July 28, 2010
July 22, 2010
Clear the Mechanism // Origin
by Mack Dreyfuss
In the film For Love of the Game, the phrase “Clear the mechanism” is used by Billy Chapel, an aging professional baseball pitcher played by Kevin Costner. His entire life is in chaos. His mercurial girlfriend of four years is leaving him. In a profit-over-decency mentality, his team’s new owners are trading him. His aging body aches against the strain of the job he loves.
Like so many of us who work for a living, he goes to work anyway. Because that is what you do. You keep going.
Chapel’s physical, emotional, and spiritual resources are bleeding out when he takes the mound, but it doesn’t matter. He feels the familiar hide of the baseball in his hand, the cleats dig into the dirt, the light fills the stadium, the sounds of the ballpark fill his ears, and the smell of the grass fills his nostrils. The familiar meditative glory of a simple mastered work disciplines the lonely man from pain to perspective as the opposing team, the opposing fans, and a foreign city threaten to drive him shamefully from the tiny plate on a tiny mound of dirt, in the center of their stadium.
The love of the game clots the bleeding and balms his wounds. He orders his mind to “Clear the mechanism” and attacks.
His mind reels through the events of his life between pitches in the meditative brilliance of the game. Each opponent is silenced with ground outs, fly outs, and strike outs. Late in the game, even the opposing crowd sheds their animosity and reverently watches as Chapel approaches a perfect game.
When the final pitch is thrown, Chapel has done the imaginable which is so often unattainable. With tenacity, perseverance, and discipline, he ends his career on his own terms and gains order, perspective, and peace. A spiritual working man’s humble mentality slaughtered the lion of chaos in the center of the stadium for all to see including his own ego, his girlfriend, his teammates, his team’s profiteering owners, his opponents, and the opposing mob of fans. It is a gift from Reality that can’t be pillaged, a gift to a tiny man that now sealed into history, could not be taken away.
It is often in the laying low that the greatest glories are unleashed. This blog, which I call, Clear the Mechanism, will be a celebration of these concepts.
For more from Mack Dreyfuss, check out www.themackdreyfusslounge.com
July 20, 2010
Nutmeg Games Update
Field Assignments for Connecticut State Nutmeg Games will be posted tomorrow 21July2010.
So in the mean time stare at this picture:
July 19, 2010
Play Wiffs in St. Louis, Missouri on September 11, 2010
1st Annual Forest Park Wiffleball Challenge
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Lagenberg Field, Forest Park (directly south of the Tennis center and north of the Boat House)
Games begin at 9 AM
Homerun Derby Contest begins at 1:00 PM
$60 per team if registered by 8/24/10
$75 per team if registered after 8/24/10
CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM
CLICK HERE FOR ALL PAYMENT OPTIONS
Test your skills and play for fun or in our tournament or participate in the Forest Park Home Run Derby!
In honor of our firefighters, EMS and law enforcement, who serve and protect us on September 11, all proceeds from the Home Run Derby contest will benefit Responder Rescue, Inc., a St. Louis based charity to help those injured in the line of duty. www.responderrescue.org . A portion of the proceeds from this event will also be used to fund grants by our charity to the Flora Conservancy of Forest Park (Beautification Program) www.floraconservancy.org , and the Foundation for Children with Cancer www.childrenwithcancer.org . Call Ryan Clancy at 314-497-3345 for questions. Sponsorship opportunities are available, including signs on outfield fences.
July 16, 2010
Last Chance to Register for July 24th, New Britain CT.
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Highroller Nick Amato
Nick Amato, no. 10 of the Highrollers Goldenstickwiffle pro team.
July 12, 2010
Backwards K
Chris Merrifield, of the Absolute Gunners gets k’d looking at the 2009 Connecticut State Nutmeg Games.
July 6, 2010
Tom LoCascio
Tommy discusses his thoughts on the future of wiffs and what it will take to get an audience. We love the idea of pegging the runner! This was one of the staples of our childhood rules.
Video Courtesy of WiffleBoy28
June 29, 2010
Retro Wiffle Logo
We just signed our latest Standards of Certification for Wiffle Inc…basically telling us that we can use the name, logos, etc and that we’re a sanctioned tournament (wow-wee!!, a real Wiffle Inc sanctioned tournament!!!). Anyway, they sent us a CD of artwork such as logos, the sanctioned tournament symbol, etc to use on the site. We personally thought the logo from 1956 was sick. Ill if you will. Nasty. check it out
Wiffle logo - 1956
June 24, 2010
Reds Community Fund Summer WIFFLE® Classic.
August 14th, 2010 marks the date for the 4th annual Reds Community Fund Summer WIFFLE® Classic.
FOR RULES AND REGISTRATION please go to:
www.reds.com/summerwiffle
Tournament Director, Brian Blinn, approached the Reds several years ago with this idea and through a lot of hard work and dedication to the game of Wiffle, has been able to convince the Reds that this is a fun and unique event worth hosting.
The tournament is set up as a Round Robin in the morning and a single elimination tournament in the afternoon (seeded from the round robin play). 50+ teams play in this annual event and it seems to grow every year. What started out as a “local draw” has turned into a regional and NATIONAL draw now. Teams from as far away as North Carolina and Arizona come to play!
The top 4 teams from the Summer Classic are invited to the indoor tournament at Redsfest in December! Also, the winning team receives trophies and they get to throw out the coveted “first pitch” at a Reds Game the day after the tournament! All teams that enter get a T-shirt and ticket to the Reds game the following day as well (among other freebies).
The event is a fundraiser for the Reds Community Fund (the non-profit arm of the Cincinnati Reds) which has dedicated itself to at-risk youth throughout greater Cincinnati. Whether it’s renovating baseball fields, providing opportunities to kids with disabilities, underwriting expenses for inner-city teams or hosting a “Reds Rookie Success League”, the Reds Community Fund finds a way to connect kids with the game of baseball. More than 30,000 kids will benefit from the Reds Community Fund in 2010.
