Thursday, Jun. 02, 2005
Sports Banquet, posted at 10:45 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com The first Thursday of June is always the night of the Athletic Banquet for our school, which means it's a night of crummy food, long speeches, and sweat. I walked in at 10:30pm tonight after being at school all day. But you know what? It's hard not to feel good about the students and the school right now, and I feel ready to get through these last two weeks of school even though I have a whole play to teach (Fences) and nearly a whole novel (The Fifth Child).This year, as opposed to last year, I got to go early in the proceeding, and I think I did a good job. My speech quickly talked about the successful season (the 11-5 record), the successful players (my SS who hit .600, my LF who hit .519, my catcher who developed into one of the better catchers in the city, my pitcher who threw a no-hitter), and then I presented the three big awards - the Coach's Award, the MVP, and the Unsung Hero. My Coach's Award winner is my favorite, a kid who will receive the most advanced diploma that the school offers, all while being a three-sport athlete and all around a great kid. He's going to UVA next year.
I'm excited about the team next year, as, while all my seniors are good players, none are the stars. My SS who hit .600 is a junior, so he'll be a senior next year. He just got a full ride to a major university in the south to play football, and I was worried that this might not allow him to play baseball next year, but his father tells me they haven't said anything about that, and the education is guaranteed either way. So that's good. My best pitcher will be a senior, but the rest of the nucleus of the team will be juniors, and I think we might have a good chance to bring the city championship home for the first time since 1994.
Yup, I'm excited. I guess that's what a sports awards banquet should do. It was full of long dull moments, but did its job.