Time Well Spent

Five years ago, two life-altering ideas were hatched. The Cougars were formed and the iPhone was invented.  In the five years since, each of you has owned more iPhones than the Cougars have had wins over Chicken Shack.

Before last night, we had lost seven straight times to our mostly McKenzie brethren.  Our eighth meeting was our first playoff matchup.  Winner stays and plays.  Loser leaves and grieves.

Even with a championship trophy on our mantel, the Cougars were the underdogs.  With stellar defense and timely hitting, the Cougars came out on top 6-1.

In the top of the first inning, we went down 1-2-3 and it appeared that we were headed down an all-too-familiar path against Shack. But we held them scoreless in the bottom of the first, so no harm done.

In the second inning Martini started with a single followed by a Diddy one-bagger.  Presch moved both runners over. Then in his first at bat of the 2012 season, Li'l Rads hit a clutch single for 2 RBIs. 

Cougars up 2-0.

We added a third run in the fourth when Martini led off with a triple and Presch knocked him in.  

Cougars 3-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, a speedy Shacker was on first when the batter hit the ball to Rads at shortstop.  Rads made the throw to first to get the batter out and JD - seeing that the baserunner was rounding second and headed to third - lasered the ball to Bobi at third base, who laid down the tag for a double play that got us out of the inning.

In the top of the fifth, Philthy smashed a double and sacrificed a hamstring (and a would-be triple), but we could not get that run across the plate.  Seeing that Philthy's injury was even more severe than his own, a swollen-fingered Flandog laced up Philthy's spikes -and may have even donned Phil's sweaty socks- to help out his team.

In the bottom of the fifth, with a Shack runner on first, Boom grabbed a fly ball out of the air in centerfield and launched it to JD at first who put the tag on the runner trying to return to the bag.  Another crucial double play.

In the sixth, Rads and JD had back-to-back singles. Bobi moved the runners over and Martini knocked in Rads for an RBI.

4-0

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Shackers pushed a run across the plate.

4-1

In the seventh, Li'l Rads and Ski started us with hits, Diamond Dave moved them over and Rads knocked both in with a single.

6-1

In the bottom of the seventh the Shack went down and the Cougars were victorious and made it to the next round of the playoffs.  

But alas, with a loss to Timeless an hour later, the softball season was, in fact, not timeless.

As we look back on the 2012 softball season, permit Captain Cougar to become sentimental as I always do when our season ends. 

Fiscal responsibility tells us to save not spend.  When it comes to friendship and quality time, however, it is quite the opposite. We should spend all the time we can creating memories.

A decade of research by psychology and business professors has shown that when spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying material goods to buying experiences.  

Stuff depreciates.  Experiences appreciate.  

This year we competed in 18 games, celebrated  at 18 postgames, and created memories for ourselves, our families, and our friends.

Those of us who spend our summer Tuesdays at Howard Park would wholeheartedly admit that our league entry fee and our postgame refreshment costs have been a real bargain yielding immeasurable return on investment.

Looking back to when this Cougar team was born five seasons ago, the oldest Cougar children were entering eighth grade.  Now they are off to college.  We have more players near age 50 than we do near age 40. Some of the players are at risk of being replaced on the field by their offspring in a few years.

With this in mind and as we close out another blogging season, I share one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems: