Season Review : 7 of 10 ... Old School Central Park ... it comes in 3's .. #3

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

Team Review: Old School (Central Park)

Final Standings : Tuesday Afternoon Champions, but lost championship to Big Daddy

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 third and final

bad thing happened when Old School (best team name in Softball) lost the Tuesday Central Park Day League Championship on Tuesday September 12th, 2011 to Big Daddy.

Let's rewind a second, I re-joined Old School in early July after my wack ass temp job ended (thank you for freeing me from that hell hole) and all Jimmy Myers asked of me was "help get us to the playoffs". I had kept tabs on them all year and knew they were running neck and neck with last season's champions Turtle Rock, I also knew they needed anyone with a softball pulse as getting guys to show up in the middle of a weekday afternoon is flat out brutal.

I was so glad I re-joined as I really liked the league and our team. Overall Old School had added a little bit more athleticism than the prior season and I liked our chances especially after we played some pretty cool games like:

1. A well played 2-0 victory over Turtle Rock - Moved us into a 1st place tie
2. An impressive 21-3 dismantling of a decent Three Monkeys team to move us into earn first place alone
3. A Mercy over Gibson to clinch 1st

The first two rounds of the playoffs were wild and the softball gods rewarded me for delaying the start of my new job by one day just so I could play in the Tuesday afternoon final against Turtle Rock. I owed it to myself and Jimmy; it was only money after all. As for the game, it was a memorable atmosphere, as it was a cloudy and drizzly day with a fairly large crowd on hand to witness us rally from a 3-1 deficit to advance. 

Unfortunately, I missed the finals as I started my new career opportunity on September 6th and was upset to hear Old School had lost 6-3.  A bitter ending as everyone on that team will tell you anything short of a championship is considered a failure and a disappointment.

I ain't going to lie as my superstitious nature was semi relieved when I heard the news. I knew bad news came in 3's and with this third loss in as many days the bad news was out of the way and I could focus on the NY Fast Pitch Finals which was that very same evening (after work). I know selfish, my heart was with Old School, but deep down I knew that bad luck was over.

Team Future: As long as Jimmy Myers is playing Old School will live and be in very good hands. No School like the Old School.

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.

Bettor's Guide Hope You Lose

In the Bettor's guide section of the N.Y.Post,  the legendary Hondo, offers up gambling advice for those willing to place a wager. One of his favorite customer's is avid Central Park player and manager Jack "Bandanna Man" (BM) Cutler

Bandanna Man is betting on himself this time as he moved to L.A. today and will probably only come back to visit this summer. This is the second time in a good friend of mine has moved away and he will be missed.

While admittedly not the best dresser

Bandanna Man has had his bad and good bets over he years, but always was a pleasure to be around

 and could always take a choke, I uh mean joke.


He went through hard times to build Bravery into a Champion

and enjoyed the thrill of victory
 
to the fullest in 2011


My favorite line from Jack as a manager came in the bottom of the sixth inning of a game where we were facing elimination. The other team had runners and 2nd and 3rd with one out. On the mound we all huddled and went over the options. The guys went with my recommendation of going after the hitter and play five infielders. It worked and after we got out of the jam as we were celebrating Jack turned to me and said "After is is all over can please explain to me what happened?" and laughed

He could laugh at himself. Jack didn't micro manager and was a self admitted idiot who surrounded himself with people he trusted. A good quality. If it wasn't for Softball I would never have met this guy who I consider family. You will be missed. Selfishly I hope you lose this bet and come back to New York.

Softball just became a little less fun.

Precipice...Fiscal and Softball

The Fiscal Cliff has dominated the headlines for the last several months. Monday the tax portion of it came to and end with an agreement where neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted:

• The deal will grow the economy and shrink our deficits in a balanced way – by investing in our middle class, and by asking the wealthiest to pay  more.  The deal gives Obama bragging rights for raising income taxes on the wealthiest Americans -- the first rate increase for any Americans since 1993 -- it also leaves him breaking a promise. He vowed to raise tax rates for the top-earning 2% of Americans, including those with household income above $250,000 and individuals earning more than $200,000, but the House voted to stave off widespread tax increases and deep spending cuts by accepting a compromise. It makes permanent the Bush administration's tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 per year and couples earning less than $450,000. It will raise roughly $600 billion in new revenues over 10 years.
• Raising the threshold for higher tax rates shrinks the number of Americans affected. While nearly 2% of filers have adjusted gross incomes over $250,000, only 0.6% have incomes above $500,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.
• The bill also extends unemployment insurance 
• Despite the last-minute fiscal cliff agreements, Americans are still likely to see their paychecks shrink somewhat because of a separate battle over payroll taxes.The government temporarily lowered the payroll tax rate in 2011 from 6.2% to 4.2% to put more money in the pockets of Americans. That adjustment, which has cost about $120 billion each year, expired Monday. Now, Americans earning $30,000 a year will take home $50 less per month. Those earning $113,700 will lose $189.50 a month.
• The legislation also caps itemized deductions for individuals making $250,000 and for married couples making $300,000. Taxes on inherited estates over $5 million will go up to 40% from 35%, and that threshold will be indexed for inflation.
• The alternative minimum tax, a perennial issue, will be permanently adjusted for inflation. Child care, tuition and research and development tax credits will be renewed. 

Do I know what all of this means. - Not exactly, but what I do know is this:

1. They had to cut a deal. More taxes on everyone? No fucking way dude. C'mon they would have stormed the White House with pitch forks if that had happened.
2. Forget counting on your Social Security money 20+ years from now as the budget had been shot for years. All this drama has caused more social security to come out of your check, like your really going to see that money anyway? Don't count on it
3. Like I said above the budget is a mess and spending has to be cut. We have seen this before, but instead of cutting social programs like health care and education, how about unnecessarily military spending  for example.  Social change is more important.

As a recent comment of one blogs reminded me that Softball parallels politics in many ways
 "Rangers are a very good team but with Armando pitching, can be the best team in the league most of the time. A perfect example of how pitching has ruined the league. Armando hides this team's deficiencies as much as any other pitcher. Without him and the other pitchers who dominated the season and the playoffs, there are 7, maybe even 8 legitimate contenders for the league title, and the standings would be a lot closer. The games are so much more exciting with some scoring and with each team's strengths and flaws on display. Ironic how a league that has more parity than ever on the field is more polarized/elitist than ever because of pitching. "

The reader is referring to  The Central Park Big Apple League where the modified pitching fell off the cliff years ago. This was no more evident that in their championship game where Brother Jimmy's outlasted Radio Free in 19 innings. 19 innings? Get the fuck out of here. No way any modified 10 man game goes 19 innings. No way. Some players love the league this way. Others hate it. A compromise is needed.

Face it the richer teams can afford the better pitchers, but like I insinuated above social change is more important than finance. Some good, weird, and unique softball ideas I have ideas are :

1. 2 Leagues 9 man softball (open pitching) and 10 man (modified)
2. Limit Ace Pitchers to one game a week, Even playoffs
3. Impose a radar gun. Say of you throw over X speed your in the 10 man league, else 10 man
4. Hire New officials with the balls to enforce pitching rules. The Ombudsman idea was OK, but never got going

None of these ideas are probably good alone, but perhaps some out of the box compromise combination will work as you cannot let the league fall over the cliff,

SB Hangover

After New Year's Eve

 
many people greet January 1st with a hangover.

While the original Hangover movie was a classic

drinking hangover's are sluggish, painful and difficult to shrug off. You pay a price the next day. Water and Sleep are two of the best cures.

In softball you don't necessarily need Johnny Walker, Bacardi, or Champagne to get a hangover as they are common. Let's identify a few:

Common Softball Hangovers

• Coming Off a Big Win Hangover - The everyday relentless nature of the game makes maintaining an emotional high very difficult especially when you play different opponents. You can have a thrilling post season comeback win one day to advance in the playoffs and the next day come out flat and get shut out in the Championship. I've seen it happen. Far too often.
• Bad Loss Hangover - Giving games away with poor play and mental mistakes can be very difficult to shrug off no matter how much water and sleep you get.
• Quick Turnaround Hangover - Playing a late night/afternoon game one day and then an early morning affair the next is definitely one of the hardest things about this sport. Again the game is relentless. 
• Lag Hangover - Not playing ball for long periods of times makes you sluggish and throws off your timing and muscle memory. 
• "Trap Game" Hangover - Your team has just beaten it's top competition and then you lay an egg against a quote unquote "inferior opponent". You essentially lose a game that you were "supposed to win". This type of losses sticks in your craw all season as deep down you realize there is something wrong with your team. Tough to shake off.
• Returning Season Hangover - That Championship glow from last year makes you complacent this year. A great player once told me "Anyone can win one year. Dynasties define greatness". Keep the confidence from prior success just don't drink the last year Kool-Aide too much.
• Drinking Hangover - Very few players can play at a high level and drink at the same time. Even fewer can function/play on a 4 alarm alcohol hangover. It's Painful.
• Public Fighting Hangover - An out in the open teammate/manager fight/argument always has a price and lingers. Take it from me I've had hundreds. Avoid as much as possible.

In softball and life, sometimes your lucky and you can look back and laugh at a hangover. Other times not so much. We all have to live a little so hangovers come with the territory just remember you always pay the  price for overindulgence.