MERRY CHRISTMAS

From Tinker's house to your house...Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!

Seasons Greetings

Wishes for good health, happiness and prosperity to all and may the spirit of Christmas be with us always.
Remembering the comraderie of 2009. photos courtesy of photo journalist, Evers. Commentary by Tinker.

Blog Site Tips

If you "click" on the News and Announcements line to the left (yes Evers,I mean Left)side of the page)small case orange text) it will redirect you to another page filled with current events and announcements. Any and all comments and suggestions on improving our team site will be gladly received and entertained.

Now the Blues Story

For you English majors, if you're questioning the grammatical structure of this title
it's not because I couldn't locate Frank. For those in attendance, you know the "Blues" story.
Now, For The Rest of the Story.
Blue did not win the tournament's final game. Playing the final two innings before all our loyal fans, to include the Gray team and spouses, Blue had one more gutsy rally left. Trailing 16-10 in the bottom of the ninth, my earlier vision was unfolding as hitter after hitter brought the game to 16-13. Tinker's destined triple, scoring run 14, exposed the true meaning of his vision (blurred and doubled) as both calves cramped enroute to first. Larry's early season words of "we all must play through the pain because we all feel it" still resonate in my ears.
In Jim's daily game words, "we all give thanks for what the Lord has given us."
The Blue chant summarizes who we are and what we have accomplished, "TEAM".
As any good safety knows, when you are beat on a fly pattern you gotta grab the guy's jersey! Thus, in Tinker's words, "Does anyone want to Indian Leg Wrestle at second base?"
We ALL gave it our ALL and we can stand PROUD! It has been a very good year!
And in respect for my teammates whose last names end in a,e,i,o,u I quote your country's poet laureate, "Goodnight Mrs. Mcgillicuddy wherever you are.
P.S. To my out of State followers....
To my loving sister Barb, the English Major who mentored me through soooo many college papers, I hope I got it right and that my dangling participle wasn't exposed and that I did you proud. To my brother-in-law, the journalism professor and NASCAR scribe: I thought of ending with; "With each and every Blue entering the final turn, all needles registered "E" and after completing their circuit the gas was fully spent."

The Fat Lady Has Sung

Today's games have concluded the season.
Let's start with congratulations to Gray who were first to complete three-fourths of Larry's Double-Double challenge. Trailing by a run going into the 9th, Gray defeated Dundalk 11-10 to win their tournament on the field adjacent to Blue's on-going battle wth Bel Air. Rumor has it that "Ray's Boys" will celebrate their division and tournament championships with a ticker tape parade.
Parade Marshall Owings will be leading with his Corvette Pace Car starting in Mayberry. The Procession calls for traversing through Frizzellsburg and Tyrone before detouring to pass by CC Sports Complex with an immediate left onto John Owings Road. The next deviation will be off Bachman's Valley Rd. to Old Bachman's Valley Road with a left onto Fridinger Mill then a short side rail onto "Old Fridinger" Mill. The terminus for the celebratory parade is to be in Fowblesburg, home to our sponsor Farmers & Merchants Bank. Kudos to Gray!! And many thanks to Farmers and Merchants! What a pleasure to have the F&M Bank Chairman in attendance for today's games.
Tinker is requesting consultation with Evers prior to posting the dramtic recapitulation of Blues game, so fans please hang in there. But just a little
teaser, in the fifth when yet another Tinker to Evers to Chance doubleplay took place, Tinker had a vision. And where's my proof-reading friend Frank when I need him? The Blues story is yet to be written.

2009 Accolades August 25, 2009

Rural Community Team Crowned League Champions
Carroll County Maryland is abundant with many recreational sports teams but none capture the hearts of the community like Carroll Blue and Carroll Gray. The players are not driven to practice or games by parents or grandparents but rather drive themselves or car pool. Blue and Gray are softball teams composed of very seasoned players from various walks of life who captured their respective Division Titles within the Baltimore Senior Slow-Pitch Softball League. From submissions by credentialed AP, UPI and Reuters scribes Blue manager and Gray manager were selected to be this year's C0-CROWN recipients. Carroll's founding member has been chosen as the banner bearer. Congratulations to Carroll Blue, manager Larry Bair, Gray manager Ray Owings and Harry Griffith. AP's card carrying member, Tinker, submitted this recommendation.

"THE TEAM"

Spahn & Sain and The 2009 Blue Team Members minus only the barrister.

There Is No Joy In Mudville

That is if Mudville is located in Bowie and Parkville as the boys from Carroll County disposed of both opponents handily today. Early reports have it that Gray hosted (roasted) Bowie 20-5 while, on the upper field, the boys in Blue were even less hospitable in whomping Parkville 34-8. Blue used their full roster to hammer hits and when needed pull off the superb defensive plays. Defensive play of the day is a tie between Tom's full throtle shoestring catch and Ever's sprint to nab the fly down the right field line. Quote of the day is also a tie: 1st from Parkville to
the umpire, "do they have anyone that's not fast?", 2nd, from Robbie Kidd standing on third after his triple when asked if he needed a designated runner, "I can handle it from here!" The award for greatest number of family in attendance today goes to Ray. And the moxey award to Murph who showed up in his Steelers jersey.
Tomorrow's picnic should be GREAT but stay focused as we both go for all the marbles in meeting Larry's challenge of a "DOUBLE-DOUBLE" on Wednesday. Wins are mandatory as I have just exhausted the "No Joy in Mudville" heading!!!!!
An aside to Neal: My retort to the barrister challenging the use of confusing names such as Tinker, Evers, Chance, Spahn & Sain is "Quid Pro Quo", for your use of procedendo, mandamus, habeous corpus and their ilk.

Sister Gray Clinches Their Division

Congratulations to Ray's boys who clinched their division today with a defeat of Dundalk. Gentlemen, we are half way to to Mr. Bair's preseason challenge to pull off a double double. With Division championships secured it is now time to win the tournament! The "Hicks From The Sticks" ROCK!!!!

Record Setting Win #34

Carroll County Blue has established a new season record for wins. The 9-0 beating inflicted upon Glen Burnie was not lacking suspense. Altough 7 Blue players were ejected from the game, the remaining troops faired well. Before the first pitch was thrown, Junior, wearing his NY Yankee cap, and Murph, sporting a Steelers jersey, were ejected for being out of uniform. In the top of the first inning, pitcher Larry and catcher Mike were tossed while arguing with umpire George Miller over a "brush-back pitch" call. In the bottom of the first, Tinker was tossed by Miller when he came to the plate just because he muttered something about "chicken excrement calls". The barrister, Mr. Hoffman, came to Tinker's defense only to be thumbed for contempt followed by the expulsion of the Reverend Pastor Pugh for uttering "Holy Mother of God". The remainder of the game saw Blue on their best behavior after Hank's speach about altering our habits. Hank then went 4 for 4, all triples down the right field line. Ray also went 4 for 4 with 2 hits each from the left and right sides. Tom Hall's single, which hit off the top of the fence, scored Harry who had hit a triple down the left field line.
In summary, A Win Is A Win, even though Glen Burnie was scared to show up and forfeited. Isn't fantasy softball G-R-E-A-T? See you all on Monday August 24th for our first tournament game at home.

Stuck on #33

Blue made a valiant comeback effort but finally succumbed to Howard Red 21-13 today.
Trailing by 12 runs going into the bottom of the ninth Blue struck for four runs and had the bases loaded with two outs remaining. After the game, Mike was quite the Man as he told Evers & I that he'd shoulder the blame for the loss for if he had been given two more chances to hit grand slam homers at that juncture it would have tied the game. Missing four players and having Pete play through his ankle injury didn't help our cause..........Monday is our last chance to set the record for wins so let's see of what we are made!!!!!! And,once again, thanks to our loyal fans who turned out in force to include a few Gray compatriots. An aside to Hank, "don't feel it necessary to send me a thank you card for the gift".

#33 Ties the Record

Blue's 10-5 victory over Gray was bitter-sweet in that Gray now has Dundalk within a half game of their lead. "Sain" (Robbie Kidd) toyed with Gray for the first three innings before shutting them out for the remainder of the game; "What A Competitor"!
Too many other contributions from everyone at the plate and in the field to enumerate
so this will be about our walking wounded. On Team Picture Day we were finally blessed with Al Stroud (in uniform nonetheless), Dave Keeney batting with his broken
finger to be surgically repaired tomorrow (remember to bring a Doctor's note to excuse you from Thursday's game), and Pete Morano batting off of his ruptured ankle.
Howard Red would be a perfect victim to fall prey to our record-setting 34th win tomorrow!!!!
And on a personal note; Thank you Hank the Yank for the compliment today! I'll bring you a sponge tomorrow.

One Game Losing Streak Snapped

Tinker here, writing in abstentia (proud Dad attended daughter's "White Coat Ceremony" at Pitt Med School). From telephone reports from teammates present, it looks as though Greenbelt felt the wrath of bruised egos. Congrats to all the "Blues" who participated! My only question: is Right Field truly the wilderness as Evers previously reported, as I understand we dispatched the Reverend Mr. Pugh to the outpost today? And what's the story with having to deploy FIVE outfielders to counter the opposition's shortstop? Wednesday is team picture day, so I have been advised that baths, shaving and laundry are recommended. One to tie the record and two to surpass it for most wins. GO BLUE!!!!! And, as a reminder, wear Blue shirt on Wednesday.

IMPORTANT DATES & FYI's

First, Tinker's apologies for being a "downer correspondent" Thursday but defeats are tough to swallow knowing our capabilities.

ALL remaining games are on our home field beginning with a doubleheader against Greenbelt Monday. Wednesday has us being hosted by Carroll Gray, ( I'm thinking they are not too happy with us losing to Dundalk so be prepared for a battle). Thursday, 8/13/09, we host Howard in a game for which we need to win to have a .500 percentage against A division. Let's take at least four of five remaining games to establish a new Carroll County record for victories! Team picnic is scheduled for Tuesday August 25th with time TBD, which is sandwiched between Monday's 1st tournament game and the championship game on Wednesday the 26th.

Dundalk-The Wilderness

Perhaps it was missing four key players, or perchance an intensity letdown after clinching the Division Championship, or maybe our focus was on the forth-coming lunch of Maryland's largest cheesesteak subs, but in the end, it was, we got beat by a good team today 12-8. With Gray's rep in attendance to spur our effort to keep Dundalk behind them we failed. The epitome of Larry's desperation with our lackluster performance surfaced in the ninth when trailing by four runs he called on yours truly to be a designated runner. Lethargy and stupor come to mind, but, in the vein of my good friend Evers thought process I equate our performance to BEER, we were flat and it was skunk!

Division Championship Secured

Blue's 22-0 blowout over Gold coupled with Catonsville's loss on Monday has locked up first place with a #1 seeding and bye going into the tournament later this month. This Wednesday is critical in that we need to keep Dundalk off of sister Gray's tail, (kinda like being the BIG Brother). Thursday's makeup game at Harford will be the true test of our mettle and competitiveness. Seven games to play with four wins needed to establish a new season record for most wins. And by the way, this is Tinker back from my wanderings.

HOWARD COUNTY LUCKS OUT

Fortunately for Howard County, in the fifth inning Carroll Blue lost Pete Morano as the result of a severely sprained ankle, leaving Carroll with only ten players for the last five innings. Carroll Blue has faired quite well against the Division A clubs and had Howard on the ropes for eight innings even using just the ten players, but in the end succumbed to a good Howard team. After Pete exited, Murph moved from second to right-center, and made some good catches there. Howard failed to capitalize on the wide gaps in the infield, and Blue looked as though they might pull it off, even executing a couple of double plays. Now if Evers could learn to hit, maybe the homer calls which started on the second batter of the game (when Jr. was called out on appeal for leaving second too soon, by the infield ump who had turned to watch the outfielder catch the ball and did not even see Jr.), would not seem so obtuse. - Blue's game with Harford has been postponed, but as of this writing has not been re-scheduled.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS RIGHT FIELD?

Evers here, following up on my article of earlier today. As noted near the end of that article, Tinker instructed that when I was finished writing the article, I was to click on the "Publish Post" button at the bottom right of the screen. (The "Publish Post" button is actually at the bottom left of the screen.) As I reflect on all of this, since he doesn't seem to know his right from his left, perhaps it is not so surprising that when trying to find right field, Tinker wandered around like Moses in the wilderness. He'll probably end up in the promised land when he heads back home from France.

Bonne Chance

DUNDALK DUN IN BY CARROLL BLUE

O.K. sports fans, today you have a substitute reporter (Evers) standing in for Tinker, so hang on cause I don't know Who's on first. Dundalk made a game of it for three innings, but in the end Carroll Blue showed why they are on the top of their division, settling for a 19 to 13 victory. Jim Pugh looked to be a bit winded as he rounded third on the way to the plate after hitting his second dinger of the day. (Jim contends that he really enjoys making those Brooks Robinson defensive plays at third base more than hitting home runs, but this writer will have none of it. And this, coming from a preacher. Go figure.) Then Jim prevaricated again when he told the writer that he stood no chance of pegging out the lollygagging Dundalk runner at home after Jr. caught a fly ball in medium deep left and launched a rocket shot to Mel at cut-off. The picture at right began as a photo of me and my grand-daughter; however, Jim said that he too was a bearded infielder and deserved to be in the picture. I had no idea what beards had to do with anything, but acquiesced saying he could be in the picture if he did not look directly at the camera. Moments after the picture was taken, Jim tried to take my dolly from me. The nerve of this guy. -- Evers (Mel) filling in at shortstop for Tinker (Greg), did his best to make Murph a little taller, with a throw to second in the fourth inning designed to stretch Murph several inches. Later in the game Tinker headed east to see if he could find right field. (This was tough for him as there were no bases in this general area.) Instead, he ended up in France, still toting the six-pack he had carried with him to right field.

I think Tinker must have had a few of those beers when he gave me the instructions for how to operate this blog. At this point I am supposed to go the the bottom right corner and click on the "Publish Post" button. I guess he means my other "right" as there is no such button on the bottom right.

One Small Step For Man

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Eagle landing and man walking on the moon. Where were you at 10:56p.m. 40 years ago? I remember the moment like it was yesterday! Today also marks yet another victory for the Blue and keeps Dundalk behind our sister Gray. I apologize for not remembering details of today's game to report as our manager disoriented me in right field. The good news is that you'll soon be receiving a new prospective of the games. (P.S. to P-T Mike: Where's the respect Man, I give you good press and you can't handle my strike from RF).

Tinker Tosses to Evers

In Tinker's absence the next two weeks, the pen has been tossed to Evers (just so you know who to cozy up to). Best of luck at Howard and Harford!!!! Keep Hank's perfect managing record intact during Larry's absence as well! Amis de Bonne Chance et au revoir.

Wasn't Pretty

With only 12 show-ups today Blue stationed players out of position, did not employ designated runners and saw lefty Ray bat right handed. When starter Sain got touched up for three runs midway through the game our lead appeared to be in jeopardy (less than 20). Larry, always a picture of calm and a supreme strategist brought Mel (Evers) in to pitch the final three innings.
Mel flummoxed Gold batters for the remainder of the game. (As great of a friend as Mel is he proved to be a greater gentleman when he refused my request to brushback the 82 year old firstbaseman who challengened me to meet him on the parking lot after the game). All Blue hitters contributed at least three hits apiece with the exception of two. Had Hank "The Yank" made even a faint effort on my "mildly" errant double-up throw to first base, I would not have mentioned his two hits. 29-3 is another Blue victory but lets play seriously on Monday against Dundalk. A win over Dundalk will help our Gray counterparts and get us one step closer to exceeding 33 wins.

Blue Outfielders

The last line of defense and the swiftest in the league. "Sleeping Beauty" claims to be the fastest.

It's A Girl

Nineteen years ten months and one day ago my youngest daughter Maggie was born. Because of Maggie's absense, having pursued studies in Argentina since February, this blog was created to help keep her abreast of life "back in the States". Today, Mag's Mother & I retrieved her from BWI which was the reason for my absence. What started as a personal reflection shared with only Mag and my buddy Evers has grown to this. My on-the-scene reporter has furnished me with today's game capsule via that new fangled cell phone technology.

19-13 BLUE! Words of wisdom to both Blue and Gray.....don't cause umpires problems with close calls! Rob Kidd was credited with the win and went 3 for 3. Offensive contributions also came from Pete 2-2(who must be leading in batting average?), Mike Price going 3 for 3 (Mike does like the press apparently), and Murph with yet another home run. It must have been a close game to the end as I was told the score going into the bottom of the 8th was 15-9. Let's take the "Gold" on Wednesday!

New Goals Lie Ahead

First Mission Accomplished! With todays doubleheader victory we have exceeded last year's wins total. Now the Goals....first things first, and as much as we wish success for our "Gray" friends, we need to take them seriously on Monday. Secondly, we need 8 wins from our 12 remaining games to establish a new team record. Thirdly, we need to stay healthy to enable us to take the tournament championship. In a very subtle fashion, our beloved manager, showed his confidence in us today by changing the pitching rotation by starting Sain ahead of Spahn. Furthermore, he chose to have three rookies starting in the first game lineup for which he pitched. Lots of MOXIE Larry! Let's recall the gauntlet laid by Mr. Bair at the first meeting of the season....Division Championships Two for Two, for Gray and Blue. I know it must be a challenge to keep 18 active prima donas' egos happy with playing time but I believe Larry has a great strategy (note, I'm sucking up here in hopes of getting playing time). On a personal note, I thank Mr. Hoffman for taking the turn at 3rd making a homer outta my legs double.

Lead Widens

Today's 18-7 victory avenges another of our early season losses to Old Liners. Our lead has now extended to 5 games over Bel Air! PT Mike must have been serious about wanting more press as his bat was hot today! Once again we had production from top to bottom of the lineup and demoralized the opponents with our speed and defensive prowess. Hard to bestow defensive accolades today as there were so many....from Jim (The Hoover)'s portrayal of a diving Brooks to Neal's sprinting shags while fighting the sun and to the middle infielders turning double plays.

Two W's tommorow can pretty well lock it up, AND, we will surpass last year's win total with 12 games yet to be played. Yet another item of note......shine your shoes and press your shorts for Monday's game against Gray, for we may see our sponsors in attendance.

Road Weary Victory

Enduring the ride to Greenbelt makes one appreciate the endurance of minor leaguers. Fortunately, our two remaining games with Greenbelt are home games! 28-10 victory with all fifteen Blues contributing both on the field and at the plate. Defensive gem of the day goes to 2b
Mel (Evers) for the over the shoulder catch! Offensive statistic of the game goes to Tom, albeit, only half of his four hits were homers. Let's revenge our earlier loss when we travel to
Old Liners on Wednesday and then dispose of Catonsville at home Thursday for our make-up doubleheader. One other note worthy item, our opponents will soon learn not to try to go up the middle with the sure hands of Larry and backed up by Ray.

Taste of the Bitters

Had we had a little whiskey and vermouth to accompany the bitters, game one would have put a smile on the face of the Chairman of the Board of our sponsor. Lacking the aforementioned ingredients, our Manhatten project imploded. 12-16, with the game being reminiscent of earlier outings where we allowed Bel Air to rally in the final inning. Post-game analysis reveals that we had too much time after warmups causing our bats to be lethargic and our defensive focus lacking. So the streak stopped, but, a new streak has begun. We whomped 'em in game two by a score of 7-2. To PT Mike, iffin' you come fulltime you'll get more press! To Evers from Tinker, you need never apologize, just focus on the next play. To Frank, from yours truly, thanks for your legs for the round-tripper (I would have made it to 2B). Sterling defensive plays from Neal, Dave and Frank from the OF are to be applauded. All-in-all 22-6 ain't bad! We continue leading the division with a four game margin! The other memorable item....must have had the largest fan contingent to date....thanks to the Gray players who came to support (spy on) us.

15 and Counting

25 to 6 with the best part being we helped our Gray team by disposing of their closest competitor. This issue highlights Harry and Hank. Another Four for Four Harry! Not only did Harry have the final put out of the game put he previously made an unassisted put out at third. I over-heard a Dundalk player on his cell phone after the game telling Genelg that their strategy didn't work to get Harry out. Now for Hank.....your fellow infielders love ya and that's why we cause you to dig in the dirt, stretch long and leap high (keeps your neck and back from stiffening). Wish we had a way to measure Hank's vertical leap today! Being limber allowed Hank to contribute some nice hits. (Of all the DP opportunities today we couldn't get it done unless Ray was involved-nice job!) Lets pray for no rain on Wednesday, as it's Spahn and Sain agin' Bel Air. Lets get two!

Another Sweep - Now 14 In A Row

Two hour rides seem worthwhile when you come away with Two Wins. Spahn (Robbie) and Sain (Larry) held the opponents down once again, although game two began with tenability when we employed a rookie catcher to allow a rookie SS to play yet another game in the field. Now for motivation guys........First, who the hell is the beat writer for the league website? He writes that our win over Bowie Silver was a mild upset (while not even reporting the correct score), and "then to add insult to injury, it won the protested game of May 4 ,14-13, which was originally 'won' by Silver." I guess Hicks form the Sticks garner little respect from our urban opponents. Harry, our historian, reported that the team record for most wins in a season is 33.
Gentlemen, circle your calendars for July 27, 2009!!!! It was observed and noted today that our
speedster, Tom Hall, exerts more energy when running for himself than when a designated runner. Does anyone have a batting helmet our first baseman could borrow? Did Murp have a career game or what (Grand Slam Murph!) hits galore and superb fielding....keep JoAnn on the travel circuit with us! And the barrister just continues to raise his batting average.
Without over-looking Dundalk on Monday, Wednesday's doubleheader hosting Bel Air is critical in that it could almost guarantee a division championship. One game at a time just doing our own thing will get it done.

Twelve in a Row

Two W's in less than 1 hour and 20 minutes.....Not Too Shabby! Over-coming adversity of unfavorable rulings appears to be another strong point of Carroll Blue. The first game's 12-1 victory came about from yet another strong defensive outing and stellar base running. It must be mentioned, hopefully without a jinx, that Rob Kidd is proving nearly unhittable. Rob has only allowed two runs over the course of his last two games. Game two was the continuation of our protested first game with Silver starting in the bottom of the ninth. Wham, bam, thank you m'am and we had our way with "em! Now, if only I could convince our conservatively over-protective Papa Bair to give the rookies a chance! Could this be the week of SIX victories?
Can Blue equal their wins total for last year before July 4th?

Wednesday June 17th Game Capsule

The Streak has reached 10. With a full complement of players, minus Jr. vacationing in Disney World, Carroll Blue took two from Parkville under gray skies. Our loyal hillside fan base was once again present and braved the rain fall through the finish of the second game. Game one saw Rob toss another superlative game followed by a stellar outing from our recently returned, rested (rusted) and well-fed manager Mr. Bair. It was a true version of Spahn & Sain and then rain! Our barrister was kept very active in left field today as well as our alternating second basemen, Murp and Mel. Good solid defense guys! Harry, "the hitting machine" continued his hitting streak! And, of course, Frank hit another round-tripper. Mike and Pete are due credit for calling a great game each. Tom played through the pain from the tip of his toe to the end of his finger to hit yet another homer. And, Jim (the HOOVER) added a third home run. Dave stung the ball as always. The expression on the opponents 3rd baseman's face was priceless when Winks turned second to take the extra base like the Cannonball Express (great base-running Dave!). Ray turned a double play with a perfect strike to Hank. All in all, just another all round team performance.

Monday June 15 Game Results

Under sunny hot skies, Blue travelled to Glenelg in pursuit of revenge for the acrobatic LCF catch in the ninth robbing Blue of a victory last month. Absent once again was our beloved manager, Mr. Bair, Mike Price, our newest rookie, Mike Reid, nursing double hamstring pulls and the rock solid Mel Arbaugh. This game was without a doubt our most completely rounded outing of the year. Contributions at the plate and in the field came from everyone. Our outfielders were superb but I must say the morale breaking play came in the third inning when we pulled off the nouveau-classical 6 to 11 to 5 Double Play!!!!!!!!Ray's relay from our shortstop to Jim was on the money with Jim applying the perfect tag!!!!!!!!!!! The highlight of the game for Genelg was when they finally got Harry out.....Great game Harry! Anyway it was Blue 19 - Glenelg 6!
Bring on Parkville for two on Wednesday!!!!!!

Baseball's Sad Lexicon

These are the saddest of possible words:

"Fridinger to Arbaugh to Zuretti"

Trio of Carroll County Blue, and fleeter than birds,

Fridinger and Arbaugh and Zuretti.

Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,

Making opponents hit into a double--

Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:

"Fridinger to Arbaugh to Zuretti"

Carroll County Blue Infielders

The Fearless Eight who provide the first line of defense for our pitchers. Missing the ninth who is on the season long DL rehabilitating a torn achilles tendon incurred pursuing a shallow fly.