When I'm not at my full-time job at Rockhurst University or my part-time with the Unified Government, I enjoy announcing high school sporting events.
For the last 17 I have been blessed to have the opportunity to be the stadium announcer for the Bishop Ward High School baseball team.
For many of those 17 years, we were fortunate to travel to the state baseball tournament in Salina (Ward has won nine state baseball titles since I started announcing… I'm sure it's me... NOT).
Even though my kids have all graduated from high school, I still enjoy watching games at the state tournament.
Last year I asked whether they needed any help announcing the games in the tournament. They didn't have a need at the time, but we corresponded again this spring and, before I knew it, I was on the schedule to announce all eight tournament games over two days.
So… I took a couple of days of vacation and travelled to Salina, Kansas on Thursday and Friday of this week as a volunteer assisting with the Kansas Class 4A state baseball tournament. I got the best seat in the house and all I had to do to earn that privilege was talk (something that all of you know I would do anyway).
I saw some darn good baseball games by teams from De Soto, Iola, Concordia, Andale/Garden Plain, Pratt, Towanda - Circle, Topeka - Hayden and Coffeyville - Field Kindley.
Many thanks to the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce for the opportunity.
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| The grandstand at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina, Kansas |
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| Early arrivals for a Friday morning semi-final game. My home for two days is upper left. |
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| My little bit of the pressbox. Cozy but comfortable... Rosters, lineups, iPads, computers and lots of wires!!! |
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| The view from my seat in the pressbox. Best seat in the house!! |
Well...the tournament is over as of tonight, so it's back to business. :-)
Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have three general themes that I return to regularly:
- Give a darn
- Good people doing great things
- Who knew (that such cool stuff existed in Kansas City, Kansas)?
As always, don't hesitate to drop a note in my Suggestion Box or send me an email (links below) if you have any ideas, comments or suggestions on how we can make District 2 the best place to live in the Midwest.
~ Brian
bmckiernan@wycokck.org
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Suggestion Box
