Thoughts for the Day, March 22, 2021: It has been a long wait.

I donned my umpire equipment today, and went to Ann Arbor Huron High school to call pitches for their pitchers today as part of Huron’s baseball tryouts. It was my first time on a baseball field in 22 months. With me today was Roger, a first time umpire, who was facing live pitching for the first time. I worked with Rger on his plate mechanics. Roger was like a sponge absorbing some of my suggestions.

Head Coach Brooks and two members of his Huron staff, Jeff and Mike, worked for me as youth umpires for Ypsilanti Little League over 20 years ago. It is great to see these guys give back to the community. It is intersting that four members of the Huron coaching staff are Ypsilanti High graduates.

Michigan Men’s basketball team made it to the sweet sixteen in the NCAA tournament with their hard fought victory over LSU. Although the B1G had 9 teams in the tournament, seven were eliminated in the first or second round. Maryland is playing as I write this and they are losing to Alabama. The B1G was considered by many as the best conference while the PAC 12 was considered the weakest of the Power 5 conferences. As of this writing the PAC12 was 8-0. So much for what the experts know.

Tomorrow, Leah and I get our second vaccine. It will be a major step in getting us back to normal. Hopefully, the side effects will be minimal. The vaccine couldn’t come at a better time for us with Michigan cases and hospitalizations trending up.

Stay Safe. Schedule your vaccine. Wear your mask properly. Social Distance, Wash your hands regularly.

Quote of the Day: “At the end of the day, I think we still had good looks,” Illinois star guard Ayo Dosunmu said. “We just couldn’t throw a penny in the ocean.”

Orchid of the Day: U of M mens’s basketball team for making it to the sweet sixteen for the fourth time in a row. Michigan is a basketball school and not a football school.

Onion of the Day: The AT&T at the Half commercials. It is hard to believe that someone got paid to come-up with those commercials.