I Play Long, I Play Hard…I Play for Keeps, with No Holds Barred

After we experienced June in March, it seems we’re experiencing early March in April. Although we were able to wear the occasional shorts this week, the weather forced us to wear sweatshirts with them, especially in the mornings. The afternoons, for the most part, warmed up nicely. All the kids had practices all week and an event to boot. Mom had another spell that saw her in and out of the hospital and we lost a beloved pop icon from our childhoods this week.
It all started on Monday. It was such a long day. Everyone had trouble getting out of bed after the long weekend. But the kids stayed active and got right back in to the swing of things… Matt lifted and went to wrestling practice. Abby had track practice and then on to tap class. She also received a phone call from her friend – saying her dad wanted Abby to join them on their AAU travel basketball team. With everything else that is going on, we had to say thanks but no thanks…just not enough time in the day for everything! Luke had league baseball practice where the other two coaches were about a half hour late so I ended up facilitating practice with defensive drills and game situations. This stupid sinus infection has got me coughing and sneezing within the first hour of lying down so I finally got up and slept on the couch/recliner. At least Ann can get some sleep…
More of the same on Tuesday…Matt had lifting and wrestling again. He also announced that he would be wrestling this weekend in Franklin in the Grizzly Iron Man competition where they have three different tourneys again (like last week) – freestyle, Greco and folk-style (US high schools). So Ann and I will have to split up…but more on that in a moment. Bu had softball practice. Her coach does not have anyone helping him, so I volunteered to help out when I could – but I explained that I was already coaching baseball and all the kids are in two or three things this spring/summer. She did great at first base but whined about it frequently. She wants to catch but it is a waste of her talents. She is a natural first baseman and wants to be lazy and not have to do anything behind the plate – IMHO. Luke had all-star baseball practice and he absolutely crushed the ball using a big-barrel bat (for use only with the travel team tourneys). We should have a good little team this year. I slept on the couch again and started a Z pack to get rid of this stuff (thanks hon’).
Luke had league baseball practice again on Wednesday afternoon and we had a pretty good one, too. I spoke to Rob that evening. Mom is back in the hospital with fluid filling in her lungs during dialysis. That poor girl can’t catch a break! And then to top it off, a beloved pop icon from my childhood days passed away – Dick Clark. He was instrumental in my development of my lifelong love of music. Along with Mom always singing/dancing to her music on the radio and stereo, Dad S working for the jukebox company and giving a couple boxes of 45s, it was American Bandstand that always turned me on to new music and I always looked forward to watching it every Saturday – followed by Soul Train. He will be missed.

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Abby had her second track meet on Thursday. They were up against her good buddy, Baili, and her North Decatur Chargers. Her first event was long jump where she directly competed with Baili. Baili ended up second with a very good jump over 15’! Abby also did very well, setting another new personal best at 11’, 2???! Way to go, Bu! She also ran the hurdles and finished 7th in her heat. She looked great and is getting better each week. After her last event I hurried home to get the lawn mowed since they were calling for rain that night and tomorrow. After her meet, it was off to softball practice again where she hit the ball harder than I’d ever seen her hit! Matt had lifting and wrestling practice again. Luke had the night off, finally. We received great news that Mom was finally back at home after the docs couldn’t figure out why she was spiking a fever. All the cultures came back negative and she was doing great after getting blood and continuing with dialysis. We are sure glad she is back at home now and hope she can stay there for a while…Sharon left and went back to Tennessee so it’s just Mom & Dad now and they need a little good luck to let them get back to normal – whatever that is for them now. That night, Abby’s favorite Colton was voted off American Idol. She swears she’ll never watch the show again!

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On Friday, Abby had track practice and Matt went to Batesville for weigh-ins for this weekend’s wrestling tourney. The van had been having electrical issues recently and the battery light has been coming on more and more. I figured it was the battery so Luke and I went to AutoZone to have them check it out. He said it was the alternator and said I should get it to the shop now. Thankfully Acra’s was only a block away because as I pulled in to the lot and started to park, it died. Ann wasn’t too happy having to come out and get us since she was trying to finish making supper, but she did anyhow (thanks again honey). Everyone was out early on the couches that night, both worn out from the busy week and prepping for an even busier weekend.
It was a cold, early start to Saturday morning and Matt and I got the old truck up and running and met up with a few other kids at the high school. We carpooled over to Franklin for the Grizzly Iron Man tourney. The Iron Man tab comes from the fact that they are actually hosting 3 different style tourneys – freestyle, Greco and folk style (think normal, US high school type of wrestling). The truck did fine getting us over there and didn’t miss a beat. He wasn’t even close to making his normal 220 # weight class, so he again went heavyweight (285 lbs). He did freestyle on this day. He only had one dude in his class and he was HUGE! This guy is a well-versed guy that is from Tennessee in a club that tours all over the country called Kings of the Mat. Matt had trouble with this behemoth (he barely made 285 and was a good foot taller than Matt). Matt struggled in the first match against him, losing 6-1 & 8-0. His shoulder popped out of place during the match but he toughed it out – we wouldn’t expect anything different. You could tell how much pain he was in by his reaction. This kid was way too big & strong for him and this is what Ann & I are most concerned about – that he will get seriously hurt going up a weight class. Ann & I have been talking about making him stop sports and getting that shoulder fixed once and for all. His second match against Goliath was more of the same as he lost 8-1 and 6-0 to finish his day early. In fact he was already done with his day before his buddy Joel even had his first match. We stuck around and watched Joel win his first match by pinning his opponent. It was lunchtime so we headed out and tried to get in to Ann’s old haunt, the Willard bar. But it was closed and we were hungry now. Matt wanted Golden Corral so we tried the find the one in Franklin but it was closed-down. The next closest one was Greenwood, so we headed up north in the old pickup and grabbed a very filling meal before heading back home. Matt was in the newspaper for his participation in last week’s Jeffersonville tourney.
Meanwhile, Abby had track practice and Ann took Luke to all-star baseball, as he and the Greensburg Stars all-star team participated in the Greensburg Early Bird tourney. Their first game was against Whiteland and they lost 7-4. Luke made a great play in right-center with the bases loaded by running hard and making the catch. From the plate, he went 1-2 with a strikeout and a run scored. They faced Terre Haute in their second seeding game and again lost 9-7 in a game that Matt & I actually made it back to see. Lukey didn’t have anything too much out in the field and from the plate there wasn’t much action either. He went 0-2 with two groundouts on first-pitch hitting. I talked to him after the game about taking a pitch to try and get in some sort of groove, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of listening…he already knows everything – damn older siblings; he shouldn’t be going through this yet for another 5 years!

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On Sunday morning, Ann took Matt back to Franklin. Much like last weekend, the Franklin event wasn’t much better organized. They need some women to help them. They ran a good hour + behind all day. I’ve already told you my stance on the freestyle form of wrestling but today it was back to basics for Matt as he completed in the folk style tourney today. He again was about 20# over the 220 threshold but was still 50 lbs lighter than his opponent – yes it was the same huge kid from yesterday. But this was Matt’s realm now and what Matt lacked in size, strength and weight; he more than made up for it with heart, drive and general bad-assedness… The first match was very close but Matt came up short 11-8. In the 2nd match, Matt came back with a vengeance and won handily 7-1 to force a rubber match game! In the 3rd and decisive match, Matt lost 8-4 to get the runner-up medal again. All three sophomore teammates and parents went out to Steak & Shake afterwards. Matt & Joel got 2nd place and Drew finished 4th – thanks to Drew for getting video of Matt’s matches – thanks man!
I talked to Mom and she sounded great. Dad sounded good as well. I know they are both so tired and hope they get some peace this next week! Luke’s team was seeded 7th of 12 teams and I ran him out about two hours early as they had practice before their first game. They again drew Whiteland again somehow and were stomped 10-3. Luke went 0-2 from the plate and swung at the 1st pitch and grounded out before I pulled him aside and told him to take a pitch. He did pretty well with an 8-pitch at-bat but ultimately struck out. Bu helped in the dugout and I took them both out to Dairy Point after the game to get some ice cream before heading home and doing our weekly chores around the house. I reminded Luke and his coach Derek that at this point last year, we had been beaten by 10-run rule in back-to-back games – so comparibly, we weren’t doing too badly…

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…And now, here is this week’s video section, which includes three new home movies and several from around the net:

Now let’s move on to our Waybac section. Leading off, we start with an old one of Grandpaw Brown with a buddy in the late twenties (this one has been on here before) and Grandmaw Brown’s high school diploma from Richland Township in ’48. We also have a couple more of Mom & Dad Scheu’s wedding in April of ’68.

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Next up we have several more of Mom & Dad B’s honeymoon in the Carribean in ’78, including several ports of call and lots of entertainers. Also included is the first page in Rob’s baby book with his family tree.

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Our final section has some rough-looking 80s pictures…or at least mine is rough – that’s me as part of the LP freshman football team that went undefeated! We obviously won the Duneland Conference that year! What a horrible picture of a 15 year old in the fall of ‘83! Also in this section are senior pictures of the twins – my cousins Missy & Mindy in ’86. And wrapping up this section is Rob’s 4th grade picture from Riley Elementary in LP in the fall of ’89.

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Our final section is the Shit Luke Says. He had a couple of good ones this week, but I forgot to write them down! D’oh! He also had a doozie about his mother’s behind…but I don’t think I can share that here without fear of retribution! He did make a crack about my gut and then followed it up with, “Ohhhhhhhhh!! Do you need some cream for that burn!!!???? I have GOT to remember to write down what comes out of that little stinker’s mouth…
And that wraps up another edition of the Scheu Family Blog. Thanks as always for keeping up with us this time out and we’ll catch up with you next time. Until then, have a good one.
Later, Scheu

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