Breaking the Rule

There’s so much love in the air that it’s seriously ridiculous.

The weather’s fantastic. Valentines Day just passed. Georgia College beat a top-10 ranked opponent in the Centennial Center recently, and both basketball teams are looking up.

For the record: My date on V-day? A hot shower. Quite steamy. I promise that’s the only lame joke in this week’s column.

While we’re all feeling the love, I’d like to point out something unappreciated…for now: The intramural softball fields.

A few days ago, I went out and hit around, dusting the rust off my softball skills in anticipation for the upcoming season. Hey, when you’re on a couple of the worst basketball and dodgeball teams at Georgia College, you start to look ahead.

Anyway, as us guys head onto the field, one remarked about the state of the infields and the new look they had.

Let me tell you: They look good. They feel great to run on, too.

If you remember, two years ago our softball infields looked awful, especially after a slight rain. That’s because they didn’t drain properly, which left plenty of standing water to pack in the dirt and make it tougher to make conditions playable.

Last year, the Student Government Association allotted roughly $20,000 for brand-spanking-new infields; this involved a contractor scraping out all of the old dirt, replacing it, and leveling the field using laser technology.

Did you notice a difference if you played last season? Two come to mind for me. First off, I was never scared rounding second base that I might slip and fall on my face.

The second was how smooth the infield played with ground balls. Funny hops became a rarity, and it felt like much more of a professional field.

Oh, and less games had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather, since the infields were much more playable.

I say all of this in gratitude to SGA and the Department of Intramurals for pulling together and providing a massive upgrade to the students.

I also mention this to wonder aloud when the outfields can be dealt with. It’s easy to dream of, but considering budget cuts and the difficulty re-sodding the entire outfields on three fields, it won’t be easy to replace.

Hey, it takes time for great things to happen; yes, flag football, Ultimate, and softball are all played on those outfields. But instead of focusing on what we don’t have, how about we enjoy what we do and appreciate the day when these outfields are upgraded?

Stay positive.

Posted by Caleb Rule on Feb 17 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.