Push yourself, but have some F®3$#ing fun along the way.

My timeline is currently getting jammed with opinions on two articles that were recently published. One was Bryce Harper's ESPN article about his desire to change the game of Baseball and the other is ironically an interview of Goose Gausage ranting about Jose Bautista (and a couple others) being a "disgrace to the f****ing game." <-- He actually said those exact words.

Goose has no chill. And I think he is way outta line and wrong.

What if Jose hit that dinger, put his head down, and ran the bases like you wanted? I certainly wouldn't have bat flipped my nachos in our boardroom or instinctively hunted for my phone to join in with millions talking about the flip scene around the world.

Professional athletes have worked their asses off to get where they are today and they wouldn't be there if they didn't share the common goal of winning. That doesn't mean they have to be robotically respecting certain "unwritten rules" on and off the field. Millions of fans tune in to watch incredible athletes do incredible things. They also tune in to live vicariously through these athletes. They are human beings running high on adrenaline and emotion and if a 40 foot bat flip is the result of an authentic split second emotion, then dammit flip the bat.

I think Harper showed some stones saying what a lot of people his age are thinking. and I have to side with him on this one. Here is what BHarp said:

"Baseball's tired," he says. "It's a tired sport, because you can't express yourself. You can't do what people in other sports do. I'm not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it's the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that's Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig -- there's so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.

"Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn't care. Because you got him. That's part of the game. It's not the old feeling -- hoorah ... if you pimp a homer, I'm going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot ... I mean -- sorry."

He stops, looks around. The hell with it, he's all in.

"If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I'm going to go, 'Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.' That's what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players -- Steph Curry, LeBron James. It's exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton -- I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It's that flair. The dramatic."

Chop Wood. Carry Water. Flip Bats.

- Freshident

Bryce Harper PC: ESPN Magazine

BVI from Team Fresh talking about adding some colour to the game. PC: Riley Sisco - Captive

Push yourself, but have some F®3$#ing fun along the way.

Push yourself, but have some F®3$#ing fun along the way.

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