Big game tomorrow

So the big game is tomorrow. We enter with an 8-1 record, and our big rivals enter with a 5-4 record. Our team is led by a soft-spoken, straight-A kid who stands at a muscular 6'4", and happened to hit .600 with three home runs last year for me while playing shortstop. Great kid, and he's got a full ride to Duke for football. However, with all those things in our favor, we haven't won in a few years, and tomorrow will be a tough one. But the excitement at the school is palpable.

Today, a pep rally was a nice reminder why I enjoy this school and these kids so much. I saw hundreds of my students, both former and current, and to see them all united for a common good is inspiring. When I looked out at the field and saw "Bobby" playing drums in the marching band, or a former student of mine who came back to tell me I was the only one who cared about him while he was at the school, or another former student who gave me a hug that almost knocked the wind out of me... well, it's impossible not to feel emotional. This whole coming back thing for the kids is something I'll really miss when I leave this school, whenever that might be. That's a question that continues to weigh on my mind - sometimes like lead, sometimes not at all. Now I'm on an upswing; everything is going well, and I've got a spring in my step. I feel like the rest of my life has to catch up; my personal life is still sort of slow, and much of that's stemming from the fact that I'm just not feeling too well about my health or weight right now. I've got to match my current happiness at school with going to the gym on a more consistent basis and I'll be a happy camper. I know this is the case, but too often that 4:40 alarm goes off and I hit snooze twice, then saunter over and just reset the alarm to 7:00.

Right now, I'm exhaused. Saw Capote tonight, then over to Club Charles for dinner, and then over to good friends' place for euchre. Capote was great. I've got my quibbles (why in the world did they not show what Harper Lee told Truman to get him out of bed towards the end?), but the movie was really eye-opening. Having just read the incredible In Cold Blood last year, seeing the inside story was really cool to see. And being the obsessive Harper Lee fan I am, I was enthralled every time Catherine Keener was on stage.