Blasey's match report....

Thanks Matt for the peppy email... you aren't a touch on Manjiv but it put a
smile on my face this morning. Some how there is a fault on my broadband
so I have no internet at home till the weekend....

Mavy says that she enjoyed the game and she too has a bruised ankle but
failed to pull off a sicky.

I know I should blog but here's my highlights and lowlights of yesterday...

HIGHLIGHTS
Vic to Alsion to get an out at 1st
Gareth and Andy's out at 3rd
Julian's first time pitching this year
Alex almost being knocked out by a Paul fly-ball coming off the tree as he
cycled in late
Pete's slip at first but valiant attempt to catch the ball whilst on his
back
Faustina batting in Kevin
Kev's casual catch off the first delivery of their innings
Gareth slipping over but still getting the ball to Kevin
My slide to second to prevent the girl throwing Alsion out.
Paul unable to pitch to their girls.
The confusion caused by having 11 players in the line-up (including 2 guys
in a row)
Olivia trying to score using a soaked sheet or paper and a BIONIC finger.
Matt, Alex, Julian, Paul and Kev's confusion when we changed everything in
one go.
The Kev, me and Paul attempt to get an out at home plate.
Val looking like a drowned rat but there and playing well as catcher.
Mavy and Faustina in the outfield stopping ground balls.
Watching Paul slide as he tried to pitch in the mud.

LOWLIGHTS
Missing Tiggs and Kate...it's not the same without you.
The Rain
The long walk back to my car because we went to the other pub.
The Rain
So many illigal, too high and too low balls
Gareth's frustration in the outfield when we mucked it up
My underarm pass to Pete
My handing, not throwing, the ball to Alison.
When we make simple errors
When we aren't as tuned in on what is actually happening.
The umpire calling some questionable decisions on Vic.
That girl catching Gareth in the outfield when the bases were loaded and we
had 2 outs.
Not being able to move off 1st due to the mud.

Please can everyone let Manjiv know today or tomorrow if you can, can not or
might not be able to play on Wednesday as we are at home to Raiders Blue and
it's payback time.

One last thing....
Thanks guys. It might have rained, we might have been wet, we might have
been able to play better but it was still FUN.....

Lets get ready for 11th August when we will beat them all in the tournament.
Keep that date free.

Blasey

Seriously considering dressing up as a woman

I think the above may be the only way to get some match play in this team, and being 100% gay it wouldnt be too traumatic for me anyway

Anyone still without a nickname?

Sports nickname generator.

Andy "The Hammer" Horton

Only PG - is that the best we can do?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Softballing in the movies

This Saturday night I sat down (with low expectations, it has to be said) to watch "Employee of the Month".

My expectations were not exceeded - harmless film, but just NOT VERY FUNNY!

However, towards the climax of the nail biting, edge-of-your-seat plot, there is a softball game - and what is more it is co-ed slow pitch!

Here is a short clip from the film - it's bad quality and out of sync... but you get the idea.



Huddle huddle huddle.

Snatching fun from the jaws of victory

So the wolves are 21-0 up. There's 2 out and the bases are empty. One out and the Wolves mercy a team!!! But no, somehow the killer instinct and desire for a crushing victory desert us and we become good sports.

Obviously after a good 3.666 innings my pitching went astray and apologies, I'm as baffled as anyone why? (Everyone should have a go at pitching to see exactly how small that pesky strike zone is!) The Tornadoes were quite happy with their one home run when 21-0 down but somehow that got them going and they enjoyed the comeback of the season.

I think the Wolves batted superbly. And the double play in the last innings to catch the ball and get the "winning run" out at 3rd was most excellent. We lack that killer instinct and the desire to take as many walks as we can, but that's cause we want to have fun and play softball...

well done everyone!!
Paul

p.s I forgot the other excellent double play from Kevin's catch in the outfield and an out on first... awesome!

What a terrible game L. Wolves versus Barracudas

I feel so guilty about this evening's game I can only say I wasnt in the zone. Matt or Alex would have made a much better job of catcher. I could hear the shouts telling me to get on 4th base but tried for throwing to 1st and hit that poor girl in the back

I will have to go along to some Development sessions for improvement

Picking up strangers in the park...

[From my LJ]

Russell Investment Group v Loan Wolves

Russell Investment Group do not play in our division. Or even our league. So, how did we come to be playing them?
Well, there's this team called triBold... [snipped text explaining the sorry saga of yesterday's "postponed" game]
Anyway, we were up for playing last night. triBold had booked a pitch, and it seemed a shame to waste it. so we turned up in Regents Park this evening. Where we met the aforementioned Russell Investment Group team, who it turns out had also been stood up by their scheduled opponents, in a banking league. So we got the beers in and had a friendly with our new friends.
It was a really good match. We turned out to be pretty closely matched, and we had a great time playing on a well-kept field in the evening sunshine. Lions (we think they were lions) were roaring in London Zoo nearby, and long shadows fell over the pitch as the game went on. Atmosphere was good, and we had fun - both sides probably played better knowing that nothing depended on the result. We weren't really keeping score properly, but after a 1-1 first inning the Wolves broke away then had our lead clawed back in one inning due to a second-out rally (which was aided by Paul's sportsmanlike gesture in refusing to accept their third Out), finally going into the last inning a few runs up. The final result was somewhat uncertain, but definitely close. I made the last play of the game with an out at Home.
Afterwards, we joined a few of their team for a couple of drinks at the Edinboro Castle. An all-round successful and convivial evening.

Final hand-in of the year on Thursday. So the library was busy all day, until the deadline, after which it was dead quiet.
I was working till the deadline at six to provide extra cover. Actually there till about a quarter past. Then I had to leave and rush over to Regent's Park to umpire a softball match.
I was delayed by Tube hell, and arrived to find Tigger and the two teams waiting expectantly for me. No pressure, then.
It was easier than the first time - posssibly because I'd just come from a library full of stressed-out law students, so twenty keyed-up softball players seemed much less frightening. I still made errors as plate umpire, and wrong calls, but the teams accepted them and the match played out (it was decided by one run, in the very last inning), and we left the field without being lynched by the losing side. I managed to project a confident demeanour, according to Tigger. She did sterling work as base umpire.
Wolves met for drinks last night at the Cittie of Yorke. Paul's back from his travels.

Scientology

I was hoping for a more mental reply than the one I got, but Silvia's surname made me laugh:


From: AOSHUK [mailto:aoshuk@scientology.net] Sent: 24 May 2007 20:34To: Waller, MatthewSubject: RE: Scientology Question

Dear Matthew,
Hi, my name is Silvia. I am writting in response to your e-mail you sent a few days ago.
You are absolutely right, Scientology can most definitly help on the things you mentioned about your team so you can really take off!
First of all I need to know where you are based so we can work out what would be the easiest for you to find out how Scientology can help.
Please contact me on 0800 587 5277 to arrange so.
All the best,

Silvia Fani

Saint Hill Foundation
Saint Hill Road, East Grinstead,
West Sussex, RH194JY

-----Original Message-----From: Waller, Matthew [mailto:M.Waller@city.ac.uk]Sent: 22 May 2007 11:57To: aoshuk@scientology.netSubject: Scientology Question
Hi
I play for a softball team and I wondered if Scientology could benefit us both individually and collectively.
In competitive matches there are always one or two innings when doubts set in, we lose focus and undo all the good work we’ve achieved in the game so far. What we really need is consistency.
Some of my team are thinking of turning to sports psychologists and self-help manuals, but I thought that Scientology may provide better answers. After all, you’ve helped Tom Cruise become a major star despite his diminutive stature, and pulled John Travolta out of troughs (Look Who’s Talking, Look Who’s Talking Too and Look Who’s Talking Now spring to mind) that threatened to destroy his career. Perhaps Scientology could stop the troughs in my team’s games.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Matthew

Smug bastards

Discovered this linked to the results on the league site:


The entire Devil Strays squad showed up to take part in the first win of the season, a comprehensive victory against the Loan Wolves on May 21st.The sky over Finsbury Park may have been grey, but the Strays’ mood was sunny and team spirit was high, with seventeen keen players present and hungry for victory.The Strays got off to a fantastic first innings, keeping the Wolves down to one run while scoring 12 runs themselves. The batting highlights, to list but a few, included a zinger to centre right by Jen, a shell-it-outta-the park smasher by Dan and a disrespectfully cheeky infield hit by Kim.After this imposing start, the Wolves were unable to get back into the game, being shut out in the next innings by staunch Strays defending, with outstanding performances from outfielder Mike, shortstop Dan and first basewoman Rebecca, not to mention fantastic pitching from Seth, who struck out several anguished Wolves. Sharon made a crucial catch at home plate to stop the runner on third scoring and Paul made an instinctive and impressive catch at second base.The Wolves only managed to score a further four runs during the game, while the Strays scored another eight to make the final score 20-5. All the official Strays present played at some point during the game and each and every one of them made a positive contribution to the final result. Paul and Dan were joint MVP winners for their outstanding performances on the field.

Written by Devil Strays captain F Herdman-Smith, 24th May 2007

High/Low

Low: My hitting.

High: Obstructing their first-baser.

Devil Strays 20 - 5 Loan Wolves

We played our traditional rivals last night. Scheduled on Monday so as not to clash with the football tonight.
Went into the game with captain Michael just back from a knee operation, and needing a runner. Also, Matt's hand is still stitched from cutting it open on a smashed rice jar. And Olivia has her broken finger splinted up, so she was scoring rather than playing.
The Strays have acquired some good new players to replace their losses, but then so have we. Sadly, this game went their way.
We had a poor first inning, in the course of which I tangled with Kevin running for a catch, and twisted my ankle. After that we got a lot sharper, but still couldn't pull the lead back.
Tigger was hit repeatedly by thrown balls. she also pitched to a guy who shot a rocket-like line drive towards her head. she almost caught it, but it smacked into her pitching hand instead of her glove. She still gritted her teeth and pitched the game out though.
Gareth pulled a quadricep running. Dunno how many other people took minor knocks, but after the game Michael looked around us and asked; "is there anyone here who isn't injured?".
We limped off to the pub for a healing beer or two.

[X posted to my LJ]

high point - low point of last night's game?

In my case, high point was that dodge past the tag out.
Low point was then getting out for not tagging up.

Loan Wolves 10 - 23 Raiders Red

This week’s game was against Raiders Red. They’re a big club, with three teams, two of which are in our division. This time we were playing Little Billy Goat Gruff.
Rain and drizzle had restored Finsbury Park to its usual state of muddiness. We were short of spare players, but managed to field a full team and thankfully didn’t need to make any substitutions. I was catching, so spent much of the match squelching around in the afore-mentioned mud. Also called a few plays.
The Raiders didn’t make life easy for our pitchers, looking for walks rather than chances to swing. A strong first inning for them gave them a lead we couldn’t overhaul, but our performance with bat and in the field was highly creditable. Plenty of runs, two innings in which the opposition failed to trouble the scorers, and some fine individual performances. Alison’s fielding on third, and Kevin’s diving catch stood out for me, along with Mavy at bat ducking under an errant pitch. Some fine batting and base-running from everyone. I took part in the double play that never was – batter hit the ball short, pitcher Tigger got to the ball, threw it straight to Peter on First who made the out then threw it lightning fast straight to my glove, I pivoted, tagged the runner out coming into Home. However, as the out on First had been the third of the inning anyway, our stunning teamwork was irrelevant.
I took the team’s first walk of the season (which gives an idea of how sharp the pitching we’ve been facing has been), and got a real kick from base-running. At one point I dodged a tag-out between Second and Third, then dived headlong (into that mud again) to reach base safely.
Duncan DS was umpiring, and I’ve never heard a more talkative blue. Running commentary on every pitch, every play. We play the Strays next week.
After the game, we retired to the pub in the hope we could catch the West Br*m – Wolves match. Sadly, there was some unimportant European game on, with three Spanish blokes watching, and the bar staff wouldn’t change channels for us. Maybe it was as well to be spared the sight of my side losing, but it would have been nice to watch the game with all the Wolves cheering for their namesakes.

Vic's moonlighting for another team...

This week I will mainly be spending my evenings in a dark, hot, stuffy theatre helping Geiods put on their musical 'Calamity Jane'. Geiods are a musical theatre group, well that's a sort of team. Fortunately for the Wolves, these shows only come around twice a year, once in May, once at Christmas, and fortunately for me too: it's exhausting rigging up a theatre!

I spent most of Sunday lugging heavy lights up and down staircases and playing with lighting desks and walkie-talkies... that is until the batteries died on walkie talkies and we had to resort to shouting.

I was a proper 'techie' armed with electrical tape, string and an adjustable spanner. This piece of kit was essential as I'm such a girl that I couldn't unscrew the light clamps without resorting to using the spanner. They are screwed tight for obvious reasons... they are big and heavy and high up and would certainly give someone a good clonk on the head if they fell.

The lighting desk was particularly exciting to have a go with as no one knew how to drive it. The instruction book ran to about 50 pages and once we did finally manage to save a light setting, we couldn't work out how to make come back on cue. I had never even seen a lighting desk until yesterday and so it was slightly alarming when it kept beeping at us. It was quite fun playing with all the buttons and sliders though. I'm usually only allowed to point spot lights and carry chairs on to the stage!

So I won't be able to join you for the game this week, but I will be thinking of you and I sing along to the show and point my lights.

High Point - eating many sweets and biscuits and finally getting the lighting desk to do something that we wanted it to do.

Low point - having my foot run over by a stage block (it's OK, I survived) and nearly dropping a big light off the balcony.

The Loan Wolf Blues

Our first compulsory umpiring duty.
Richard and I were the umpires (or “blues”). I was to be plate umpire – the guy who calls balls and strikes. Our teams were Meteors 3 (you may remember them from last week) and the Barracudas (those with long memories may remember them from last Summer).
On my way to the match, I did what I’d done before the first University Challenge match – I took a moment for myself, to be well and truly terrified, and thus got it all out of the way. Well, mostly.
We began with the traditional talk with the captains, during which we defined ground rules (this became important later) and freely acknowledged that this was our first time umpiring (subtext: “please be gentle with us”). I’d forgotten to bring my clicker, but Kevin of Meteors 3 always has a spare, so I borrowed that. Didn’t show any favouritism for it, though.
The cliché is that you just have to be confident, and “call them as you see them”. To an extent this is true. I know I screwed up call after call, and that we must have missed some of the plays. But still, there was a huge store of goodwill, tolerance and understanding from even seasoned players towards their newbie blues.
But still – it was a bit scary. I realised that the blues don’t get the break that players do every half inning. They have to stand there. Alert and ready to make call after call after call. By the end I was praying for either the pitcher to fling the ball short into the mud or the batter to tonk it cleanly to the outfield so I wouldn’t have to make a close call. I also found myself reducing it to the pure mechanics, ignoring the personalities, the teams, the state of the game.
Richard was a great co-umpire. He looked the part making his calls in the outfield, and wants to have a crack at the plate next time.
In the end, Meteors were ahead and due to bat at the bottom of the fifth when bad light and appalling wet conditions made it wise to call the game. So I shouted “ballgame!”, and that was that.
My best call was probably when a ball hit the old clubhouse – thanks to defining ground rules, I knew that unless the ball ended up in the house it was still live, and called it accordingly.
Afterwards I had a beer with Richard, my fellow umpire, and Duncan Devil Stray. He’d turned up to watch us umpire and lend moral support – and also to pick up hints as to how we were going to umpire the Dev Strays’ game next week of course, competitive so-and-so that he is. He was full of praise – said we’d done a “storming” job. So he can’t complain if we call him struck out next game then, right?
I made some woeful calls, but at least they were consistently woeful. And the sides accepted the result without protest, and that’s the main thing. My only worry now is that “be gentle with us – this is only our second game” may not wash as well…

Mascot enquiry

Personally I find stuffed animals rather sinister and seedy...


From: Robert Sinclair [mailto:taxidermy@thegetstuffed.co.uk] Sent: 09 May 2007 16:04To: Waller, MatthewSubject: Re: Wolf Inquiry

Wolves cost £9500 plus VAT each. We can prepare one in any position. Robert Sinclair Get Stuffed


----- Original Message -----
From: Waller, Matthew
To: taxidermy@thegetstuffed.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:30 AM
Subject: Wolf Inquiry

Hi
I play for a softball team called the Loan Wolves and we’ve been looking for a mascot for some time. Whilst walking past your wonderful shop I noticed two particularly fearsome and impressive examples of canis lupus. May I inquire if they’re for sale, and if so how much you would want for them?

All the animals you have on display are mounted in extremely realistic poses. Would it be possible to mount a wolf in a classic softball stance – on its hind-legs, wielding a bat, just about to strike a home run?

If this is indeed possible, could you provide a similar service for other animals? What price a cricket playing hippopotamus?

I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Matthew Waller

Raiders Blue 21 - 6 Loan Wolves

Weather has taken a turn for the worse this week – must be the influence of the Bank holiday. Despite cold and cloud, we were spared rain. Though one unnamed Wolf didget startled by “lightning” which turned out to be the flash from Manjiv’s camera.
We had a big squad with all female Wolves except Olivia, and eight of our male players, present.
Game started quite well, and we were definitely in contact until the bottom of the fifth, where eight runs gave the team from the 83-strong Raiders club a significant lead. Some great fielding, and good batting – including what must be the most home runs for the Wolves in a single game (three). A nasty collision between Matt and the Raiders’ catcher ended up with her missing the rest of the game (and therefore an automatic out on her turn at bat). This event did probably help us stay in contention, but our performance was still commendable overall.
My only contribution to our performance was to correct the opposition’s scorer when she added 13+4+4 and made 23. At least the agreed total is an accurate reflection of another loss with honour for the Loan Wolves. I managed to get cracked in the shin during throwing and catching warm-up, and narrowly avoided getting beaned by a pop-up foul ball which seemed to be actively tracking me, like a small round guided missile, as I tried to get out of its way.
Not the best scoreline ever, but still respectable.
Tonight Richard and I have the dubious honour of being the first Loan Wolves to officially umpire a match. Wish us luck.

[X-posted from my Livejournal ]

Pics from Game 2 (Loan Wolves vs London Raiders Blue)

LSF Single sex tournament

On Sunday - I replaced my favourite orange t-shirt for a red one as I became a Vixen for the day. The Vixens made up the fifth team in the LSF single sex tournament which took place in Barn Elms Sports Centre (the same venue as the In2Touch tournament we took part in way back in April 2006).
The Vixens are a team formed of girls from different teams within the various divisions in the League...and needless to say, I found myself surrounded by players who were a lot more skilled and experience than I was.
The ball used in single sex games is slightly smaller than the regular softballs used for Co-ed. This actually makes it possible to bat the ball further...
The only low point of the whole day was playing in a team with players who all knew each other and being the only Loan (Lone) Wolf. However, it was a good experience overall, got some good pitching tips and a couple more tournaments should hopefully make some sort of difference to my softball ability :-)
A full write up of the day is available on the BSUK website

Loan Wolves 3 - 30 Meteors Three

First game of the season last night. We were all keyed up for it, I think. I felt quite proud to be part of our team as I changed into the old black and orange after work.
Lovely sunny evening, not too hot. We assembled at Finsbury Park and got down to some practice ahead of the match. Ben turned up to support us, which was nice of him. He soon ended up running a beginners' clinic for our newest players. See, we even lay on higher-division coaches for our team!
Meteors 3 are from a big club, with experienced players to support their newer people. The fact that they can field three teams is a bit of a clue. They had train whistles and rattles, which seemed a bit unnecessary.
The blues (umpires) were umpiring their first game. That'll be Richard and me next week, as we now have to fulfil umpiring duties like the other established teams.
We gave away a few runs in the first two innings, but tightened up a lot towards the end of the game. Sadly, we couldn't overhaul the Meteors' lead. We did some good fielding and pitching though, and for the first time ever we made an appeal against a rules infraction (due to confusing themselves by subbing in so many players from their huge squad, the opposition put two male batters in a row).
I was Catcher, in which position I managed to find the only pebble on the entire field - by kneeling on it. Mercifully, though, that was as serious an injury as any of us received.
Good performances all round, including debuts from new Wolves Faustina, Matt, Valerie and Kevin. Good debut by co-captains Tigger and Michael, also.
We retired to the Finsbury afterwards, and talked (mostly) softball till chucking out time.
Due to not conceding as many runs as some, we aren't bottom of the division, at least. And it's good to know that we've lost none of our enthusiasm for the game and the team. Darren came for a word in the pub (his Div 1 side had been playing), and when Tigger asked if he was surprised that we were back for another season he said; "No. I figured you guys would still be together".

Team Photo May '07

my first softball game

i played my first softball game last night and it was very exciting and the rest of my team were all very friendly and very good players and when i was fielding i stopped the ball quite well but i dropped some catches and that made me sad but i moved to catcher and i got someone out and that made me happy and there was a bossy spanish girl on the other team and she had on very tight shorts that made me feel funny inside and when i batted i always hit the ball but i got confused and got out at second base two times but the third time i listened to blasey and got all the way round and that was good and then all the loan wolves went to the pub and i drank some stuff that was thick like milkshake but black and bitter and it made my head feel funny and for the game next week i think i should work on my catching and my punctuation

1st of the season - Low Point, High Point

Low Point - Fumbling some catches and missing some outs on 2nd as a result.

High Point - hitting the ball and making it to first base each time I was up! Hooray. There is hope for my batting skills yet.

Go Wolves Go!

The final practice before the start of the season and the weather smiled on us. It was a beautiful morning, sunny with a light, cool breeze, and we worked our socks off. Michael led the session and got us running, throwing and batting. It was a good session and everyone was pleased to see how people had improved over the winter. It was however completely exhausting so we had to retire to the pub for a cold coke afterwards. Please note, it was coke, not beer! Welcome to Valerie who came to her first ever practice.

Message to the team from Michael - we need a chant. Something to psych us up. I suggested Go Wolves Go! Michael suggested 1-2-3 Wolves. What's your suggestion? Get posting!!

A new season.....

Wolves,
Less than a week until our new season begins. Let's kickstart this on the right note.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you hope to achieve this season....on a team or individual level...

Co-Cap'n Blue Tiggs

Spring training

Really thoroughly enjoyed yesterday evening's training session. Six Wolves, one bat, and "a whole ball full of bags" as Manjiv put it.
Throwing and catching drills, batting and fielding practice, and a bit of running around. Followed by a couple of beers.
Just the thing on a lovely Spring evening.
Really whetted our softball appetite for the new season.

Wolf meme continued...

I scored as a yellow wolf...

'Kay, you need to calm down, and lay off the crack. Slow down and take a breath. No more sugar for you.....

Wolf meme

You scored as brown wolf. You're a brown wolf. You're very self confident and you love to play. You're very deep into philosophy and you love to know what's going on at all time. Keep on the look out for potential fun, it will find you! brown wolf 80% Black wolf 70% white wolf 60% Silver wolf 60% yellow wolf 45% red wolf 45% Grey wolf 20% Blue wolf 5% what color wolf are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Yesterday morning was softball practice. Joint practice for Loan Wolves and Devil Strays. Finsbury Park far less muddy than I've seen it, but it was a pretty cold day. We did some infield practice - throwing the ball round the bases before the batter could run all the way round. When it was my turn to bat and run, I found that it's quite a long way round in one go for an overweight man with a hangover.
Then a practice game, with mixed Wolf-Stray teams. I tried batting with a 26 oz bat, and did woefully, so changed back to my trusty 30 oz club. Got to base a few times, got round, and did call and execute an inning-ending double-play, earning a high-five from Duncan Devil Stray. Sadly, though, it was Julian who I got out there, not a Devil Stray...
Faustina and Matt, new Wolves, enjoyed the practice and game I think. And the pub afterwards.
We went to the Faltering Fullback - we sank a few beers, chatted about softball and all sorts of other stuff, and watched the Ireland-Wales match. One of Matthew's friends turned up, having been at the new Wembley for the Under-21 friendly. We asked him for his impression of the new stadium. "Big", he said.

Umpire Course March 17-18 - Regents Park and Clapham

Had a very interesting weekend with Mike Jennings and Spencer our two excellent trainers.

The rules are as we know pretty complex - certainly the detailed knowledge that is required to become an umpire. Spencer has a rule book by his bed at night.

I took a lot of notes on a whole range of matters relating to the different calls made by the umpire, the Infield Fly rule, illegal bats, coaches and substitutes, removed and ejected players, The Run Ahead Rule ( another and better name for the Mercy Rule) etc. etc.

We are using the ISF rules ( International Softball Federation) for everything except which bats or balls are acceptable for which the ASA ( Amateur Softball Association) rules are used.

We did a drill up at Regents Park - practising being the Plate umpire. ie calling strikes, balls, illegals etc. Quite difficult reacting quickly and making the fine judgements.

On Sunday as there were only 5 of us we adjourned to Clapham to join up with some of the Raiders who were doing umpiring training as well. We did some drill on watching the batter-runner going to 1st and then making the call - Out or Safe. Also we practised doing some calls on whether a ball was in Fair or Foul territory.

At the end we concentrated on the coordination between the two umpires when they are both used. That is the Plate Umpire and the Field Umpire. Did an elaborate drill base on this coordination and how it is achieved

Those who participated on the course are being sent an email exam to complete

Back in the mud!

Yesterday morning I went over to Clapham South for first softball session of the year. Ah, the familiar squelch of cold wet mud on a winter's morning, how I have missed thee! On the way over, I'm afraid I alarmed a little old lady. I sat next to her on the bus, and she saw the baseball hat I was wearing, and my bat handle sticking out of my sports bag, and I could see her thinking; "oh no! This must be one of them ASBO hoodies the Daily Mail's always warning us about!".
Only four of us there, including new player Faustina. We ran an impromptu "softball skills: 101" session for her, which went well. She has a flair for batting, which is a good thing, and seemed keen to learn about the game. The batting tee Ben gave us as a parting gift proved to be a useful bit of training kit. We all went for a beer at the George afterwards, and I attempted to explain some of the rules to Faustina using a diamond laid out on the table, with coins for players.
[X-posted from my LJ]

Yesterday, a small, select group of Wolves met after work for beers and a natter at the Cittie of Yorke. Their cellar bar is a good place for such gatherings. We chatted about work, softball (of course), and crosswords and sudoku, among other random subjects. We looked forward to the new season.

Loan Wolves Pre Season Social

Here are some photos from last Friday's Loan Wolves social get together, in the Cittie of Yorke pub, near Chancery Lane. It was great to see the team again for the first time since my 'move', and meet your new player Faustina (who it turns out worked at Whitechapel library reception at the same time I did- I thought her face looked familiar) I aim to keep up my duties as a Wolves social member this year, and hope to catch up with you all sometime soon (it was nice to bump into Andy and Julian again at the GLSML AGM on Wednesday night) Softball in London. It's such a small world.

Wolves, and sporting rivalry

Just to put any little rivalries we have, or think we have, with the Devil Strays, Barracudas or that Div 4 outfit who poached Ben from us, into a proper perspective:
A different Wolves are playing West Br*m tomorrow.

First practice of 2007

Once again it was a muddy start to the 2007 training schedule, although at least the rain held off. We had quite a good turnout for practice...Tiggs, Jules, Paul, Alex, Foxy, Fordo, and our newest recruit - Faustina. Can we all please shout out a warm welcome to Faustina?

Sadly the Wolves were outnumbered by the Strays, but I think we went quite a way in building up the Strays/Wolves relationship by mixing up the teams during the game. Luckily we'll have some valuable training assistance from the Strays in future sessions.

Paul also said farewell on Saturday, getting in one last softball practice before taking off to swim with the piranhas and save the turtles in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. His gob will be greatly missed until he gets back in two months ;-)

Nothing to do now, except wait for the next training session which takes place on January 27th....

SuperBen flys away

Dear Wolves,

After much consideration, I have decided to leave the team (as a player) and have accepted a place with the Kamikazes (a team I played in a tournament in 2006) as a player and their coach/training session organiser. After really enjoying playing in a variety of tournaments over the summer and in the indoor league this winter, I want to see if I can survive playing in what should be a pretty tough Division 4 this season.

I want to thank everyone for making last year such an enjoyable first year in the sport for me, both on and off the field. I feel proud to have been a little part of Loan Wolves history, as captain and All Star. We had some great matches together as a team, the one away to the Tornadoes and the home match to London Raiders come to mind, where we were so close to claiming all three points.

As I count many of you as friends, and thus would hope to stay in contact as much as possible, I want to put my application in for being the Loan Wolves second 'Social Member' (after Karen). Also, Kamikazes fixtures permitting, my Dad and I will definitely come along and see some of your matches this season as a supporters ( we will be the one's wearing orange).

Finally, I wish the team all the best for the future, and hope that you all get the elusive first ever win (apart from the 2nd Dingos vs Caribou game) that you so deserve next year. When you do, make sure that you collect Devil Stray Duncan's kind offer of a round of drinks for the team :-)

(Super) Ben

PS Finally, I have got the team something as a sort of leaving gift, to hopefully assist with your spring training programme and help you to progress on the field (by practicing off it). Fingers crossed you should have it by the end of the week. Keep your eyes open Cooler King!

Good news!

BSUK have cleared last year's league table results from our page.
We have a clean sheet ready for the new season.

Merry Christmas to all Wolves!!!!

Well someone had to be the first to say it! I hope everyone has a lovely break and comes back refreshed for a New Year of Softball. I'm sure you will as some of you are already off work and back home relaxing, you lucky things.

Hopefully I will some of those of you who are still left in the pub for a joint Vic and Alison birthday/christmas/leaving do drink this afternoon.

PS - Jane has arrived back safe and well in New Zealand and only had to wait one day for her bags to catch her up.

And it's Goodbye from Jane... :(

Hi everyone

Just wanted to drop you all a line and say thanks for the fun day on Saturday and the card and present. I'm in iPod heaven!

Never mind that I managed to maintain my personal softball losing streak by being on *both* losing teams on Saturday - I had a great time! And then a six hour session in a Finsbury pub - wonderful! And the other drinkers in the pub enjoyed our singing and being taught coin tricks I'm sure....

One of the highlights of my last year in England has most definitely been the Loan Wolves and I'm proud to have been a founding member. Ooh, that sounds cool. Anyway, all the best of luck for next season - I shall be following progress via the blog and Manjiv's peppy late night e-mails (although it will be morning in NZ). Paul the Gobfather now has the team bat (unless he lost it on the way home having drunk more than most). I am happy to be your hosts in Auckland for the Loan Wolves World Tour.

Jane.

It wasn't all mud and sogginess...

Finsbury Park 11am on a rainy Saturday morning... :)

November in the Rain - Practice 25/11/06

A day for die hard enthusiasts only - Julian, Alex, Paul, Manjiv, Vic, Kate
Amid the rain wind and mud we managed some pitching and batting and throwing, and Tim from the Devil Strays showed up as well.

The batting practice was particularly useful thanks to Paul. I can now concentrate on hitting as I step forward - when the weight has transferred from back to front foot.

Loan Wolves - The Movie

I thought I'd add the movie link to the Blog.

Okay so it's not quite a "Field of Dreams" epic but we're not movie stars (or professional softballers) I used nearly all the footage we shot on the day (all 8 minutes of it!) so apologies to anyone who didn't appear often or at all.

Loan Wolves - Live on YouTube

Gudbye t'Jane

The Loan Wolves had a game yesterday to say farewell to stalwart player Jane (JC), who's going to be returning to her native New Zealand soon.
Finsbury Park was as gloriously muddy as only Finsbury Park gets. We enjoyed our Northern Caribou v Southern Dingoes match (the North won, due to having almost all the team's heavy hitters, and both sides laying with a reduced outfield). Everyone pitched (including me, dazzling the batters with a bewildering range of deliveries - i.e. "pitching wildly, with no control or direction").
Afterwards, we retired to the Old Dairy, for many beers, food (I had a yummy steak burger and "fat chips"), and a small presentation of iPod radio tuner and leaving card to JC. We'll miss her when she's gone back to NZ. She promised to raise a "Loan Kiwis" team over there, and we speculated about playing a real North v South friendly some time.
Good fun chatting and talking rubbish in the pub, as always. Somehow a discussion of the Lord of the Rings films led to the idea of "hobbit-farming" as New Zealand's major industry. The reviews of the Old Dairy I've looked at all pick up on something we noticed - somewhat surly bar staff. Service was fine, but one barmaid in particular had a real "here's your lasagne - I hope it chokes you!" attitude to delivering our meals.

[X-posted from my LJ]

Wolves at the Watering Hole

Practice with the Devil Strays 28/10/06

Alex, Vic, Richard, Tiggs, Peter, Kate and Julian turned out for the first winter practice of 2006/07. Some of us arrived early and got in some throwing and batting practice. Tiggs and I went for a run round the pitch. I didnt find this too bad and will definitely do some more running to improve fitness.
Duncan and some of the Strays arrived and we did some throwing drills and then played some games with 7 a side.
Tom from the Strays showed how effective you can be with long distance accurate throws to first base.
Kate was very quick to spot a ten pound note of mine which had blown out of my carrier bag.

Afterwards we went to the pub and played pool which I hadnt had a go at for years.

It was a very good day and exceptionally mild for late October.

Practice and lots of pool!

A small but perfectly formed bunch of wolves met on Saturday for a practice session at Finsbury park. I thought it worked really well to get there at 10am for some wolves only practice and then have some strays join us from 11am. It meant we could practice on some skills that we wanted to focus on (pitching and batting) and then also have enough people later on to get a game going.

Low point of the morning for me was taking a powerful line drive from Richard right on the arm - my whole arm went dead for a good 5 minutes and I now have a very impressive bruise to show for it! High point was the fact that the morning led into the afternoon.

We all decamped to the Finsbury for 'just a quick one', at around 1.30ish...Well, what can I say, famous last words indeed - many rounds and a considerable number of games of pool ensued... and suddenly it was 9pm. Alex demonstrated his ample ability at potting balls and much hilarity ensued as myself and Manjiv chased balls around the table.

I feel slightly guilty that we spent longer playing pool than we did playing softball, but we once again proved that the Loan Wolves will be the last men and women standing (albeit slightly wobbily) in the pub!

LW Update

I'm afraid the Loan Wolves are still recovering from the heavy softball weekend of a week ago....I'll try my best to keep quiet and not annoy the LW's too much... shhhhh...

p.s. plus Gobby is away in Sri Lanka....no wonder it's quiet :-)

Low Point - High Point of Tournament

To continue the Wolves tradition, I thought that I'd start the final Low Point/High Point of the season:

Low Point- Watching a line drive speed impressively off my bat, right into the glove of the great shortstop on the Development team in the second match, for an easy out.

High Point- Hitting the ball exactly where I was aiming it (a real first for me), resulting in a morale boosting home run.

What a Team!

Weekend of Wolves

[X Posted from my LJ]

On Saturday, the Loan Wolves turned out, braving the sunny but chilly Autumn afternoon to cheer on SuperBen and Jane A, our representatives in the North v South all-star game. Tremendous performances by our star Wolves accounted for five of the runs scored by their side – better than any other team. Sadly, they were subbed out to let other players have a go, and the North promptly lost the game. However, we Wolves won the wholly appropriate prize of a crate of beer for bringing the most supporters to the all-star match! We may not win games, but we can at least win something. We celebrated this great achievement in the pub, leaving our prize beer in the clubhouse till Sunday, the day of the end-of-year tournament.
The tournament should have been held two weeks ago, but local authority people decided not to play ball, as it were, and it had to be rescheduled. Sadly, the other teams from the bottom of the division couldn’t make the new date so we were mostly facing stronger opposition. Always outnumbered, always outgunned. At least we were lucky in getting a sunny, relatively warm, day for it.
Early start for all of us – in my case, earlier than a weekday – to get to Finsbury Park on time. Laden down with bat, kit, folding chair, food, drinks, picnic blanket etc, I got to the venue by 8.45. We did some stretches, and got ready for first game vs Glove Me Tender. We played well, really, but were just warming up, and were sadly defeated 15 -1. I think Paul got that 1, with a home run.
Somewhere in the first game, Frodo turned up. She had decided to go on from te pub on Saturday to a house party nearby. Where she had stayed up till 6 am, apparently. She turned up from her friends’ place clutching a pottery mug which we assumed held strong back coffee. No. It was vodka. Other stimulants of choice for the Wolves during the day included fruit, cocktail sausages, jelly babies, the few pieces of maple candy I’d scrounged from the meet-up with Emperor Fool, and that crate of beer from the all-star game.
On to a game vs this year’s development squad, which contained several baseball players who could hit the ball for miles, and had Kim from BSUK on First catching anything thrown within twenty feet of her. Lost, 13 – 9.
Third up were Oblivion. The Bolivians (as I’m sure I heard one confused Wolf call them) were pretty useful, and two outs at First spoiled my batting stats (otherwise batted .1000 for the day). This was in spite of Ben’s dad offering me the incentive of a Fry’s Chocolate Cream bar if I made it to base that game. I did suggest to him that if I ate fewer chocolate bars, I might have been able to run fast enough to beat the throws to First. Another loss, though I can’t recall the score.
Lunch interval of half an hour followed. Just about long enough to polish off our sandwiches, crisps, fruit and what seemed to be the contents of Ben’s family’s kitchen cupboard.
First afternoon game was vs Italian Suede. I managed to stop a fast-moving grounder to Right Field, throwing it in to hold the batter at First. We lost that match, by the way. Just in case you wondered. But I did get a Fry’s Chocolate Cream, so that was all right.
Then we played our arch-rivals, the Devil Strays. And, um, lost. Despite a great performance from the Wolves. Reinforcements arrived at this point – the rest of Ben’s family, and also Kate. She had a pretty good excuse for turning up late – she’d completed the Nike 10K that morning. Time of 1 hr 2’18”.
Having lost all our games, we were in the bottom-place play-off. Vs the Dev side again. This was a tense match. I was sitting it out, scoring, calling out batting order, and doing lots of shouting. We had a slim lead, but one big hit from one of the bad guys reversed that. The game ended 8 – 7 to them.
So we ended the day with our record unbroken. We won some new match balls, in an “everyone gets a prize” sort of way, and baffled everybody with our cheerfulness in the face of losing. Also escaped major injuries, which was a bonus for us.
On to the pub, where we celebrated our achievements. It was turning chilly, and we were defiantly the last team to go indoors. Another Loan Wolves Little Victory™. Inside, we found a cosy corner under a TV projector screen. Rather than MTV, this was showing, sound off, a wildlife documentary about wolves. Kind of appropriate. We watched our namesakes hunt down and devour their prey savagely, wondering perhaps why we never manage to do that.
Duncan of the Devil Strays came over to tell us, apropos of nothing, that he thought; “you guys rock!”. He promised to buy our whole team a drink when we eventually win a game. We intend to hold him to that. Coach Darren despaired at our laid-back attitude to failing to achieve victory. But then he is American.
OK, so we didn’t win. But the difference between the clueless, confused bunch of no hopers we were last year and the focused, skilful, committed team we’ve become was really marked (even if we still can’t win a raffle). We’ve survived our first season, we haven’t given up, and if the other sides have yet to fear the Wolves, I think we have at least earned their respect.

Went for a softball practice after work last night.
Five Wolves including three of our pitchers were there.  We got some practice in ahead of Sunday's tournament.  Didn't have a long practice, on account of it getting dark.  Really, really quickly.  But it was good fun. The pitchers pitched. Peter fielded brilliantly.  I made one good hit that I'd love to reproduce on Sunday, and plenty of OK contacts with the ball.  We ended with catches in the outfield, and stopped after all four fielders in turn held onto their catches - and before bad light led to someone (and let's be honest, it would have been me) being hit in the head.
My favourite moment was actually in the throwing and catching practice at the start.  A toddler, out for a walk with his dad, saw us and shouted in excitement.  His father stood and let him watch for a few minutes.  And those few minutes, with the little kid watching as Ben and I threw high balls for each other to dive in or leap up for, taking catches and making high throws, were a lot of fun.

End of Season Awards - wrap up

The “Chatterbox” Award for most chatting while on base ....Jane “JC” Clark

The “Bravery” Award for the most daring quick change behind a bush in a park ....Jane Ackroyd

The “Botham” Award for the wolf who hasn't quite realised we're not playing Cricket...Peter “PW” Williams

The “Weebles Wobble but don’t fall” Award for the wolf with the most grass stains...Olivia "Foxy" Fox

The “rackinfrackinvarmint” Award for most impressive swearing on the pitch...Richard Hornshaw

The “Four Cheers” Award for numeracy ...Ben “SuperBen” Woods

The “gloves are for wimps”” Award for most attempts at fielding barehanded...Julian “The Machine” Allen

The “Fanclub” Award for 'The President: Loan Wolves Supporters’ Club (Dublin chapter)...Tony McMahon

The “appreciation” Award for being the most dedicated Loan Wolves supporter and provider of chocolate..John Woods

The “Starlight Express” Award for wearing the most visible shinpads...Kate “Rabbit” Scott

The “I make this look good” Award for best use of a crutch as a fashion accessory Alison “Fordo” Ford

The “Psychedelic Chameleon” Award for most frequently changing hair colour...Alex Allen

The “Social” Award for most dedication shown to Loan Wolves related social events and stuff...Karen “Social”Wolf “ Shackleford

The “Do as I say and not as I do” Award for most valuable coaching tips...Paul “Gobby” Duncan

The “Full Contact” Award for most impressive collisions with base runners...Vic “The Target” Eves

The “Florence Nightingale” award for thewolf with the best first aid kit....
…who coincidentally also needed the most treatment...Andy “Cooler King” Horton

The "Red Bull" Hyperactivity award for the most leaping and yelping during a game...Manjiv "Tiggs" Dhaliwal

More Partying Wolves

For those who missed the email there's more Party Photos on Flickr

Thanks for my awards :-)

Party [X-posted from my LJ]

Loan Wolves end-of-season party last night.
The Wolves had put on our posh frocks for the occasion.  We assembled for drinks at Bar Soho.  I was first Wolf there, so was our leadoff drinker for the night.  After a couple of beers we went to Bistro1 for a good value meal and several glasses of wine.  I had the spicy sausage salad starter, followed by the Cumberland sausage and mash.  I like sausages.
After dinner, we had the awards ceremony.  Everyone got a joke award (complete with certificate) for something.  I was the recipient of the "Florence Nightingale" award for player with the best first aid kit - and most need of it.  Most Valuable Wolf was a deserved joint award, to Paul and Ben.
We then went on to O'Neill's in Wardour Street.  first we were up on the top floor, which was a bit too noisy for most of us (and the playlist was aimed at people with the musical attention span of a goldfish - the DJ considered "Seven nation army" to be "an old classic").  On the first floor, though, we found a table by the window, with a brilliant view out over Chinatown.
Lots of laughs, dancing, drinks, with a fun bunch of good people.
Sadly, I forgot one of the golden rules on my way home.  Never fall asleep on the night bus.  'Cos some chav nicks your mobile phone if you do that.  Arranged a new one from Vodaphone, but I'm going to have to get everyone's numbers again.

End of Season Party- Low Point, High Point

Low Point - getting home. I wandered around for a while and my beer compass eventually got be back to ICSL. Then a hours nightbus trip around the whole of North London got me into bed just after 3am!

High Point - What can I say - all that dancing! We may not be all that coordinated on the field, but we sure can move! Love Shack, baby love shack!

Photos now on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjscott

Hope we have a practice next Saturday

I hope we can have a practice next Saturday as I may very well be around for that one

Go on then... Low Point, High Point

I can't believe no one won. I can't believe we managed to miss that rain! Special mention should go to all those in the bar who suggested the name Target for me. I'm sorry I can't remember who said it first, it may have been Richard. I like it. I feel that it sums up my cunning ability to be hit by both balls and runners (but only when they are going at full speed) and also the fact that everyone kept hitting the ball straight to me last night - more of that below.
Anyway, shall I get the ball rolling?

Low Point: Not winning :-(

High Point: Generally having a cracking time at second base. Due to Paul's misguided tactics (as if every ball would get pass me and Andy!) loads of the balls came my way allowing me to make some nice outs with some dodgy throws to first. Particularly pleasing was still managing to get Paul out when I missed the tag by gently throwing the ball over to Darren who had run over to second. Sweet!

Over to you...

Northern Caribou 3 - 3 Southern Dingoes

[X posted from my LJ]
Last night the Loan wolves played an end-of-season friendly, against ourselves. The team was split according to which side of the river we live. So, as southernmost-dwelling Wolf, I was a Dingo. If you see what I mean. "SuperBen" captained the Dingoes, and Paul "the Gobfather" was leading the Caribou. We've been working on our nicknames, as we're finally about to be getting the shirts printed.
I brought my Grolsch beer tube, and my Stella coolbag, and there were plenty of cans in evidence. Everyone was gung-ho for it, but it was a pretty friendly affair. Dingoes in red, Caribou in black or white (somehow, their plan to wear white in the field and black at bat got confused, and half the team turned out in each colour). Teams proved pretty well balanced - we were lucky that coach Darren had been persuaded to turn out for the Dingoes, being as how he lives in Clapham.
We wanted to get an early start, but the kids' baseball team were on the field, being shouted at by some angry sadist (e.g., to a kid of perhaps six who'd dared to open his mouth; "SHUT UP! I SAID SHUT UP!"). So it was nearly seven when we took to the field, and the game was curtailed by bad light.
Great fielding, dynamite pitching, and some poor batting (from me, in our case) kept the game tight and the scores low. I enjoyed being more active at Right Field, sprinting in to back up First, and on one occasion accidentally (honest) booting a ball into dead territory and preventing a home run from Paul. Ben got the only home run of the day with a cracking hit. The Dingoes lost a 2 run lead to end with a tied game, thus confirming our spiritual affinity with the other Wolves, who've beeen snatching high-score draws from the jaws of victory since my grandad's day.
At end of a softball game, the convention is that the teams get into huddles and give a rousing three cheers for the opposition. So we did, with Ben leading the Dingoes:
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: HUURAH!
Ben: Hip Hip...
Dingoes: bemused looks, as we'd mostly expected to stop at three...

With honours even, and light going (I couldn't find my beer where I'd left it in the outfield), we headed to the pub to unwind. Pub was crowded but Darren knew about a quiet (almost deserted) place round the corner, some sort of social club (anti-social club?), and we piled in there. Had a few beers and a natter, and we considered arbitrary grounds for deciding teams next year (glasses v no glasses, cat people v dog people, innies v outies?).
Good evening, but the theory that after this game at least half the Wolves would have known the taste of victory came to naught. Even against ourselves, we still can't win. Well, the end-of-year tournament's on the 23rd - let's change that statistic then.

Evening Practice at Clapham

7 dedicated Wolves (Manjiv, Alison, Vic, Paul, Julian, Peter and I) turned up for practice last night at our normal southern training base, or so we thought. It turned out that not only was there a GLSML Div. 4 match going on, on the pitch itself, but there was also a Nike Run London event/promotion, so we had to play across the road this time. It wasn't a bad pitch, (thanks to Paul for bringing some throwdown bases) and in stark contrast to the proper pitch, it actually had grass on the field.

After the normal Wolves warmup and throwing and catching practice, we carried out a drill that I had devised earlier in the day. Basically, we had a full infield, pitcher and a right fielder, plus the batter. As the ball was pitched, the batter had to hit the ball, and run to first base, whilst the infield worked together to field the ball and attempted to throw the batter/runner out. The purpose of the right fielder being involved was for them to run in and back up first base (unless of course the ball was hit directly to them :-) ). As we each switched it around to give everyone a go at batting, it was interesting for everyone to play in positions that they had perhaps never played in before. Special mentions go to Manjiv for making some great catches at first base, and Julian for making a nice back up play behind first base to stop the overthrow (and ducking well to give the third base person a chance to see the first base person when doing that tricky, long diagonal throw) . Also, Vic did very well with her throws, getting more power on them than before, by using a run up few steps, something that perhaps other Wolves can learn from. I felt that everyone was consistently hitting the ball harder than usual, which was good to see, and people were definitely thinking about what direction they were hitting to. On Paul's suggestion, we kept the same drill as above, but started making double and triple plays. Hopefully we can get some double plays in the upcoming tournament, as we were looking pretty slick at times last night. Now we just need to do it in the games.

Tiggs - aged 7 (2006)

And here's me...

Creating a southpark character for your profile

There are four stages:

1. Create character at South Park Studio
2. Grabbing image and saving on computer
3. Uploading image as part of a post
4. Adding uploaded image to your profile

Stage 1 use instructions at website

Stage 2: Grabbing image

After you have created your character take a printscreen of the page.
Open Microsoft Photoeditor (Should be in Office Tools menu)
In Photoeditor select Edit / Paste as New Image
Use Select Tool (Icon looks like dashed rectangle) and click and drag to select your picture.
Choose Image/Crop from menu. Then do OK. You should now have just your character.
Save image (Menu item: Image/Save)
Choose a filename and a filetype (jpeg) in the save options dialogue. Save your file.

Stage 3: Uploading image.

Create a post in the the City Uni Softball Blog. Use the add image icon. In the resulting pop-up browse to where you have saved your image and then upload your image. Post your new post and view it.

Stage 4: Adding image to profile.

Right click on the image in your post and choose the following option: Copy Shortcut. (If you are using Firefox choose option: Copy Image Location).
Now open your profile.
Edit profile.
Paste the shortcut into Photo URL
Save profile.

That's all!

More photos from our tourney last year

Hi Wolves,
Just found some more photos from last year's tourney, courtesy of Brendan Casey...thought I would post them here so we can start building up the excitement for the next one!


Although not quite a wolf..a contender for team mascot?








Alison shows us how its done...for Oblivion!












Remember our original first baseman? She'll be back...










This one's been the background on my office PC since last year..my favourite









That's the Captain alright..

Low Point High Point (Raiders B)- one last time, with feeling.

Low Point - Letting a couple of low fast ground balls get by me and make it out into the field.

High Point - Running over home plate twice in one game - and both of the runs counted and everything!

Swinging in the Rain

As Kate said it was wet and as Boni Jovi added it's "Slippery When Wet". To slippery for running round bases so my successful hours of thought into how to play a game of Softball with 9 people were wasted (until next time!) It was great to see Alison playing again although we should have pointed out it’s Softball not mud wrestling.

Thanks everyone, I really enjoyed myself although I should have stood up to Manjiv and gone home instead of being lured into the pub… she’s evil I tell you!

p.s. Kate I would have posted a comment but then I couldn’t have added the picture of a lone wolf in the tumble drier :-)

Softballing in the Rain - aka When Wolves get Soggy.

Eight brave (or is that foolish?) wolves braved the inclement weather in Finsbury Park last night for a practice session. When we started it was dry, then it rained, then it stopped, then it rained again. It got to the point where we were so wet that it didn't matter anymore, and we ploughed on through as the rain came and went, came and went.

With the size of the group it wasn't practical to get a game going, so we concentrated on pitching, batting and fielding practice. Each person got a decent go with the bat and both myself and Manjiv had a good stints pitching. Towards the end out competitive streaks came out as we had a 'relay throwing' race - 2 teams of 4 seeing who could relay balls up and down the line the quickest. As Paul said. 'it's all about accuracy!'

I managed to take another ball to my ankle bone - the previous bruise had just about faded - now it is nice and green again.

Despite the sogginess of the evening, I hope everyone would agree that it was good wolfish fun.

LW Schedule of Events

Hi Wolves,
Thought I would post our upcoming schedule of events here too...just in case you accidentally deleted my email ;-)

Hopefully we can add a proper link to the blog sometime soon...

LOAN WOLVES Schedule of Events

Date	Event	Venue	Note
Wednesday 23rd August	Practice	Finsbury Pitch 2	Clapham is too busy
Tuesday 29th August	Loan Wolves vs Raiders B	Finsbury Park
Friday 1st September	LW Peter is celebrating – he’s finally finished his Masters degree in Ethnomusicology and can now focus on the Loan Wolves J	TBC
Wednesday 6th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Wednesday 13th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Wednesday 20th September	Practice		Lead up to the Tourney
Saturday 23rd September	Division 4 End of Season/Development tournament	Northwick Park (TBC)
Friday 29th September	Loan Wolves end of season/anniversary event	Cafe Espana (Tapas, wine, and dancing) O’Neils (more drinking – open to 3am apparently)
Saturday 7th October	GLSML All-Star Game/End of Season Party/Awards Ceremony	Finsbury Park or Regents Park
Sometime in October	1st game of the World Series	TBC	Game normally starts about midnight (I think)and finishes about 3am. So Loan Wolves get to stay out all night!
Winter practices	Practice	TBC	To be held every weekend – alternating venues, for whoever can make it.

Beer-fuelled softball insanity!

(Well, not really...)
Yesterday was "Beerball", a drinking-and-softball day at Finsbury Park.
The day was organised by Jackie of the Devil Strays. Most of the Wolves couldn't make it, but Ben was playing for his mate Seth's team, the Tecumsehs (named after this cool guy, I presume), and invited any other spare Wolves to come along. Now Ben's an all-star player, and I'm, well, more sort of not. Still, Seth and his side were very welcoming and supportive. I got to play in all four of our matches, in a range of positions, and got a lot of invaluable experience of playing with a high-standard side against some very strong teams, including one made up of Div 1 players.
I think more Wolves might have been keener to come along had the event not been billed as a slightly scary loose rules compulsory-drinking booze-fest. In fact, aside from "if you hit a home run, you - or your side's 'designated drinker' - must drink a beer", it was a proper, standard rules, tournament. Good atmosphere, anyway.
At one point, Ben and I found ourselves playing against Paul (playing on a put-together side called the Riff-raff or something). Inter-wolf rivalry! A close game ended 10-9 to the Tecumsehs. Sadly, that was our only victory of the day.
We retired to the pub afterwards (not having drunk nearly enough throughout the day...), and had a good natter with people. At one point, Duncan of the Devil Strays, who'd umpired one of our matches, came up to me apropos of nothing to tell me he'd been really impressed with my batting and base-running during the day. Which was nice of him, I guess.

Meet Jack ...my latest sidekick

Ok..so this is not a softball related email, however this is for everyone who has had to put up with me and my recent bike related tragedies :-(

I finally went out and got me a new bike....and here he is! Isn't he a beaut? :-)

I'll be bringing him along for "show and tell" in the near future.....