Hanover, it looks like you finally got it right. It’s spring outside after what feels like the longest tease since the Sox won a title and the Curse of the Bambino was finally lifted from Fenway (hey Freddie). Spring weather means one thing and one thing only: intramural softball. Though we obviously discussed squaring off against the softball team, we realized that they were probably up against other (obviously not more important) opponents after winning that whole Ivy League Championship thing for the first time in Dartmouth history. That, and we wanted nothing to do with Morgan McCalmon ’16 and her heater.
While the other intramural sports are kind of important, this is the sport that propelled me and Austin to legendary status. They say the game is so beautiful it’s played on diamonds, and while what you see at Garipay Field on these spring afternoons may not be beautiful, its really fun and a great way to get the competitive juices flowing. Let’s just say intramural softball is so important that Joann Brislin, associate athletic director for club sports and intramurals, should get specific “champions” shirts just for softball.
This week, Austin and I played for our respective (but maybe not respectable) fraternity teams. While you may be thinking, “Dang, does that mean the Legends will do battle in the Granite League championship hame, with both the crown and MVP title on the line?” Think again. Due to a weak decision by whoever schedules this kind of thing, my team decided to play in whatever league isn’t the Granite League.
Regardless, Austin and I both had Thursday games, and we looked forward to warming up the old noodle and also looking to scoring some runs. I’ll let Austin describe his game in greater detail than I can provide (although some Heorot did almost hit me with a bomb of a hit). As for our game, in keeping with “Whatever-Lies-Below-the-Granite-League” tradition, the other team didn’t show and thus we won by forfeit. Instead of leaving at that and heading off to celebrate a non-victory, a few of us (namely, those who had been hoping for a team in Granite League) demanded that we get an inter-squad scrimmage in so we could better understand who had been training in the off season and who hadn’t.
Hold up, what did I just say? Did a Legend actually (probably for the first time this entire year) actually practice the sport he was going to play competitively? Did he put some forethought into lineups, batting strategy, how to turn double plays and how to assure that no one got any home runs aarrivesgets here. The most laid back NARPs look like seasoned pros (maybe sound like is better, because I’ve yet to see forearms like ’roided up Mark McGwire), and the Legends kick into a whole new gear.
Well, our scrimmage proved that our team is actually reasonably good, and now we are looking to use our practice in a real game, which hopefully will come at some point if a team decides to show up.
An update from Austin: there is a lot of hype this year surrounding the coveted Granite League title. Lines have been drawn, friendships have been sidelined and Big League Chew, Capri Suns and Blue Powerade have been purchased en masse. Heorot’s softball team had its back against the wall after a clever scheduling technique: put our game right in the middle of the hockey team’s lift and the crew team’s practice, leaving about 10 members of Heorot who were actually eligible to play (they get us on the rule sidelining baseball players, too).
The game got off to a quick start with the traditional mentality of “hit the ball as far and high as you can and hope the outfielder runs over a pothole and trips before he can catch it.” It worked pretty well for the first few innings, and a three-run bomb put us on top early. Despite an early challenge, our opponents, who shall remain nameless but were Team Psi U, couldn’t quite mount the comeback. Heorot marches on.
We will keep you updated as the season wears on and we strive for the greatest title known to those who inhabit NARP Gym.
