Softball's boys (and girls) of summer

It's almost July, so as one season starts to wind down, the other is going strong and probably will be well into the fall.

My work team started the season 0-3, but we then won eight in a row before getting our butts handed to us last week by AOL in a 15-1 loss. I've coached the USA TODAY team for more than 10 years and I can't ever remember us getting beaten that badly. I just hope we got it out of our system now, before the MMSL tournament gets here.

But we have to get there first. We have two games this weekend, but our numbers are not good at all because of a company golf tournament. I guess if there was a week for this to happen, it's this one because we finish the season with division games against AOL and the Washington Times, two great rivals.

As for my gay league team, DC Nitro, we are going to the Gay World Series, which is in Phoenix this year. It was moved to October (it's usually played in August) to avoid the heat. THANK GOD!!

Check out the Phoenix softball website. It's a good one.

Softball season closes in

I actually, for a fleeting moment or two, thought about cutting down on my softball this season. I usually play in 2-3 leagues every season, which runs spring through fall. But because of my work schedule, I figured I'd go ahead and play. My schedule used to screw me up every year because I worked early on Sundays, and our league play was always on Sunday afternoon. But now I don't have to worry about that.

I coach my work team, and we play on Saturday mornings in Montgomery County, Md. (That's us above after winning the Metropolitan Media Softball League tournament last July -- www.mediasoftball.net). Playing in the MMSL was never a problem because I'm always off on Saturday. But the team that I'm really competitive with is the team I play for on Sundays, NITRO. We're a part of the Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League (www.capsoftball.org), which is a part of NAGAAA (North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance -- www.nagaaasoftball.org).

We had our preseason meeting Friday and it really went well. We decided to keep the name NITRO. (Some people thought we should change because they thought it was bad luck. Whatever.) We lost a couple of players, but we're also gaining a couple really good players, one from Boston and one from our own league who played last season for the Metz. We also voted to play in tournaments in Philadelphia (Memorial Day weekend, and we can drive!) and Chicago (pre-July 4 weekend. I can't wait!) The World Series this year is in Phoenix and has been moved to October because of the heat (the Series is usually scheduled in August). CAPS league play begins in May. Practice begins in March.

That's me in the photo at left at the 2003 World Series, which was held in Washington, D.C.