Ok, this has nothing to do with softball, but I think it's worth passing along. I just got back from seeing the movie Charlie Wilson's War and have to say I highly recommend it. It's an amazing study in politics and how things get done in Washington.

My first reaction walking out of the theater was "wow!" If you're not familiar with the story, it's about how a Congressman from Texas named Charlie Wilson helped obtain funding for the CIA to supply arms to Afghani freedom fighters battling against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Since America couldn't supply arms directly, or even give the appearance of doing it, he had to cut a deal to funnel Soviet-made weapons from Israel to Egypt to Pakistan. He also had to get the Saudis to help fund it. All of which he was able to do despite being a minor politician.

It's definitely a story worth seeing. It shows how the world really works, despite what you may read in the newspapers. It's also a movie the people working on getting fastpitch softball back in the Olympics should see. Little petitions and letters and such are nice, but they won't get the job done. These things happen in back rooms by people with the passion, and the connections, to get things done.