The Hart of the Nation

We interrupt Bally's summer tour to bring you some in-season action!

On January 24, 2009 we headed up to the Hart Recreation Center on the Campus of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts for the 20th meeting ever between the Holy Cross Crusaders and the Eagles from American University. *

It was a busy day with a pre-game reception for the Holy Cross class agents and a post game autograph session with the Crusaders.

Holy Cross won the game 71 - 62, after being up 19 early in the second half and withstanding an American run that cut the lead to two. Bally took time to meet the Crusaders post game!

*With Apologies to Bob Fouracre

Here I am with Elizabeth outside the Hart Center with the new statue of Holy Cross great Bob Cousy.

Boy I would have loved to be dribbled by him or passed around his back!

















Joseph was first in line for autographs and he introduced me to RJ Evans. Then he sent me down the autograph line.

All of the players were great, though perplexed, since they did not know about me, my adirondack chair, and my travels throughout 'Sader Nation.

Once Bob explained it to them though, they were all quite amused!













Adam May and RJ Evans




















Josh Jones and Charlie Mills















Jeff Harris & Lawrence Dixon
















Devin Brown & Andrew Beinert













Andrew Keister & Mike Cavataio















Greg McCarthy & Alex Vander Baan

Colin Cunningham, Eric Meister, & Pat Doherty

It's A Bally World After All!

Bally returned to Central Massachusetts in time to join CHC8485 (Bob) and his family on a trip to Disney World.

While in Florida, Tropical storm Fay was never far away. It cut through central Florida during the first night and parked off east coast of Florida for the 3 or 4 days. Save for an occassional downpour about twice a day, the rain was never too steady and often just meant gray skys all day. But that did two things, kept the temperatures in the low to mid 80's all week - not bad for a group of northerners in Florida in August - and kept the lines at the parks very short.


It was a great vacation and with Bally along we got a few pictures!


Here I am with Bob. You'll see he has on a rain poncho. That was required gear for the week. I was well protected in the backpack!


If you look at this and the next picture closely, you may be able to tell that Bob's Holy Cross hat is soaked. This was shortly after one of the extended downpours and he got soaked running between rides!







I was really looking forward to this ride because I thought it was perfect for me - It's a Ball World.



We got there, hopped in a little boat and I didn't see a single ball anywhere, just a lot of dancing kids singing the same song.

After all was done, Bob had to tell me It's a SMALL World!













Here's Bob and his son Joseph outside Epcot Center. When I saw that huge ball, I thought it was the Mothership! Then I found out it was really a ride called Spaceship Earth!


This place is cool, but very confusing for a ball like me!
















You can see the weather was still damp, but you can see Bob, his daughter Elizabeth and I were still having a great time!

This statue of Walt Disney and Mickey in front of Cinderella's Palace gave me an idea...

Mid-Major World! Or... Kyle Whelliston World! OR ...

BALLY WORLD!

Complete with a statue of Kyle holding my hand out in front of the signature 3600 seat gym that is the center of this theme park. No seats, just bleachers.

Hmmmm. I gotta develop this idea.

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More pictures to come in a future posting - as soon as Bob can locate the misplaced CD that holds them!

Roll on, Columbia, Roll on!

Woodie Guthrie wrote those words in the spring of 1941, after he was hired by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs about the building of the Grand Coulee Dam.

Why is that relavent?

It's the only song lyric I know - don't ask me how - about Washington state and from San Diego, Bally journeyed all the way up Interstate 5 to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the great state of Washington. In fact, Bally was nearly in Canada where he spent some time with Chu Chu, in Bellingham, WA.



As soon as I was out of the box, I was glad to run into a familiar logo!

With this hat and a host named Chu Chu, I knew I was in the right place!












Chu Chu was working on his Honey-Do list, so I offered to help right away. I really had to stretch my legs to make it from step to step on this ladder. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights!




















The hard work was short-lived, and the fun work started. I hopped on the boat docked on Lake Whatcom and helped get it in ship shape!















The photovoltaics check out.

Between the Flobots concert for solar power with SoCalSader, and solar powered batteries with Chu Chu, I'm becoming one very progressive green stuffed basketball!

Can a green basketball still be orange??

The kayak checks out too!

Actually I really climbed in here to meet this cute little tennis ball. Little did I know, the tennis ball was already taken by the dog! I had to keep reminding the dog all week, that I really was no fun to chew on!





















We toured around the lake a bit and came across these falls. This isn't the Columbia River Woodie Guthrie wrote the song about during the building of the Grand Coulee Dam, but they are still beautiful!

Gotta be careful up here, I didn't pack my barrel for going over the falls - or this bridge wall!

Chu Chu brought me to see a Choo Choo!

This is an steam locomotive in Bloedel Donovan Park on the west end of Lake Whatcom.

Boy the sun was hot and I'm glad I brought this hat along! Sunscreen and a plush basketball don't mix and the top of my head burns easily without a hat!

Chu Chu boats responsibly, but also knows there is nothing like a refreshing drink after a day of sightseeing on the lake! This one is just water, though.

Back at the house, however, I kicked back and enjoyed the latest issue of Holy Cross Magazine, while draining a different drink from that rocks glass - responsibly, of course!

Chu Chu, his daughter Catie, (an HC alumna, class of 2004), the dog and I finished the day relaxing on the deck in the early evening.

And despite the way the dog is looking at me, we enjoyed ourselves!

But, it time to hit the road again and head back east! I've got a busy itinerary!

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Thanks Chu Chu! I'd love to visit again when we have more time!