Tuesday, June 4, 2013

For Whom the Bell Tolls

"No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a peace of the Continent, as any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls

"
For Whom the Bell Tolls" is one of the best book I ever read. 
  • Great Writer
  • Written mostly in Cuba
  • Main Character bones a girl named Maria and earth moves
  • The famous and pivotal scene of the execution of various fascist figures is drawn from events that actually took place in Ronda in 1936. In Ronda, some 500 people, allegedly fascist sympathizers  were thrown into the surrounding gorge by a mob. As most of you know my last name is Ronda, without the H, and my softball mob follows me (and sometimes wants to throw me in a gorge) Cool coincidence. Do mistake coincidence with fate.
  • Ultimate Sacrifice
  • Hell even Metallic named a song after it

(OK I admit I barely know who Metallic is, yes Blonde Metallic made the Blog)

For Whom the Bell Tolls is the perfect theme for this softball analysis. If you notice the song begins with the ominous tolling of bells followed by the driving guitar riffs that suggest the end is coming soon. So I will begin there, as when I consider the predicament of the Big Apple League, I can’t help but hear the final lines of this song, suggesting that the reality of the divisive effect of illegal pitching cannot be denied forever:

Now they will see what will be
Blinded eyes to see
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on

The Bell is now Tolling for the Big Apple Softball League. The league is experiencing its own version of a Civil War as its well documented incidents of :

1.    Violence
3.    Controversy

that are dividing and destroying the league. This past weekend yet another incident that was based and escalated on illegal pitching occurred. Insider sources have confirmed the following transpired during the Cardinals and Sports NY contest:
  • In the 5th inning of Game One, The Cardinals forfeited as Cardinals pitcher Ramesh was ejected for excessively arguing balls and strikes. The Umpire informed Ramesh he would now only talk to Cardinal Manager and at that point Ramesh continued to argue. Forfeit called. Note: Ramesh was called illegal during the game while throwing a knuckler.
  • In the 5th Inning of Game Two Sports New York manager Larry Bryan was ejected for excessive arguing and he and other Sports NY players refused to leave the field. Forfeit called.
  • Sports NY Pitcher Parker was called illegal in the first inning and had 4 illegal pitches called. Parker by far leads the league in illegal pitches called against. No action has veer been taken.
  • The 10 innings were played in 3 hours and 30 minutes and a player involved in the game off the record told me "it was the worst 10 innings of softball of my life"
This was the 3rd forfeit called in the last two weeks of game action because of behavior stemming from anger over illegal pitching. Coincidence or fate. Worse yet it is reality. Make no mistake the Softball War is here. War is ugly. It's a goon fest, on all levels, regardless of A96 or B96 street macroeconomic or social status.

This all remind me of another famous Hemingway quote from the book " "Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today…All of war is that way."

Message to the League : Do something today. Now will never come again. All the problems are based on the pitching. 
  • All the Anger. 
  • All the Venom. 
  • All the Lying. 
  • All the Hate.
You either follow 10 man modified rules or you don't. It's clear that virtually every team in this league has lost any semblance of continence. There is no self-restraint, no moderation, hell there is very little modified pitching anymore and that what is causing incident after incident after incident.Recidivism to the fullest.

The league is dying and any league I play in that dies diminishes me, because I am involved in softball kind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for all of us in this league."

11 comments:

  1. How is parker illegal? He goes straight back and comes straight forward.

    Pretty much "ALL" of the pitchers out there break the 10 man pitching rules.

    If the commish starts losing teams, perhaps things will change. There are so many other leagues out there..........

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    1. uh because he turns all the way to third base before he releases the ball ! duh ! this is obviously a snys player posting this! you people make me sick open your damn eyes and stop only caring about your win loss record! as long as its your guy theres nothing to worry about ! right ! well i got news for the whole damn league ! Carlos is coming and everyones batting avg is going down ! you folks r gonna rue the day! like i said before WEST WILL SURVIVE IN THIS SLING LEAGUE !!! a team like snys that cant get players and has to resort to deperately paying an illegal pitcher just to be able to compete will not survive ! so as long as were on equal footing lets get it on!!!!! ANG HK11 !!!!

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  2. so what is the next step? allow everything short of windmill? allow nothing and reduce the pitching to plain lob ball? here we are again....there is no easy answer and at the end of the day you have to create a set of rules and stick to them. what's ironic is this league has more parity in pitching then it's had in the past 10 years when it was just jon brown and everybody else. today almost every team has a good number 1 and it makes for competitive ball.

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  3. Parker's hips are NEVER square to the plate-ILLEGAL.
    He is most times facing third base when he releases the ball-ILLEGAL. His elbow is not locked-ILLEGAL. ETC....
    Yes, there are 10 or 13 other pitchers in the BA who are also illegal . There are also 10 or 13 LEGAL pitchers in the BA. AND EVERY TEAM WITH ILLEGAL PITCHERS HAS LEGAL PITCHERS, WHO PITCH IN OTHER LEAGUES, ON THEIR BENCH OR PLAYING A POSITION OR COACHING.
    THAT'S the problem.
    The league will not fold if modified rules are enforced.
    If guys want to hit against top pitching, play in Saturday's slingshot league when the great pitchers are not handcuffed trying to follow modified rules.
    OR simply stop calling BA a modified league and play 9 man rules.
    The people who run this league are ridculous cowards.

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  4. We have a great league on Saturday (Central Park Windmill League).We play 9 man bunting and stealing.We have various styles of pitchers,windmill,sling and crow-hoppers including some badass females.We are looking for teams.If you enjoy the challenge of tough pitching,check it out.

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  5. Finally Ric quotes a real band with real talent. Good to see you finally broaden your musical and literary horizons. Enough of buck-tooth tool Kanye and fatboy sellout Jay-Z. I don't know what the fuck they are sniveling about half the time. They're practically white for Christ sake.

    As for pitching, it's all been said. It will be a shame when at least 3 teams drop out next year as I am hearing the grumblings. The fighting is out of control and no one seems to be having fun. The umpires fucking hate this league and rightfully so. To someone else's point, yes the league is competitive but a 3 hour 13 inning game is just absurd in softball. A 19 inning 1 run game in the finals is beyond ridiculous.

    Aside from Parts getting a special deal all these years, Marty, Rudy, and then Pat, Jimmy, Nick and some of the newer teams escalated things with the pitching, turning non-competitive teams into contenders with one player each. As the years went by, almost everyone but not all teams have gotten into the fray. West's join 'em if you can't beat 'em attitude is hard to dispute but it just shows the mercenary mentality that has made the league less fun. No one gives a shit about anything other than their team, so the arms race has brought us to this. Fucking softball Lord of the Flies.

    What are we left with - a LOT more transient teams in recent years, here today gone tomorrow, less likeable coaches and players and an almost total loss of camaraderie that used to be part of the Sunday experience. It all falls on the core 6 or 8 managers that have been running the league the last 10 years or so. Highlanders is a terrible addition to the league. Save it for Inwood.

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  6. RICO Act: Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. The latter definition derives from the federal

    The head of the families: Armondo, Parker, Rocca, Brown, Ramesh. This blog fights one side of the fight while the author benefits directly from what he is fighting. Your integrity is worth less than the baseball owners fighting the steroid fight now, years after they turned away from it while their gates were recovering in record numbers after the strike.

    Mad respect To West you once wrote, however, as far as I am concerned you're perpetrating a fraud and are not believable as long as you support the problem by accepting the ill-gotten goods and to that end you and your blog merit no respect. If this were your first year on the team there would be a little more validity to your claims, but multiple years with Diesel makes your commentary somewhat diluted. I suspect you're making enemies on both sides of the debate. History has shown us one thing, it's impossible to fight and win a two front war. The winners remember you siding with the enemy, and the enemy will remember you helped beat them. Time for you to make a stand Ric,do the right thing, or at least pick a side. The bell is tolling.

    The decision to allow Karlos to pitch against certain pitchers did nothing but grease the squeaky wheel and temporarily muzzle the loudest voice. Why are the other families not being sanctioned? The lines are drawn, the haves and the have nots, next year there will be far less of the have nots and the league will struggle to stay afloat

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  7. Some outstanding comments. The last two really nailing things for what they are. Here's the bottom line put a bit more simply. The desire to win outweighs the desire to have fun and keep things as they once were in this league. The desire to win at any cost comes from a lack of joy outside of this league. The unhappy wanting to find a way to find some satisfaction in their lives. The win at any cost mentality says all you need to know. Get some therapy boys. Explore your s...! The league is done. Players hate players. Coaches hate coaches. The commissioner is incompetent. Umpires useless. Add in how they're being abused on a weekly basis. The league should just go away. No worries there. It will never be the same as it was when playing on a Sunday meant good times. There are no more good times. The league is dead. It's just a matter of time. It's non existence is a mere formality.

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    1. Therapy?!?! Are you kidding? Here's your therapy plain and simple.
      WINNING IS WAY MORE FUN THAN LOSING.
      That includes everything in life not just softball.
      If you have to bend the rules to win, then you're just doing the same as the rich successful hedgefund guys, bankers, politicians, lawyers, insurance industry, apple, nike, etc.
      If you're team is not at the top of the BA standings and you look up and see that everybody at the top is "cheating" then you have to cheat also if you want to compete in the cheater's league.
      If you're ok and having fun losing - then you're a loser.

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  8. Follow the 10 man modified handout to the the letter and pretty much everyone is illegal.

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  9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41LXF86vYyg&list=TLA7da6Ah5cio

    I am guessing everyone would say this guy is illegal. Correct???

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