No Weapon Shall Prosper against No Sleeves

After the best NFL game of the year Ray Lewis quoted the following Bible Passage 

Isaiah 54:17

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,

”Says the Lord." ...

 

Words like : Talented,  Crazed, Fast, Heart, Vicious, Goon, Smart, Team Player, Thug , Leader, Bully , Inspirational , Intimidator, Family Man, and Warrior all describe Ray Lewis. People never look beyond the very serious fact that he was charged with obstructing justice in a double murder trial in 2000 when he tried to cover up the crimes of "his two friends".  That incident mars the fact that he is deeply religious family who is a leader both on and off the field. 

I went to catholic school for 13 years and am not deeply religious, but I also recognize the fact that in sports every person has their own inner source of motivation. For some like Ray Lewis and Tim Tebow that source is religion. What frustrates me is that Tebow is praised and commend for his religious values yet Lewis is just written off.  Is it racial? Is it the position they play? Is it media hype?  Probably all of the above. They are both called leaders and winners, yet we all know that Ray Lewis can play linebacker and Tebow cannot play NFL quarterback.  Sorry but when character is equal, then ability is the determining factor on who I want on my team. That being said I always Ray Lewis on my football team (hell even softball) as he can play and has the ability to make others around him better.

A sign of Lewis leadership came in yesterday's thrilling victory over the heavily favored #1 Seed Denver Broncos.
  

when he and most of his team wore NO SLEVEES in sub-zero temperature

while his opponent's body language looked cold and uncomfortable

During the broadcast the announcers commented that during their conversation with Lewis before that game they asked "So Ray are you going to wear long sleeves in the zero degree tempetures. Ray only looked at them like you’re kidding right?" Lewis believes in that tough focused no sleeves in cold mindset and so do I. No sleeves in the cold is a mindset that the weather is not going to stop you. 

Baltimore had that yesterday and Denver did not. As for softball, there are very few Ray Lewis types out there that combine ability and leadership, but I can think of one
 

whose team's journey will be told next edition of the insider. 

Suspicion brings Dishonor .. Not Right

Every real warrior, competitor, and softball player knows that death comes before dishonor. Your always trying to play the game the right way because your name, your pride, your self-respect; essentially your Honor is precious and irreplaceable.  A player is not a player without honor.

In Major League Baseball there is no greater honor to bestow upon a player than Election to the Hall of Fame. This year no one was elected. The writers sent a message and and made a good call regarding obvious and proven performance enhancing cheaters like Bonds, Clemens and Sosa

Feels right.

Unfortunately instead of following, explaining, or breaking a Hall of Fame story the so called most qualified people to decide the Baseball Hall of Fame, the baseball writers, decided to create a story by not allowing anyone to entered the Hall who played during the "Steroid Era (1994-2004). They let suspicion and suspicion alone deny great players like Piazza and Biggio  

the honor of being enshrined as all time greats just because of whispers and rumors. Fucking high school girls passing notes in class style. Weak and feels wrong.

Now I know you might be thinking Ricky is a Met fan and his judgement is biased, but as my friends know I was never a Piazza guy as I didn't like his defense and his unwillingness to move to first base because he was such a lousy catcher. But c'mon his right handed swing was beautiful and there was never ever any performance enhancing proof against him? I mean aren't we Innocent until proven guilty? The baseball writers don't think so as with them its "Guilty if Suspicious - no proof needed". Its gossip column, NY Post Page 6 style, sensationalist journalism/justice. A damn witch hunt with little or flimsy evidence at best. 

If the writes wanted to reward non nonperformance enhancing players why weren't Jack Morris and Tim Raines elected?

They were awesome. They weren't saints, but clearly were outstanding players. Obviously the writers just wanted to make a statement about the steroids than do their homework and recognize great players for their on the field accomplishments. Mistake.

What about going forward? Will Greg Maddux, Vladamir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Kent, Ken Griffey, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Omar Visquel be punished b/c they played in the Steroid ERA? Some yes. Some no. Why ? Perception is reality. Baseball writers are bitches and should be removed from the Hall of Fame voting/selection process. How can men with no honor and sense of justice vote on baseball's greatest honor? The answer is simple : They shouldn't as they love the drama more than justice.

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.