Return of World Softball... and Superman

I've been long disappointed with the fact that I let the first ever World Cup of Softball come and go last year without making an effort to attend. So I made sure this year that I kept my eye on the schedule so I could take Darby to at least a USA game. Considering it's here in Oklahoma City, it seems obligatory that we make the effort, lest they move it due to poor attendance and I kick myself for not having gone while it was so close. I mean, heck, I traveled to Phoenix in March to attend the first World Baseball Classic, but I can't make the ten minute drive to the WCS?

So I picked up Darby from her mother's this morning. Shelby had previously declined the offer to go and so stayed with mommy. The downside of the event was the temperature. The heat index was over 100 before noon, and we were in the direct sunlight for HOURS. We had Darby put sunblock on more than once, and even I applied some sunblock. We did a little shadow following until it became impractical, meaning we followed the shadows cast by the light poles to try to keep out of the sun, but that was short lived as noon approached.

The first game was a dominating team USA win over Australia. Coincidentally, not unlike the World Baseball Classic game I saw in March, Team USA run-ruled their opponent in the fifth inning. It was pretty cool to see Cat Osterman dominate with her pitching, but we only got a short glimpse of Jennie Finch, who pinched hit late in the game.



I'm trying to get Darby inspired by the various heroes of the sport, so she'll have role models to emulate as she advances in her sport. Speaking of role models, we got to see Michele Smith, a local softball legend (from OSU) get inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame upon the conclusion of the first game. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I caught a shirt for Darby between innings... with my left hand!

Unlike most fans, we stayed for the second game, Japan vs. Great Britain. And fortunately for us, seats cleared out that weren't so directly in the sunlight. I felt so bad for the UK team, as they played REALLY hard and had a lead most of the game, only to lose to Japan in the last inning. I think they're like 0-3 now in this tournament.

A third game (Canada/China) started on a different field while we were watching the UK game, and we caught about five minutes of it upon conclusion of the second game before deciding to get out of the hotness. It was nearly over anyway. And it was SO good to get into an air conditioned vehicle. I noticed as we left that Darby got some sunburn in spite of the multiple sunblock applications.


When we arrived to pick up Shelby from her mom's, she was swimming, and then, of course, Darby wanted to swim. So I let her take a quick swim for about thirty minutes before taking off for dinner. Having only eaten a hot dog all day, I was feeling rather carnivorous.

My dad had called asking if we wanted to meet them for dinner, so I suggested a personal favorite, TGIF. While such an effort is just asking for a long wait on a Saturday night, it was well worth it for the meal quality. Their steaks rock, and the mashed potatoes are among my favorite anywhere.

While we ate, we discussed the possibility of seeing a movie. We settled on Superman Returns, though weren't looking forward to another nearly three hour movie. Turns out the duration didn't detract from the movie, and other than the retro opening credits (which is stupidly picky I know) I wasn't at all disappointed with the movie. It was rather super, though I'm not sure I would say it was better than Batman Begins.

Casting was good, the cinematography was rather remarkable, and the plot wasn't too bad. Though if I were picking on something, I'd go off on Superman's apparent variance in reaction severity to kryptonite. They could have definitely messed up this movie, but I don't feel like they did, so my thumbs are up.