I've discovered something wonderful about blogs. Writing one can pass the time in the Philadelphia Airport when your flight is delayed!

I spent my final weekend before my schedule becomes extremely hectic traveling to Baltimore to spend some the weekend with friends and, of course, watch my beloved Chicago White Sox. After some great food and fun (but extremely crowded) afternoon at the National Aquarium, our crew headed to Camden Yard to watch the Orioles play the White Sox. As we were preparing to leave the hotel, we realized we didn't have the tickets! The good news was we knew where they were located, the bad news was they were five hours away in Virginia.

Fortunately when we arrived at the ballpark, the Orioles staff proved to be more than helpful. Everyone we worked with was pleasant and friendly, working quickly to resolve our ticket dilemma. We quickly received new tickets and were on our way to the club level to enjoy some delicious BBQ and the air conditioned comfort of the club hallway! We were even greeted by our new friend, Frank, the attendant in section 260. We shared our story of the tickets and he worked with us once again to make certain everyone in our group could sit together, even though we had two tickets in row E and two more in row J.

It reminded me of the way I hope we serve fans when they come to sports events at Wabash. No problems with why something can't happen, just friendly assistance, a smile, and a desire to make the event a great moment for the fans. It will be something I'll try and remember all season long.

It also won't much longer before I'll get to put that lesson into practice. In less than two weeks, 119 football players will report to campus to get the 2006 season underway, with soccer and cross country teams following suit shortly after. And in preparation for the upcoming season, I'll give you something to look forward to --- keep an eye on the Wabash sports web site. If you haven't noticed the changes in the alumni and parents pages and the future students page, check them out right now. Some equally exciting things are planned for the sports pages this fall. Let me know what you think of them when we "flip the switch" in a few weeks and start telling the stories of our 2006-07 student-athletes and their preparation for the upcoming season.