Always something to say!: Game 24

Playoff Practice Schedule

Pre INTRO

Welcome to the last "fun" BLOG of the year. That's of course barring a missing bike or some other event that is dying to be reported over the course of the playoffs. But before we dig into this edition, I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect over the next few weeks. The BLOGging will be fast and furious.

Wednesday August 28th - OCD Standings tab updated with changes to the possible order of finish
Thursday August 29th - OCD Standings tab updated with changes to the possible order of finish
Saturday August 31st - Week 18 Stats BLOG
Tuesday September 3rd - Final Standings, Play-Off Schedule, Beer Cup Winner.
Wednesday September 4th - Week 19 & Final Stats BLOG.
Friday September 6th - Pool "A" synopsis
Saturday September 7th - Pool "B" synopsis
Sunday September 8th - Pool "C" synopsis
Monday September 9th - Playoffs, Day 1 - The 1st Pitch
Tuesday September 10th - Playoffs, Day 2 - On Deck
Wednesday September 11th - Playoffs, Day 3 - Level Set
Thursday September 12th - Playoffs, Day 4 - White Knuckles
Friday September 13th - Playoffs, Day 5 - Moving Day
Saturday September 14th - Playoffs, Day 6 - Saturday, Here in the Park (published on Sep 16)
Sunday September 15th - Playoffs, Day 7 - Sunday Bloody Sunday (published on Sep 16)
Tuesday September 17th - The Finals

Depending on my level of exhaustion and how deep the Grisslies manage to go, there may be a final playoff stats BLOG. That's iffy.

After the playoffs are done there will very likely be a summary of funny events that happened over the past couple weeks and as always, my thank you BLOG. Then we have the AGM and banquet editions bringing us to about 18-20 remaining for the year.

As always, throughout the playoffs, scores will be updated same day. Have fun everyone!

INTRO

Wow....did I ever get carved up last week. Peters, Kahuna, even Down Town Billy Brown. The refrain was the same from all of them, "where's the donini deck conversation?" Its a fair question. The Donini Deck conversations have become a bit of a staple this year and it was lacking last week.

The truth is, not every conversation is suitable for print. Here is what happened last week. I arrived at Rob's and climbed the rickety stairs to the donini deck....

Me: Hey...
Rob: ...is for horses.
Me: That's very grade 6 of you.
Rob: [sad voice] I know. Sorry.
Me: Dude, are you crying?
Rob: [looking away] No!
Me: Really, because it looks like you're crying.
Rob: I'm not. I'm just sweating.
Me: From your eyes?
Rob: Yes. Its very normal for people from Lebanon.
Me: Ya. I don't think so. Why are you crying.
Rob: I'm just having a bit of an emotional day.
Me: Because.....?
Rob: This is the last day of the Donini Deck.
Me: WHAT??? How come?
Rob: Its being torn down tomorrow
Me: Seriously? Then what?
Rob: We're putting up a new one.
Me: Then this is good news! Donini Deck 2.0!!!
Rob: Sure.
Me: Buddy, why so glum? You're upgrading.
Rob: Ya, I know. But its still hard to say good-bye to the old deck. Its been so good to me. Its part of Grisslie lore.
Me: That's true. Well maybe you could keep a little piece of the old deck and incorporate it into the new deck.
Rob: Its not a company...its a deck.
Me: Incorporate just means 'to include'
Rob: Oh. Well I can't do that anyway.
Me: Why's that.
Rob: I've already promised it to someone.
Me: To whom?
Rob: Fella named Eric Strohl.
Me: Isn't that the guy that was in MASK.
Rob: Ummmm. That's Eric Stoltz.
Me: Look at you Mr IMDB!!!
Rob: Yeah, I'm pretty smart despite the fact that you portray me as an idiot on your CLOG.
Me: You know I'm only joking.
Rob: Are you Doug? Are you really?
Me: . Yeah. Except for when you say REALLY funny stuff. Those are gems.
Rob: I don't think I'm that contextually inaccurate.
Me: . Contextually?
Rob: Ya. Its a word.
Me: . Googling.........
Rob: Go ahead.
Me: . Son of a.....
Rob: Told ya.
Me: Okay, so anyway, who is Eric Stroh if he's not the guy from MASK?
Rob: Oh, right. He's the executive director of acquisitions at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York.
Me: You've promised the Donini deck to the Hall of Fame?
Rob: You bet! They're all over it!
Me: What are they going to do with it?
Rob: It'll be reassembled with a wax likeness of me, holding a glass of Donini of course and people will read my famous quotes and take pictures.
Me: Ha! You're full of it, that's funny though.
Rob: They sent me a brochure today of how it'll be setup.
Me: Bull
Rob: Wanna see?
Me: ya.
Rob:

Guide to exhibits

With over 38,000 three-dimensional artifacts in the Hall of Fame's collection, each visitor can get a glimpse of what makes baseball special to them. The Museum which details the history of America's pastime, is split into three floors to highlight baseball's rich history. It is recommended visitors start on the second floor.

Second Floor

The Babe Ruth Room

Cooperstown Room - Before starting the journey through baseball, the Cooperstown Room examines the history of the Hall of Fame and the "Home of Baseball," Cooperstown, N.Y.
The Baseball Experience - To set the stage a digitally-enhanced, 13-minute multimedia presentation in the 191-seat Grandstand Theater prepares visitors for the story of the game's long and winding history.
Grisslieland Room-History of the Grisslies and the original Donini Deck

THE HISTORY

The Donini Deck has ushered in many spring baseball seasons

And it has hosted more than its share of Baseball parties

And it's hosted Championships!

THE TEAR DOWN

The Deck Removed

The Remains of the deck that were donated to The Baseball Hall of Fame

Framing the New Deck

The New Deck Nearly Done.

AFTERMATH

In what has become typical Grisslie fashion....they just can't leave well enough alone. So they destroyed Donini Deck 2.0 and build 3.0.

Then 4.0

Then it became apparent that there was only one option left. The house (yes, Grisslie-land itself) would have to be torn down and rebuilt to accommodate Donini Deck 5.0. And finally we have a finished product.

THE SPEECH

Unlike the conversa-SHUN above, this one took place an hour before game time, of course on the new Donini deck.

Doug: Hey, I need you to do me a favour.
Rob: Sure, of course. Anything.
Doug: I need your song to be something to inspire the guys....really feed off of the last win and finish the season on a high note winning two in a row. Know what I mean?
Rob: Sure I do.
Doug: So what do you think?
Rob: I think.....no.
Doug: What do you mean "no", you said you'd do anything.
Rob: That's just an expression.
Doug: No. Its a commitment.
Rob: Bah....tomato, tomahawk.
Doug: What?
Rob: Again....its an e-x-p-r-e-s-s-i-o-n!
Doug: Whatever. Why won't you do a song to help the team?
Rob: Because its deck week.
Doug: Deck week. You've gotta be kidding me. What is this, the Discovery channel?.
Rob: Nope. I wrote a tribute to Ricky-Bobby. I can't wait for Friday and the grand reopening!
Doug: Are you inviting any special guests?
Rob: I've invited The Pope and Boy George.
Doug: Interesting selections. I wouldn't picture those two together.
Rob: Are you kidding? They go dress shopping together.
Doug: Cute.

And this is the song that was delivered to me. I have to say that this is one of Rob's finer efforts of the year. It is of course from the classic, "Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" that has been changed to a Deck Tribute song. Music ====> HERE

Cedar Deck of Donini

I was afraid to tell the news to the Banker.
I was as nervous as I could be.
I was afraid to tell the news to the Banker.

I was afraid about how mad she'd be.

Two three four
tell the people what we built!

It was a Massive Biggie, Rickey-Bobby, Cedar Deck, Of Donini
That we used for the first time today
It was a Massive Biggie, Rickey-Bobby, Cedar Deck, Of Donini
And on that deck is where we're gonna stay

Two three four
stick around well tell you more

Ricky-Bobby is a builder of action

He's so precise, and he never swore

He can build it without any crewmen

And so he built it outside the Farah's front door

Two three four
tell the people what we built!

Two three four

stick around well tell you more

Now Susan thought the deck was the answer
And there would finally be room for her too

It turns out that the deck didn't help her
Because now its filled with the Grisslieland crew!

Two three four
tell the people what we built!

THE GAME

What game?

What matters here are the Grisslie awards.

Al Hayward - Shoot from the hip Award

Doris Casullo - ADD Award (Amazing Dominant Defense)

Gord Dol - The Fonzie Award

Dave Muirhead - The High-Tech Award

Rick Greenfield - The Charlie Hustle Award

Glen Tinkler - The Pirate Award

Rob Farah - The Infield Defense Award

Brad Wadden - The Quick Draw Award

Roger Gaudet - The Back to Full Stride Award

Winston Gayle - The He Runs Kind of Okay Award

Al Bales - The 10th Man Award

Grisslie Awards night is fun and always good for a few laughs. Lets face it, winning 3 out of 24 makes for along and trying season. So seeing guys at the end of it all still laughing and having a genuine good time means a lot. And thanks to Sue for organizing the food and those that contributed (Amie?) and to Rick Greenfield for bringing the pizza and desserts! Fantastic!

We were also able to share a very special award with our friends on the Dodge City Rounders and Hot Tub Woody's as Andy Gee joined Rob Hayward as the only people 'Knighted' into the old timers order for bringing honour and distinction to our league.

Andy, as you all now know from the legendary tales, Sir Andrew drove in the winning run in the All-Star game against the young timers to even our series record at 2 games per side.

Thank you again to Amie for the pictures.

The Game Winning RBI ball, under glass. While this was presented to Sir Andy, I took it back to collect the remaining All Star team signatures. There is still a handful to add in, if you see me ask.