faulker009

My dad always said that a bases-loaded triple was the most exciting play in baseball. As someone who worked for several Major League teams and saw literally thousands of games, he knew what he was talking about. I remember him telling me that on that play, unlike any other, everybody on the field was moving. It’s really a shame that my dad didn’t live long enough to see my son play because I have a feeling 11-year old baseball would’ve replaced the majors as his favorite game. Through the four months of March through June, it pretty much consumes every weekend for us. Yesterday marked the end of our season, but it wasn’t by choice. We were playing in the State Tournament, with one game on Friday night and two on Saturday. If we won two of the three, we would advance to the next round.   Anything less and we would go home. For eight months. The odds were definitely against us. This year our team played in the 11-year old triple-A division, but our first two games in the tournament w...

If you’ve read more than one of my blogs, you probably have a pretty good idea that I love food, I love music and I really LOVE sports. Pick any restaurant, concert or game.  I’m in. Well, ALMOST any game. I realize I won’t be getting any votes for father of the year for this blog, especially in my own house, but here goes... Six-year old girls tee ball sucks. I mean, it really SUCKS! Don’t get me wrong, I would watch my kids perform in an opera if that is what they want to do. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t fall asleep. With three kids, my wife and I have moved into the zone defense when it comes to their activities. So far this year, I’ve made it to most tee ball practices, but this past Saturday was the first game I attended. OMG! First, can we talk about the rules. Everybody hits.  Every inning.  Nobody gets out.   Not that anybody on defense can actually make an out. The last batter in every inning gets to run all the bases after they hit the ball to give the ...

While working in the TV biz for 25 years, I went on a lot of shoots, but nothing like the shoot I went on today. After an 18-month hiatus, last week I started working at a local production company which has had a lot of success producing outdoor shows of the hunting and fishing flavor. Did I mention I was Jewish? Well today I was asked to go with a cameraman to a local shooting range to do a feature on a gun class. Did I mention I was… oh, never mind. Have an open mind, right? When I arrived, I walked into the center of the lodge surrounded by a group of people carrying handguns. Normally that would be scary, but fortunately they didn’t know I was Jewish. Ok, that was the last one, sorry. In the room there were 14 students, four instructors and one Master Instructor. I drove over from the lodge to the range with the Master of this domain, picking his brain along the way. Q:  How much is the class? A:  $750 per person Q:  How much is a gun? A:  You can get a Chevy for...

I am officially running for Father of the Week. I realize it is a long shot, and I know the week is not over, but I feel like I’ve done my part to at least be under consideration for the award. Of course, I have my good friend unemployment to thank for giving me this great opportunity and a boat load of free time. The week began on Monday with Field Day. Field Day is the official name for “kids get a day out of the classroom to play a bunch of games in a local park.” It always comes at the end of the year and ours included a BBQ, jumpy castle, pickup soccer games, softball, lacrosse and a whole lot of quality gossip time. My daughter and her friends seemed to enjoy the last part more than anything. She took full advantage of the break to hang out with her buddies, but we did sneak in a four-on-four flag football game before lunch. There were probably more than 200 students there, representing sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The sixth graders occupied most of the field, playing every ...

I’ve played a lot of ball in my day and one thing I learned at a very young age was not to be cocky. I kinda learned it the hard way. I was at a baseball camp when I was about 11 years old, the same age as my son, when we were doing a drill catching fly balls. To this day, I can remember shooting my mouth off about how boring that drill was.  Somewhere in the infield, a coach was loading the machine, launching balls our way. When it got to my turn, I heard the sound, but I never saw the ball.   The next thing I knew, it was a Batman episode. Pow!!!... Bam!!!... Zonk!!! The ball smashed directly into that soft spot between my eyes, right above my nose. For whatever reason, it didn’t hurt me at all, but it sure destroyed my pride. And definitely woke me up. From that point forward, I have always made it a priority to shut my mouth.  I certainly have it in me to jab at people, but I always remind myself that what comes around goes around. At last check, I am still human...