PS, I love you........

 Dear Sports......

As I write this letter..  

Send my love to you..

Remember that I'll always

Be in love with you...

(This in between part... actually, I'm putting my pen down and thinking out loud. OK dangit, you're correct, I'm using the keyboard, but it ain't sposedta be parta the letter... there, how's that?)

Treasure these few words till we're together
Keep all my love forever
P.S. I love you
You, you, you

Sports, I remember my first baseball 'glove', circa nineteen fitty six maybe fitty seven.  It was a plastic bowl that mom lent me 'cause it fit my hand... and there was a tennis ball ole Brownie and I played fetch with in the yard.... and, out by the detached garage, there was a 3 foot tall concrete wall...  me, the tennis ball, the 'glove' would spend hours on end, I mean literally hours oh end.. throwing it off the wall, catching it, pretending I was at Busch Stadium or the like...and I'd throw it to first base (the wall) again, and again, and again.... it was, rather instant love.  Brownie?  He was leashed up to the clothesline, he couldn't throw too well.

I'll be coming home again to you, love
And till the day I do, love
P.S. I love you
You, you, you

I remember the day I got my first glove, not long after the bowl was really broken in.  And then, OMG, which, I think back then we actually said "COOL" when mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin - actally went to a game in St. Louis. I'd never ever seen such a large yard with no dandelions. Pristine. TALL, forest green walls surround, I remember Curt Flood timing his jump on a fly ball... skying over the green wall... as if to say "Nope, you ain't leavin' the yard ball!"  NICE CATCH!

As I write this letter
Send my love to you
Remember that I'll always
Be in love with you

We, us, our neighbors, that time of life - wasn't 'UPPITY'.  Our folks were ok with paths of green grass gone where we stood to bat, pitch. They even gave us chalk to write on the curbs the distance it was for a home run when we hit the wiffle ball over.  The water meter was second base, no one ever broke a bone on it... if we did get scraped up, there was Mercurochrome that would fix any darn thing.

Treasure these few words till we're together
Keep all my love forever
P.S. I love you
You, you, you

We upgraded our game a few years later, Indian ball at the City Park.  It was the day and age we could, after checking with mom, throw our glove on the bike handle, peddle, meet buddies our age, play, play, play s'more... search for a pop bottle or three under the bleachers... on the way home... turn it in to the Safeway for a couple nickels... get us a cold, cold bottle of Pepsi. (Coke for me.)  If it was a day the yellow bus wasn'ta comin', we'd peat and repeat, again and again.

As I write this letter (Oh)
Send my love to you (You know I want you to)
Remember that I'll always (Yeah)
Be in love with you

HOLY MOLY, 8th grade football!  Hey, don't bug me, I gotta watch and see how Jimmy puts all these dang pads on so I can too.  We are in the BIG TIME!..... and basketball in the Winter... Track in the Spring..... NO YELLOW BUSES!  BASEBALL!  We was "Will it go round in cirlces" cool before Billy Preston even sang it!

I'll be coming home again to you, love
And till the day I do, love
P.S. I love you
You, you, you
You, you, you
I love you

Lyrics are done, I gotta speed this up a tad.  So, over the years, we stuck to sports... in spite'a things like Homecoming Queen, Courtwarming Queen, College, jobs, marriage, KIDS! OH BOY WE GETTA DO THIS AGAIN! THRU THEM!  Rec leagues... slopitch softball, WAY too many years......  The point is sports, I love ya.  I ain't without worry. (Worries)...

WAY too many have tried to 'gussy it up' even more.  I remember how livid my Uncle was the first Bud ad he saw written on the outfield wall.  What? A bunny that comes up from the ground to give the ump more baseballs?  Free agency?  Lockouts, walkouts  Nolan Ryan got a MILLION?  NUH UH.  Uh huh.

VICTOR!  It's still good! Don't you remember when the Chief's game was blacked out, a bunch of us drove to Maryville, got a motel room so we could see the game! That was the bomb.....  And.... how we couldn't go, do ANYTHING on Monday Night ''cause we HAD to be home for Howard's MNF highlights from all the games over the weekend?  The best baby, the best.  Yeah but.....

Now, there is SO much signage on outfield walls, ya gotta squint to see the part where and-all the batter sees is green.  What's a PED?  College kids are gonna get paid? NIL?  That didn't even LOOK like Ed O'Bannon! The Portal?  Hang nail, transferring to State.  Coach leaving? Me too then.  I know I'm just a freshman and I gotta wait my turn, but, maybe not if I take enter the Portal and see if someone will offer me guaranteed playing time. I like it here, but, so-and-so is gonna give me $____ more to go there. Eh, hopefully my gf will follow me.

Whadda ya think of the QT patch on the Royal's Uni's?  Nevermind that, what's a GEHA Field?  You gonna watch the Mannings or ABC?  There are TWO halftime shows?  Tastes great, Less filling! Division always was my least favorite in math.

Thank goodness we've got Social Media so we can see the results immediately, chat with our buddies.  Our Coach sucks, they gotta git ridda him.  You're an a**hat, it's our QB. The AD sinks way too much money in Basketball, we'll never keep up. Can we not be happy just because we won?

I'm not gonna watch the Super Bowl this year... social issues... the halftime show... hate this owner, that QB, sport. Yada.  

We cut the cable, and now we stream.  Susie works a second job so we can afford but at least we can still see all the games.  WHAT?  FanDuel, ATT SportsNet, NBCSN, they ain't here no more?  I gotta pay $14.99 to some dang Peacock channel just to see the game Thursday?  Susie, can you ride your bike to work?  jk.

I very much miss the purity of Sport we once knew.  As a grandparent, it's so, so, refreshing to go see a kid's game now,.... harken back to once was.  WHAT?  They took 8th place and all of 'em gotta trophy?

I miss Say Hey...  Stan the Man... the fun of Yogi and Ueck...  even Weaver with his closeness to umps...

Coming soon to a field near you...... the ABS Challenge System......  AI instant replay.  Remember when the NCAA had two legs?  Hey Ernie, you going to the Seahawks victory parade?  Are you kidding me.. and maybe get shot?

Some things look better with mud on 'em..... not all 'gussied up'. 

Love, Victurd