41+1: Don't Call It A Comeback

Not much has gone on the past couple days, so I haven't really felt compelled to blog. Today, however, was the annual Staff vs. Student kickball game. All 70 of us students squared off against the 20 or so staff and their families. We actually played on a very nice turf baseball field near the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. Why there is such a thing as a turf baseball field, I don't know, but it was really nice to play on.

The intriguing part of the game was the fact that all 70 of us had to play against the staff. Each one of us had to kick or play in the field, so that we could never get a consistent rotation going. The staff, on the other hand, could keep players on the field for longer and get into a rhythm. I suspect this is part of the reason why the staff are undefeated. Still, we thought we would give it our best shot and try to knock off the champions.

The students raced out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the staff followed that up with two runs and took a 2-1 lead into the second. From there it was all staff, as they went on a 6-0 run to break the game wide open. We were down 8-1 in the top of the 6th (we played to 7 innings) so we got our rally on. We scored three runs in the 6th and closed the gap to 8-4. After blanking the staff in the bottom of the sixth, we had one last shot to bring it home.

We started off the seventh by getting two runners on base. There were a few near outs but due to errors by the staff, we kept runners on the bases. After a long shot to the outfield, another runner scored and we had a few runners in scoring position. But the rotation lagged at that point and we were never able to take advantage of our scorers. The game ended with another staff victory and the students bowing out 8-5.

The staff were nice to us, though, and took us to this little place called Mario's Frozen Lemonade. It was kind of like shaved ice but much finer, and it had real fruit in it. I personally got cherry and blue raspberry, which was very delicious. After that, we walked back to the Lofts and chilled.

That's pretty much the most significant thing that happened this weekend. It was a blessing because I really needed time to sit back and think and relax after the stress of trying to find a job. Still, I have to go out again this week and get it done. I'm really hoping that God shows up in a big way and helps me get hired. And if not, well, I have this story kicking around that I can work on. Either way, I'd be happy.