Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Games So Far




I am not going to go into detail with each of the softball games. You can go to USA Softball if you want play by play. But it is still awesome to see that the girls have not let the controversy about dropping softball from the games affect their vision. Their focus is gold, and on that road they are showing the world how the game should be played. They are all there because they have the same drives and ambitions with regards to softball. It is quite simply a joy to watch them.

TheVenezuela game was a great start. Jennie looked good and Monica and Lauren got an inning of work in the battery to get those "First Olympic Game Jitters" out of their system. I know how Gary and I felt in 2004 when we saw Catherine come out for her first inning against Italy. Back then, I also flashed back to the first time she played in an international competition of any kind - Canada Cup with the Phoenix Sunbirds while still in high school. She was like a deer in headlights at first. It felt like the start of a huge roller coaster ride. I am sure the rookie parents were all feeling that Tuesday, especially the Abbotts and Lappins. I always think of the scene in "Hoosiers" where they walked into the gym for the state tournament and measured the basket height etc. Yep - the court or field is the same, the game is the same, the venue is irrelavent. Just go out and do your best. Aand here they are doing just that.

The Australia game may not have started with the most comfortable feelings for Gary and I, but once Catherine settled in, we could breathe a bit easier. I know she has mentioned in her blog that she was not happy with her pitching a bit in the last few weeks of the tour. Most people really don't see much difference, but if you know her, and I am sure any pitcher is like this, you can just see it when they finally get in the groove. It was the same with Catherine on Wednesday. We saw it with Monica yesterday as well. A shaky first inning for her first Olympic start, but then she settled in. Hit cruise control, full steam ahead, Captain - engage!

The rain delays yesterday were disappointing, but actually fun. During the first delay I headed further towards the cover by the seats towards home plate. Several parents were there. The Nuvemans and I got caught up a bit, and then chatted about parenthood, and our respective daughters' plans post-Olympics. I also got to hear more about the summer leg of the tour with the baby entourage that followed the team around. It required some herculean planning to pull it off, but I know the girls felt so blessed to have their babies and families with them all along. And the rest of the girls had fun being "aunties" and also just having another diversion and place to get away for just a bit.

When the second rain delay came, it hit suddenly (sort of). You could see this wall of rain just moving in from one direction, and when it hit, it hit. Fortunately, Michelle lead the charge and we all went to the concourse under where we had been sitting. There we were kept company by some Aussie Olympic junkies and their mascot Craig. What a great group to pass the time with! Catherine also had a visit with her old friend and catcher from the Cruisers, Jessie Allister. She was so happy to see her, even if they only got to visit for a minute.

Today they will play the game against Japan at the regular time, and then they will move to the secondary field to complete yesterdays game. Keep fingers crossed that the rain stays away today.

Also - check out the links for Michelle's blog. She has other pics and a different view of things!

Until later.
L

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Your pictures are amazing what camera do you use?