Okay so last weekend I got this wild idea. My kid’s UNO baseball team schedule was pure chaos – scribbles on napkins, random texts, absolute mess. Thought, why not make a proper 2025 schedule everyone can actually see? Figured it’d be simple. Boy was I wrong.
The Starting Disaster
First, I grabbed all those random bits: crumpled paper from Coach Dave’s pocket, screenshot from Jenny’s mom, that email chain Mike sent weeks ago. Spread ’em on the kitchen table like some detective board. Started typing dates into Excel, thinking “easy peasy”. Got 10 games in and realized – my dates didn’t match Jenny’s mom’s screenshot. Crap. Pulled up last year’s league calendar, stared at my laptop till my eyes crossed. Fixed the typos. Probably should’ve started there.
Format Nightmare
Wanted this thing printable AND phone-friendly. Made a clean table version first:
- Column 1: Game Date & Time
- Column 2: Field Location
- Column 3: Opposing Team
- Column 4: Uniform Color
Looked sharp! Sent test PDF to my neighbor Paul. Big mistake. He texts back: “Can’t click the locations on my phone!” Forgot people need maps. Scrapped the PDF. Rebuilt the whole thing in Google Sheets. Added second tab with map links to all fields. Took forever to get formatting not looking janky on tiny screens.
The Family Uprising
Showed wife the near-final version after dinner. Wrong move. She immediately spotted conflict: “Game 7 is during Sarah’s piano recital!” Had to scramble. Dug through old emails AGAIN, found Coach Dave’s backup rain date. Moved Game 7. Then Jenny’s mom messages “Field 4 is closed that Tuesday!” Cue spreadsheet avalanche. Fixed six more conflicts because of field closures I didn’t know about. Should’ve asked parents first.
Grand Finale
Three coffee runs later:
- Public View-Only Google Sheet
- Print PDF with BIG font dates
- Phone numbers of every coach typed underneath
- Rain date column HIGHLIGHTED yellow
Sent it out yesterday morning. Half hour later, Mike texts: “You messed up the July game times.” My soul left my body. Checked. He was right – forgot daylight savings change. Fixed it while my cold coffee glared at me. Final version pinned in team chat. Lesson learned? Scheduling kids’ sports ain’t for the weak.