Random notes

Over a breakfast of one ripe San Roque mango (yes, there are still a few left), two poached eggs, three slices of Spam and a big scoop of fried rice washed down by four cups of coffee, I offer these totally unconnected caffeine-fueled ramblings.

The exodus from Saipan continues. Saipan’s all-time home run leader Tony Camacho has moved to Houston, Texas. His brother Chris, another all-star, has moved to Guam. So has softball star Nick Castro.

There are so many good players who have moved from Saipan to Guam that a new team called 670, comprised of Saipan players led by Jonathan Delos Santos and Francis George was a championship runner-up in a Guam league this summer.

If a team from Guam with all Saipan players beats Saipan, which would be more accurate to say: Guam beats Saipan or Saipan beats Saipan?

We do not need a census to gauge the number of people moving from the CNMI to the States. We can just use the Labor Day Softball Tournament. This year, 17 teams played in Las Vegas. Last year 14 teams played in Boise. The year before that in the Seattle area I believe there was something like 11 teams.

Jonathan Salas, another one of the local baseball talents who moved to greener pastures, made Team Idaho and will be playing in the Arizona Fall Classic, a proving ground for top young players throughout the western USA. The son of Joe and Cathy Salas is now a high school senior in Boise, Idaho and helped his team win the state championship. This summer the infielder also played American Legion ball which is a step up from high school. He was at least good enough for an opposing coach to protest his eligibility because his parents do not live in Boise. It took a favorable ruling on an appeal at the organization’s headquarters to get him on the field.

Did you know that with all the beaches in Micronesia, only one island has a beach volleyball league. That would be Saipan. Kudos to the Pacific Islands Club for keeping that alive after Jon Cramer moved (to Guam of all places.) Credit Lindsey Sosovec for that. Interestingly, Cramer has not organized a beach volleyball league on Guam, and instead has become active in water polo.

Only on Saipan: the power was out at my house at the start of the Florida/Miami college football game. So I went to another part of the island to watch the game. Then the power went out there in the third quarter. I called home to see if the power had been restored and when I learned it had, drove back home to see the end. I estimate I spent $4.50 dollars in gas/oil to watch that game on television, plus $3.69 for a bag of chips and $9.00 for a six pack of bottled beer, meaning it cost me $17.19 to see that game. Puts new meaning into pay-per-view.

Charleston Aiken reportedly is trying to get mixed martial arts going in Pohnpei. With the limited economic opportunities throughout Micronesia, the growing sport offers young men a way to make some money especially if they are good enough to go off-island and compete.

Kelvin Fitial for all intents and purposes is an MMA professional. Good for him. Whenever he fights away from Saipan, he carries the CNMI flag into the ring and waves it for everyone to see. If all the baseball/softball players from Saipan did that when they played, CNMI flags would sell out.

The caffeine is starting to wear off. Excuse me while I get one more cup of java.