I thought I was dreaming. I wasn't, I was actually standing in line at the creamery, on the campus of Penn State ordering peanut butter ice cream.......... for BREAKFAST! The best ice cream in the whole world. Totally worth the trip all by itself. While that is the truth, it wasn't the sole extent of my visit to State College,PA. Penn State campus was hosting the 43rd annual Special Olympic Summer Games. The campus was buzzing with loads of excitement; loads of athletes milling about and somehow one of the main courtyard areas was magically transformed into Olympic Village. I was there to cheer on York, as they waged war on Chester, on the softball field.
It's like the excitement never ends. Two teams, York and Chester, slugging it out on the ball field. You haven't seen anything until you've seen my boy "T-Bone" make his way to the plate, give a smile to the girl announcing him, confidently he swaggers into the batters box and with all eyes watching, he calls his shot. Oh no he di ent! Oh yes he did. Like the Babe of old; right hand on the bat, peacefully resting it on his right shoulder, and like mighty Zeus himself, summoning lightning from the sky, he slowly raises his left hand and points high in the sky toward left center. It didn't quite end that way and I didn't want the day to end either. I can't wait till next year. Second to "T-Bone" calling his shot, was the hard core catcher who paced back and forth behind the plate yelling over and over, "let's get rrrrrrreal ruff!" God knows, I love this stuff.
Not quite getting my fair share of baseball, I managed to get to PNC Park in Pittsburgh for the night game between the Pirates and Kansas City Royals. The weather was perfect and the Pirates stole the show. The park is beautiful and the crowd was filled with excitement. The view of the city as beautiful during the day as it was during the night.
While I am a people person, sometimes it's hard to focus on the game when the crowd is so full of characters. Unless you're watching York play, then all the characters are on the field.
Get out and support your local team.
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