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Tuesday, October 03, 2017

Wait Till Next Year

Needs pitching. Fans said the same thing after Glavine’s and Smoltz’s rookie seasons (before social media existed). They struggled for a couple of years. Now the Braves have Newcomb, Sims, Fried, Foltynewicz, Gohara, Freeman, and Minter. Each showed flashes of brilliance this year. Plus more in the minors. And the front office has already said offseason priority number one is rebuilding the bullpen, so everyone will get their wish.
 
The Braves had one of the best offenses in baseball this season: Albies, Freeman, Markakis, Inciarte, Acuna, Kemp, Camargo, Swanson, Kemp, Matt Adams, Lane Adams, Suzuki, and Flowers made Garcia and Peterson the odd men out.
 
2018 was supposed to be the year the Braves would be able to start contending again, and they are right on schedule. Not saying they’ll have a World Series winner next year, but they are headed in the right direction. Nats and Mets are showing signs of age, and the Marlins might be broken up again, so the NL East pennant could be ripe for the taking.

See where Braves GM John Coppaletta resigned? Being investigated for breaking rules down in Latin America. The Braves could face sanctions because of this. Talk of infighting within the organization. Delayed the decision on whether to bring back Brian Snitker.

Word of the Day: Schadenfreude. Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune. I never said it was a good word.

I missed the Presidents Cup.
Busy weekend. Worked till 5:45 on Friday. Stopped by Home Depot on the way home to look at leafblowers. Found a limited edition Jordan Spieth bobblehead at Goodwill. At the recent Tour Championship only 2000 were given out a day. Selling for $50.00 on eBay. Got mine for $1.99. Grabbed some Arbys on the way home. Watched Miami/Duke and the Braves.

Got up at 5 am Saturday morning and made it downtown by 6:15 am to 199 Peters Street SW. Not the best neighborhood. Saw a homeless guy push a shopping cart past. He was wearing a nice pair of Nike Roshe Runs, some shoes I'd been wanting for myself.

As morning broke we set up and poured thousands of water cups for the next hour, as many as we could. There were two older leaders, me, and a group of cheerful students from Decatur High - all white. A young black girl was last to arrive, so she helped me. When we finished we had a little time before the runners would come by, and one of the other girls came over to talk to my helper.

There were "only" seven thousand runners in the race, but they seemingly kept coming for almost an hour. Like the Peachtree, the runners were released in several waves. So many of the runners thanked us for our service. I stayed toward the back of the water station, letting the students hand out cups at the front. This meant some of the runners would take a cup, take a sip, and toss the cup to the side - splashing me with the excess water. I kept an eye out for runners making a late move over to get water at the last minute. It wasn't hard to smile.

I also made an effort to look at as many faces as possible as they passed. I was looking for Jane, a coworker running the race. It took a while, but she spotted me first. I gave her a high five and a cup of water. Deborah Light Painter also saw me. She gave me a hug and chatted for a few seconds. Saw Falcons President Rich McKay run past. Later Falcons owner Arthur Blank strutted by at a slightly faster than normal walk, not bad for a 75 year old. He was sticking to the middle of the street, and seemed to be alone. Didn't seem to be thrilled about being there. I hollered "Coach Blank!" and he smiled and waved, but mostly stuck to his shuffle.

By 8:30 the last of the walkers were ambling past. Some didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry, as if they had all day. There were thousands of paper cups on the ground to be picked up. We had rakes to help. The students all pitched in without complaint, so it didn't take long. Afterwards I drove over to the Mercedes Dome and walked inside. The field was still covered with runners. They were crowded up exiting the way I had to get down on the field, but I finally made it. I walked around and snapped some pictures, then walked around the corner to the College Football Hall of Fame. Got there just before ten.

The HOF was ok, but I wasn't really into it. Didn't record a video or do much of the interactive stuff. You had to use a touch screen to look up the players.  I only looked up Herschel and Tech's Joe Guyon. I covered all the areas and was gone by 10:30. On the way home I bought an Oglethorpe Petrels shirt and pair of pants.

Made it home shortly after the Tech game had started. Watched football the rest of the day. Did some laundry, folded clothes, glued some shoes, and worked for hours afterward to get the glue off my fingers.

Slept a little late Sunday morning
. Watched the Falcons.
Watched the Seahawks/Colts and did the dishes.

Found out Sunday night Ceil and I are going to the Catalyst Conference this Thursday and Friday at the Gwinnett Arena. It's organized by North Point Ministries for church leaders, with speakers and music. Speakers include Tim Tebow and Andy Stanley. Music includes Hillsong United. Afterwards I'll bore you with the details.

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