Setbacks

A common phrase states that a setback is a set up for a comeback, or something like that. There are times when assuming a leadership role is merely an admission that you need more detritus in your life. I have done so in three different ways and lately, it's not all roses and free trips to Disney World.

I decided to be captain of the company kickball team. I will momentarily ignore that the funds for said team were freed up in 24 hours while money for training has been frozen for the time being. Naturally there is some red tape in getting things set up. I had to recruit about 25 people, making sure that everyone could play on the same night. After that I had to figure out t-shirt sizes and colors (Vegas Gold, anyone?). As the final insult, the league wouldn't let me pay for the entire league with a credit card. I had to sign up each owner individually, and since I wasn't using my credit card, I couldn't ask our office manager to spend an hour doing it. The league filled up. I was about to give up when I found out about another league. It's available on the same night at the same time, and isn't too far from the original location. E-mails have not been returned as of yet.

I am commissioner of two leagues. One is a dynasty football league that I will discuss in a moment. The other is a Yahoo baseball league. In previous years I set up the draft time and left it at that. This year I became over-accommodating and reset the draft time for the fourth time tonight. It seemed like every time I changed the time for one owner, another owner couldn't make the new time. I'm sure tomorrow I'll get an upset e-mail from one owner who won't be able to watch American Idol due to our draft.

In the dynasty league, I'm on the verge of making a dramatic move. Actually, when it comes down to it, all of the issues in these leagues are stressful only to me. I have a friend who joined the league, agreed to be one of my vice-commissioners, and has yet to do one small percentage of his duties. He's on the road all the time with his job, and naturally he needs that family time on the weekends. At the same time, he agreed to help, including taking a phone call from me as our free agency was about to begin. We're nearly three weeks in and as usual it's a mess. I think it's time for me to point the Donald Trump finger in his direction.

At work I was part of a group that "won" a pizza party and movie today. It was Pizza Hut, which is the epitome of empty American cuisine. I ate two greasy slices and stopped. For the entirety of Mr. Woodcock (Susan Sarandon must have been missing mortgage payments), all I wanted to do was go over and have that third piece. That's how the idea of joining another fantasy league feels to me. It's like that one extra slice of pizza that I could devour in 60 seconds and regret for the rest of the day. I'm considering re-joining one of the two dynasty baseball leagues I was in last year, and the main reason is because my best friend from college signed up. We don't speak much, and being in a league together doesn't mean that we're suddenly going to be in constant contact. Still, it's mighty tempting.