Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
An Open Letter to Myself as a Younger Wrestler
Dear Dennis, Your last year of wrestling in high school will be an interesting one to say the least. I realize looking back now that I can't change the past and so the feelings I had back then won't change simply because what I'm feeling now, but I wish to tell you this nonetheless. Your first day of practice your senior year will be hard. Not hard in the sense of a hard workout, you've been through much harder workouts at this point, but hard in the sense that you realize it's the beginning of the end. Something you've held dear, and as much as you don't want it to go, time wants to happen and we as humans are no match for time, no matter what we try to do. You won't go back after your first practice to your room and cry or whatever. It's not the time to be emotional. No, there's too much work to be done and so instead you'll go home, run and go to bed, exhausted and frustrated from cutting weight. Every day of the season will be a tough one. "Last meet with this team." "Last time I'll ever wrestle in this tournament." You'll love wrestling more than ever before because you realize more than all the previous years that it's fleeting. Yet there will also always be a sort a melancholic ring to every match. After every win, you'll be excited for a minute before thinking about how much you love this sport and get scared that it's leaving you or rather you're leaving it. Not due to your own accord, but due to time forcing the clock around. When you go into Sectionals your senior year you'll get the one seed, you'll be excited as at this point you still have only ever gotten second at a tournament before and feel that winning Sectionals would be the most amazing tournament to get your first tournament win at, sadly though, you will place 4th. Upon getting to States you won't really be that excited, just kind of content. Happy for your season to go on another week and you don't have to say goodbye so soon, but angry when you look at the top of the stand and realize that should be you. You vow to be even hungrier next week, shock the state at the tournament. At your last practice you won't be nearly as heartbroken as your first practice. Maybe it's because you're so confident in how hungry you are and your ability to shock the state or maybe you've just matured to the fact that you can't change time. The next day at States is when you'll cry. Immensely. Truth is you are close to doing something at the tournament when a badly shot takedown (while being up on points) will put you to your back. You'll leave the mat after rising your shoes above your head and putting them there. You'll cry harder than ever before shouting out "THIS WASN'T HOW MY CAREER WAS SUPPOSED TO GO OUT!" Which yes, you'll be right, you worked harder than that, but it happens. You'll be a broken man the next day looking at brackets. Just kind of hurt and mad at yourself. That day isn't the last day you'll be hurt. You'll be hurt for a while but you'll get over it. You'll have surgery on your wrist and that will hurt, but your pride will still hurt more, but eventually the pain will subside and you'll go on to choose a college and graduate and appreciate all what you had in wrestling even if it ends. Now if you want to know what's happened later on, well. You didn't wrestle your first two years of college. Life gets in the way sometimes. You'll coach though and as you'll tell the newspaper that you would love to coach one day, you're nothing if not true to your word. You love it more than anything and you seem to potentially have even more talent for it than you did the sport itself. Wrestling, though, you've decided to finally go back to it this year realizing yes, you've squandered the opportunity to continue a sport you love more than almost anything for two years, but you're not squandering that opportunity anymore. Because opportunity doesn't come around much. If there's any advice I can give you for life that I've learned these past years, it is don't squander opportunity and live in the moment and I think you're learning that just fine.
By Dennis Begley8 years ago in Unbalanced
Why Millennials Need Martial Arts
It was a normal day like any other. I was distracted, not doing my assigned schoolwork and goofing off like I always did. I didn't know today would be the day that testing my training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This would be more important than any other test I had ever taken in a classroom.
By Cody David8 years ago in Unbalanced
Descriptive Side of You
The Leather Sphere It had been traveling as if it was on a set course passing by like an out-of-state family member visiting. The body weirdly was shaped in an oval type of look, its skin coat brown like wet dirt freshly mixed with a white rigid lace exerting down the spine with gap sizes like SpongeBob’s teeth that fingers are placed in for grip. It is stitched in to help hold and accurately place the ball. The shape looked like the head of Hey Arnold from Cartoon Network. The feel of the brown leather oval shape instrument hones like a missile chasing its target. The force could be heard coming at the rip of a whip. If you were to hear the cut of the air, it was literally too late.
By isaiah cruz8 years ago in Unbalanced
Best NFL Running Backs of All Time
Running back has become a devalued position in the modern NFL game. It's a passing league now and quarterbacks are all the rage. They are the ones who receive the most praise and have offenses designed around them as the centerpiece. However, having a game-changing running back can make all the difference and may even be more valuable than a quarterback. Only a select few NFL running backs would fall under that category but all who do were beasts and changed the sport of football. Narrowing it down was rough, but someone had to do it. So these are the runners that would even give the best defenses in NFL history broken ankles and will be remembered forever.
By Jesse Kinney8 years ago in Unbalanced
Brady Retirement?
Just a Girl, on the Couch, in Her Football Jersey: Monday, Brady did not attend the Optional training for the team. He was in Qatar with his family, visiting our troops, and working his Best Buddies Charity. It was optional training, and though it is rare for Brady to miss these OTAs, sometimes life does intercede.
By Jenna Logan8 years ago in Unbalanced
Why I Love the CFL
I love the CFL, or the Canadian Football League, for those of you who don't know. I am, of course, Canadian and that's why I got into it, but I've tried many times and have never fully been able to get into the NFL. It's just not for me. I love football, though, and think that the CFL sometimes gets made fun of without having someone to stick up for it. So, here are some reasons why I love the CFL and why I think you should give it a try.
By Matt V. Unger8 years ago in Unbalanced
10 of the All-Time Coolest Jerseys in Sports. Top Story - April 2018.
Stadiums and jerseys are not given as much attention as players and coaches are by the media. However, they can be just as big a part of the team as any star player—maybe even more so. Many of baseball's most beautiful ballparks have name and brand recognition that are known by millions of people, and the same can be said for jerseys. Whether it be the design, color scheme, style, or hidden meaning in the logo, they are recognized around the world and are sewn into the identity and reputation of the team.
By Connor Brighton8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Most Lopsided NHL Trades in History
When fans of hockey hear about a seismic NHL trade, where superstars and future superstars are dealt, they hope their team, if involved, came out on top. At the very least, they hope their team wasn't fleeced by another. Unfortunately for some, the latter happens all the time in the NHL.
By Jesse Kinney8 years ago in Unbalanced
Worst MLB Teams to Win the World Series
Winning the World Series is the epitome of every baseball team. Seasons are filled with teams that seem destined for greatness or disappointment, only to surprise everyone. Some of the best teams, like the 2001 Seattle Mariners, won a record 116 games but lost to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Then there are teams like the 2015 Kansas City Royals, who mastered the small-ball game, counting on clutch singles and stolen bases to win the World Series. It shows that there are many different factors that win ball games. Some of the worst teams have been victorious because of this. Here are the worst MLB teams to win the World Series.
By Dave Schneider8 years ago in Unbalanced
Former Somers Pitcher Provides Bio-Mechanical Clinic to Keep Young Arms Healthy
Even though former Somers High School standout pitcher Dan Zlotnick believes the premium on velocity has undone many major league pitchers, he’s all for elevating the mercury at home plate. He just knows there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way. But the clinic he’s providing at the Somers Sports Arena doesn’t quite have an eye on getting ahead of lofty Major League downfalls and aspires to enable kids to keep bringing it home. “We want them to stay healthy because that’s the biggest thing that gets them out of the game,” says the 2009 Somers grad.
By Rich Monetti8 years ago in Unbalanced
10 Best Teams to Ever Win the Stanley Cup
There is nothing better in sport than the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is the most intense playoff format, leads to the best moments, and has some of the best traditions. A few examples include Detroit and their octopus throwers, Nashville and their catfish throwers, and of course, the playoff beard. There are four rounds, each series can go to seven games, unbelievable comebacks occur all the time, and overtime is the most thrilling invention, potentially, of all-time. So yeah, nothing compares.
By Jesse Kinney8 years ago in Unbalanced
