The Weirdest Good Day Ever

It looks like I just got unplugged from the Matrix.

Wednesday was the most oddly memorable day I’ve had in a while. I was happy, a bit disheartened, relaxed, nervous, reminiscent and optimistic. Plus, there were cups set on fire.

Although it may look like I caught Andre the Giant‘s chicken pox or decided to re-create the bubonic plague, my back actually feels better. I didn’t take the red pill to become part of a war against machines that look like octopi for some reason. I got acupuncture and another eastern-world style treatment. (I guess that sort of stuff may seem as weird as the Matrix to some people.)

After finally getting myself re-enrolled in unemployment insurance (since I only work part-time in Providence), it was time to brighten up the day. I had already scheduled an appointment with Healing Point Therapeutics after seeing a pretty good deal on Living Social. After my consultation, they took some measures not usually included in someone’s first visit. That’s how tight my back and shoulder muscles were. As you may be able to tell from my left side, suction cups were dragged up and down my back to release the tension in my muscles. To create the proper vacuum, the inside of the cups were set on fire. (I didn’t feel any burning though).

I felt much looser after the procedure, and feel good today as well. It was painful while the treatment was happening, but not nearly as bad as it looks from Exhibit A.

After being sufficiently terrified and then relieved, I headed to the ballpark. The Worcester Tornadoes may no longer exist, but I got a cameo as a baseball broadcaster for the UMass-Boston Beacons yesterday. Ironically, the game had the same weather conditions as the first game I called there almost two years before.

Campanelli Stadium in Brockton is the home for Beacons baseball this season, and it also houses the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League in the summer. The Rox were part of the Can-Am League in my first year with the Tornadoes, 2011. Before that season started, the Rox held an exhibition game against the Tornadoes. It was a windy, damp day in which no jacket could warm you up. Wednesday was another day that makes you think that Spring will never come, and we’ll be permanently stuck in the transition from winter with that worst-of-all weather.

The Beacons lost 7-2 to the Endicott College Gulls, but neither the result nor the weather could bring my mood down. I was calling baseball again. Out of sheer principle, I had to bring my Tornadoes drawstring bag with me. I even met back up with one of my broadcast partners from last summer, Seth Orensky.

Considering the huge hit to my ego (unemployment), my body (acupuncture) and broadcasting psyche (realizing there’s likely no baseball for me this summer), you’d think yesterday would be a downer. Luckily, that’s not the case. I’ll appreciate each and every opportunity I get to call sports even more, and depending on the long-term results, I’ll have a new relaxation tactic at my disposal.