Paul Baranowski is a prophet.
Maybe not of rain and drought, like Elijah in Old Testament times.
But of another kind of moisture.
On Sun., Nov. 29, discussing the Vikings' upcoming game Tues., Dec. 1, in the inaugural Bill Walton Basketball Festival held on the Padres' infield at Petco Park, the veteran coach said: "I hope they have fans to keep the court dry."
He used the "c" word: "condensation".
The game was scheduled for a 7:20 p.m. start.
"I went outside (the other night) at 7:20, and the air was heavy," observed the La Jolla mentor, holding his hand out to signify the weight of the evening dew. Baranowski hails from Tucson, not known for a lot of it.
He was totally right about the fans.
The next night, when Terri Bamford's Country Day girls team faced off against Mount Miguel in the evening game at the festival, water on the wood surface became such a problem that officials had to stop the game permanently in the third quarter.
"We have to get this game in. We don't want to have to do it over," said Baranowski before his own team's game.
The four blowers did the trick. Two green ones were positioned along the far sideline from the spectator bleachers, another green one was placed on one end line, and a black fan was brought in at 7 p.m. and aimed at the baseline nearest the first base dugout.
Swiffer persons manned their poles, some other employees used towels, and they rushed in whenever the ball was at the opposite end of the court and wiped things down.
In a hilarious sum-up to the Vikings' 55-30 laugher over Helix, two women assigned to dryness duty formed a human wheelbarrow after the game, with one pushing a towel and the other holding her legs up and pushing her. Then dragging her the opposite direction before she finally collapsed in laughter.
Earlier, during the game, one of the women attached towels to her shoes and scuffed down the court. She was enjoying herself, as others chuckled at the fun she was having.
And Baranowski, the modern-day Elijah, went home with his game completed and in the books. He was so happy, he promptly entered the Vikings' game statistics for the win on MaxPreps.
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A family story on dew and moisture: When our niece, who grew up in dry Cheyenne, Wyoming, visited our home in Camarillo as a young child, she knelt next to a snail in the front yard and said, "What is this?" She had never seen a snail in her life.
My first reaction was probably that she was kidding. But then I had to realize that in her hometown, where humidity is 15 percent or so and bath towels dry in less than an hour, she had never had occasion to view the shelled varmints.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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