Global Warming: Finnally its beginning to pay off, it's about time

Well, well, well. As a precursor please excuse any spelling errors as this is being typed on my blackberry. As one can tell from the title of the blog we arew experiencing a serious heat wave here in Dublin. Apparently the temp is 30 degrees celsius today (not that I know what the hell that means other than it is hot). Mom and Dad you will be proud of your son I have been wearing sunblock as I am on a ballfield from 9 am til 9pm. So much for a break huh? However quite a bit has happened since I wrote last, in the eye of time I will write breifly about each day to keep you up todate on the on goings of your dutifu;l coach.

Saturday
Alright so one thing I failed to mention about friday was John got in contact with a long lost friend Brendan O'Neil, who apparently was some sort of stud rugby player back in the day. Well he invited us to ntravel to his summer home in Gory to have lunch and catch up. Well we were to meet at theis pub called French's and after John and I figured our way down to Gory we found the pub and went in to have a drink. Well Brendan showed up and asked us to follow him to his house. When we got there we had a nice picnic with him, his wife, his two daughters and his daughter in laws. One of his two daughters just finished writing her first book "Baby Proofing Your Marriage", supposedly it is going to be good. Ladies ifn you are interested in something like this go get it. Apparently, Harper Collins agreed to run 150,000 copies of it on its first run, it should be due out for the holidays. After a nice picninc John and I jumped back in the car and began heading back to go meet up with Mick Manning and his family for another bbq. THis was a great time seeing Mick, his wife and their two sons Peter (9) and Neal (6). Particularly seeingt hat I will be living with them come this weekend.

Sunday
Sunday was spent mostly recuperating from Saturday ( along day in the sun with a couple beers at each stop) and getting ready for baseball. The National team took on the President's 9 a collection of ex pats fromn all over who play in the Ireland baseball League. A great game won by Ireland 15-9, with a daring 9 run comeback in the top half of the 9th by Ireland to take the lead an eventually the victory. On my side, iit was good getting some expereince back in the box, the team executed a suicide squeeze, numerous steals, as well as many other plays. Agressive baseball baby, thats the style. Forcing the other team to make the plays, which in the end the p-9 couldn't do. Follwoing the game, we went to Noel Mitchell's fourtieth birthday play at a nearby Jury's. Great time, it was really nice seeing the players away from the field for the first time since getting here.
An eventful evening when we got back to Kindle's. So as we were approaching we see the lights are on and I catch a man in the hallway. As John and I are approaching the door, I look at John and say "Shit, we left the bats in the house". Not that I know what I would do with a bat, but they were in the house. So after struggling a bit we finnally we get the door open and we hear a familiar voice say "Hey what did you forget about curfew?". Kindle, Mike Kindle, had arrived home with his wife Fiona froma three week holiday in the west oif the US. So ti was nice seeing him and makes an easy transistion to...

Monday
This was spent running baseball clinics at the park in Clondalkin. We have the 4 to 6 year old group from 10 until 12, which is fun as they are trully atthe beginning stage of baseball. I think in total we had a group of 12. From 12:45 until 4:00 wethats pretty cool. Then we had the 8 to 14 year olds, which proposes its own unique challenges as some players are much more further along than others. In this group we had another 11 youth. All in all a successful first day running clincis. However it was fricking hot out there, something like 28 celsius. Yeah there is no shade at the field either.
Monday night John adn I sat around enjotying the company of Mike and Fiona, and then decided we would head up to a pub called Johnny Foxes high in the mountains. This pub claims to be the highest pub in Ireland, hey I just report what I hear I can't say for cewrtain either way. I trully believe after experiencing this past anyone who ventures over here should really try to make it there. The place is run clearly by a bunch of packrats who have the walls lined with a strange variety of memorabilia, definitely a cooll place.

Today (Tuesday)
Presently I am typing away in Bewley's hotel lobby awaiting tha national team practice after another double session with the Youth this morning. For the four to six year olds we had 4 attendees which made it a lot easier, since, John, the Rocket (Will Beglame) and I were able to focus our attention almost individually on a participant's skills as opposed to having to manage a variety of different personalitites. You know what I am talking about if you have ever worked with kids. Forthe group of 8 to 14 yearolds we had 11 again which is a nice number as we were able to split up teams and play a game where the batters have to pull the ball otherwise they are out. That way the kids were able to have a little bit more competition and hone their skills as well. I am definitely enjoying the ac of the hoterl before head back out for out 6:30 appointment with the National team.

Well thats it. I hope all back in the states is well, and oh the title weas actually a comment one the players made on Sunday as we are enjoying this beautiful weeather. Its nice to see Smitty and Goo-Goo (another fearless reporter btw) left comments and as always hit me up with some comments if you want and hopefully I will have more access to the internet soon.

--EC