IHSA Softball Finals & Problems With Sunscreen

I will be broadcasting the IHSA Softball state finals this weekend at Eastside Centre in East Peoria. The forecast is what I call perfect weather. HOT AND HUMID! Highs around 90 with a heat index approaching triple digits. I learned a red-nosed lesson while sitting at the Oakland/Minnesota game on Sunday....it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase some sunscreen.

With the sun beating down on Eastside Centre all through the day, I headed out this evening to buy some sunscreen. I have never, ever bought sunscreen before, and in fact have not even wore sunscreen, EVER, in my adult life. The last time I wore sunscreen was probably as a child.

So there I am, looking at the selection of sunscreens, staring blankly, just as I do when I make my every five year trip to the cleaning solutions aisle. Sunscreen is certainly not a manly item to pick up at the store. Half of the bottles were pink, and every bottle looked very feminine. Safety first, yeah I know.

Not only did I try to find the men's section (apparently there is no such thing), I began reading the SPF's. Never using the product, the numbers were foreign to me. I thought about making a phone call to find out, or ask some stranger walking by, but I just picked up a bottle of SPF 30, not wasting any more time in the section.

I figured SPF 30 was the weakest of the bunch, which was what I was looking for. I enjoy the sun, but I am just looking to avoid that Mr. Tomato Head look.

I began working on my prep for the state finals earlier this week when the first couple teams qualified. The inclement weather really took a toll on my planning, delaying most of it until last night and tonight. I am squeezing a large majority of my note taking tonight. I started shortly after 6:00 p.m. tonight, and took a break after 5 hours (as I write this). I am about 75% finished, as I am creating index cards featuring player vitals, stats, notes and reports on EVERY player in uniform this weekend, which is a ballpark estimate of about 150 index cards. This is all being done the old-fashioned way, no computers (except the print outs from online articles!).

That's all for now. Back to work, and an early wakeup call to head over to East Peoria first thing in the morning. My next blog entry probably won't come until Friday afternoon, in between the Class 3A and 4A sessions. Enjoy, you can catch my broadcast at www.ihsa.tv.