good morning boys and girls. if you smell something burning, its either me burning the candle at both ends or my ass dragging behind me. you take your pick. we missed volleyball tuesday night due to the inclimate weather here in CLT, but bryan called me tuesday afternoon and asked me if i would still be interested in doing wednesday nights. sure i would. but as yesterday came around, i was a little nervous about running the show at the new facility. at the latta on tuesdays, i am only watching one court for four matches. quick math will tell you that its only eight teams to get organized. piece of cake for a guy like me. but last night down at the sports warehouse 2, i was looking at four courts for four matches. again with the high end algebra, that is 32 teams to get organized. have them completely fill out their team roster, make sure everybody’s account balance is paid before stepping on the court, make sure they know all the basic rules, and that they are in the right spot at the right time. great googily moogily. let the chaos and hilarity begin! after i had come to terms witht he fact that i was going to be running at least 20 minutes behind schedule, i was fine. and i got introduced to the owner of the leagues last night, alan. nice guy, and its obvious he wants all his leagues run as tight as possible. and i don’t have a problem with that in the least. there were a lot of old faces there from past leagues. a couple of the teams had migrated from the tuesday night that i play in, and a couple of them were wednesday night regulars that i had met when i covered for ron last season. so there was a fair amount of ball busting going on. good times. one of the jackasses that i was happy to lose on tuesday nights though was now on the wednesday nights. and the first words out of his mouth las tnight were “you are wrong.” to which i wanted the first words coming out my mouth to be “kiss my ass.” but it came out “hey steve, how you doing?” this guy was the biggest pain in the ass when we played against each other. and we got into an argument over what consistutes an illegal attack. so he went online and found some rule book that he thought supported his point, printed out a copy, underlined key phrases, and thought enough of me to bring it with him to give me a copy last night. not knowing that i was working the wednesday night leagues now that i think about it. if there is anything else this guy can do with his free time, let me know. a couple of his teammates apologized behind his back for him, and poor jan had to play with him last night as a sub. i feel for her. bryan showed up later and was happy with the job that i did thus far. which i appreciate. he just doesn’t want me getting burnt out with two nights in a row. hey, stamina is my middle name. actually its kenneth. spelled or pronounced nothing like stamina. oh well. the night was an overall success and i am looking forward to having it run like clockwork next week when all the rosters and moneys are taken care of. just a heads up, you all might not hear from me until after the super bowl (when carolina wins), because i am moving down the street this weekend. so i have a lot of packing and unpacking to do this weekend. but sunday will be a raging super bowl party at AD’s. just to switch gears here for a second, i have been too busy this week and have forgotten to mention the passing of a dear family friend this past saturday. Lou DeLano. Lou was one of the kindest souls anybody in this world could ever have the privilege to meet. It wasn’t until this past year that I realized that we shared the same birthday. And while mine was for 28 years on the planet, his was for an amazing 99. Lou and his wife Edie, that past a few years ago, were lifelong friends of the Allen side of my family. The Delano’s kept a keen eye on Jas and I in church at First Baptist when we were growing up and were terrific friends of my mom and grandparents. Truly a sweet couple. He was a snappy dresser and never forgot a thing. One of my biggest hang ups growing up was that people couldn’t tell my brother and I apart. That was never a problem with Lou. He never skipped a beat. With a firm handshake and a smile that could light up a room he would ask how things were at Slippery Rock or down here in Charlotte. He was a kindred spirit. Lou past on Saturday afternoon in, what I am told, was a peaceful manner. Rest in Peace Lou. Lou Delano 1905-2004.