I had all of the best intentions to keep blogging on a regular basis but it’s no coincidence that I haven’t been on this space since baseball practice started.

I’m used to handling two jobs at once, with my broadcasting gig but that time commitment pales in comparison to coaching.  While I’m on the topic of broadcasting though, we finished a successful season of broadcasting via our own company, CharlevoixSports.net.  

My friend and partner in that venture, Scott Boss, and I produced Charlevoix basketball broadcasts and got them on both the Internet and the radio.  We had a rocky start technologically but in the end, we learned a lot and so did our listeners who figured out how to find us.

But I digress…coaching.  It’s not just the two hours of practice a day or the half hour preparing an outline or the emails and calls to newspapers and parents.  It’s the drain on the brain.  I can compartmentalize at work fine but in the shower, in the bathroom, laying in bed at night, I’m thinking of ways to tinker with that lineup, who’s going to step up as our #2 pitcher and who’ll lock down the right field job.

I’m anxious before big games and moody after tough losses.  So trust me when I say it cuts into blogging time.

Last month I took my last team spring training trip.  We took 15 players and four coaches to St Augustine, Florida for a ten day trip.

Other than losing some sleep and guys in close quarters and a little grouchy by the end of the week, including coaches, it was pretty much perfect.  Lots of sun, baseball to play and watch and good FIFA action on the xBox One at night.  Did I mention that our house had this view?

I had the pleasure of going with two of my three sons, Ty and Will.  Ty’s coaching and Will’s playing.  I offered to take Luke if he would agree to help the team by being videographer for the season.  He declined. 

We returned from the trip to snow on our field.  After a short week of practice, we traveled to Shepherd where we split.  It’s bittersweet since they are a perennial power, having won back-to-back state championships in 2009 and 2010.  But we didn’t play well in those “measuring stick” games.

Then worse yet in conference play this week, we split with rival Boyne City.  They’re a good, solid team that knocked us out of the tourney last year.  But a team that we could be sweeping.

In many ways, they are the antithesis of the Rayders.  They really have no stars, they like to bunt and don’t usually make mistakes to beat themselves.

We, on the other hand, have four “stars” – all-state caliber players.  Because of the big bats in our lineup we don’t bunt much.  

And as my assistant Coach Santos points out, too often we have one bad inning pitching and defensively that does us in.  Shepherd scored 13 of their 15 runs in our two games in just two innings.

Still I wouldn’t trade my guys for any team.  They play loose, with confidence, maybe a little edge.  I think it’s usually uncomfortable to play us.  We may just be 2-2 now but this team will win a lot of games.

It’s only because of these guys and their success that anyone would say “Charlevoix is JUST 2-2.”  

It’s because of these guys and those who came before that got this rolling so that people say Charlevoix is a baseball town and we have a great baseball program.

So…to try and help keep this train rolling, as Coach Zipp used to say, I’ll keep scribbling out outlines and lineups.  I’ll keep texting reminders to teenage boys, hoping this can be a very special spring for them, especially the seniors.

Here’s my “other” family: