Thursday, July 22, 2004

Go Reds

There was a story in the Strib on Monday about grown males playing in a Wiffle ball league. This looks like fun. Truly. The thing that made me pause, though, was that all the teams seemed to be named after major league teams - Twins, Royals, Expos, etc. Playing on a team named, say, the Red Sox, was fun when I was twelve and dreamed of being a major league player. But as an adult, I dunno, I think I would come up with something more creative. Like how my fantasy football team is named The Moe Greens.

Then again, I could see myself playing on a Wiffle ball team named the Reds. As a leftist liberal, I've been called everything from "communist" to "Marxist" to "socialist." Okay, not much of a gamut there. I grin at these over-the-top tags, just like how my conservative friends might smirk when they get called "fascist."

(Quick memory here ... I'm in tenth grade and some aunts and uncles are up in Grand Forks visiting my family. After dinner, we're down in Dad's basement bar and Uncle Stan is ripping President Reagan. He calls him "The Fascist Gun in the West." I think this is the funniest thing I've ever heard. The next day, I'm in the locker room after gym class and someone runs into the room and yells that Reagan has been shot. I feel real real creepy all of a sudden.)

Anyway, my Wiffle ball team the Reds would wear white (it's summer after all) teeshirts with the hammer and sickle on the left chest. On the back, it'd say "For The People." We wouldn't have our names or numbers on the back, because we're all equal. At least until I continually fly out to the infield and get benched.