Learn to Fly Again

Everyone loves the Etrade commercial with the babies talking. My favorite is one with the "Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly Again" song :

Well Knockout (KO) had lost 6 of 7 games (five by one run) and trailed game two of their Must Win doubleheader with Las Estrellas by the score of 4-0 entering the bottom of the 1st. These softball wings and some spirits were truly broken as many of us throughout the day openly talked about how hard it was to play a game that deep down we didn't know we wanted to win.

A funny thing happened in the middle of game two - we rallied and took the lead!!!! Then another fight involving KO broke out as Las Estrellas tied the game. But instead of things getting worse, they actually got better. This fight was the final straw for our team as we resolved ourselves to just play hard, have fun, and more importantly I could sense that the doubt inside us was gone - replaced with the spirit/chemistry to win. We did just that thanks to a very nice clutch catch by Gubi - yeah you read that right - Gubi showed defensive Leadership and propelled us to victory and an exciting playoff match up with two time defending champion The Westlanders.

They say losing doesn't build character - that it reveals it - and for the remaining Knockout players who fought along with me on this last day :

Jack, Gubi, Alex, Omar,Norberto, Juan G, Blonde, Gus and Gubi - I just want to say - Thank You - your character and resolve through our broken wings period is truly appreciated

Chaos Gets an Al Goldstein Salute

Before Internet and cable porn their was Al Goldstein. In the 70s/80s he brought porn to cable TV. He was vulgar..... He was nasty..... He was vicious.

During every episode of his show "midnight blue" he would have a Screw You segment

were he would give a long commentary that blasted someone unmercifully. Ending every rant with his famous "SCREW YOU" line

Well today Chaos earned a softball version of Al Goldstein Style SCREW YOU You see today was the final weekend in Inwood and there were many good match ups on tap on what turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous fall day. One non playoff match up pitted Citysoftball newcomers Arsenal (3-8) vs. longtime cellar dweller (4-8) Chaos at 2pm. While both teams were out of the playoff picture they still had a chance to play one last Sunday on a true treasure of a day. To the credit of Arsenal they earned softball honor as they had their entire team there on time. They love to play and were very enthusiastic all season. However, not one I repeat NOT FUCKING ONE Chaos player showed up. So fucking foul.

As a special thanks for their excellent sportsmanship the league has decided to pay the entire umpire costs for this forfeit b/c it would be unfair for a non playoff team to pay for a forfeit in a game that did not impact the standings. Sorry that Chaos screwed you guys out of fun today.

As for Chaos, league commissioner Juan Moreiras reached out to them Sunday evening and asked them why they failed to notify the league. Their response was "we reached out to your partner via text". For the record, Chaos never sent me a text or called. Don't fucking lie and try and insult my intelligence. Have some respect for yourselves especially since your lucky to even be in our league considering all the financial problems you have had with us in years past that we have "forgiven" and put behind us.

So if you want back in next year you have to pay the $100 that we ate today. If not stay home and as Al Goldstein would say SCREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have no honor and no class

Inwood Culpability All on Me

I am Softball Guilty as ChargedI made a key scheduling error this fall in Inwood as before the season began Bonao 's legendary manager Sabino
notified me that their team would not be able to play on the weekend of October 24th, 2010 b/c they would be in Santo Domingo playing softball and partying
As a result, their record is frozen at 7-5 and they are locked into a playoff spot based on their .583 winning percentage. This will effect the playoff bracket as everyone knows Bonao is a top team and a bye this late in the season is just plain unfair. This schedule quirk should have been addressed earlier this fall. It was not. That is on me and for that I sincerely apologize to the entire league.

I've dissed and criticized other leagues for late season byes and now it's time for me to admit that I have fallen on my softball sword and made a mistake in judgement. Unlike those other leagues I admit my mistakes, asks the softball gods for leniency , and promise to learn from my mistake in the future.

Again I'm sorry.

On a positive note the league is alive again this fall thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of all 14 teams and we should have a great ending to the season. Now let's see if Knockout can get off the canvas and make the playoffs.

Not Worthy

People often ask me how do you come up with your ideas and topics? Well,

being the Doctor Strangetype of guy that I am, before I decide to cast a softball spell over my audience I find it's important that I understand what's NOT worthy

to write about that way I can focus on real issues.

So let's go over my Top Ten Things in Softball that are NOT Blog Worthy

10. Anonymous Comments - I love my readers comments but Anonymous ones are like Johnny Drama and the rest of the cast on Entourage

just along for the ride and lack substance.

9. Illegal Pitching - yawn. Britney Spears is more interesting than this topic and that's so fucking bad b/c unless Britney is naked she's worthless to talk about

8. Wack leagues - you know who you are. Your days of getting free publicity on this site are done. So go softball ponzi scheme elsewhere

7. Requests to get on the Blog - These are usually selfish, egotistic, or mean. Thank you for reading, but c'mon the blog is like the hot girl at the club or school you can't ask to be on it. You have to be interesting to get on both.

6. Bashing Teammates/Friends. Unless your Scarlet "Black Widow" Johansson in Iron Man

spewing venom will not be shown on this blog. Bashing teammates/friends is tacky, leads to the softball dark side, and is Not softball god approved. If you want dirty laundry go elsewhere.

5. $$$$$ - there is no real softball $$$$ running Inwood plus we are not a public company even though in the softball community we maintain a triple A credit rating with our customers.

4. Next Year - Today is a gift that's why it's called the Present - got that from Kung Fu Panda

- love that flick. Sorry Next Year is for younger guys and after fall ball is over. Now will never come again.

3. Inwood Schedule Making Process - I have no control over it as the computer makes the schedule. So why complain or talk about it?

2. Personal Statistics - I've written numerous blogs on stats in softball and while we know numbers don't lie they are unquestionably skewed in softball and fail to tell the whole story. As we all know the blog tries to tell the whole story so I try and go beyond the numbers. So while I respect all my fellow Sabermatricians out there, I think most stats in softball are useless/boring. But I will do a future blog on what stats I would like to see in softball.

and the Number one Topic in Softball that is NOT Blog Worthy

1. Winning a championship in a Weak League - Winning a chip in a weak (no competition) league is like beating up the class nerd. Nothing to be proud of and just an act of a bully pounding his chest for self gratification.

Moving Plastic Furniture while serving 25 to Life

Despite getting a record number of comments recently
http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2010/09/obvious-hidden-in-plain-sight-jb-factor.html (thank you), I have been hit with a severe case of writer's block for the last 2 weeks.

Why?

It's not one thing. Key factors include :

• Looking for a Big Softball performance/breakthrough
• Looking for a Big Story
• Knockout's poor performance and management tension
• Self softball pity
• Citysoftball http://sites.google.com/site/inwoodsoftballleague/

I've fought through most of these issues and gotten peace to some extent except with one : Knockout Poor Performance. You see Knockout is our team in Inwood and it's the equivalent to a 25 to Life softball prison sentence. Like the Eminem's song 25 to Life



Knockout makes me feel like I'm stuck in a bad relationship. The worst part is the apathy. Most players are there to just be there. We've been compared to Mayaguez http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2010/05/softball-mount-rushmore.html from the Big Apple League in that we are a talented bunch who can't get it together. Don't get me wrong that all falls on the manager, Me. I've made my share of mistakes, but I've also been loyal, selfless, and committed. So what to do?

Step 1 Relax Fellow manager Dio Jackson of the Westlanders gave me some good advice "Ricky bottom line you and I take losses home with us, but the players go home and forget about it so relax". Dio is right. He helped relax me and I've been able to replace my anger, hate, and disappointment now with something better Honesty. They say the truth will set you free and the Truth is Knockout as currently constituted has two chances to win : Slim and None. We are like plastic furniture
tacky, sterile, and an eyesore. Being an above 96th street kid when I was little we had plastic furniture which I hated but from time to time my mom

would re-arrange the furniture. I asked my mom about this yesterday and she said that even though the furniture was ugly she would "cambiar los mubles para buscar suerte" (change the furniture to find good luck).

This week when I play the two time defending championships Westlanders. I am shifting my entire plastic furniture team around. I will be loyal to my nucleus for playing time, but everything else is out the window. It's not panic, it's a necessity. The house needs a makeover and I'm not afraid to remodel my 25 to Life home. I'm not expecting to add beautiful new microfiber furniture, but I can't sit down and get glued to the plastic as the heat turns up down the stretch. "Hay que buscar suerte"