A time in my life when I learned to do something well...

I’ve always been a strong rhythm guitar player.  My peers in our little music scene would say I’m a better bass player, but growing up, the six strings always drew me in with amazement, happiness, anxiety, and intimidation.  Why?  Why would something I find solace in bring on emotions from vast spectrums?  You would think a hobby, whether it be playing chess, wood-working, needle-point or even bridge, a person would be relaxed knowing that they had nothing to prove to anyone, it’s just them and the activity.  With music it’s different, because no matter where you’re from or the language you speak, music translates emotion.  A Chinese person can listen to a song written by a man from America and understand what’s going on, the tempo and melodies convey emotion.  So when you mess up in your playing, it translates in multiple languages.

After about 10 years of strong rhythm playing, it was time to step up my game and start playing some scorching leads.  Now, the important thing about being a lead player is “versatility” or the ability to play many different styles of music (any musician worth their salt is versatile in different styles regardless of position in a band or whatever, but for the sake of argument, we’re talking lead guitarists).  I figured, just like every other white male guitarist before me, I’ll steal some licks from a group I admired, Pink Floyd.  The central figure for this group is up for debate, but I feel that David Gilmour is Pink Floyd.  His fretwork is second to none, and this is evident on the seminal track, “Money”.  It’s pretty much safe to say that, “EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD (7+BILLION) HAS HEARD THIS SONG!”.  It still gives me goosebumps. 

The guitar solo kicks in around the three minute mark, air guitarists around the world rejoice in harmony as they strum in front of a mirror for the next two minutes, living the dream. Being a rhythm player, I had no clue where to start.  So, while stationed in Georgia, on a Friday night, I was determined to learn this solo. I locked myself in my barracks room and listened to the song over and over again until I knew exactly where all the changes were. “Okay, right after the saxophone solo, Gilmour comes in on a hard B and proceeds to rip...”, I told myself.  So I would play the rhythm parts from beginning to end, then I’d do it again, then, I’d do it again.  After a while, I started having fun, tweaking things here and there, playing something I thought would sound cool. It wouldn’t be a Chuck Berry style string bend, or a BB King blues walk, but just a subtle change that honestly, if you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t hear it. But one thing I wouldn’t change was the solo that was captured on tape in the early 1970s. 

Guitar, check. It’s a Fender Stratocaster, not the exact same Strat as Gilmour, but I’m not the same player, so it doesn’t matter.  Amp, check. It’s a solid-state amplifier, Gilmour uses tube Hi-Watts with multiple effects processors, but at the time, I was a broke PFC, so yeah, you use what you have access too, not going to stop me.  The solo came, and it was glorious. I played the entire thing, note for note. David Gilmour could not keep up with me and the smile on my face only grew as the progression went from raw and in your face, to quiet and calm, only to explode back into a fury of high pitched squeals. Two solid minutes of blues influenced rock. When I finished, I only wanted to do it again and again.  So I did, five more times, and every time the song ended, I started it right back up again, turning my amp up a little louder each time.

I finished, I was a sweaty mess. My finger tips were bleeding from the constant bending on the high E string.  I left my barracks room to enjoy a victory cigarette and look out upon the other soldiers partying in the Quad on this Friday night.  My buddy Dan was outside my door when I opened it. “Dude, what the hell was that racket? I’ve never heard such horrible playing in my life!”, he said. Dan was in his late 30s, early 40s and had a deep love of all things hair-metal. Dan could also play any song on guitar.  Dan, was a phenomenal guitarist.  I grabbed the CD and showed him who I was playing.  He laughingly shrugged off an “Okay...” and walked away.  It didn’t matter to me, because I knew what I played, and it was beautiful.  I was Fifteen again, standing in front of my bedroom mirror, playing the songs that got me interested in the six strings in the first place.  I’m Thirty-One now, I still do this weekly, and it’s still beautiful.

So here’s a joke:
How many guitarists does it take to screw in a light-bulb?
20; One to screw in the light-bulb and the other nineteen to stand around and say, “I could do that”.

Purpose Statement

I had to write a paper on my purpose statement, since I haven't written in a while, I figured I'd post it here. It's nothing serious, just a simple page or so. The class is an adult seminar, like "How to go to School Again". Easy credits, and some good techniques here and there. Meditation is a useful thing. Brings you back to center. Anyway...yeah.


When this assignment was originally given, I wrote the wrong paper.  It’s not my fault, I had the wrong book.  The stars weren’t in my favor, life goes on.  Considering I wrote some drivel on a time when, in my own mind, I was some sort of “Rock God”, I’m going to give it a go right now and use the title as a source for content.

My purpose statement.  What do I hope to achieve during my time in college.  Well, this isn’t my first attempt.  I refer to this as “Round 2” since “Round 1” didn’t work out too well.  I was fresh out of the Army, a formidable force, nothing could stop me.  I had the “Veteran Card” to play, an outstanding girlfriend, a full time job.  At the time, the idea of college seemed like a meaningless piece of paper (although, you could talk to recent graduates and ask them how their life has since improved since graduation and I’m sure you’ll receive a varied, colorful response, you’ll find a lot of them sleeping in a park in the Village).  Then it all came crashing down.  First thing to go was the girlfriend, she was a barrier in my success.  Next thing to “86”, college, waste of time, who needs it.  Finally, the job, it’s dead-end, after all, I didn’t really try that hard to find something I was both passionate about and financially beneficial.

I was wrong.  Boy was I wrong.


See, it wasn’t the girlfriend, college, or the job.  It was me.  I wasn’t who I am.  I was who I was.  I was better than everyone else.  Part of me feels it was the “Soldiers Mentality”, or “There’s no job I can’t handle, I already have a million things on my plate, give me more.  I thrive off of stress”.  I didn’t know what it was like to be “Tom” again or what “Tom” wanted.  The Army thought for me, made all my decisions.  That’s not a bad thing, neither is pride.
My entire adult life, at that point, was Army.  But right now, at this moment, and for the rest of my life, it isn’t.  I’ll always have the stories and experience, and I’ll always remember what was the best moment in my life, but it isn’t a defining moment.  I haven’t experienced that yet.
Learning from my mistakes, my purpose now is simple:
Figure out what I’d like to major in, and get my degree.
The rest, who knows.  I just want to be happy.  Even if it’s sewing soccer balls in Pakistan.

Cleaning House...

New beginnings.  I'm giving this another shot.  It's funny considering that my first, new post has to do with the recent changes of my favorite sports teams, The New York Red Bulls.  Regardless of what Chuck Klosterman says, I'm a die hard fan of soccer in America.  Major League Soccer has come a LOOOONG way, from it's humble beginnings after World Cup '94, to the waves of stars coming from abroad (some consider them past their prime), the MLS is now the third most attended sports league in America...  To summarize, in your face Douche!

But that's not what this is about.  It's about dedication.  Soccer fans define fanatic.  It takes a dedicated group of people to be a fan of "the beautiful game".  More specifically, The Supporters. NYRB has three core groups: Empire Supporters Club, Garden State Supporters, and The Viking Army; although each team within the league has their own psychos, I want to focus on my psychos.

*Note, I am not a card carrying member of any of these clever groups, I just enjoy the antics.

ESC has been around since before the beginning.  When the league was announced, these people formed BEFORE the first match was played.  I remember watching them at my first Metrostars game, I didn't get it when I was a kid, but totally get it now.  The other two spartan groups formed pretty recent in terms of age, but haven't shown any infancy in terms of dedication.

Look at that. You ever see anything like that at a Yankee game?

These groups spend countless hours, doing charity work, painting signs, embracing their team, it goes beyond fanaticism.  Not to mention money.  Traveling with the club across country, buying equipment, buying merchandise, tickets, food, beer, hotel rooms, gas, buses; it surpasses anything I've seen in any other sport.  If you've ever needed a reason to watch a match live in person, it's the Supporters.

Before I get any further, let's talk about the "pink elephant in the room".  This team has a corporate sponsor.  Pretty much everything has a corporate sponsor, but as far as professional sports teams in the United States, this is the only team with the sponsor in the name.  I hate it.  I hate that the only sports team that I like, has a beverage name, and a shitty beverage at that.  Other than mixing it with vodka, have you ever had a Redbull?  It tastes like piss.  But you know what, I don't care.  They could be called the "New York Baby Punchers", I'll still follow this team to my grave...

I'd rather see this...

Instead of this

In 2010, we got our home. Redbull Arena opened it's doors and we left the regime of Giants Stadium.  I call it, Our Cathedral.  It's my place of worship.  Like every start of a season, people came in droves.  The first few matches had near sellouts, with them dwindling as the season carries on and even though we finished 1st in the conference, and were eliminated in the semi-finals.  Hearts broken.

2011 saw much of the same, minus "the summer of draws".  We finished 5th in the conference, and again, eliminated in the semi-finals.  Hearts broken.

2012, stronger play, nearly unbeaten home record, finishing 3rd in the conference and elimination in the semi-finals.  Big shocker there...  Hearts borken.

It should come to no surprise that we have the highest payroll in the league.  Big names bring big paychecks, right?  I mean, look at the Yankees, highest payroll in all of baseball, they buy championships, why shouldn't we?  Well, that doesn't ring true. The Yankees didn't win the World Series, the Giants did, and they place 7th overall in payroll.  But look at the track record.  The Yankees have 27 World Series Titles.  Our league is young (not even 20 years old), so it's really no comparison, the Yankees have been a baseball team for over 100 years, I would HOPE they'd have 27 titles, and I hate the Yankees.  Not necessarily the team, mostly the arrogant fans. Actually, I just hate Yankees fans. Not all of them though... ARGH! I'm running in circles. I digress.

So if money equals titles, where's ours? 

Thierry Henry, arguably one of the greatest living players, is the captain of our team, and yet on the pitch during play, if you watch closely, runs when he wants too.  I mean, sure he's not as fast as he used to be and honestly, when you see his resume, he has nothing to prove in the soccer world.  But I mean, if the league and club owners want the rest of the world to take the MLS seriously, we have to treat it like a serious league and not a retirement league.  

Henry still has it though, I'll give him that.

Aside from the olimpico goal, everything you've just seen was quality service. It wasn't just "Henry being Henry", and I'm not saying anyone could've done it. But watch it again and you'll see 3 instances of solid passing to him in open space. Also, nothing against the goal from the corner, but, I coach a U-13 team and I have a kid in 7th grade that did that, just sayin'... (Edit: Original video has since been deleted, hopefully this stays up for a while.)

Quote - Empire of Soccer

“When you’re in a competition or and you play on a team, you want to win everything you can. It’s very important to win it for the franchise and the fans, because they’ve been waiting a long time to have it,’’ said Henry, acutely aware of the team’s 16-year title drought.

Quote - New York Post

“We want to win it for the fans. They’ve been suffering for a little while. We know it’s not easy to win in New York, but we’re going to have a go this year and first off think about making the playoffs, that’s the most important thing. But again, don’t get it twisted. I want to win the MLS Cup.’’

Then stop throwing your hands up in frustration when something doesn't go right, Murphy happens, deal with it. You've won the World Cup for Pete's sake! You like mentoring players? Well nothing against Connor Lade, but mentor Strikers, instead the club makes the decision to send a promising player away on loan. Corey Hertzog played 20 games in a 3rd Division league and scored 11 goals. With some "Henry Time" he could've been a contender... And don't blame this on the fact that it wasn't up to him, because you know he has influence. I'll admit though, watching Henry and Lade juggle at practice is a sight. It reminds me of a father playing with his son in the backyard.

But this isn't a Sunday league. It's pro soccer...

Which brings me to now. This afternoon it was announced that NYRB wouldn't be renewing the options for 10 players. This comes after the release of the Sporting Director, Head Coach and Assistant Coach... What is going on???

Among the players released are fan favorites Stephen Keel and Jan Gunnar Solli. Who wasn't released? Rafa Marquez and Roy Miller, two players who the majority of fans despise. Just check out the comments.  I've spoken with Rafa, and in broken English he said, "I want to be the best, I want to be Champion" after a devastating loss to rivals DC United. Well, stay healthy. On the pitch you look like you don't want to be there and you're just collecting a check.

What's left for us? What does the future hold?

Well, I hope Petke stays on as Head Coach. The man knows this league and American soccer. I love that big names like Kaka want to come to this league, but we need more development of our homegrown players. We need to stop treating this like a retirement league, or the bastard child of Premier Leagues around the world.  We need to actually "Develop" our players, not send them away.

Stephen Keel had a hell of a season in 2011, making 16 appearances and 13 starts. Watching him in the defensive box was a sight to be seen and due to his flowing locks, he wasn't hard to miss.

Solli (not a homegrown player) had some nasty footwork. Making 12 appearances this year, he scored 2 goals. That's not bad, considering Roy Miller is probably one of the reasons for our failure to advance pass the semi-finals.

Maybe the Front Office should take a little nod from the Sounders, since they like to adopt our supporting skills...