sports - Surviving and Thriving

Although the light is returning to Anchorage, summer is still quite some time off. That’s just as well, since I am sadly out of shape after far too many hours in front of the computer.

Maybe you’re as creakified as I am after a long winter. One possible answer: yoga. Yep, yoga, which provides gentle stretches of deskbound muscles and also de-stresses minds tied in knots about the tasks performed at those desks.

I took several yoga classes in Seattle and I really, really need to get back to it. Podcasts to start, maybe, and a class at the YMCA or some other Anchorage location.

Whoever wins this week’s giveaway can get a $50 head start on yoga gear, thanks to the Sports Authority.

Here’s a recipe for frugal fun: Go watch some “coach-pitch” Little League. Go even if you don’t have any kids. And go to the bathroom before you leave for the game, or you will almost certainly wet yourself laughing.

Coach-pitch is like an extended bloopers reel on YouTube, minus the annoying music and captions. Think “The Keystone Kops,” only shorter, and with bats instead of billy clubs:

Runners piling up two or three deep on third base as coaches scream, “Go back! Go back!” and the third baseman tries to figure out which one to tag.
A shortstop singing a little song to herself, complete with hip-twitches, as a series of line drives sails past.
The right fielder and center fielder who played catch during the game.
A runner dashing almost off the field to avoid being tagged. A few steps more and he’d have been in the bleachers.
A catcher, all but blinded by an oversized protective mask, turning around and around in a futile search for a loose pitch that was practically under his instep.
Another catcher adjusting his protective cup. From inside his pants.
Outfielders waiting patiently for hits to roll all the way to them. Then again, it’s hard to show much hustle when the baseball glove is bigger than your head.