That time of year again...

In Platypi Softball news, we are currently 0-0, since we have played no games, but already, two of our better and more reliable players have backed out. This is akin to Tyler going to BYU (Idaho) instead of BYU (regular) so he has an excuse to not play on our team. Also, the only guy on our team who owns a bat broke said bat, so we are now batless. Those who haven't played softball in the last ten years probably don't know how important the bat has become.

Quick example: The Bubs with a $30 bat hits balls just past infielders and in front of outfielders on a solid hit. If The Bubs is swinging hard, then a solid hit will carry to an outfielder provided that (a) he was playing a little shallow, or (b) he took several steps in. Sometimes The Bubs is lucky enough to hit the right field line allowing for 23 year old Bubs to get a triple, but 35 year old Bubs pulls up at 2nd.

The Bubs with a $250 bat on a solid hit can hit the ball over the fence like he did September 21, 2006, in which he hit a grandslam that should have all but won the game for us, except we were pretty bad on defense that day... most likely due to the other teams ownership of $250 bats.

So now anyone can hit a homerun if they plunk down the 250 to buy a nice bat. This has had a few unintended consequences.

1. Watching 12 homers per inning is now not as fun as it used to be, so most leagues have homerun rules that award the defense an out if the alotted number of homers is exceded.

2. Teams that have more money end up being more competitive than they should be.

3. The pitcher now walks a thin line between life and death, as they are required to slowly lob a ball that could get hit back at them with less reaction time. Leagues have combatted this by allowing pitchers to stand back as many as six feet behind the pitching plate to allow for greater reaction time if desired. The Bubs always combatted this by pitching the ball, and then running backwards.

4. The bats have such thin walls (which is what allows so much more energy to be transferred to the ball, making it go so much further) that they only last a couple of years, meaning that every couple of years, it's necessary to plunk another 250 down.

Now, we are without our sweet bat, so who knows what's going to happen. Personally, I wish they'd force everyone to use the old school dead bats, then a homer would actually mean something. Yes, I wish that because I don't usually hit homers, and I usually am pitching.

If you are still with me, congrats, our first two games are on the 15th and 22nd at 7 and 8 pm respectively.

Yahoo! posted a list of the 10 most anticipated movies this summer. I wish someone could tell me what the facination is with Batman, I mean seriously, has there ever been a more remade series than Batman? And they are all boring. You can bet I won't be seeing this retread. If anyone can give me one good reason why there should be another boring Batman movie, then feel free to comment. Just know that you will be mocked by all those who have the ability to think. On a related note, could we stop talking about Heath Ledger? Let's get back to Brittany Spears and Olsen Twin news.

Of course, the movies that are comming out this summer have very little impact on my life. It is such a production now to go to a movie. As it turns out, I'd much rather spend the money on diapers and formula. On a final note, I will rank last year's movies that I saw from best to worst:

1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Out