Post by ESPN REPORTER on Oct 17, 2008 10:40:52 GMT -5
Last Thursday, my boss gave me the unenviable task of reporting about the Homer Hawks NFCA Camp in Elgin, IL. "Stuart Scott gets the NLCS and I have to go to Elgin", I thought to myself, "At least they could have sent me to Nascar". I arrived at Ohare Airport at 6:00AM and took a cab ride to Elgin. Never in a million years, would I have thought that I would have discovered such a cast of wonderfully, colorful, characters.
The first person who I met was Deb. At first, Deb had a difficult time walking out to centerfield for the overhand throw speed drill. Once she spit out her gum, however, she had no trouble walking to her position. She kept asking her co-worker Dawn for a whistle that tasted like cherry chapstick. "I have no idea what that meant".
The second person who I met was Ali, who apparently 20 years ago used to pitch in college. I had a chance to watch her pitch. I saw her throw nearly 300 perfect strikes on the outside corner before she finally threw one in the dirt.
The third person I saw was Bill. This person had the biggest desire to hit, and hit, and hit. Apparently, Bill must have thought that he was trying out for the majors. "Mr. Hit For Average" as his colleagues call him, didn't disappoint. I saw him crush a ball to the defense during a routine ground ball drill. "Yeahh Baby", I heard him say, "A-Rod couldn't hit it any harder".
My final interesting character that I met was Jamie. What a dictator. She makes Mike Ditka seem like a creampuff. She had three very old men working underneath her in the drills. On several occasions, one of the men asked her if he could stop hitting grounders. He complained that his hands were bleeding and that he couldn't grip the bat anymore. He really needed a drink of water. She screamed at him, "There is no stopping, now get back to work!"
Overall, it was a great experience. I thought it would be a waste of time. As you can see, the interesting people that I met made it very worthwhile.
Dan Patrick, ESPN
The first person who I met was Deb. At first, Deb had a difficult time walking out to centerfield for the overhand throw speed drill. Once she spit out her gum, however, she had no trouble walking to her position. She kept asking her co-worker Dawn for a whistle that tasted like cherry chapstick. "I have no idea what that meant".
The second person who I met was Ali, who apparently 20 years ago used to pitch in college. I had a chance to watch her pitch. I saw her throw nearly 300 perfect strikes on the outside corner before she finally threw one in the dirt.
The third person I saw was Bill. This person had the biggest desire to hit, and hit, and hit. Apparently, Bill must have thought that he was trying out for the majors. "Mr. Hit For Average" as his colleagues call him, didn't disappoint. I saw him crush a ball to the defense during a routine ground ball drill. "Yeahh Baby", I heard him say, "A-Rod couldn't hit it any harder".
My final interesting character that I met was Jamie. What a dictator. She makes Mike Ditka seem like a creampuff. She had three very old men working underneath her in the drills. On several occasions, one of the men asked her if he could stop hitting grounders. He complained that his hands were bleeding and that he couldn't grip the bat anymore. He really needed a drink of water. She screamed at him, "There is no stopping, now get back to work!"
Overall, it was a great experience. I thought it would be a waste of time. As you can see, the interesting people that I met made it very worthwhile.
Dan Patrick, ESPN