Hola, my Dear First Effing A’s (and potential future A’s),
A new spring is upon us. As the weather turns from dismal March-in-DC grey skies and soggy
air to the oppressive heat and just plain cruel humidity that summers in this wondrous swamp
bring, I can’t help but get excited about the upcoming softball season. I imagine that most or all
of you have missed drinking and sunbathing on the mall (and occasionally shagging a fly) as
much as I have.
Well, you’re in luck! I want to continue the proud effing tradition of our softball team early and
often this year. In order to do that, I need your help with a few things.
First – I need to know if you want to play. OK, that’s probably not relevant because I know
you all desperately want to play. But who can play? I need to know if you plan on playing
consistently for this powerhouse squad of MLB castoffs, or if you just want to show up
occasionally and fill in for spot duty. As always, cheerleaders are most welcome at all our
events and if you can’t get out to play, I would like to encourage you to come out an cheer us
on. Or maybe even give me a phone call with a little “rah rah rah” on game day and I’ll put you
on speakerphone for the whole team to hear. That’ll work too.
Next, I’m going to need some money. Specifically, from the folks who plan on playing on a
consistent basis, I’m going to ask for $20-25 from each person for the yearly registration fee for
the team (the more people that offer to contribute, the less painful it’ll be for each of you – so try
to recruit some folks). If you only plan on playing every once in a while, a donation won’t be
required but would surely be nice.
In the near future, I will also send around some information on ordering jerseys for the new
season. So if your jersey is a little old, or worn, or you just shrunk it in the wash, you’ll have
a chance to get some dapper new duds for a nominal fee. I’m thinking we’ll try to do the same
thing with beer that I rather unsuccessfully tried last season (I guess this town is rubbing off on
me) – we’ll shoot to have someone different supply every week. I’ll send around that signup
sheet after we have a better sense of our team.
Last thing I need – for folks who know the email address or other contact information of some of
our teammates who are no longer here, could you please forward this to them and/or have them
get in touch with me about the season?
Please get back to me asap to let me know if you want to play, so I can get us registered and
whatnot. If I don’t hear from you, I will roam the office looking for answers from at least
the (hopefully) returning players. I’m not above that.
So my A’s and maybe A’s, the time has come for us to realize the potential that the 2009 season
brought and go out there and win the Congressional Softball League Championship!
OK, maybe that’s shooting a little high. I’ll consider this season a good one if we just beat up on
the AllVols and bass.
Effing A,
Skip
