CUPID CALLS EARLY ON CANNON NATION, CNMSBL
February Meeting Moves Connecticut Closer to ’08 Opener

Avon, CT (AP)—Can you feel the love tonight? As seasonally appropriate as a Necco Conversation Heart, Wednesday, February 13 marked the second of four Connecticut North Men’s Senior Baseball League (CNMSBL) winter meetings at the Italian Club in affluent Avon, Connecticut. Snow, freezing precipitation and an eventual driving rain fell for the better portion of the day, a damp and dreary departure from the comparatively-torrid 63° temperatures that thawed Cannon Yards prior to the first meeting a month ago. Paperwork, bill payments and the 2008 Step Up to the Plate Charity Baseball Marathon were once again the main topics of conversation (A Division President and Glastonbury Marlins Manager Mike Clinton was unable to attend this meeting so Cannons Management formed a quorum with representatives from Eastern Connecticut, Marlborough, Newington and Winsted). It was announced that Juvenile Diabetes will join Cystic Fibrosis and Prostate Cancer as the league’s charities of choice in 2008. This year’s marathon is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend (6:00 p.m. Friday, May 23 to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, May 24) at Riverfront Park in Glastonbury and league officials have promised more contests and prizes for participants. Five current Cannons—Chris Barsa, Matt Celio, Mike McGann, Mike Patenaude and Mike Weber—participated in the inaugural event and Manager Celio hopes even more players will take part in Step Up: The Umpire Strikes Back: “On Sundays this season we’ll be in search of our second CNMSBL championship. But on Memorial Day weekend it’s time for us to hit another grand slam for three terrific charities…plus it also doesn’t hurt to have twenty-four straight hours of batting practice…I know I need it! In all seriousness, it’s a tremendous feeling to give back to the community. This is bigger than baseball and I know Cannon Nation will give generously as it did in ’07.” Casablanca, Ghost, Gone With the Wind, Pretty Woman, Shakespeare In Love, Titanic, West Side Story, When Webby Met Celio. These great romances make for excellent escapism at this time of year. Some have happy endings while others don’t…though all massages should. One thing is certain: the 2008 Connecticut Cannons hope to have a happy ending come playoff time. The Andrew Clarke/Michael Clinton Trophy awaits Cannon Nation. Come on and get some, boys!

Winter Meeting News and Notes: Three A Division teams were missing from Wednesday’s meeting (Bristol Metallurgists, Glastonbury Marlins, Hartford Nationals) but free agent acquisition Tom Clark was in attendance providing triple representation for Connecticut…“I see the Cannons as my team of the future (Clark also plays for Avon in the Hartford Twilight League), and I am very excited about the upcoming season;” P Billy Gills plans to play for the Cannons in the future though it is unclear whether that will be in the 2008 or 2009 campaign…contract negotiations continue between the thirty-three year old’s agent, William “Gillmeasurer” Gills, III and Connecticut’s front office…“with the Mets signing Santana and [Leo] Dionicio this off-season it has become increasingly important for the Cannons to make [another] splash if we expect to compete in the local media market,” stated Celio; Drew McDowell contacted World Headquarters after hearing of Dionicio’s unexpected defection to the B Division Mets earlier in the week (several sources reported Chris Barsa and Clark were privy to this private information weeks before the announcement was made to members of management): “I've been working hard on my infield skills. I think shaking the rust off after not playing for ten years makes me ready to have a strong sophomore campaign!” Dominican Dreamboat Dionicio enjoyed his send off stating, “If [Manager Celio can] talk to women the same way [he] writes these things then Wilt Chamberlain’s record must be close to broken…and I don’t mean the one hundred point game!”…sources close to the Celio camp confirmed he cannot; Celio was contacted by league officials to “cover” the Step Up to the Plate event as a player/reporter for the MSBL’s HardBall magazine…there is a greater push for “corporate sponsorship” at this season marathon (businesses that donate between $250 and $500 to the event); the Cannons open the season on the road at Winsted ten weeks from today (April 27, Fussenich Park); Barsa continues to talk with Newington town officials about the team’s return to Cannon Yards in ’08 (insurance paperwork was received at Wednesday’s gathering); with a bevy of off-season additions and subtractions the new look Cannons have settled on Reincar-Nation as this season’s ad campaign (Jason Maule, McDowell, Mike Patenaude and Teddy Prajzner will be featured prominently in the promotional materials) along with the ever-popular Get Your RED On spots starring Mark Lynch and Mike McGann; 2008 documentation has been received from nine of nineteen roster invitees (Celio, Clark, Scott Hurlbert, Steve Markie, Maule, McGann, Craig Perrier, Jack Vanasse and Weber); the third CNMSBL winter meeting will be held in mid-March.