A funny thing happened to me on the way to Taylor MI today. My wonderful and incredibly supportive wife, Marilyn, got up with me at 3:00am to drive me to the airport. Nothing strange happened until I got to the security checkpoint and went to move all of my electronics out of my pocket so I could go through the scanner. Much to my dismay - I could not find my phone!!! YIKERS - where was it??? And then I remembered. I had taken it out of my pocket in the car, and sure enough - it was probably still there. So, the question became, how do I get my phone back? I tried to find a pay phone in the airport so I could call Marilyn - but guess what, there are no pay phones anymore - that is a relic of my past life. So, i figured I would have to ask someone to borrow their phone to make my call. I asked this very nice woman - told her my story - and she looked at me like I was from Mars - "No, I can't do that". I told her I understood, and went looking for my next victim. I found a great guy, who said "of course", and stood by me while I called Marilyn. She didn't answer - and he said "of course not, it's a strange number". So then I called my phone - and Marilyn did answer. My comment "You've got my phone". And she said "No kidding"! She did a u-turn on I80, and hustled back to hand me my phone - with plenty of time to get through security - AGAIN! - and still make my plane - THANKS MARILYN! YOU'RE THE BEST!
I finally landed at Detroit airport, but American Airlines, in all their splendor, forgot to determine that our plane needed a gate for deplaning. We finally got to a gate after sitting on the tarmac for over an hour - OUCH!
I was picked up at the airport by Greg (sorry Greg, I didn't get your last name) and Sam Pizzo (the original force behind Taylor MI and the Junior World Series). One of my fellow umps, Mike Barrow from Florida, was also with them - helping bring in lost and wayward umps to Taylor.
A fun filled evening ensued, where I checked into the hotel (Thanks Taylor and Little League for providing housing for us umpires), and then back to Heritage Park where the tournament is held. Sam gave me a tour of the facility - and showed off many of the old photos and memorabilia from past tournaments. There are amazing stories in that park, I can't wait to hear them. The facility is first class and the field is great - pictures tomorrow - I promise.
After the tour, at the pre-tournament picnic I met several of the amazing volunteers who make the Jr World Series so successful. I also got a chance to hang out with some of my fellow umpires and we had a great time getting to know each other. We come in all ages, all sizes and all parts of the country and the world. Over the next week, I know we will form a bond that will last beyond our week in Taylor.
Finally got back to the hotel and unpacked. Went down to the bar for a beer with some of my new friends and just kind of unwind - it has been a long trip and a long week - more on that later.
Tomorrow we meet with the entire umpire team, and the head of the umpire crew - George Glick. We'll be given our 'uniforms' and go over the format of the tournament. After that, we have opening ceremonies and fireworks. All in all, a great start to an incredible experience.
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