Countdown to Glory: 18 to go

THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUES. 18 DAYS TO GLORY!!!

I may have inadvertently stumbled into something here. Yesterday, I clearly phoned in the email. 19 was such a snoozefest, I couldn't help but let it affect the entertainment value. BUT, surprisingly enough, today was HUGE for TEAM 33. We picked up some new contributors and we're bearing down on halfway to the goal. Now, the question is whether the short and lame email (a) excited people enough to make them join, or (b) angered people enough to make them act. As much as I delude myself, even I can't see how the latter could be true. So get ready for me to phone in the next 2 and half weeks and we'll be raking in the pledges. Anything for the cause.

Now, before I move on to the age of majority, I have a slight retraction to make from yesterday's missive. A member of TEAM 33, who is also a learned doctor, has alerted me to a grave error. I shall quote verbatim:

"Tony Gwynn, I believe, was NOT one of the more boring baseball stars of the 80s. Sure chicks dig the long ball but you cannot claim that the best hitter of the last 25+ years was boring. Apparently you have not read his book “The Art of Hitting”. If you had, you would see the science behind his approach (the batting cage he built that matched the exact brightness – measured in foot-candles - as Jack Murphy Stadium) as well as his phenomenal work ethic. If you consider a career .338 batting average (note the 33 in there) boring, then you should not solicit Tony Gwynn’s contribution to your cause for sure. I will leave you with this thought to consider. Do you know the length of Tony Gwynn’s baseball bat that he used his entire career? 33 inches!! Sounds like a NOT boring person who was a member of Team 33 before it was cool to be a member of Team 33!"

My immediate response was skeptical. After all, any non-pitcher with a gut at least as big as mine ought to be able to use his girth for power. But I was convinced otherwise: seeing Gwynn waddle down the line trying to leg out an infield hit is, if anything, highly exciting. So Tony, despite your weirdly geeky sounding voice, you are hereby now not considered boring by me.

Further, now all of you recipients have evidence that I accept and occasionally heed feedback. So feel free to question the following.

Eighteen is the number of the beast (as in Peyton Manning). It's the age we get to vote and serve in the military. It's the number of wheels on a big rig that one might fill with cold Coors Banquet Beer in Texarkana in an effort to properly celebrate victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway (as long as Jackie Gleason doesn't get in the way).

Eighteen, in Chinese lore, suggests the levels of hell. And the number of Luohan Hand styles one must master in the Shaolin Temple. 18 styles, 36 chambers, 9 members of the Wu. And as we know, 3X3=9. TEAM 33 is the personification of mastery, in all styles.

So join TEAM 33. If you can join us on May 22, please do! Bring your friends and family, including dogs. If you can't come to the walk, you can still join TEAM 33 or contribute in any way you'd like. For more information on joining TEAM 33 or contributing, please follow the link below:

http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=312420&u=312420-211716341

Join TEAM 33. Sign up. Spread the word to your friends and family. Join us at the walk. Give a few bucks for a great cause. Master the tiger, crane, snake, leopard, and dragon styles, and perhaps you'll get introduced to the Backward Eagle. And we'll have cake.

17 more emails to come. Phoning it in shouldn't take this long to draft an email, should it? JOIN TEAM 33!!!

If you have any questions about how incredibly awesome TEAM 33 is, give me a call or send me an email. Thanks again!