How is it possible this is the 6th Blade? How is it possible that great, strange, loyal, goofy MF has been gone that long? The ball and bags tournament has just been getting more and more amazing. More and more involved and invested. More and more of a celebration that honors the man, Steve Hess. But it never stops sucking even more every year that he’s gone because the greatness of this celebration is damn near getting to be as good as the dude being celebrated. And that is a TALL order.
Swa and Griff and the legions of people helping make this happen never fail to deliver. I saw a picture of the yellow “13” softballs….fricken awesome. The graphics and schwag are world-class. The venue has been perfect…the weather, nearly perfect. Hitting on all cylinders. But no Blade, and that’s some bullshit. You see “13” hats and shirts and stickers everywhere in KTown. Come down to bags on a Wednesday night. I’ll put the over/under at 20 for the number of different references to Blade on any given night…and I’ll still take the over. It would be easy to say the Legend Lives On, but Blade is much more than a Legend… he’s a spirit.
So we truck into Blade VI mindful of the man and the reason the celebration exists. More than the love of the sport, more than the love of the competition, even more than the exceptional amount of funds that have gone directly to the right causes…the celebration exists because of the man’s love of the celebration of being among our people. Blade was the last man standing at every party. Played while bleeding, played while loaded, played while reporting, but there was never a doubt, Blade was playin’. And then he was working the crowd at a level no one had seen before or since. That spirit is what Blade VI hopes to help bring back into focus. Hope to see you at the Moose, if not, watch here for an update or two.
In honor of the 6th Blade, how about some great 6’s:
The Six Million Dollar Man….we can rebuild the Don
Robert Six Killer…shitty TV series, great name
6-4-3 DP….no one came across 2nd and drug the foot better than Blade
Dr J…….F LeBron
Six Pack….staple of society
Six Foot Putt….bout at 20% success rate
Isaac Collins…a Brewer of consequence…who???
V6 Engine….I got nothin..wouldn’t know one if it fell out of the sky on me
The Sixth Sense…”I see drunk people.”
Sixth Man…Paul Silas was the first one I remember
Six Flags…long live The Demon (Turn of the Century)
Cricket Sixes…who knew that was a thing, ha! Cricket Tater
6-5-4 Boxcars….Ship Captain Crew desired roll
And the 6th Blade tops em all…see you at the Moose!
