The Cousin Ralph

While attending a private training session for Renegade only trainers over the weekend in Nyack, New York I stumbled upon several great experiences worthy of putting to pen. Yes, a few of them involve actual training. And yes I will write about them later in the week, but for those familiar with Renegade know it is not at all about the weight room but about style. Now style can be construed as what you wear, how you walk, how you talk, but also in how you eat. You will be hard pressed to find an out of shape, obese, Renegade practitioner, but unlike most “in shape” members of the gym we do not exist on “Engineered Protein Shakes” or cans of tuna, we know how to eat and that is where The Cousin Ralph comes in.

Setting; Main Street Nyack, New York.
Old School Italian Deli (the kind that has been purged from my neck of the woods by Subway, and only broken English is spoken)

The Sandwich aka The Cousin Ralph: Prosciutto Ham, Broccoli Rabe, Eggplant, Provolone, on Ciabatta, heated.

The Desert: Giant chocolate chip cookie with a hint of cinnamon.

Now that is eating folks!
Does your training/trainer have style? Maybe he or she should. Close to Delaware? Need training? I got style

Sport or Spoiled?

So there I am watching Sunday Night Football in the presence of all females. Blessing or Curse, I ask? I would not necessarily say either. I would, however, say it was a test of patience, my patience, which is now exhausted. Throughout the night I was inundated with questions. Why this, why that. Rules and plays I just take for granted were constantly questioned. Now these women have all watched football before, most have even been to games, but without the presence of other men it was open season.
Keep in mind this the Giants vs. the Eagles so you know it is going to be a crazy game and the observations of the female looked to be equally as crazy. Aside from the typical questions such as; if time runs out while the runner is running down the field and he scores what happens with the extra point? Why would they wear white while playing on grass? there were some very fascinating points.
Here we go with some highlights…..
The camera zooms in on the quarterback. He is wearing these enormous glove/mittens.
“What are they for?” Try explaining that when the temperature is 50 degrees.
The camera zooms in on a defensive lineman. He has two sets of gloves and enough athletic tape to stock any sporting goods store for a year. Just imagine the comments on that one.
It gets really good when the camera shows the quarterback warming up, and he has a trainer next to him catching the ball. “He has someone catch the ball for him? Why?” They ask.
A timeout is called and the cameral shows the crew running out and then the players cleaning their cleats with a cleat cleaner. Now I am starting to laugh along too.
A camera shot showing the water boy making his rounds. “You mean they have someone bringing the Gatorade? Can’t they get it themselves? He is right next to the table.”
“You mean even the bench they are sitting on is heated?”
“They have headsets in their helmets? Who are they talking too? Why?”
“He makes how much? For this?”
This list goes on, and one. I do not think any of the women were overly impressed and I heard the word spoiled mentioned far too often. It kind of makes you wonder, even drugs and criminal activities aside; is your sport still sporting?