Kurt's big night

I used to think I was an eccentric baseball fan. I figured my passion was such that it made me stand out from the crowd, call unnecessary attention to myself.

Well, guess what? Leave it to a friend to put me to shame.

Kurt Pickering e-mailed back in December. He was being honored at a banquet in Nashville and wondered if any of his friends wanted to attend. I found out it was about baseball and said, "Sure." Then I got the details.

Kurt used to work and live in the Music City. That meant he owned season tickets -- one gold seat, in fact -- to the Nashville Sounds games. Kurt is a longtime baseball fan who turned his back on the big leagues after the 1994 strike canceled the World Series. He then discovered the joy of minor league baseball and never looked back.

Kurt's job took him to a suburb of Atlanta early last year. To most people, this would mean the end of the baseball tickets.

Not Kurt, though. He kept them.

He worked it out with his boss to take leave on the Fridays the Sounds were playing in Nashville. And, thanks to those weekend homestands, Kurt Pickering drove 4 hours (each way!) and made it to exactly half of the games.

Geez. Half the time I'm daunted by traveling a mere 20 minutes up to Kodak for the Smokies games. Here Kurt thinks nothing of 4 hour jaunts back to Music City.

So flash forward to last Friday night. A group of Nashville baseball enthusiasts hold a banquet every year. The Old Timers, as they call themselves, have been meeting for 70 years. They award scholarships to local high school baseball players and invite a baseball-related speaker.

They also give away a Fan of the Year award. Who better than the Sounds' biggest fan?

I was able to work it out to drive down for Kurt's big night. It was fun.

What better way to warm up these cold winter nights than with thoughts of endless summer afternoons, double plays, the 2-1 pitch and all things baseball. That it served as an excuse to get caught up with old friends made it even better.

Congrats, Kurt. You're the best fan I know.

April's a long, long time...

It's starting early.

Came home from work last night and flipped on the TV. Basketball here, steroids news there, blah, blah, blah. Even TCM let me down.

I eventually threw in the Ken Burns documentary and watched the episode about the Black Sox scandal of 1919. But what I really wanted was a real, live game to watch.

April, and baseball, is a long, long time.

Unless I change my mind, I have my big 30th birthday bash planned. Well, I'll do the usual gathering of family and friends, but my big present to myself next March is going to be a trip to Florida, to spring training, and as many games as I can afford.

The Tigers play in Lakeland and the Braves hang out in Orlando at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex. Those should be easy enough.

Was hoping to get another UT baseball trip planned to somewhere fun, like Tallahassee, where Dewayne Lawson and I caught the Vols against the Seminoles last February. But the Big Orange isn't traveling this year until the SEC schedule. The best options there are Athens and Columbia.

My friend Kurt Pickering e-mailed a great little story the other day. Kurt is a longtime season ticket holder for the Nashville Sounds AAA club. When he moved 250 miles away to Georgia to take another job, Kurt renewed his tickets anyway.

He says he made it to exactly half of the team's home games during 2007 ("Thank God for weekend home stands.), a feat that puts me to shame. I'm often dissuaded from going to Kodak to see the Smokies because of the 20 minute drive.

Anyway, the Sounds are having a big bash for Kurt in January. He's been named that team's fan of the year. I'm planning to go. Nothing puts a smile on my face quicker than someone's insane passion for the game.

So the temperature is refusing to make up its mind, the dreary dregs of January and February loom before us, and the national game, and the fond promise of spring, is a long time coming.

Now I know why bears hibernate for the winter. This sucks.