This just in, Roger Goodell punched his wife

Chris Rock put it best: "I love niggers but I hate niggas". Yes that is how I open a dialogue about what is happening in the NFL at the moment. I am literally befuddled by what is happening with professional athletes in the bundles. Ha, I used the term befuddled.... I'm not shocked, and appalled and up in arms like the media would have you be. This shit aint nothing new. Niggas been beatin bitches for decades. However in the 80's and early 90's nobody had an Iphone. So if you want to blame anyone for this rash of domestic abuse cases; blame technology, Steve Jobs, TMZ and social media as a whole. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning any of the actions of these abnormally talented individuals. However, if TMZ was around when Magic was banging broads on the road and contracting HIV you think we wouldn't have known about it long before he made the "Announcement"? Iron Mike was knocking female heads way before he was actually convicted. Warren Moon was accused of domestic violence back in the day, you proly dont know about that one because that was when social media was still a twinkle in Sodourberg's eye. Billy D Williams allegedly (and was convicted) beat women. Now the media is like a pit-bull on a fresh piece of meat with these 'new' findings of domestic violence. Niggas been hiding in plain site, yall just caught on.

I'm just kidding (am I?) but now is a time to really evaluate professional athletes and to be perfectly blunt, how it effects the civilians that are in their 'circle'. How did we get here? The best way to begin this discussion is to first bring up Gonzalez from NE. Really, you kill two people and have guns in your house! I guess he watched too many OJ case files (if the gun don't fit, you must acquit). This brings me to the heart of what I am talking about. ATHLETES BELIEVE THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW. I believe there is a veritable correlation  between income and self entitlement. So these kids come out of college and get millions thrown at them and believe they are actually as good as their paycheck says they are. So in their eyes they honestly believe "the world is theirs".

That takes me to another point. You motherfuckers aint shit compared to your forefathers! What happened to humility? I will give Peterson a pass because what he is accused of is how I was brought up, but the rest of you mediocre sub-prime players, where the fuck do you come off??? Gettin DUI's, fighting in the club, slapping your baby momma, failing drug tests, etc. who the fuck are you to taint the irreproachable brand what we so respectively call the NFL. Do me a favor, pass me your talent so I can fuck it up and get my 5 minutes of fame before I ruin it by punching an infant, then my girlfriend, and then pushing my grandma down a flight of stairs while I make it rain at an AA meeting.

Pieces and Creases

TBN

The Itch

Nobody wants to go back. No one wants to return to the dentist for another root canal. We would do anything to avoid reliving such a situation. But what I am talking about doesn't quite jive with that last statement. I guess a better comparison would be addiction. If you are a recovering heroin addict you don't want to go back, but oh how glorious would it be if you were to do so. Hence the title of this post, The Itch. I think all addicts get 'the itch' to return to their former activities regardless of what it was: drinking, crack, meth, heroin, pussy, etc. There will always be a soft place in your heart for the activities that you now denounce but somewhere deep down in your psyche or soul miss on some sort of level. If you are a recovering addict and you wholeheartedly disagree.... well all I can tell you is fuck you and accept the truth. There is a reason why an alcoholic is always in recovery; its because he knows that at any given moment given the right situation he could go right back to his demonized ways without an apology or a courtesy reach around.

But I digress, the point of this blog is not to point out the pitfalls of addiction, although there are many  similarities. When I say 'the itch' I am referring to something different all together. I am talking about strapping it on and going back into combat. Sure I hated every moment of it while I was there but there is still a part of me that misses it... the sight of oil wells burning, the smell of a discharged weapon, the sound of artillery fire, and last but not least the fear of a biological attack; the despair that comes with knowing that the only way out is victory or a body bag. The knowledge that the life of the Marine to your left and right are in your hands and yours in theirs. It reminds of a quote from the movie A Few Good Men when in the last scene Jack Nicholson asks the prosecuting lawyers, I'm paraphrasing here, "Have you ever put your life in another mans hands and asked him to do the same"? Well I can tell you that I have. There is nothing in the civilian world that is comparable to that feeling. This is the reason why I get 'the itch'... to put rounds down range again, to relive a part of my life that a majority of the time I would rather forget. It was those times that I was closest to death that I was truly living however fucked up that sounds. So no matter how many nightmares I have about returning, I still get that 'itch' to pickup a rifle with my brothers in arms and put the enemy down once again because I know we cannot lose.

Peaces and Creases

TBN

Anthony Bourdain Gets It

I didn’t really want to write a blog on Anthony Bourdain. However, Anthony Bourdain is hard not to write about as I agree with his philosophy on the restaurant industry on a fundamental level even though according to him, in his book Medium Raw, I am too old to aspire to be a chef. In the book he writes, “How old are you? Nobody will tell you this, but I will: If you’re thirty-two years old and considering a career in professional kitchens? If you’re wondering if, perhaps, you are too old? Let me answer that question for you: Yes. You are too old”. I am 33 years old. That being said, his words do not discourage me, Anthony Bourdain does not know me from Saturday. His arrogant bravado and sometimes pretentious words hold no sway on my desires.

Back to my original point, I agree with his philosophy about the culture of working in the restaurant industry. I recently read an interview he did in 2002, and something he says really jumped out at me. What he says is the reason why I disregard his ageist attitude. The interviewer poses the question: “Your kitchen staffs have been amazingly loyal and productive under the most brutal conditions. How do you account for that?” Bourdain begins his answer by referring to Chef Auguste Escoffier's "brigade system." Eschoffier served in the army during the Franco-Prussian War, so as a result he ran his kitchens with “military precision”. Bourdain’s response to the question goes as such:

The military model is no accident. When people are working under difficult and even degrading conditions, it's very useful to make everyone concerned feel like a member of the elite, however debauched. The very things that are hardest and most uncomfortable and make your job appear unbearable to outsiders are the ones you take the most pride in. The negatives become a plus. So if you had the harder, more degrading day—that makes you better.

To me this quote speaks volumes. As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps I can uncompromisingly relate to this statement. There is a mind set in the Corps that closely mirrors what Bourdain is saying. In the Marine Corps the hardest job you can have is being an infantryman. They are called Grunts. I myself was not an infantryman by trade but I was a field radio operator attached to an infantry company; I was a battery operated Grunt, the title given to radio operators who are on the line (infantry= line company aka front line and if taken further line cook). We took tremendous pride in being Grunts. We even had a name for those who were not one of us; we called them P.O.G.s: Person Other Than Grunt. It is this reason why Bourdain speaks to me on a different level. It is the reason why my girlfriend could intuitively know that I would relate to his book and mentality. Some of us don’t necessarily want to be in the trenches, but once we are there we revel in and almost enjoy it. We take pride in doing what we know that most couldn’t do, and if they were able wouldn’t voluntarily do it. That is the essence of the quote above. Bourdain may have his faults but his philosophy and intuition is something I can’t disagree with.

         DISCLAIMER: This blog was by no way an endorsement for Anthony Bourdain. To be honest after reading Medium Raw I think he is a one hit wonder. He is still riding the wave from Kitchen Confidential but it doesn’t change the fact that his philosophy is sound.

Pieces and Creases 

TBN