My Thoughts on the October Classic!

I have almost gotten over my Reds getting beat by the Giants after being up two games to none and coming home in a best out of five series but I had some thoughts about what I watched in the final series of the season, I say this because that was not really a World Series in my opinion. Call it sour grapes but I was not impressed. Here are my thoughts.

The turning point in the series was when Verlander got hammered in Game 1. Sorry for pointing out the obvious!

With the success that Marco Scutaro has had with his short stroke, will other hitters follow suit? Not likely, and how big will he be cashing in for being a free agent that got hot at the right time? Poor, Poor Gene Tenace!

For the third straight year, no Eastern Division team was in the World Series? That's a lot of cabbage for no payoff. I guess I should be happy about that one?

Has anyone ever had worse looking facial hair than Hunter Pence? Leave that to the hockey players, for some reason they grow better facial hair?

Can Tim McCarver make a point without repeating it 3 or 4 times? I guess he come up with so few good ones these days he wants to make sure everyone heard him?

Were Miguel Cabrera and Avasail Garcia separated at birth? Talk about drafting a type? The future looks bright in Motown!

Bruce Bochy must be a great manager if he can win with Ryan Theriot as his designated hitter. Even the 75-76 Reds had Dan Driesson!

Why does the National League keep winning the World Series (3 straight years) but gets killed in Inter-League play)?

This was a textbook example of winning with pitching and defense. Okay maybe some timely hitting but not that much!

Come on February (pitchers and catchers) and the hope of a small market championship!

Lance Armstrong: The New Pete Rose

Now that a pile of evidence has come out against Lance Armstrong, it appears he still won’t admit his guilt.  Even though you now have sworn testimony from 26 people, many of whom had to admit they also cheated in the process, Armstrong still denies the charges.

I see this playing out the same as the situation with Pete Rose. Maybe in 20 years or so, Lance will admit what he’s done.  At some point in life, a person’s conscience usually kicks in, and he or she will feel the need to come clean.

I remember the day Giamatti lowered the boom like it was yesterday and I was in Cooperstown that month before as Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski were inducted into the Hall and the rumors reached their peak. I have seen how Pete would parade himself up and down main-street in defiance of his banishment for years after. It’s sad we will not be able to share with our children the stories of our hero’s from when we were young because there are very few heroes left these days. We only have the words from when the Dowd Report was presented.

"The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is the sad end of a sorry episode. One of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts. By choosing not to come to a hearing before me, and by choosing not to proffer any testimony or evidence contrary to the evidence and information contained in the report of the Special Counsel to the Commissioner, Mr. Rose has accepted baseball's ultimate sanction, lifetime ineligibility."

A. Bartlett Giamatti,
Commissioner of Baseball,
August 24, 1989

Overall, it’s just a sad story. What are your thoughts?

What does not kill you makes you stronger!

As the east coast tries to recover from its uninvited visit from Sandy and the rest of the country gets closer to Election Day. I received some good news today. I was offered a position at a local Club to become its General Manager. The last five months have been a struggle for my family and I and the last time I had such an experience was 2004 when we had experienced four hurricanes hitting the state of Florida in a one month period.  What does not kill you will make you stronger!

These words may sound careless in a time like this but for me at that time I had to try to stay positive as I had a wonderful supportive wife, a four year old daughter and a one year old son. We found ourselves homeless and me without the job that supported us but we were healthy, safe and together.

The field I chose for my profession is kind of specialized and there are not many openings in each area so you do not jump from job to job easily. Losing a job is a humbling experience, losing everything that you own can be demoralizing. I was lucky enough to have my wife as a partner and that we both came from a supportive family.

This time was a little different, it was still humbling but this time my wife was making an income and I had a second income by way of the Beachbody business I had started a few years ago. We still made our cutbacks and scaled everything way back but the biggest thing I had for myself personally was that I knew I was doing something that made a difference in so many ways. I was improving my health each day with my workouts, I was teaching my kids to become more aware of their health and fitness and I was helping others do the same. This kept me in such a positive frame of mind that I could feel the difference in myself when I felt depressed or defeated form an unsuccessful experience in my pursuit for employment. There were days where I did not want to get out of bed but I knew I had to do my workout or return an email in hopes of motivating someone that needed the help to keep pushing themselves. By taking an obligation seriously I was pushing myself and keeping myself going.

So my message today is threefold, for those of you that are struggling with depression, motivation or accountability I want to help you. If you are looking for a way to earn a second income I can help you become a coach and last if you are someone that is facing a challenge keep pushing toward your goals and stay positive. Nothing beats the power of positive thinking, I learned this much in the past five months.