I'm baaaa-aaaack!

09/10 sorta kinda begins today. I've got my first meeting tonight, and I'll likely get a scrimmage or two in over the next week or two, then start up with some junior high or little-kid ball to get myself ready for the real-live season after Thanksgiving.

Things might be a little bit different this year. As my silence over the summer indicates, things are a bit busy around here with the little dude. That has combined with a pretty huge increase in my responsibilities at work...all in all, there aren't enough hours to do everything. I seriously considered hanging 'em up, or at least taking a year off. My wife interceded. "You like doing this too much to give it up," she said. "But I'd never get to see you or the boy! On nights where the game is on the other side of town, I'd go straight from work to get a sandwich to get to the game! I'd leave before the boy woke up, and come home after he went to bed!" My wife responded as follows: "It'll tell you what," she said. "On those nights, we'll meet you at Subway for dinner."

I married up.

Anyhow, I just took my rules test. Got a 93. I cheated a -little- bit, but actually not too much. I looked for some of the stupid stuff (dimension of court, number of panels on the ball, etc.). But I studied the stupid rules (fashion) and the stuff that seldom comes up (fights, bookkeeping technicals, that stuff).

So, while I may reduce the number of games I do this year, I'll be back at it, at least a little bit. I'll start this year in decent shape, too. While my plan to run a bunch and call fouls didn't come to fruition, I did manage to walk a bunch with an infant strapped to my belly and eat pretty well. So I've lost 10 pounds--almost unheard of for an off-season.

I just need to recall my main problem from last year (geez, I'm just noticing I didn't do a year-in-review post. It's like I had a new infant or something.) It's that I go too quickly, and therefore look loosey-gooseey and non-athletic. This year, I won't call a foul without thinking "How do I look physically right now?" That will enable me to slow down and to look better.

But I suspect this year will be about figuring out if I can manage this with my newly-harried life getting in the way. We shall see.