I have to praise Karly for her quote comment, incredibly heartfelt and I have read the quote over and over...thank you Karly for that, you are a sweetheart, Tiff, not mad anymore and still love you, Ian and Emily and JoJo, thanks for keeping up and I am trying to catch you guys on Skype...just missin' each other I guess, Mom and Dad, I tried calling you guys the other day and I will try again soon, and now Alex, if making you seem all big and bad, high and mighty, with your weak words about the Conservative party...more power to you...If brawn and money are aspects of the Conservative Party then knowledge and common sense are aspects of the Democrats. I love you anywho.

*I have found out that my Free Box, which enables me to call the States for free, has a catch to it. I CANNOT CALL CELL PHONES. So I have to pay the fee this month for the calls I have made to cell phones. So only calls to landlines.*

Ok..I will start with Friday. Olivear ask me if I wanted to go to restaurant on Friday night named Buffalo Grill and then afterwards we would have our jam session. The restaurant is the French version of Lone Star Steakhouse. They have Dwight Yoakum and Hank Williams blaring in the background and all the workers are dressed in old time Sherriff uniforms. It is really funny to see this cultural adaptation. I looked at the menu and decided I was going to have the biggest piece of steak that I could afford. Olivear pointed me to a Buffalo Steak on the menu, a choice he always gets, and I followed after him. It was really good. But there is one thing that I have learned with how steak if preferred over here. 'Rare' is rare but 'Medium' might as well be rare...I ordered 'Medium' and I was afraid my steak was going to stampede of my plate. It was fine but I think I am going to order 'Well Done' next time. Now to our jam session...

I am absolutely in love with the Last of the Mohicans jig so I look up versions on the internet that could incorporate two guitars. So I learned both parts...chords and tabs and instructed Olivear how to strum the chords. I have to tell you this...our version could might as well include Daniel Day Lewis running threw Olivear's living room. It was a great night. We worked on songs that both of us made up, and we played all through the night. Laughing, beers, and music. Perfect. Hahaha, I have to tell you this also. June 21st makes a special day in France. It is "Music Day." So on this day, as I understand, people come out of the woodwork to grab any instrument they can muster and start playing in the streets. From what I am told, people just barbeque all day and play music. So I think "Tony and the Pierre's" might play a set in a park next to the Seine. Olivear is pretty nervous....hahahahaha.

Saturday. I had two games in Bois Guillaume this day. I had to coach the Cadets first and the Softball game soon afterwards. The Cadets played Rouen. Eric, the cadets normal head coach, was sick and had to go to the hospital to get treated, he would not only miss Saturday's games but also our game on Sunday. So I had the reins on Saturday. I started Paul on the mound to see how he has progressed after our pitching lesson on Wednesday. It was great to see that he found the zone. He was all smiles and the Woodchucks were up with a 9-3 lead. Paul was doing great in the 5th inning but I can not say the same for his defense. They had 3 errors and we found ourselves down 13-9. We battled in the last inning but Rouen prevailed 13-10. I was proud of Paul but not of his support. I took the kids into right field for a briefing of the game and explained that Rouen didn't beat them, they beat themselves. I concluded with..."Be ready for an extensive ground ball practice." So the Cadets made their departure and the Softball team was getting warmed up.

I love the fact that they are mimicking the warmup that I have showed them time and time again.

I have to tell you that not only has Jean-Luc has noticed my homesickness but the kids have as well. It puts them at ease to see my goofy self and a smiling face. A lot of the girls took me aside and told me to "Relax..." and made a gesture to smile. It was nice to see. So I was chattering and dancing around like I normally do, trying my best to put on a show for them, but I have to tell you towards the end of the day, that life is a lot better over here when I have a smile on my face.

It was absolutely pouring down on us and Charles, our ump, asked if I wanted to cancel. I was in too good a mood to cut things short for these kids...

"Hell no. Let's play ball."

The Caen girls and our girls rejoiced with my call. I have to tell you when I was coaching at third, water was just dripping of the brim of my cap. But it was all good. We took about a 15 minute delay during the game and we continued playing Black Magic. They still didn't find out the secret and cursed my name. After the delay, we continued to pound Caen into the ground. So after the games on Saturday, I made my waterlogged body back home to get some rest for Sunday's game. Sunday's game was one game in Dunkerque. It was a makeup from the early part of our season. It was kind of a bummer that we had to go all the way to Dunkerque for one game. Dunkerque is in the northernmost part of France right next to Belgium.

We had to win.

Game 1: BG Woodchucks vs Dunkerque Korvers
Time: 12:00
Weather: Over cast but the sun came through later
Attendance: 25

I have no clue what a Korver is. But I will tell you that the Korvers were ready to play the top seed. We were without Marc, our ace and decent hitter, and Eric, our leadoff CF. So we had a botched lineup with the heart near the beginning. Dunkerque's pitcher was warming up. This guy was not bad at all. Good fastball, good changeup, and controlled curve ball. I asked Arthur how old this guy was because Arthur plays baseball with this kid at his school.

"He's 16."
"Hahaha, what a CHUMP!"

It is funny because this is the way baseball is played over here. 15-18 year old kids pitching to 23-40 year old men is the norm. And visa-versa. In the states, if a 16 year old struck me out...I think I would hang up my cleats.

First inning. He fanned Vincent and Arthur for two quick outs. I came up. He got two questionable strikes by me. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

In my head....

"You better not let this fucking 16 year strike you out, you fucking asshole."

He let an 0-2 pitch on the inside part of the plate. I nearly knocked every lace off the ball for a triple. Bernie squeaked a liner over the 2nd baseman's glove to bring me home. 1-0.

Bernie got the knod for the Chucks. He absolutely shut them down. But in opposition...so did the other pitcher. It was 1-0 for the first 4 innings. Now this is baseball. Not a 23-4 score. Guys were feeling the tension that makes me love this game.

Pierre led off the 5th with a single and got pushed over to 3rd with the next two batters. Two outs and I come up again. They put the lefty shift on me. 3rd baseman on the line, SS almost behind 2nd, 2nd playing shallow right field. This just completely brought be back about baseball needs to be played in the States.

Get an outside pitch...make them pay for their mistake.

I lined an opposite field shot to put us up 2-0.

They struck in the bottom of the 5th with an unearned run and stranded the tieing run at third in the frame.

We went down in order in the 6th...so did they.

Last inning. 2-1. We need insurance. We managed to get the lead off runner on with one out. Silvain lined a ground ball into the 3rd basemans mit and they turned a 5-4-3 double play to close our last attempt for a cushion. They had momentum on their side but the bottom of the lineup coming up for them.

Bernie took the mound again. Number 6 batter in their lineup. Strikout. 1 out. I have to tell you that the outs were so precious to the guys in these final innings. There was roars of success with every out. Everyone was feeling the pressure.
Number 7 batter. Pop out to Charles, 2B.

Olivear, C: "YEAH WOODCHUCKS, ONE MORE!!!!!!!"

The Number 8 hitter had the hit of his life to left center for a double.
Shit....

Man, I LIVE FOR THIS. You can actually feel your stomach tighten up. You gotta play these kind of games to let you know you are alive.

The other team and fans were just going beserk. Now for the biggest at bat. Poor little bugger. You could see his nervousness.

First pitch...

WHACK! The ball was sailing over Pierre's head down the line in Left field.

"FOUL BALL"

Oh, thank Christ.

The Woochuck's hearts returned to position after it was in our throats.

Next pitch.

The batter skied it to first base.

Bernie exclaimed, "GAME OVER!"

SHUT THE FUCK UP BERNIE!!!!

I could just see Arthur dropping the mother fucker.

It found his mit.

We rejoiced like we won the championship. It was great.

Great game. The other players were upset but happy to play a great game. So were we. The only difference between them and us was that we would have a lot better 3 1/2 hour drive home. I was telling the guys after the game that you have to live for these kind of games. The adrenaline shot that you get when you win makes you feel superhuman. The guys were just so happy and I was so proud of them. A great game, and just what I needed.

Love you guys and I will talk to you soon.
Au revoir.