well, i'll start by apologizing for being so negligent and late with my post. so much for my spirit award!! :)

our season finale ended in true monkey fashion... with a big bang! nothing like a 10-run rule win to go out on. it was good to see mike return to the mound and conquer his fears as he lead us out of the season with his fine managerial and pitching skills. special thanks to mike for being our fearless leader through out the season! it's been an exciting season, scot got new shoes, after all. our crew of extremely competent gals were joined by a new member, little d.-- a fine f*cking addition to the team! we had the first monkey kicked out of the park, that i'm aware of anyway. alex, i think you just must have been too tense that evening, we should have prepared better. ;) we also learned that in my advancing age, sometimes getting around all 4 bases makes it tricky for me to stay on my feet. we had some great subs, some super fans, including lots of parents this year. you all are a talented, great bunch of folks and so much fun to play with. i'm proud to be a monkey. looking really forward to the social activities this fall, do we need to form committee? by popular demand, bowling and pizza is up first. let's start looking for a date, can't wait to see you all!

p.s. i don't intend for this to serve as the comprehensive season recap, i'll put someone more clever in charge of that!

A win just wasn't in the cards for us yesterday. Any time it takes seven innings to get your first run, it's going to be tough going. With that said, I thought we played some solid defense throughout the game. Only giving up 7 runs (0 in their last 4 at bats) to a team that had multiple balls travel over the fence and a host of women that can hit the ball farther than I can is saying something about our team defense.

On a personal note, I want to thank you all for standing by me as I got through my first full game back on the hill after the incident. Without the positive reinforcement throughout the game I may very well have snapped and been tossed once again. The anger management classes, for which Webbie and Mike are sponsoring me, are paying off. Also, I am comfortable with a team decision that revokes my bar selection privileges for the fall. My feelings won't be hurt.

Congrats to Julia and Mike for completing their half marathon. I'm guessing you're quite sore today but I know the feeling of finishing and it is something special. Enjoy it and, who knows, maybe we can have a group of CrackMonkeys run the Illinois Half Marathon or relay next spring.

One more to go Monkeys. Let's make the most of it!