I've always been of the opinion that the Spirit should supersede the Letter of the Law as good intentions should take precedent over technicalities.
Others strictly obey the literal interpretation of the words (the
"letter"), but not the intent of those who wrote
the law. Regardless, justice should prevail.
Unfortunately, the letter defeated the intent of the law this week in an
independent arbitrator's decision to overturn NL MVP
Ryan Braun's 50-game
suspension. I'm so sick of talking about Steroids. I am so sick of listening to Steroid
talk. I am just so sick of Steroids and wish I could watch players like
Braun, who has one of the best right handed swings I have ever seen, play baseball.
But I can't. This was not justice.
Performance enhancing drug testing was put in place to create a fair playing field, not a legal technicality laced mine field. The drug agreement between
management and the Major League Baseball Players Association calls for a
tested sample to be sent on the same day taken "absent unusual circumstances." Braun
won his appeal when his lawyers proved that there was a 44-hour lag between
when his urine was collected and when it was given to Federal Express for
transport to a laboratory in Montreal. Thanks to some bullshit rule his clever sleazy lawyer dug up Braun got away with murder. OK murder was more like OJ,
but you get the idea. To make matters worse, Braun then had the audacity to go in front of world and declare his innocence and vindication.
Dude stop it. No need to insult our intelligence, you failed the test.Technically speaking, Braun may have won the
right to keeping playing and earning, but at the end of the day he lost so much more –his Name.
A popular phrase many people invoke
both on and off the field is "At the End of the Day”. At "The
End of the Day" generally means after everything else has been
taken into consideration this is what really matters. It clearly is results and
relevance oriented which is cool, unfortunately most people who use it are
usually just rambling, bullshitting, and are looking to just wrap up their
hustle/pitch for immediate gratification or promotional purposes.
Results and goals are important, but
so is the journey. As the season begins we are reminded that Baseball/Softball
is a marathon filled with many peaks and valleys, successes and
disappointments, thrills and challenges. Before you begin this long journey you
should ask yourself "At the End of the Season" what would make
me happy and if you are willing to do what it takes to achieve it. Sounds
simple and corny, and it is, but it is also true.
Some people might cite the following
examples of softball happiness:
Winning the Championship
Award Recognition
Stellar/Improved Performance
Playing Time
Competition
Bragging Rights
Financial Rewards
Friendship
Revenge
Redemption
Recovery
Respect - Earning or Restoring it
Power
Justice
Progression
Wearing a nice uniform and looking cool
Banging some hot girl you met at a game
Drinking before, during, and after games
Getting away from the real world
All the Above
None of the Above
Only you know if the long softball
journey ahead full of aggravation, failure, assholes, gold diggers, critics,
goons, politicians, phonies, etc., will be worth it. So before it begins know
what makes you softball happy at The End of the Day.
As an actor, Rob Reiner
first came to national prominence as Michael"Meathead" Stivic, the son-in law of Archie Bunker on the once in a lifetime politically incorrect classic TV show All in the Family. The character's nickname became closely associated with him, even after
he had left the role and went on to build a high-profile career as a
director. Reiner has stated,
"I could win the Nobel Prize and they'd
write 'Meathead wins the Nobel Prize". I took a stab at becoming softball's version of MeatHead
to take great shots. Next I needed a softball environment and that's where my main problems were b/c:
It was February and it was freaking freezing. No games were going on
I needed Actors and had no Money to spend.
I got lucky as experienced softball players/friends Christian, Cano, and Bandanna Man agreed to wake up early, work for food, and help me out.
Now that I had my Motley Crew in place and drove them all to Brooklyn to get down to work.
As a Meathead director
I wanted to created professional umpiring environment so I directed the following situations:
Behind the Scenes : Manager-Officials Pre-Game Meeting Shot
As both a player and umpire I know this a key time in a game where an official establishes his professionalism and control. Good Idea, but it didn't make the final cut b/c we actually got better pictures. Now I understand when actors say "it got left on the cutting room floor".
Behind the Scene : Actual Calls
My photographer, players, and officials took incredible pictures considering the circumstances but one criticism of myself is that I made it a point to not to micro-manage and I was too hands off. For example, these two shots
could have been so much better if I was on top of things. The batter was standing awkwardly in both shots and he's not a lefty. As for the umpire, he was too close in the first shot. SB Meathead has to be more involved and attentive next time. Oh well, live and learn
in these shots. The pictures looked great, but it was tough to explain to everyone what I wanted while actually play the role of a Blue This was multi-tasking at its best and exhausting, as it really made me appreciate actor-directors.
Behind the Scene : Videos
As part of the site my creative juices created three types of videos Video 1 - Personal Statements
Video 3 - How to properly call an illegal pitch.Good idea, but again didn't make the cut
At the end of the day
we had a good time and delivered a quality product to the client. Meathead couldn't have done it without his friends and being the professional that he is "Q" http://www.qbaseball.com/ offered to go back during the season to take live shots. Meathead might get a second chance after all till then I'm hungry, I guess being called Meathead does that to you.
New York City Jack "Bandanna Man" Cutler
for personal reasons
has taken his championship trophy and enrolled in Softball's Witness Protection program by moving out to Los Angeles California
for a couple months just to get some fresh air
While on the West Coast Bandanna Man has decided to enjoyed the sunshine and search for some softball action. He has had to made the adjustment to a new ball that travels faster and farther
Weird Arc Ball
I've been known to Tip Pitcheson occasion and today's I'm putting my fingers down and selecting an Inside Pitchfor my readers to turn on as I introduce my 1st sponsor
This isn't a damn infomercial and I don't want to rip anyone
off. This is a quality family owned business
that I trust and
respect. They have been making professional signs and more
for over 20 years and there goal is simple : Helping their clients attract more business.
A big part of being human is individuality. We are all unique. All different.
The individual does matter.
Being on a team shouldnevermean giving up your identity as it should be about blending your identity and skills with others to pursue a common goal - Winning.
I am a team first guy and believe in“The only name that matters is the one on the front of the jersey,
not the one on the back".
But I am a bigger believer that each individual player must be allowed to express their personality and be responsible for their own production. We are not faceless, thoughtless, dependent rah rah drones going through the motions.Your name should be reflective of your individuality and be at the core of why you play the game.Plenty of team players are famous (i.e. Jeter , Bird, Magic Johnson, Brady, etc), yet maintain a high level of personal performance, team success, and star power. Your name is much more than a collection of letters as it represents who your are and what you stand for in life/sports.
Through this blog, I have become my own independent figure, the Softballinsider "SBI", but I have a name, even though most below 96th street people misspell it as Rhonda (a blog for another day), my real name is Ricardo Ronda. Sometimes I feel I've created a monster as no one sees Ricardo Ronda anymore, they just judge me from what I write about on "SBI" . My name matters, and like this blog, it doesn't have a malicious power controlling agenda, rather it stands for honesty, self-respect, and ambition - all qualities that I bring to my readers, my friends, my family, my team and life. Damn all those words will never fit on the back of a jersey, I guess Ronda will due.
Being humble and team oriented is honorable, but never forget that your name matters.
"Taking One for the Team",unselfish sacrifice, is one of the truest forms of love.Winners always Take One for the Team, both on and off the field. It's a dirty job but sometimes you gotta take the pain, without glory, for the benefit of others.
Examples of "Taking One for the Team" is prevalent throughout sports :
(A) Taking a charge foul in Basketball
That Shit has got to hurt
(B) blocking in Football
No Glory
(C) "Taking One for the Team" is a big part of the baseball/softball mentality.
(1) Giving Up your body to turn a double play
No fear
(2) Getting Hit by a Pitch to Get on Base
You know this Sucks
(3) Giving yourself up to move a man over (bunts)
Productive Outs
"Taking One for the Team" is not limited in sports. In battle brave soldiers are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice
Hero
and fall on the grenade to save others. While on the dating scene, falling on the grenade occurs when your friend's girl is a Queen, and your girl is a thing
but you hook your boy up and Take One for the Team. In every relationship you sometimes have to
No Caption necessary
at one point or another. In the business and government world, the blame game always requires someone to be a scapegoat
and Take One for the Team.Lately the economy has been so bad that I have had to Take One for the Team and move beyond the traditional job search realm
and hustle in the following ways:
Interview for some wack ass boring 50 % pay cut job in Connecticut that had an over 1 hour driving commute.
Professionally Deal with Scum Bag Recruiters. I hate them. Fake ass bastards.
During an interview for a job that begins in June, I told them I would work for free until it began b/c I was so interested and motivated about the position and wanted to get a head start. If that's not sacrifice I don't know what is.
