I never had the Mr Perfect types like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Nolan Ryan, Tony Gywnn as my sports hero's. Instead I've had the very morally flawed Keith Hernandez, Mark Gastineau, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and Benard King's of the world as "my sports guy/idol". There is a lesson to learn in that, as true hero's http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/06/true-bravery-chris-edwards.htmlshould are found outside of sports.
Jose Reyes definitely falls into the category of imperfect types. Everyone knows Jose plays "loco" style and his on field celebration/act (hot dog) annoys the other team, but I
have been one of his staunches defenders over the years b/c of his talent, passion for the game, energy, and the fact he has never been an off the field problem (good/nice guy). However, on what could quite possibly be his last day as a Met and the day he achieved his greatest personal achievement - Batting Champion - he disappointed me and all Met fans.
Reyes asked out of the game in the bottom of the 1st after leading of the game with a bunt single that virtually assured him of a batting title. I love Reyes, as he is by far and away my favorite Met, but this wrong on so many levels.
#1 It makes him look selfish
#2 The Only reason any Met fan went to a game these last 2 months was to see him play.
Evidence of that is this video of the game I went to on Tuesday and sat their for 13 fucking innings to watch him play brilliantly
b/c I knew this might be it for him in NY. Yesterday's Reyes decision (modern ball player) goes to show you that sports is a business were statistics, awards, and money always take a back seat to the fan.
Losing Reyes for Met fans will be the worse free agent loss since Strawberry 21 years ago (Darryl was better but Jose nicer guy) and like Strawberry his replacement will take years to find. Despite this incident and his flaws I hope we can keep him as he is part of the solution not he problem.. even though he is not perfect by nay stretch of the imagination
'Cause sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse." - Eminem Till I Collapse
Classic song from his heart, saying he will do what he loves till he collapses.
Collapse is an ugly word in baseball/softball. Currently two of NYC''s biggest baseball rivals are on the verge of historic regular season collapses. The Red Sox have lost 17 of 22 and blown a 9 game lead in the Wild Card in September. That has never been done.
Never.
Not the 2007 Mets ( We all slowly & painfully lived through that )
Not the 1964 Phillies.
Nobody.
The Sox have given away their lead and are now tied with the Rays. The Red Sox were 82-51 on Aug. 27. They were three games behind the Phillies for the best record in baseball. One month later, they're a pack of zombies.
The Braves aren't much better as they are still clinging to a once-comfortable lead in the wild-card race. They have lost their third straight and seventh in the last 10. Their September record dropped to 9-16, nearly wiping out a margin that had been 8 1/2 games just three weeks ago. There are two games left in the regular season and they lead by one game.
I would be remiss to not mention famous post season collapses like the 1986 Red Sox (no details needed) , 1996 Braves (blew 2-0 WS lead at home) , 2001 Oakland A's (blew 2-0 lead in the best of five) , 2003 Chicago Cubs (Blew 3-1 lead at home how can we forget Steve Bartman???), and the most famous post season collapse the 2004 Yankees (3-0 lead ... ughhhhh).
The other day I hit 3 straight huge pot holes while driving and lost control of my car - very scary and that's what a baseball/softball collapse is -an accident you are powerless to stop. The worst part of a collapse is that you aren't trying to win anymore, instead you are trying to Avoid Embarrassment. That's a sure fire recipe for failure.
To myself and all my teammates, all I have to say is We just have to do this ourselves, no excuses, no apathy, as the late great Freddy Mercury so eloquently sang
"We've paid our dues Time after time We've done our sentence But committed no crime And bad mistakes We've made a few We've had our share of sand Kicked in our face But We've come through"
This team feeds on emotion and I know it's corny but I know we will RECOVER and do what we love next week until we collapse one way or another.
but has talent and good chemistry. Their name isn't based on the popular condoms brand, rather it's in honor of the local high school George Washington, one of the perennial best baseball teams in the city. It feels good/cool to be part of the heights again, hopefully we can keep building on yesterday's victories.
The Trojans don't pay their pitchers, rather they develop them. Their latest project is 18 year old lefthander (not Danny Almonte) Moreno that they are trying to groom
with their their vast experience
Gotta give them props for thinking outside of the softball box.
After my game was over, I hung out and watched the hot new team in the league Parilla Latina take on the bombers and conducted the following behind the mask in game interview with Inwood umpire Lootcho
best line was "Wherever their is money I love" - Hilarious - Umpire Credo
I used to be called Bluehttp://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2008/06/blue.html, but as of yesterday you can call me Red
as I made my Inwood morning league umpiring debut. It was an evolution
of sorts, but in this new Inwood morning league
I helped bring order to the softball jungle
They highlight of the umpiring day was Sandlot
Sandlot Miracle Comeback!!!!!
setting a new http://sites.google.com/site/inwoodsoftballleague/ record for the largest & ggreatest comeback ever by scoring 11 runs to tie the game in the bottom of the 7th and then eventually winning the contest in the 8th. Insane. Another lesson for an umpire - never say or think the word mercy - Never
Tony Bennett would be proud of the 2011 Central Park Bum Rush league Champions Spitfires!!!!!!!!!
as they are truly a rags to riches success story
As they were 0-16 two years ago, Semi finals last season, and this year Champions !!!!!!
Well Done and Deserved - Congrats fellas.
The insider would like to give a special salute to Mickey Peckins for his 1st pitching championship as I know he was worked long and hard and improving his mound game
is a legendary batting average and depending on the quality of the softball league you play in, it can be a pretty good number as well. This week despite the Fed shifting $400 billion from short-term Treasuries into long-term Treasuries in an effort to boost lending and spur the economy, it wasn't enough to just meet expectations as U.S. stocks dipped almost 400 points. Investors have been racked by growing fears that the economy is headed for another recession and once the Fed made the announcement, the anticipation was gone, and people began to look at a deeper level what it means when the Fed doesn't have any monetary tools to make a big difference in the economy.
The Fed's latest stimulus plan is designed to push down long-term borrowing cost for U.S. consumers and businesses. However, it is very surprising that the Fed is also targeting the very long end of the Treasury curve since there is no direct economic benefit for doing so, and banks also get hurt as falling yields in long-dated Treasury's compress their profit margins, which will hinder job growth, having the opposite affect than what is needed to help revitalize the labor market,"
Simple Translation : Bad - fucking really bad
The recession has only slowed down a bit and is back. We need jobs. Not only is the stock market riding major waves of instability, the job market has been sinking further with each passing month. The U.S. Labor Department issued its weekly jobless claims data ahead of the opening bell. The number of unemployed filing for first time benefits in the latest week fell from the prior week but still came in at a higher-than-expected 423,000. The number of foreclosures and bankruptcy filings have hit all time highs in the last few years, and many people, like me, are focused on treading water as the government promises to help turn the economy around. President Obama’s American Job Act bill, which outlines ways to help boost the economy through the improvement of the job market.
encourages businesses to hire more employees and increase wages of current employees in exchange for certain tax credits. The bill is facing tough criticism from both political parties, the question being how the bill will be paid for? After a rough budget and debt debate just one month ago, both parties are worried about taking on new debt for the sake of attempting to boost the economy. However, President Obama insists, “Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans — including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.”
Getting this to pass will be harder than hitting 400, but something has to be done, b/c we can't take another 400 dip in the market and unemployment anymore. Let's Go Congress
A few years ago MTV has a popular TV show called Total Request Live (commonly known as TRL)
that played the top ten most requested videos of the day, as requested by viewers who voted online for their favorite video. Recently I've been getting a lot of SB topic requests from readers so I thought why not have a Softball TRL posting, and decide whether or not a topic is "blog worthy"
Top Ten SB TRL Topics that have been suggested to me
10. SBL TRL Topic : Players who have trouble finding their why home at night? Blog Worthy - Yes, but I think I will skip this one b/c I already have enough people who hate me.
9. SBL TRL Topic : Players who use softball as a form of psychiatric treatment Blog Worthy - hmm - Probably - but related to #10 above so let's leave this alone for now
8. SBL TRL Topic : Softball and Porn Connection? Blog Worthy - Provocative- very possible
7. SBL TRL Topic : Why do people write things on a softball ball? Blog Worthy - Most definitely - it's in the pipeline
6. SBL TRL Topic : Softball Wedding Crashers
Blog Worthy - Abso-fucking-luetly - grifters are always welcomed
5. SBL TRL Topic : Softball Tourism Attractions
Blog Worthy - No. It's just a picture show, even though Teddy with the Indian and African American slave might be revisited b/c politically incorrect shit is always welcomed in this format.
The Hare and the Tortoise
is a story where a hare ridicules a slow-moving tortoise and is challenged by him to a race. The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, decides to take a nap midway through the course. When he awakes, however, he finds that his competitor, crawling slowly but steadily, has arrived before him.The morale of the story has been debated, but the message of intelligence, dedication, perseverance, patience, and determination is clear.
Softball's version of the tortoise is the 2011 Broadway Show League Champions Turtle Rock!!!!!!
and when you finally do get there, it is so sweet and memorable. Today Braverywon the Central Park Performing Arts league
and while we didn't wear any face paint we went through on and off the field pain, hell, and wars to bring the family home a championship. Great Unselfish group
raise your lighters up guys
Your Champions!!!!!!!!! HOLLER!!!!!!!!!!
On a personal note I would like to thank commissioner Jack Mulcahay for his class, support, and professionalism in one of our darkest moments. He's a true Mensch.
They say Miseryloves company, but that's all self wallowing get attention/sympathy for yourself bullshit. Facts are Facts, we lost just like the Jets, one bitter game short of the big game for the second goddamn fucking year in a row. SOFTBALL MISERY - All that was missing was Kathy Bates.
On a separate note: I usually don't care what happens whenever I am eliminated, but I want to wish the best of luck to John Sheppard and West in the Finals. It will be a classic series.
In a previous life,
I used to party in nightclubs all the time and one of my favorite parts of the shallow and provocative scene was the speaker dancing booty shaking woman
The Happy Hour Morning League consist of the following 4 teams:
Chaos
Panthers
Brew Crew
Hell Kitchen
The Velvet Rope league consist of 9 teams:
Trojans
Hustlers
Sandbox
Parilla Latina
Dodgers
Devil Rays
Bombers
Aguillas
Fanaticos
It's going to be our most competitive season yet, all we are missing is some shallow booty shaky honey's who would do anything for cash to make the spot complete. Maybe I should give my sister in law a call and have her send the following ladies up to Inwood from South Beach www.vimeo.com/sobelive
to make the softball club experience complete. Like the old days
The insider would like to congratulate this talented and classy crew for their on and off the excellence as they have paved the way for a bright future for this upstart softball organization.
where Mickey Rouke makes an amazing comeback portraying an aging Wrestler having difficulty adjusting to life without Wrestling. Great movie with a powerful ending that deeply affected me.In essence Rouke's character is a "One Trick Pony" b/c the only thing he does well in life is Wrestle.
In the softball world one of my favorite people and players is Jason Yadoff
who I affectionately call the Wrestler b/c of his long hair and rocker style. Fortunately that's where the comparison ens b/c this guy is far from a one trick pony. He's a mad talented. Here is a video of him performing at the Bitter End in the West village ,
He plays music like he plays softball , all in , fierce intensity ! - A man of many talents - check him out sometime http://www.jasonyudoff.com/ .. great guy... true gamer
Most of us have seen or know about the classic cartoon skit where nasty Lucy snatches the football away from poor Charlie Brown and deprives him the joy of kicking it and playing
well yesterday the pathetic http://www.newyorkfastpitch.com/played the part of Lucy and completely snatched away our softball game because sheer utter incompetence. So clueless.
Now before I fire at will, let me give you the whole story, the best of three series between Master Batters and Lawyertime "LT" was scheduled for this week - Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We all know what happened Monday at the Great Lawnhttp://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/09/2-out-madness-for-lt-stem-cell.html . So the series shifted to Wednesday, where unfortunately, because of concerts the Great Lawn was unavailable.
As a result, the league decided to make everyone in the league travel above
to the North Meadow to play Game 2. It is my understanding that Permits are not being issued at this time of year so the league decided to play at this venue at their own risk. However, the league only called up the CP hot line to see if the fields were open, no one actually went up to the field to see if it was open.
HUGE FUCKING MORONIC MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!
It was open all right, for soccer, and the dreaded Red Flags were up
as fields were fenced off
This is so bad and disappointing as everyone there
was cost time, money, and most importantly the joy of playing in a championship game.
So fucking disappointing and sad
This softball disaster and that is the perfect word DISASTER, only gets worse b/c we have no field to play for the rest of the week. HORRIBLE.
Umpire OJ Ruiz (not his fault) graciously was interviewed and had the following statement
The bottom line is this is the Worst organized League when it comes to playoffs.Every single year the same thing. They could have easily contacted the parks dept to see what locations were available or at least researched which venues were open.
This is not acceptable in anyway shape or form and it happens year after year.
They donate thousands of dollars to the Parks department every year and for what ???? They get fucked over and over and over and over. They might as well give the money to us, your customers, so stop acting like Charlie Brown and letting the park's department play you like Lucy for a sucker b/c ultimately it is us the players who get let down.
