Season Review : 6 of 11 ... Bravery ... #2 of "it comes in 3's"

In 2012 I was committed to and played on 11 softball teams. Yes 11 you read that right. This is the sixth of an eleven part season review series that provides a review of their trials and tribulations

Season Review : Bravery

Record : 16-5

Final Standing: Morning Conference Champion, but lost in the Monday League Finals

Insider Analysis: The old superstition "It Comes in 3's" is based on the idea that when two unlucky events occur within a short period, a third will happen soon. Well the second bad thing that happened was The Bravery, as they dropped the Monday League Championship on Monday September 11th, 2011, the day after the Rangers were painfully eliminated. Unfortunately, I missed the finals as I started my new career opportunity on September 6th and could only turn off my phone is disappointment when I heard the news that they got scraped.

In our immediate gratification what have you done for me lately society they say no one remembers who finished second. However, I disagree and ask the question : Is winning a Championship the only way to define a Good Season? 

I say "It Depends"  on numerous factors like:

1. Your goals - team and personal.
2. Your roster - Are you realistically good enough to compete?
3. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching
4. Injuries
5. The Competition
6. Money
7. Age - both of your players and the number of years you have been playing together
8. Have you won before?
9. Luck
10. Did you enjoy playing on this team?
11. Did you over or under achieve?

In terms of Bravery the answer is YES they had a good season even though they lost big in the finals. In fact this was Jack Cutler's best managing season as he lost several key players from the prior seasons, as well as shuffling players in and out every week due to injuries, vacation, and changing schedules. Jack felt like this year was "done with smoke and mirrors" as he was
trying to cover up one hole after another.

I loved this underdog team and was very proud of our accomplishments, but my biggest criticism of the squad was that a team should never take a picture (above) before the finals are over, as the softball gods don't take well to #1 fingers being raised too early.

Season Highlight: Defeating hated rival RJK in the morning league playoffs while playing shorthanded. Several of RJK players, who I deeply respect, simply said we wanted it more. Very classy and a great compliment.

Future: Even with Jack moving, a  team will most likely will be formed, but its is highly unlikely that it will ever resemble the championship talent, character, and excellent camaraderie prior Bravery squads.

All good things come to an end.