Vindication was ours! Every spring SPS (Society of Physics Students) hosts a picnic. Students, faculty and friends and family are all invited to enjoy food and lots of games with the highlight of the afternoon being the student vs. faculty softball game.

I remember going to my first picnic 2 years ago thinking, we have good professors here at UF. Ergo, they must be involved in their work and teaching and have noooooooo time for exercise and sports. The student-faculty softball game should be a joke with the students coming out victorious. I have never been more wrong in my college career! It was one of several sad days for students as faculty not only won, but also humiliated the student team. We began to assign secret identities to our professors' of characters like the Rock to soothe our pain.

But this year, whoo-wee! Students won 11-9! A crowning achievement that pales the next scientific marvel! Students were distracted by nothing. No amount of bustling, no teasing, not even a low flying airplane! That's right an airplane. Former student Joe Gleason flew over the softball game in his Champ doing stunts for the crowd of bystanders.

But the students held focus. Each had pigged out on the various burgers, salads, chips and cookies provided at the preceding barbecue. There's always a ton of food, with leftovers sitting in the lounge for frequenters to enjoy. Stomachs hitting the floor and feet dragging, students trudged behind the batting fence, and gave it their all. In case you find yourself playing softball this spring, and realize you're playing a losing game, think of the Spring 2006 Vindication, and know that you too have been vindicated. And to distract yourself later, you've always got other games, more food, and I wonder - another low flying airplane?