Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as we near July and the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League playoffs:

-- Memo to defensive coaches: Put a couple of bodies on No. 5 for Yokota. Kevin Fortin leads the Warriors in yards and touchdowns; he added a pair of sixes from 5 and 80 yards out in Yokota's 12-6 win over Torii Station on Saturday at Yokota High School's Bonk Field.

-- Memo to offensive coordinators: Do NOT -- repeat -- NOT throw the ball in the direction of No. 9 for Yokota. Frederick Guild now has seven interceptions in the Warriors' last two games. And he could have had more had he not dropped a pair of bunnies.

Get your Grand Slam on. Almost time for Firecracker Shootout softball at Camp Foster, Okinawa. Coaches meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Globe & Anchor, skills competition to follow, play begins Thursday, championship games on Sunday. 17 men's teams, 10 women's teams. Osan men and Korea Area I women to defend their championships; American Legion and Yard Busters seeking redemption for heartbreaking title-game losses last July. See you there!

Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer patiently waits for "The 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2)" to install:

-- Make your plans to travel to Okinawa (at this writing) come the week of Nov. 8-14. There's a new DODDS-Pacific Far East high school Class AA football playoff format in town. DODDS-Japan and Okinawa Activities Council champion, Seoul American and Guam High travel to Okinawa on Nov. 7, play semifinal games on Nov. 9, followed by the third-place and championship games on Nov. 14. Very much like Europe's Super 6.

Musings, mutterings and the occasional bit of schmahts as Ornauer tries to put jet lag behind and point toward the USFJ-AFL playoffs and Firecracker Shootout softball tournament:

-- Sometimes, scoring help comes from the darndest places. With Torii Station lined up  to punt on fourth down at the Wolfpack 24, Kadena rushes hard, Mike Christensen gets up a beefy arm and the ball clangs off it, into the hands of Jason Lane, who returned it 18 yards for the Dragons' lone touchdown. Jason Wynn's two-point conversion run just before halftime gave Kadena the only points it would need in an 8-6 victory Saturday at Kadena's McDonald Stadium.

Richard L. Ornauer passed away peacefully at about 9 a.m. EDT Thursday, June 11, at Cortland Manor in Delaware. He was 86.

Musings and mutterings as Ornauer prepares to head stateside:

-- Don't you just love a good rally? A total overhaul in gameplan led to just exactly that on Saturday for the Foster Bulldogs. Inserting Jamar Jarrell at tailback in place of hobbled starter Dyamon Durant and ditching the spread for a conventional I attack paid off huge for Foster, which rallied from a 12-3 deficit to beat Kadena 23-20.

-- With the win, Foster clinches the Southern Division title and a first-round playoff bye. With the playoffs four weeks away yet.

New traffic on here is going to slow considerably for the next couple of weeks.

My father, Richard L. Ornauer, 86, has suffered a series of strokes which have left him paralysed on his right side and unable to speak.

He is hospitalised in Dover, Delaware, where I will likely head later this week or early next week.

Please pray for him, pray for his doctors and their wisdom in caring for him, and pray that my dad will encounter fortunate circumstances as he prepares for his next life's mission.

I love you, Pop. Fight on.