T-12 (or so)

Finished packing, for the most part. Always a few last-minute items to toss in. Like they don’t have toothpaste in Tampa if I should forget it.

My wife has been peppering me with questions to which I don’t have the answer. In a sense, it feels like going to sleepaway camp as a teenager: Will the other kids like me? Will I have a good time? Will the food be okay?

I received a sample itinerary, but still don’t know what a day-to-day schedule looks like. According to my new best-friend, Ira Jaskoll, the brains behind the kosher component, the day is so full of activity, all you want to do at night is sleep. We’ll see. For my part, my additional worries are: will the laptop/camera/tape record all work? Will the Internet service be reliable? Do all the pens have enough ink?

Wanted to take a long my copy of Ron Blomberg’s autobiography, Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story, down for his signature, but, of course, I can’t lay my hands on it right now. I met him a few times when his book came out, but doubt he really remembers. He’ll be the first to tell you, his powers of retention were never that good. I imagine he’ll be the flame to the Jewish moths down there. Marty Appel, author/co-author of several books — most recently Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain — will be down there for the Shabbat portion of the program. Looking forward to see what the organizers have cooked up for Friday night/Saturday.

It will also be interesting to see what the other campers think of their observant Jewish counterparts. From what I understand, we’ll be interspersed among the teams, as opposed to all being together the whole time.

There have been few things that have lived up to the hype, so I no longer have great expectations (or any other books by Dickens. Sorry.) So I’m looking forward to going in with an open mind and coming back with some nice stories.

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Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports © 2009 New Jersey Jewish News

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