Battered, But Not Broken

I find myself having a bit of a rough go this morning. My shoulders are all stiff. My left knee has a dull ache that I'm not at all used to. My right ankle is swollen and sore, which I am unfortunately very used to. My right hip is just uncomfortable all the time, and my right hamstring expresses its displeasure with me every time I stand up. Whither all this pain? In a word, softball. Yesterday, after 3 maddening weeks of rain outs, my softball team, Team Darwin, played the conclusion of our league playoffs. We've been playing double headers every week since April, but yesterday took a bit more out of the tank. The tournament is double elimination, and we won our first two games almost a month ago. We lost the first game yesterday, at least partly because we were one player short of a full team. However, we then turned it around, probably at least in part because of our last player showing up, and we won 3 in a row to claim the championship. 4 games in a day is a bit much for my getting-older-and-fatter-every day body. However, I have to say it was worth it, as I can now claim to be part of the Arlington County softball champions. Arlington County, Virginia, I mean. Well, the champs of the Co-Ed league. That is, the Co-Ed C league. The one that plays on Wednesday nights. Seriously, can you imagine a greater feeling than to be part of the Arlington County (Virginia) Co-Ed C Wednesday League Champions? I thought not. Maybe there are some people who might not be impressed, having also played for a championship yesterday. But I had a 0% chance of making a game-saving catch in that one. Besides, no one in our tournament was named the MVP for head-butting someone in the chest. Maybe the voters were afraid they'd get the same treatment if they voted for someone else. Still, congrats to Italy. But let's not forget Team Darwin.