23 May 08 USA Softball
The USA national softball team made a stop in Stockton last night on their Bound for Bejing tour.
These elite female athletes are a sight to behold.
They are athletic big, fast, and capable technicians.
The atmosphere was electric.
The stadium was too small, the complete wrong venue for the event, but the hundreds of softball players gathered to watch could care less.
With a game time of 7PM the parking lot opened at 4PM and the gates opened at 4:30PM.
One of our team families arrived at 2PM to become the first in line.
They informed everyone who arrived after them that the entire team would be joining them up in front once they arrived.
Very well done, because it seems they kept saying this to anyone else who got in line so that when the rest of showed up everyone was expecting it and it was no big deal.
Our girls had a blast.
It was fun, as a parent, to see them so excited and enthusiastic.
The 45 minute autograph session was an exercise in survival.
It became a question of endurance and tenacity - how many different lines can you get in to receive an autograph?
I was impressed with the demeanor of the USA national team.
They smiled whenever asked for pictures.
They waved, they interacted with the girls and made it a delightful evening.
Madison was impressed with the number of players that included Bible verses in their profiles.
One of the players even included Ephesians 5:1 when she signed her name on her glove.
Our team was the last to leave the parking lot.
The girls even chased the USA team bus out of the parking lot.
Good stuff, really good stuff.
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That’s really cool. I remember getting Mark Langston’s autograph one time and he included a verse.
As you know, we spend our days dealing in the context of dying and death. This blog was so uplifting and encouraging for me! Thanks.
P.S. Speaking of Mark Langston (thurman8er’s reply), he coached a high school team in Orange County when Josh was coaching his high school team. They met at a coach’s meeting and Josh said he was as nice a guy as you’d want to meet and was a gentleman in every respect as a coach on the field. Very classy guy … who graciously signed baseballs for Josh any time he requested it.
Oh how I miss the days of softball with my girls and baseball with my son. Some of my best memories are at the ball field. This sounds like a really fun trip for your girls.