Take Me Out to the Ballgame - If You Must

Lord Stanley's Cup has been won.  Summer has officially begun.  Now, take me out to the ballgame.

Though sports were never high up my list - in fact, I used to become quite irritated with people who were sports fans - I have come to appreciate them since I got married.  I knew Bruce enjoyed sports and so one of the first things I did when I thought we might be getting serious was to check out a book on the basics of football so I could have at least an understanding of what was going on when we watched.  Translating what was in print to what was on the field, though, was just not happening for me.  It was several years later when I decided it would be nice if I would watch the Superbowl with him that I sat down for parts of some of the Sunday games and asked him to explain some of the plays.  Unlike Bruce's attempt at humor at the first football game we attended together when he told me the players in the odd-numbered jerseys were running backs and they had to run backward in the game (how dumb did he think I was?), he explained as I asked and over the course of the season I learned enough to be able to watch the Superbowl that year and "get it".

One of the first presents I got Bruce after we were married was tickets to a St. Louis Blues game and a Blues jersey.  Extravagant for a first-year teacher with student loans to pay, but I really wanted to please him.  Though it pains me to admit it now, I was not struck with the game.  Our seats were high up and I really couldn't understand what just looked like a bunch of scrambling on the ice.  (If you want to know my real first impressions of the game, read Patricia's impressions in No Penalty for Love - yeah, that's me, sitting there wondering what is going on and why everyone is so enthralled.)  Because I was so unimpressed, I went a little begrudgingly to my first Missouri State University Ice Bears game.  The rest is history on that one - I love hockey now!

But, since the Blackhawks beat the Flyers last night, we've settled into baseball season which is my least favorite sport.  Try as I might, I just can't relax for fear that I'm going to get hit with a foul ball!  But, I realize the odds are against that happening and Bruce enjoys the leisurely pace of summer's greatest pastime (or so it's called - my own greatest summer pastime is reading a Grisham novel on the deck with a glass of iced tea), so I go.  Tonight we're going to watch the Springfield Cardinals play the Tulsa Drillers.  In July we're off to St. Louis to see the Big Birds play.  The new stadium has been open for something like five years now and Bruce has wanted to see it since it opened.  I bought the tickets for his birthday, but couldn't wait that long to give them to him.  If you go on the Cardinals' website and look at a view from the seats, you can see what we'll be seeing:  a gorgeous skyline with the Arch just past the scoreboard.  Pray for no rain!

My point is that romance can be found anywhere.  Even at a sporting event.  Sometimes learning something new because you know it would please your loved one is a nice thing to do.  Sometimes you even discover a new interest yourself (or, in my case a new interest and inspiration to write).  What is your loved one interested in that makes you roll your eyes and wish you were dead?  Learn something about it just to please him.  Comfort in a relationship is great - being at ease with one another is much to be desired!  But, a little stretch now and then can put a spring in your step and a song in your heart:  Take me out to the ballgame!

What a Launch!

Last night's launch party was perfect. It was everything I'd planned and more. Of course, when you start planning an event a year in advance, you have a better chance of it working out nicely.

We had the Club Room at Mediacom Ice Park. A gorgeous (and very delicious) cake that looked just like the cover of No Penalty for Love baked and decorated by Julie's Chewies. Flower arrangements to match the colors from the cover including a hockey stick decorated with flowers for the head table (thank you, Mom!). Most importantly, though, we had around 80 guests - friends from church, work, old friends, new friends, and lots of family.

The Missouri State Ice Bears won their game against Northern Illinois and about 50 of the 59 people who requested tickets for our event got to see their very first ice hockey game. I think we made a few new fans! The front row, mainly people from our church, began pounding on the glass by the second period! Others took ice skating vouchers and spent some time in the west rink under the disco ball.

There was only one surprise for me the whole evening and, though I'm a shy person and normally would have hated something like this, it turned out very well. The General Manager of the Ice Bears is Stan Melton. His wife, Cindy, was a substitute teacher in my high school classroom a few years ago and she noticed my Ice Bears memorabilia on the wall. She also did some long-term subbing across the hall from me, so we had lots of opportunities to talk hockey. Since then we've spoken at games. Last night she had me paged during the second period to come to the tunnel at center ice. I watched the second period from next to the penalty box and between the second and third periods went out to center ice (in slick shoes and praying not to fall) and was interviewed about No Penalty for Love. The announcer also mentioned my book and where it can be purchased three or four different times throughout the game. So, unexpected publicity!

At any rate, when you write your book I highly recommend doing a thematic launch party if you can. It was an experience I will always treasure. Thanks to Kelly for grabbing up my camera and taking so many great pictures for me (pictures to come soon); to my mother for the decorations; to Bruce for keeping me grounded and for being so protective of me so that there was nothing put a damper on the excitement; to Shawn for sneaking off to give them the initial announcement about my book and to Cindy for making me go out on the ice; to the Ice Bears for a well-played game and showing our guests how fun hockey is; to Trey and Megan and the others on staff at Mediacom Ice Park for the accommodations and all the attention; to the ladies at Julie's Chewies for working so hard to get the colors just right and for baking such a sinfully good cake, and to each of my guests for helping me celebrate!

Go Bears!

Shellie