REMARKS: ON-LINE CLUBS, APBA DRAFT TAKE MUCH TIME

As if I didn't have enough to keep myself preoccupied, I've lately been finding even more ways of doing it.

When I first logged onto the Internet at home in April, 1998, I went through a period of about 10 weeks in which I was very definitely addicted. All I wanted to do was get home and get on-line. Almost anything would do: looking up information, visiting web sites, joining on-line groups or getting involved in chat rooms. Gradually some of the novelty wore off and I was able to get back to real life.

Now I seem to be going through a relapse of sorts. I don't hang in the chat rooms that much any more. When I discovered Yahoo clubs, though, I was opening a door to another Pandora's box. At first it was the TriviaRegs Club, a group of people who had hung out in the Yahoo Trivia Madness chat room -- until they got to busy with the TriviaRegs Club to BE trivia regulars! The TriviaRegs Club is one of the more active, often having 80-100 posts per day. Trying to keep up was becoming a major effort. The trip last week to Nevada, Mo. gave me a handy excuse to drop out and let things slide a bit.

Of course by that time I had discovered other such clubs. I'm now in the Trivia For Those 35 And Over Club, Ships/Shipwrecks Club, Barefoot Lifestyle Club and The Three Stooges Club. As if that weren't enough, the bug recently bit me to found my OWN club. I was surprised to see that there were no clubs for "Tweeners." (Those born 1960-65, or beTWEEN the Baby Boomers and Generation X) So I formed one!

On top of everything else, my childhood love, APBA baseball, has finally made a connection with the Internet. I played the dice/board game from 1975 until 1992, when I got the computer version. In APBA, players are rated, based on their real life stats. They perform remarkably like in real life -- whether on their original teams or in "drafted" teams. I had never been involved in what used to be called a "mail league" before. In these, individuals draft their own teams, choosing the players they want, then play the season, mailing each other their portion of the results. (It's sort of like the Rotissaire and fantasy leagues, only one actually gets to play his/her team against other teams.)

Nowadays they're mainly e-mail leagues...and I finally joined one. The one I saw advertised (in an one-line "gamer" newsletter) was a retro 1960s league. It had started a couple of years ago, with the original owners/managers drafting teams from the 1960 season disk, with the intent of keeping those players throughout the decade (barring trades, of course) and drafting from the next rookie class each year.

I'm getting involved just in time for the 1962 season. As I write this, I am awaiting my turn in the second round of the 1962 rookie draft -- where I am sweating bullets, hoping the drafter in front of me does not take Jim Bouton. Although 1963 and 1964 will be Bouton's only good years, the future author would certainly cement my rotation (featuring Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Jim Kaat) for those two years. My first-round pick, incidentally, was Lou Brock -- a "futures" pick, since Lou's first two years (on the Cubs) were very mediocre.

In any case, the reader may be beginning to grasp the depth of commitment this league requires. I already knew the players of the sixties quite well (mainly from collecting older baseball cards as a youth); that was what led me to jump at this league. The pressure of getting the best available talent against others who likely know the era as well as or better than I, as well as the desire to win now AND throughout the decade, makes it a serious undertaking.

Of course maintaining a personal web site (Actually, with all the above going on, I'm NOT doing much of a job of maintaining it this summer!) is a big task. I've also volunteered to help my church youth group do a web site and a youth newspaper/newsletter. Trivial activities such as housekeeping, paying bills, buying groceries and keeping in touch with family members simply has to wait!

Speaking of the youth group and of my trivia addiction, I was amazed a few weeks ago, on the way back from Van Buren. We had taken the youth on a canoe float trip and were on our way back when Jerry Huskey, local businessman and our church music director, showed his own trivia knowledge. After we had gotten into a discussion of classic TV shows, Jerry amazed me by singing the theme songs to F-Troop and Underdog, not missing a word! (I'm sure he will be pleased to do so, upon request, for clients.) Yes, we did draw some stares singing the F-Troop theme together! Needless to say, Jerry greatly elevated his stature in my mind. (I'd like to see another church music director -- or another CPA for that matter -- who can do the same!)

This trip to Nevada was only a week long. Yet I've still been scrambling to get back into the swing of things -- especially with the short week. Hopefully by next week I'll be back in the saddle and ready to tackle the fall season head-on.