How many corners are in this picture?This is totally unrelated to the rest of the post.
Well, it's a rainy evening here. It's actually rained quite a bit. It's a lot of fun, because we're really getting dumped on this season, and the weather has been pleasantly mild, even in Southern Utah.
It doesn't create the most optimal playing fields for kickball and softball though. As I was umpiring this week for the intramural championships, people were slipping all over the place. Yes, we do 'call' the games and postpone them if it gets too dangerous. We were close one day. There were some legitimate mud stains on everyone's... everything from the shoes to the face. Granted, we scoop out puddles and fill holes with fresh sand. It's a choice between slipping in the mud, or pretty much sliding to home base like it was a mat made of sandpaper. Good battle wounds I guess.
In one instance a player was rounding 3rd base, heading for home when he slipped. I tell, you what- I've never seen anything like it. It all happened in slow motion too, but by the time he hit the ground, he was pretty much horizontally parallel (so at least the impact wasn't painful) but this guy was like a squeegee for the grass. A sheet of water sailed into the air, and when this player returned to his feet he was dripping/soaking wet with the appearance of chocolate milk. He was safe at third base, but unfortunately the next guy up got the third out, so his efforts didn't even convert to a run. Still- quite funny.
This is the West Stadium intramural field(s) on a sunny day. Nice eh? Click for better image.
That same evening, the hour earlier and when the rain was really coming down though the sun was shining bright a player came up to bat. By now the equipment is pretty wet- bats, gloves, and balls. Normally, if a player throws their bat they are called out because it's very dangerous. Well, the craziest instance occurred when he took a good swing at the ball. It went sailing up as an infield fly. Meanwhile, the batter's bat also went for a ride. It must have been so slick that it escaped his grip. The bat flew to the left, beyond the out-of-play line, beyond the row of spectators sitting about six feet behind that line, past the light pole, and landed on the grass about 50 feet away.
I was baffled. His ball was caught, but this guy was OUT regardless. I'm grateful that no one got hurt from that because the bat could have easily cleared 3-4 people. This too happened in slow motion for me and it reminded me of a chain shot which in naval battle you clear the decks with the chain-linked cannonballs. The night's injury report would have been extensive, but we were blessed and nothing terrible happened.
Oh the fun of Intramurals.
I love my job.
The answer to the question at the beginning is: 9 corners. There are the four rounded ones that make up the mirror, the reflection in the mirror is a corner, and the corners that are a part of the actual picture sum up the remaining four.
It doesn't create the most optimal playing fields for kickball and softball though. As I was umpiring this week for the intramural championships, people were slipping all over the place. Yes, we do 'call' the games and postpone them if it gets too dangerous. We were close one day. There were some legitimate mud stains on everyone's... everything from the shoes to the face. Granted, we scoop out puddles and fill holes with fresh sand. It's a choice between slipping in the mud, or pretty much sliding to home base like it was a mat made of sandpaper. Good battle wounds I guess.
In one instance a player was rounding 3rd base, heading for home when he slipped. I tell, you what- I've never seen anything like it. It all happened in slow motion too, but by the time he hit the ground, he was pretty much horizontally parallel (so at least the impact wasn't painful) but this guy was like a squeegee for the grass. A sheet of water sailed into the air, and when this player returned to his feet he was dripping/soaking wet with the appearance of chocolate milk. He was safe at third base, but unfortunately the next guy up got the third out, so his efforts didn't even convert to a run. Still- quite funny.
This is the West Stadium intramural field(s) on a sunny day. Nice eh? Click for better image.That same evening, the hour earlier and when the rain was really coming down though the sun was shining bright a player came up to bat. By now the equipment is pretty wet- bats, gloves, and balls. Normally, if a player throws their bat they are called out because it's very dangerous. Well, the craziest instance occurred when he took a good swing at the ball. It went sailing up as an infield fly. Meanwhile, the batter's bat also went for a ride. It must have been so slick that it escaped his grip. The bat flew to the left, beyond the out-of-play line, beyond the row of spectators sitting about six feet behind that line, past the light pole, and landed on the grass about 50 feet away.
I was baffled. His ball was caught, but this guy was OUT regardless. I'm grateful that no one got hurt from that because the bat could have easily cleared 3-4 people. This too happened in slow motion for me and it reminded me of a chain shot which in naval battle you clear the decks with the chain-linked cannonballs. The night's injury report would have been extensive, but we were blessed and nothing terrible happened.
Oh the fun of Intramurals.
I love my job.
The answer to the question at the beginning is: 9 corners. There are the four rounded ones that make up the mirror, the reflection in the mirror is a corner, and the corners that are a part of the actual picture sum up the remaining four.
Thanks for reading my blog today!
