A Friendly Reminder Courtesy of Strat

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

I totally agree with everything above as far as Strat goes. It is something that does take me back to the days when several friends used to call each other on the phone and break out the dice on the kitchen table with the score pads to keep track of the Carlton/Seaver match-up.

Hours and hours of dice rolling and the fact that my parents had no idea of what we were doing, but also didn't care because I was staying out of trouble. Thank god for land lines back then because my cell minutes wouldn't be able to support the time I spent on the phone during the week playing game after game.....And then the week-end would come and 8-10 of us would get together for overnight all night strat tourneys at one of the fella's houses.....their parents also wondering why we would stay up all night staring at cards and dice without getting too rowdy and raising a rukus in the subdivision somewhere....

Now in my early 40's and still working in a young persons world....I work in Restaurants/Nightclubs where I once also played quarters and did shot after shot getting blind drunk. Meeting all kinds of people that were there doing the same as I was. Worse of all I started working in Nightclubs when I was 20 and still do today except instead of serving the cocktails, now I own several interests and hire people that are now old enough/young enough to be my kids.......I don't have any that I know of....but if I did....they would now be old enough to work for me.

I see these kids work all night and then go out and party till the wee hours of the morning, get up and do it all over the next day.....just like I used to......

Except I can't do that anymore....my body refuses to let me, the knees are sore, the back is out of whack....the sleep is necessary to recover from the long night of work, peace and quiet is a priceless commodity with no loud music or disgruntled drunk for being cut off.....the girls seem to get younger and wilder with every year that passes....just proving to me that time has taken me from the good ole days to the present where I have no hair and I am not near as cool as I once thought I was....

I have reached middle age against my will and am being held prisoner In a body that has long passed it's prime. At least the young people are keeping me younger than I am, but yet the differences are more and more glaring each and every day.

But there is still Strato that brings me back to those days in High School and a time where Mortgages, Taxes and all responsibility was the worry of those middle aged people we called our parents......

I just wish someone would tell me I could go back and do it all over again..because I would.....

But we still have Strato and the golden years to look forward too.....back to wearing diapers and drooling at the sight of food that has to be cut up or puree'd so we can eat it. Sitting on a rocker trying to remember our name and the name of our favorite team or player.......

Time....what a wonderful curse.

[keyzick]

Wow! That was somewhat depressing! Since I turn 30 next year (actually 40, but hey, it's the new 30, right?), and getting married (2nd time) this year, I'm not quite at Puckindrunk's stage. I still remember when I was a kid of 12-13 years old, and my mom saying "you'll still feel like the same person, but when you look in the mirror you'll realize how much you've aged". Of course, I could not relate whatsoever to what she was saying then, but have always held onto that memory, and now see it coming to fruition.

But hey, age is a state of mind, and SOM helps keep me in that younger state of mind as I check my multiple teams and boxscores every morning (like I did as a kid perusing the boxscores of the previous night's MLB games in my local newspaper).

Love this game!

On a side note...anyone else find the Message Boards amazingly ageless and anonymous? I'm in several leagues with Puckindrunk (great member and competitor), and when I read his above message, I thought "wow, thought that guy was in his 30's". Interesting to think of the images and perceptions we can all get of each other in such an anonymous, electronic space. OK, I'm rambling now... :?

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

Keyzick,

I am not that far removed from my 30's, only 41 but as you said..(or your mom said) It is how old you feel.

My body tells me that I am 41, but my mind and most likely my maturity is more that of a 30 year old.....and that is exactly what keeps me young.

[keyzick]

LOL...yeah...I'm told the same about my maturity (or lack of!)... :lol:

[KEVINEHLE]

[quote:e9ddcde4b8="doctor_tax1"]Shoot..... Strat does keep me young. With my gray hair.... balding on top.... the Mister word being used to much....no glasses yet.... but all this at 43. At least I can head to work when I want (self-employed) so I guess I still can breathe a little easier.

Hey wait.. in 4 months a will be a GRAND DAD :shock: :shock: :shock:

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa[/quote:e9ddcde4b8]

Hey Andy....I'm 43 and have grey hair too! I won't be a granddad anytime soon since my oldest son is 12.....or at least it had better not be anytime soon!!
Unfortunately I'm not self-employed so I get bounced around the country like I'm running from the law. Lets see--started in Madison, WI.....moved to Burley, ID......then to Pocatello ID........to Kansas City, KS........Salt Lake City, UT..........to Denver, CO.............back to Salt Lake City, UT...........to Phoenix, AZ..........to Boise, ID...........now to Minneapolis, MN.
I'm headed to Tennessee in a few years to rent a basement apartment from you and just hang out until I die! 8) At least I have someone to play the Strato board game with again. :D

Kev

[KEVINEHLE]

By the way, I was 8 years old when me and my older brothers got our first strato game. I was a huge Cubs fan and remember hating the Mets! I'm not really sure why. I do know for sure that Agee, Cleon Jones, and Clendennon were spawn from the devil!! :evil:

I'm looking forward to meeting as many of you guys as possible one day. Leehak lives here in Minneapolis. I will meet up with him some days. We've been battling in leagues for the past year with similar results. He sounds like a great guy. I'll let you guys know for sure though! :wink:

Kev

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

For one,

I didn't know they had Accountants in Tennessee.....figured they still used the old finger and toe counting method there. :shock:

And if it is true that Doc Tax does have a Doctorate as well,..........he very well could be the smartest man in the entire state :shock: :shock: :D

[LARRYLANG]

This all kind of reminds me of about a month ago...All my kids are grown and I have 5 grandkids with one in the hopper....I still play replays of different seasons on the board (Strat) game...I am currently replaying a 75' season. So here I was at the kitchen table playing a game and my granddaughter comes in and is mad at me for something of unknown origins....She proceeds to tell my wife"All Grandpa ever does is play that stupid game" :oops: As I read through these posts it now dawns on me that we will be the first generation of Grandfathers that will spend our twilight years playing a board game that has possesed us all since that first roll of the dice. I never owned the game as a kid but was introduced to strat by an old Army buddy while I was desperately waiting for my discharge from the Army in the Early 70's. I am still in contact with him and we talk strat EVERY time we talk or see each other. I just wish I could have gotten my son interested in Strat but he just had no interest at all....But that is OK---my grandsons are getting close to a basic game Strat introduction :wink

[johnlaw1564]

These stories reminded me of when I started playing strat in junior high school. We would play in the upstairs of our storage barn on tables made by putting plywood on sawhorses. We would have several games going at once and would have to divide the split cards into small groups (didn't yet have the 20 sided die). I remember one day, our buddy Troy, kept getting caught on the short end of Carl Yaz HR 1-19 with the "20" split several times in the same game. He was crazy and would run around screaming "THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!. cracking up everyone.

This strat community is a great thing. I just lost my mom and have received some kind words from some great league members. This "fantasy" doesn't mean a whole lot when you are dealing with larger issues, but it sure is a nice way to keep your sanity! I'm 41 and have gone from playing head to head leagues til just a few years ago and still play in a play by mail league. This online game is a great way to still get some buddies to play I hope I can always play strat in some fashion.

[KEVINEHLE]

[quote:4d896a9a1b="Pelzer"]This all kind of reminds me of about a month ago...All my kids are grown and I have 5 grandkids with one in the hopper....I still play replays of different seasons on the board (Strat) game...I am currently replaying a 75' season. So here I was at the kitchen table playing a game and my granddaughter comes in and is mad at me for something of unknown origins....She proceeds to tell my wife"All Grandpa ever does is play that stupid game" :oops: As I read through these posts it now dawns on me that we will be the first generation of Grandfathers that will spend our twilight years playing a board game that has possesed us all since that first roll of the dice. I never owned the game as a kid but was introduced to strat by an old Army buddy while I was desperately waiting for my discharge from the Army in the Early 70's. I am still in contact with him and we talk strat EVERY time we talk or see each other. I just wish I could have gotten my son interested in Strat but he just had no interest at all....But that is OK---my grandsons are getting close to a basic game Strat introduction :wink[/quote:4d896a9a1b]

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LARRY IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Nice to hear from you Larry. Make sure to let them grandkids know that Strato is a way of life for some and not to knock it! :wink:
Make sure to invite me into one of your crazy theme leagues. :wink:

Kev