So school has officially started and IM's are underway. We've got soccer, volleyball, and softball to start us off this Fall semester. Trainings have happened, officials got their shiny new whistles, clubs have started playing, and all is good in the IM/Club Sports world at UAlbany.
I say that and I'm so anxious that I'm gonna jinx it. So if everyone could just knock on some wood for me while you're reading this, thanks, that'd be great. (I'm legitimately superstitious. It's from my father and many many years of playing softball/watching baseball. I have routines, I have my lucky socks that have holes and soon won't look like socks but I refuse to get rid of them and I will wear them whenever I feel I need some extra luck until the day I die.)
And my new apartment is great, all my furniture (bought new or at least new to me) fits and decorations are up and it's officially home. I love living on a busy street and I often fall asleep to the neighbors chit chatting on the stoops below my windows and the sound of cars and the city lightly buzzing. It's not NYC, so it's not super loud and this city does in fact sleep. But it's my city and when a friend came to visit I wanted to drive them all over and just keep pointing out all the little spots that were cool, or fun to look at and just exclaim "Welcome to MY city!" with each and every turn. They weren't down with that so we went to lunch instead.
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| This is Albany, NY from the east side of the Hudson River. That really tall sky scraper in the mid-left of the photo is about 2 blocks east from my apartment. So I'm kind of right on top of it all. |
I'm also trying to branch out and get to know some more people. I have a friend from yoga and we've done lunch and moved up to pizza and movies, and then we went on a paddle boarding course where she watched me fall off the board just once but everyone else in the class managed to stay out of the water. Like you're supposed to. Go figure. But it was a blast and if I could fit a paddle board in my apartment, I'd go out and buy one today.
But I signed up for a City Kickball League. It's with a group that does multiple different sports throughout the year in the Capital region of New York. I figured, heck, sports are my job, I can go and meet people that are like me, they like sports, and they like playing sports.
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| We're not quite cool enough for an actual field. It's just cones on grass, no lines. But that's the gist of it. |
Game #1- weather cast says 103847234893527% chance of rain. It's coming, folks, just a matter of when. But I'm just a Free Agent on team "Off Constantly" (bad names must be a requirement for any organized sports program that is recreational in nature) and I don't know a single soul. Nada. No one. I got nothing, just an address for the field and a team name. Oh boy.
So awkward Marissa goes out to the field in her rain jacket (because weatherman Joe said it'd be silly to leave it at home) and tries to socialize with some young professionals. I hope you can literally feel the anxiety and the rush of blood rise to your cheeks as you can tell it's going to get real good and awkward from here-
Just try asking complete strangers that look like "cool kids", drinking beers, in their team shirts and laughing and all of them know who each other are, etc. "Hey, hi there, do you happen to know where team 'Off Constantly' is?" And they all stare and give you the shrug, "Sorry, nope."
Ok. Yeah. That went well. I think they like me. Yeah. I can make friends. It's fine. I'm fine. I can do this. Shouldn't be so hard.
Try that two more times to FINALLY find the team "Off Constantly". And apparently I'm not the only free agent. It's like they put all the rag tag we-don't-have-any-friends people together on one team and that's us. Rag tag, worse than The Bad News Bears, The Little Giants, and definitely would get slaughtered by the kids from Sandlot.
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| Just give everyone a beer, age them about 15-20 years and that's my team. Not kidding, grumpy guy(he's the guy who didn't want to play in the rain) and all. |
So we go out, manage to scrap up a line up and an awkward, do you wanna pitch? No? Ok, I'll pitch..? exchange. We're 3 batters(? kickers? what are they?) in and boom the skies open up and it is pouring rain. I mean sheets of rain. I can't see the giant red kickball it's coming down. But it's warm and we play on. I slip (didn't want to seem like that really intense girl with cleats on the first night) a few times but we all are soaked and slipping and laughing. We ended up losing a lot to a little but,
IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!
I could ring out my shirt and shorts with water but I'm running around trying to throw a kickball and slipping in the grass and laughing with complete strangers and trying to cheer them on and getting beer handed to me left and right.
There aren't real officials, you're not supposed to drink on the field but no one follows that rule, we played even though there was lightening in the distance (it was just once and then not again for all you IM/Risk Management freaks like me) and it's like the Anti-Intramural League but it was pretty great.
And I play again tomorrow! And this time I'll know who my team is! And I'm not telling them that I actually do this for a living because I definitely never got on base and probably never will. (I just can't get the ball out of the infield. Even when I kick it to third, the pitcher some how ends up catching it. It's impossible to kick it that hard for me...my strategy next time is to bunt even though I can hear my old softball coach groaning in my head)
I'm so excited and so glad I gave it a try. I play with accountants, science engineers, teachers and some I don't know what they do but I don't really care as long as we all like playing and having a good time. It's like I'm back in Davis, playing IM's only know the official on the field has a red solo cup in hand, they're all sporting facial hair and closer to 30 than they are to being 20 and they're missing calls that my 12 year old nephew can call from the stands.
So I guess it actually is just like IM Sports...LOL.
To Be Continued!
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