DON'T BE AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND!!!!! : ATTENTION ALL SOFTBALL SUCKER MARKS

Eminem raps in his amazing new song "NOT AFRAID"

"I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid)

To take a stand (to take a stand)Everybody (everybody)

Come take my hand (come take my hand)

We'll walk this road together, through the storm

Whatever weather, cold or warm

Just lettin you know that, you're not alone

Holla if you feel like you've been down the same road (same road)

Do you like being taken advantage of and targeted as SOFTBALL SUCKER MARK by the following fall leagues:

259th Street

EMS ???

Bomba's League in the Bronx ???

Yorkoff???

(and that's just naming a few) by having them draw you in on the same road of bullshit with the delusional promises of a big $ pot or them holding the field monopoly card over you where you feel you have no other choices. Face it these leagues and most others in the fall are full of it and just want your money. They care ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about you, fair competitive play, good field conditions, and providing an excellent softball experience for their patrons. You might as well call up the hustler Matthew Lesko ( The Question Mark guy), the self-proclaimed federal grant researcher, and infomercial personality, and give him the code to your ATM card b/c like Lesko those leagues are playing you for a sucker based on your greed, desperation, and sadly your love of the game.

Take a Stand against all those fall leagues full of illegal pitching,1-1 counts, dangerous/lousy fields, double talking commissioners, and just overall bad service by coming to play at INWOOD HILL PARK

this fall. I personally guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Why? We care. We put our heart and soul in this league each and every year and pride ourselves on putting the enjoyment and welfare of our teams first.

Always.

Don't be a softball sucker mark anymore. Come and play with the best.

Beer Spokesman

Pro Athletes frequently get hired as beer spokesman. What if Softball players could get hired as well? So without much further ado, let's Top Ten and see which softball enthusiast would be hired by major beer distributors:

10/9 Miller Lite and Corona

In the 70's Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner made this classic Miller Lite commercial
perhaps Miller Lite would consider a remake with Dio Jackson and John Sheppard as modern spokesmen

then again maybe Corona should just give them a call

8. Natural Light

Edgar "The Natural" Gonzalez Jris the natural and obvious choice.

7. Heineken

Aaron "Harrooooo" Fernandez would be the perfect spokesman for as they could film him drinking a beer on the field during an actual game thereby showing that it is possible to consume a strong imported beer and play the outfield at a high level in 95 degree weather.

6. Coors Light - the silver bullet

Everyone loves the NFL head Coaches Coors Light Commercials
and softball has many players that could star

in a Coors Light commercial, but anyone who knows anything about softball's knows that the game's best drunk hitter Lou Gonzalez is the perfect most deserving pitchman.

5. Guinness

A strong beer needs an imported beer aficionado and in softball the biggest imported beer fan I know is Jack "Bandanna Man" Cutler. Bandanna Man would let fellow drinkers know about the rich flavor benefits of Guinness as well as try and make them rich by handicapping sports.

5. Dos Equis

The current beer spokesman touts himself as the most interesting man in the worldin softball a logic choice would be Marc Rosenthal

b/c if awake, I can see him saying the following famous Dos Equis pitch "I don't drink beer often but when I do I make sure it's Dos Equis: Stay thirsty My Friend Stay Thirsty

4/3. Budweiser and Bud Light

Bud usually has the best commercials

but the worst tasting beer. A good spokesman for them would have been my old Merrill Lynch teamas they always brought out the best and worst in softball.

However, If the crew at Merrill refuses to the the spot I'm sure the marketing genius at Budweiser could create a funny spot with Juan Parra and his ugly Legends Jersey2. Michelob Ultra

Howie

from Contact would make the perfect below 96th street well dressed handsome metrosexual (man crush) young urban pofessional spokesman for this light beer

and #1 Softball Beer Spokesman would be

1. Bud Light Lime

For this obnoxious bright hideous tasting beer

the perefct spokeman would be any fool (like me) who wore a bright hideous 2010 Uptown Chiefs champiosnhip t-shirt. ughhhh

Taking Charge Myth

When the pressure is on and the team needs them the most,

Great players

TAKE CHARGE!!!!!

Usually the lethal combination of ability, desire, experience, and mental toughness makes them the natural choice to take charge.

However, a common fallacy is that you have to be a stud player or a loud vocal rah rah guy to take charge. You don't. Don't get me wrong, you always need athletic skills/savvy, but taking charge is a mindset. You have to have conviction and confidence in what you are doing as a manager and a player and stick to it. They say "He who hesitates is LOST", and if you don't take charge of your play you will be lost regardless of your ability. For example, Bobby Fishman

is a good older player and by his own admission perhaps not the most talented, but Bobby is effective and competitive b/c he always takes charge when he's on the mound.

To take charge you don't have to be an asshole or bully, you just have to accept responsibility for your play. No excuses or whining allowed. A lot of players, including myself, have the problem of worry about other players, situations, umpires, or external factors. If you want to take charge you have to control yourself and focus on your game. If you own yourself, then you will be in control and taking charge and confidence will flow from there.

In life and in softball, those you take ownership and charge of themselves are usually the most successful. So next time don't be afraid to say "I got it" in the boardroom as well as in shallow RF :))))

The ButterFly Effect

The Butterfly Effectis a figure of speech in fiction presenting scenarios involving time travel and with "what if" scenarios where one storyline diverges at the moment of a seemingly minor event resulting in two significantly different outcomes.

The cool nerdy idea behind the theory is that a seemingly small insignificant event like a a butterfly flapping its wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately lead to big things happening like altering, accelerating or preventing the path of a tornado. The flapping wing represent a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events (domino effect). In other words, little things can lead can possibly lead to big things happening.

Now I know you guys are thinking I am hitting the geek Star TrekKool-Aid a little hard today (and thank god I am) but if you think about it in no other sport does "The Butterfly Effect" come into play more more than in Softball. Examples of small events changing the outcome of a game include:

• Not Sliding
• Knowing the Count/Outs
• Positioning
• Umpire Missing a call
• Not turning a double play and extending an inning (no charged error)
• Missing a cutoff man
• Not advancing a runner
• Taking a good pitch to hit
• Not paying your cell phone bill or knowing how to use the Internet
• Giving or not giving a good player away
• Finding Parking
• Player Loyalty
• Backing up a base
• Knowing when to argue/talk and not to argue/talk
  

The endless complexity of the game lead to various possible outcomes and possibilities based on every play and non play that does or does not occur. This game may be humbling but it is also a delicate intricate complex web. Choose you softball actions wisely as they have many rippling effects.

As Mr Spock would say "Fascinating" and "Live Long and Prosper"

P.S. When all else fails use the Caveman approach and "See Ball" "Hit ball" "Good"

The Mob

One of my all time favorite movies is Gladiator which is a film rich in action, Shakespearean plot, skilled actors with impeccable timing/chemistry, and above all else memorable quotes.

Three of my favorite quotes are :

1. Roman senator Gracchus who said "Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them, and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom, and still they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate. It's the sand of the Colosseum. Bring them death … and they will love you for it. "
2. Slave Owner Proximo who said "Listen to me. Learn from me. I was not the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd and you will win your freedom. "
3. General/Slave Maximus who said "I will win the crowd. I will give them something they have never seen before."

Very cool movie nerd stuff that relates to baseball and softball.

In baseball the fans are the mob. They are the patrons and the beating heart of any organization. You can over charge them for tickets and food, give them limited seating views, put all the games on cable, make them pay mafia like PSL's (personal seats licenses), make them watch games at lousy times and in terrible weather conditions, abuse them all you want as long as you WIN they will come. If you don't win you better give them what they want and that is BLOOD. Fire a GM (Minaya), Fire a Manager (Manual), dump/eat bad contracts (Castillo/Perez), and trade players (Reyes). Easy sucker mark as long as you keep them happy.

Softball is no different. Fans, players, and managers idolize goon players as long as they win and perform. The softball mob loves dominating pitchers, home runs hitters, trash talking, unsportsmanlike conduct, bullies, assholes, etc as long as you give them a show/entertainment. The Softball Mob wants blood, victories, tension, and drama.

However, that doesn't mean the mob is always right. It takes strong leadership to ignore the mob (and maybe security on the walk back to your car). Regardless, the Mob's need for immediate gratification is always a pressure factor in sports, politics, and life in general