Play ball, and sheesh, that was close!

It's less than an hour after the expiration of a tornado warning that sent us scurrying to our basement (during my baby's bedtime, no less), and I still find it hard to believe that just eight hours ago, it was a beautiful spring day, sunny, 80 degrees, and my Con Law students and I were playing softball against Professor Erin Buzuvis and her students. . . .

Regular readers will recall that last year, my section challenged Prof. Buzuvis', engaged in a whole bunch of trash-talking (after reassuring me that Prof. Buzuvis' students were lame), and proceeded to get absolutely annihilated.  I told this story to this year's group, and they were perhaps more circumspect.  Still, we got disturbing reports that Professor Buzuvis and her students were actually practicing!!!

Well, we met on the field today, with an agreed upon 7 inning limit.  Reader Tom Snee reprised his role as the field umpire.  After 6 1/2 innings, we (the home team) were ahead 5-4.  (5-4?  What kind of softball score is that?  It turns out that this was one of the best games of softball I've ever pitched.  Too bad we were pitching to our own teams!)  However, we still had the field reserved for 45 more minutes, so Prof. Buzuvis, Umpire Snee, and I agreed to play two more innings.

Prof. Buzuvis' students proceeded to score three runs in the top of the 8th inning, and we went down meekly 1-2-3.  Heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, we were still down 7-5.  My students were wondering why we'd agreed to extend the game; we would've won already, they complained.

The first two batters grounded out and popped out . . . and then we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, with a string of hits that eventually plated the winning run (scoring on an overthrow, how delicious).

Most of my students and I headed to Dairy Queen to celebrate our victory.  Little did I know that four hours later, my wife and baby and I would be down in our basement, listening to the radio report about a tornado touching down in southwest Iowa City, heading east (i.e., toward us). . . .

Apparently, much of downtown Iowa City is a mess right now, exacerbated by people who are inexplicably driving out to take a look at how much damage there is!

UPDATE: Oh my gosh, that Dairy Queen has been destroyed!!!

UPDATE 2 (4/14 -- i.e., the day after):

I'm shocked at how close the tornado came to our house.  One of the main east-west thoroughfares, to which our street connects, was blasted in a stretch less than a mile away from us.  Huge trees were uprooted (one blocking an adjacent street from the thoroughfare), and there were lots of what I assume to be insurance adjusters milling about.

Closer to downtown, the traffic lights along another major thoroughfare were ripped off, replaced for the moment by temporary stop signs that created a long traffic jam at 10:30 am.  One car parked outside a parking garage looked like it had been crushed by something from above.  Yet, other parts of the city look untouched.

This is, of course, nothing compared to the devastation that Hurricane Katrina leveled on New Orleans, but I did see a National Guard person directing traffic, and the American Red Cross is in town.  The most amazing thing, though, is that as we were huddled in the basement last night, listening to the radio, there were reports that some University of Iowa students were standing out in the open, watching the weather and tornados!!!

Comments

[kyle]

hey cousin tung, glad you're ok. good job winning in softball too!

[Milbarge]

Glad you're safe, Prof. If there are any homeless sorority girls, I'm willing to do my part to help!

[Tung Yin]

Milbarge, as it turns out, a sorority house *was* damaged by the tornado . . . .

[Lugosi]

Jeez.... Glad you're okay.
That's why I like it here in DC. No toranados to worry about--only homicides, crack dealers, and terrorists crashing planes.

[Iowa Law Alum]

Any damage to the law-school?

[Tung Yin]

No, the law school seems fine. The tornado path didn't sweep by the law school.

[EBuz]

Good game, Section Ten. I was disappointed to see our victory slip away but having been a Red Sox fan since before the 2004 WS, I'm used to such things.I should point out that whatever reports you received about Section Nine actually practicing were false.

Section Nine had a post-game cookout at my house, which eventually relocated to my basement when it became clear that the warning sirens were serious. We happily occupied ourselves playing Catch Phrase but emerged to discover that much of the city was in varying states of damage and despair. (My neighborhood, east of Riverside and south of Burlington, was spared.) For all involved it was the most memorable small section party ever.

[Jason]

We used to live near Finkbine, and used to go to that Dairy Queen all the time. Amazing that it's gone.

[Jack M.]

I'll stay here in PA...no tornadoes here