The Songs We Chose
Theme: Transportation
Byrd: Mean Machine - Sugar Ray
Lauren: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - Proclaimers
Ian: Stickshifts and Safetybelts - Cake
Tracy: Little Red Corvette - Prince
Aaron: Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Amanda: Fantastic Voyage - Coolio
Matthew: Cars - Gary Numan
Angela: Drive My Car - Beatles
Charcho: Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
Koryn: Jet Airliner - Steve Miller Band

Other Songs You Heard
Snakes on a Plane - Cobra Starship
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
Bicycle Race - Be Your Own Pet
Aeroplane - Red Hot Chili Peppers
C'Mon N' Ride It (The Train) - Quad City DJ's
Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla

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Post Game Blogs
Brought to you by the Band-Aids Management Team

Patriot Games
By Lauren Henschen, Manager

One of our girls was on the bench with a torn ACL. Four of our guys weren't there at all. It was 9pm. We were tired. It was cold...and then there was music...beautiful, beautiful music. This week's music theme was transportation (Matthew's idea), which turned out to have a lot more range than I initially gave it credit for. Anyway, this was one of those weeks when, if it weren't for some sweet sweet tunes, I have a hunch we'd all be thinking, "Wait, why am I not in bed?"

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're getting older and not staying out as late as we used to...I mean, I've noticed our late nights at Casey's have drifted into the realm of becoming "late evenings at Casey's." Still, you're gonna hear it here first...we moved into an older age bracket this season, since most of our players are now 25 or above. It's a step. One small step for Band-Aids, one giant leap for...someone with really short legs.

So we played with 5 guys and 5 girls. Bare bones, my friend. No one rotated. And that has only happened once before in Band-Aids history. We were hitting well. Matthew hit two homeruns with several people on base. Once again, I mostly took walks. Bob noted that the song I came up to bat to was "I Would Walk 500 Miles" and wondered if that was a clue to my plans for walking. Not intentionally, Bob, not intentionally. But walk I did, every time but one. I did get a pretty good hit myself, attributed to the single round I took at the batting cages before the game. It's my frist decent hit of the season.

As I told Amanda last night over a glass of fine wine, the Patriots really only deserved about 2 of the runs they scored. It was a rough game of pitching for us, no doubt. But when has that happened recently? Amanda is our ice. And if she messed up as often as the rest of us...she'd be walking people way more than that every game. It was cold! It was late! It happens! I think we all need to take a moment and acknowledge the fact that a without a solid pitcher, there is no point in playing. And thank goodness we have a great one!

My play of the game goes to Amanda, who didn't pull herself off that mound no matter how discouraged she got. That's perserverance. And next game...she'll be back.

I'd also like to say thank you to Angela, who substituted in for us in the outfield. She pulled far more than her weight and I am happy to say that she has decided to become a full-time team member. The first lefty we've ever had!

So we won the game...but for me it really wasn't about the game this week, it was about presence. It was about being there and participating no matter how tired or cold we were (my dad was wearing my jacket and looked like Tom Hanks when he wakes up as an adult in BIG). It was about hearing the songs that everyone chose and seeing how everyone made the plays they made and made the decisions they decided upon. It was about uniqueness and taste. And you know what, no matter what the theme is, and no matter how sure I am that I've already thought of every song someone could choose, 90% of the songs that people end up choosing are things that I never would have thought of.

And now I must say a heartfelt goodbye to a member of our team. No, not Natalie. She may be on injured reserve for the next 6-9 months, but she's a Band-Aid through and through and her return shall be triumphant. Plus, she's a great first base coach

This tearful adieu is for our stereo. Well, it's my dad's stereo. Well, technically it's my dog's stereo, because I stole it from her over a year ago to start using it to play music at our games. She's been going through hell at night without KBAQ to listen to. That's right, the new iPod stereo is here and will make it's debut at the next game, in all it's crisp, clear, bass-pumping glory. But there was a certain mystique to that old stereo. It's been in my family since the 80's. Here's to hoping that it sticks around some way or another, running off the 8 D batteries it consumes, for many decades to come.

R.I.P. 80's Boombox. We love you.  

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Band-Aids Defeat Patriots...Past Their Bed Time
By Charles Pheanis, Assistant Manager

The Band-Aids went into Sunday's game with serious momentum. Three games was our longest winning streak, and with the win against the Cytec Patriots we have a new record. We've won early, and we've won late. We've won with a fat roster, and with only nine players. Sunday was a turning point. Well, not so much a turning point as a mile stone.

The Band-Aids are the team to beat and everyone knows it. All eyes are on us. The Strategic Sluggers and Anton Sports have their sights on us. According to the weekly results, Anton Sport squeaked by the Empty Pitchers by 1 run, and the Strategic Sluggers lost to the Empty Pitchers by 11 runs. In case you don't remember, we beat the Empty Pitchers by 14 runs.

We are going to smother the Sluggers next week, and this is how we'll do it. It will be an early game, so we're going to make sure we get plenty of rest. We're also going to commit to being at the game, and getting there on time. If we do these two things, we will win. We played Sunday without a couple of our heavy hitters, but other's stepped up to pick up the slack.

My favorite play of the game was Matthew's second home run which was, I believe, a grand slam. I can remember shouting from the dugout as Matthew was rounding 2nd "HE'S GONNA DO IT AGAIN!" As I repeated the sentiment at the top of my lungs, half in jest, I realized that Matthew was taking it to heart. As I looked at the ball and the fielders, I realized he probably should stay at third but I held my tongue.

Matthew, like many other Band-Aids, had some aggressive, heads-up base-running. Keeping that aggression running into next week's game is going to pay off big.

I liked the Patriots despite the big age gap (I think the game time was past most of their bed times). They had spunk, and their pitcher completely shut me down. I also got up close and personal with their catcher as we collided at third. She's a great lady, and I wouldn't mind running into her any day of the week. But I have to admit, when our music was turned down, I kind of wondered if their catcher asked us to turn it down. I didn't find out what the dilly-yo was until later.

According to team mom Rachel, an older woman from the North East field came over and told her to turn down the music. Rachel believed she was a fan, not an official. Because later, when Rachel rebelliously raised the volume, the old woman scowled and and sent an off duty umpire over. The umpire begrudgingly repeated the woman's request. This is ridiculous.

Next time, Rachel is going to defer any complaints to me, and I promise we won't be turning our hearing aids up to hear our at bat music again. I've talked down some pretty bad-ass irate individuals in much more serious circumstances than Sunday night softball at Kiwanas park. I don't think our fans or auxillary team members should be the victims of intimidation at the hands of crotchety old people.

"Why you sippin' on hate-o-rade when you could be stickin' on Band-Aids?" 

Walk on the Wild Side
By Amanda Telloni, Assistant Manager

Writings from the Other Side of the Fence
A Guest Blog By Natalie Sirovy, DL