[Sportsandrec] More Beep Baseball

[Joe Shaw]

Right on Kelly,  We are in total sympatico on this issue.
My vision took me to a place where I could not exactly do some of the sports 
I loved, so I stopped doing them. I cannot play basketball anymore without 
it being modified and be good at it, so I don't play basketball anymore. I 
am not interested in playing "altered" basketball, some are and I say go for 
it. It is not for me. I still dribble, pass, shoot, and teach fundamentals 
with my daughter who is just learning to play, but I have no interest in 
playing. I get my basketball and soccer fix with goalball which yes Pete I 
know is a bananna  to an orange, but I like banannas. I like peaches too 
lol.
I played football in junior high. I liked defense as I loved the hitting. I 
like the violence and the feel of two human bodies at great speeds crashing 
into each other, I'm kind of a sicko and okay with it. I get that fix from 
wrestling, judo, and jujitsu, it's the same if not better for me.
When we lift, swim, or spin,  there is no difference in blind or sighted, 
they are level playing fields. This is why I think blind people do them so 
much.
I am blind. I am an athlete. I am a blind athlete. They are just adjectives 
to throw in the pot that make the soup of our being.
"Everybody's talking about revolutions, evolutions, mastications, 
flagelocations, regulations" "Integrations, meditations, united nations, 
congratulations" "All we are saying" "Is give peace a chance" Give Peace a 
Chance John Lennon
Sorry so long, no I'm not (smile)

Joe Shaw Nashville Maffia

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thornbury, Kelly" <kthornbury at bresnan.net>
To: <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 6:08 PM
Subject: [Sportsandrec] More Beep Baseball


> First of all, my class experience as one blind person on a team of 10 
> playing softball is certainly different than 10 blind people out there 
> trying to find a ball that's quit rolling (or worse, beeping), trying to 
> find bases, and trying most of all to avoid running into each other. All 
> my classmates were immeasurably helpful in integrating me into the game.
>
> Second, I personally have no problem considering beep baseball to be a 
> "blind" sport...because unless I am mistaken, everyone wears sleep shades, 
> a rule in itself that makes it a sport where vision is eliminated as an 
> ability. I have no problem calling adapted sports what they are, or 
> playing by the rules set within them. Does it really matter if a batter 
> gets three strikes or four, or if there are two bases instead of three, 
> honestly? Baseball and softball have similar rules and strategic concepts, 
> but specific rules are considerably different...despite the similarities 
> they are two different games. I have no problem calling an orange an 
> orange, or a "blind sport" what it is.
>
> This might  be where I stray from NFB teachings, but I accept that there 
> are many things I am no longer able to participate in...I will never again 
> take off on a solo bike trip; partake in some knarly back country, out of 
> bounds skiing; trek solo across the high route from Chamonix to Zermatt. 
> I'm fine with that...I have a disability that doesn't allow me to safely 
> participate in such activities. I am happy, in fact more than happy, to 
> play the games I can, come up with rules or alterations that allow more 
> participation in "mainstream" games, and to leave alone the ones I don't 
> feel comfortable in. I don't consider myself to be a blind athlete 
> (despite being totally blind), I am an athlete who happens to rely on 
> other senses and abilities besides vision to participate in activities...I 
> am a person who happens to be blind...I define the blindness, it doesn't 
> define me.
>
> Thank you for the information on the beeping Frisbee. I've been looking 
> for one; I'm hoping to get involved with the ultimate Frisbee intramurals 
> on campus.
>
> Now a question for the list: For any guide dog users out there who are 
> into water recreation like canoeing, I am looking for a good life vest for 
> my guide (yes 99.9% of all labs can swim, and do it willingly, but better 
> safe than sorry). I have seen a couple that I didn't care for the design 
> of, but it seems that as a rafting guide when I was sighted, I saw many 
> more different designs that I can't seem to be able to "GOOGLE."
>
> Kelly
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