Pardon My Interruption: Craig's Thoughts About This And That
Ten years ago today, I received this shirt. It’s been a great shirt, which I still wear. On that day, I also got something incomparable to that shirt: I got a great life partner.
Colleen is a great wife and mother, just the wife and mother we need. When we met on a blind date at the Chinese Kitchen in 1996, I could never have imagined the blessing she would be to me.
Today, on our 10th anniversary, I’m blessed beyond anyone I know.
Happy Anniversary, Colleen. I love you.
The Maccabiah opened yesterday with us playing Canada. Unfortunately, we lost 7-3, but we are still very much in the mix and have no reason to hang our heads.
Today, we play Mexico and then have the official opening ceremony. We’ll march into Ramat Gan stadium with over 6,000 other athletes to the thunderous applause of more than 40,000 people. I’m excited about both events.
The Maccabiah is a quadrennial sports competition modeled after the Olympic Games. The difference is that the Maccabiah is for Jewish athletes.
This year, almost 8,000 athletes from 52 nations will compete in 31 different sports. I have the privilege of coaching the Israel national baseball team that will compete in these games.
In the round robin section of the baseball tournament each of the four teams – Israel, Mexico, USA, and Canada – will play the other teams twice each.
After the round robin, the teams will be seeded 1 through 4 based on the outcome of the round robin preliminary. Seed 1 will play 4, and 2 will play 3. The winners of those games will then play for Gold and Silver, while the losers will play for Bronze and consolation.
You can follow the games – whether your interest is swimming, gymnastics, soccer, bowling, basketball, tennis, squash, baseball, or something else – at the Maccabiah 18 website.
I recently received a parking ticket that I didn’t deserve. You can see the no parking sign about 20 feet in front of my car. There was no kind of signage or marking next to or behind my car. But I should have known not to park there.
When I pulled out my camera to take some photos of this injustice a passerby warned me that I shouldn’t park in that spot because “they give tickets there everyday.” “If it’s not marked and I don’t stand here everyday watching, how am I supposed to know that,” I asked. “I don’t know, but you shouldn’t park there,” he mumbled as he walked away.
Unfortunately, a $65 ticket is painful, but not so painful that it’s worth going to court to fight.
