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Faculty, staff vie in softball league

Players find chance for out-of-office bonding despite a decrease in participation this year

By Matt Cooper
The Daily Cougar

Once a week, UH faculty and staff members have the chance to clock out, pick up their bats and play ball.

The UH faculty and staff softball league meets every Thursday on the intramural fields on Cullen Boulevard. The league is open to all faculty and staff looking to fight off summer boredom and stay in shape.

Last year's league had six teams from the physical plant, KUHT, engineering, admissions and campus recreation. This year's league only has two: external communication and KUHF/KUHT. They played their first game of the season June 3, with KUHT pulling out a 8-7 victory after nine innings.

Doug Mueller of KUHT said that, while more teams would be nice, the goal is for everyone to get together and have a good time.

"I've been playing in this league about 10 years," Mueller said. "I've played in a variety where we've had eight really hard-core teams, two or three very casual teams, and now we're down to extremely casual with just two teams with no umpires."

Although the teams have to self-umpire and occasionally swap players when necessary, the team members are optimistic.

"I just love softball," Angie Joe, a senior staff writer in the office of external communications, said. "I played for a long time, and I just still like playing."

The league also gives players a chance to socialize with people from other parts of the campus.

"I got a chance to meet a lot of employees that worked in the building," Tim Berly of KUHF said. "I get to know them on a different level."

The team from external communication has dubbed itself "Mac Attack" after Charles F. McElhinney Hall, where most of the members work. External communication writer Mike Emery said he and several staff members from the third floor formed the team for some out-of-office bonding.

"You get to meet a lot of people that you wouldn't otherwise get to know on campus because it's so spread out," Emery said. "It builds a lot of unity."

Mac Attack lost its June 10 game to KUHT/KUHF by a score of 8-1. The league's next game will be 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the intramural fields.
 

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