Trek

I went down memory lane tonite, and as always, I was damn sorry I did.  I found my box of senior photos, and after I removed mine, the next one was...a classmate who died, and a good friend, to boot.  I went to the next one...another dead classmate.  And that was the end of the senior picture box.

So, we had our OC board meeting, and we all -- well, majority -- agreed to expand the center and the funding plan.  Now all we have to do is get it done...architects, builders, contractors, and of course, fundraising.  To be sure, that which we do NOT raise can be done favorably, but...it would be better for us all if the heavy lifting was done by us, and so I will start looking for grants and other things to get us in the black for the project.  Work leads to more work, I guess.  But we will survive.

I am interested by the reaction to Fredi Gonzalez after the Braves loss; on the one hand, he is damned for leaving Carpenter in and NOT pitching Venters...but on the other, it's defensible.  Carpenter was the second-best pitcher, it was the backend of the lineup, you didn't want to use your closer for too much (he could run out of gas), and Venters has seen a lot of use.  I guess I would have done the same thing; let Carpenter get the bunter and bring in the closer for five outs.  If you think about it, it's nearly two generations since the days of "the best reliever pitches 100 IP" in a season and stuff like that.  I am not saying that it is the correct approach, but it is also not done, and for Fredi to do it now...well, you get burned either way.