PICKLE!!

And no I don't mean Mt. Olive or Vlasic.  But I do mean don't get caught in between decisions.  There is nothing more frustrating in life when people can't commit and make a decision.  I just don't understand why it is so hard to take a stand for something that you believe in and stick with it.  Part of making decisions is knowing who you are, where you come from, and where you are going.  And here goes my obligatory baseball reference.  One of my favorite scenes from a classice baseball movie is the "pickle" scene from the Sandlot.  The concept may seem trivial but all I am trying to get at is if you get caught in a pickle it's because you weren't able to commit.  Either you took too big of a turn around first base thinking you could maybe stretch that single to a double only to realize you were a sitting duck scampering back to first OR you got hung up trying to score from third on that grounder to the shortstop who made the heads up play to gun you down in your indecisivness.  From my first post you already know that I am an Atlanta Braves fan and fortunately growing up I had the chance to see alot of great Atlanta Braves play for the Durham Bulls (and don't argue with me when I name these players...I was a kid and they were 100% the best players to ever step on a baseball field) i.e. Ron Gant, David Justice, Jeff Blauser (yes I had the sweet Easton flip-ups), Steve Avery, Andruw Jones, and Javier Lopez just to name a few.  But like most 20 - 32 year old Braves fans would say Chipper stands out as arguably the greatest.  Without a doubt, throughout the years my reasoning behind the "man crush" or "bromance" (or whatever else TMZ and Perez Hilton may have deemed when guys admire other guys) between myself and Chipper Jones has definitely changed but it's strong today as that first game at the DAP back in 1992...and in case you have any doubts about my man Chipper, check out these stats...

-He's a career .306 hitter with over 2,500 hits and 400+ homeruns.   
-2nd place in a totally rigged Rookie of the Year vote in 1995 to Hideo Nomo who posted a mediocre (at best) 13-6 record with a 2.54 era...while all Jones did was hit .265 belt 23 HR's, drive in 86 RBI's and help the Braves win the World Series.  (I have nothing against foreign players but that's the only reason Nomo won)
-6 time All Star, 2 time Silver Slugger, 1999 NL MVP

BUT...the biggest reason I would carry his bastard child (Hooter's waitresses are not trashy no matter what his first wife says!) have respect for Chipper is that he has stayed with the same organization for his entire 20 year professional career.  In the era of huge paydays...A-Rod 10 yr/$275,000,000 (ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  He should be funding all of these government bailouts.  I mean if he wouldn't have taken steroids we probably wouldn't have lost faith in our athletes, stopped going to games, which inevitably sent the housing market, auto industry and the entire United States into economic turmoil...GOSH no wonder the call the Yankess the Evil Empire! ) Chipper has stayed true to his roots and stuck around in Atlanta his entire career.  Now sure, he has made PLENTY of money himself  ($141,000,000 give or take a few hundred thousand) but his commitment to the Atlanta Braves should be a lesson to everyone.

It all comes down to passion and your desire to succeed.  To me, indecision is a direct result of a lack of confidence.  No matter if you hit a baseball, bag groceries, or sell Sham Wows for a living (you know the Germans make good stuff), you better do it and have the swagger to do it better than anybody else.  Now eventually you are going to come to a crossroads where everything you believe in and have been doing is going to be questioned.  This is where the men are seperated from the boys.  Because if you have the drive to commit, you're going to stand on your beliefs even if it's not the popular choice (cue up the Kirk Gibson video...that's guts!).  So I have come to the realization that in order to be remembered as an extraordinary person nothing can be done without gusto...nothing can be done without passion...nothing can be done with any doubt that you have made the right decision.  Have opinions, have beliefs, question "the way we've always done it", and take a stand...

Now if I could only get certain people to think like this!