Father time is undefeated, but I’d like to take him into overtime.

I bring this up because my birthday is around the corner.

Personally, I never cared much about my birthday. I always viewed it as just another day and never got upset if anyone forgot it. Honestly, social media is the only way I remember them.

But, I need to get this content train rolling, so let’s start things off by telling you what I do think about on my birthday.

I haven’t gotten into many personal stories online, but I figured if I got into more detail about why I train it would help paint a clearer picture of why I do what I do.

On November 10, I’ll be 39. My age is my age, but I never really thought of myself as getting that much older. If I get too ahead myself, I do have the kids to put in my place by pointing out my gray hairs and telling me I reached “Unc” status.

I can’t deny my age, but I’ve always believed age is just a number and a mindset. If you want to be old — and I’m around many that love to say it — then you’ll be old. You can think whatever you want, I don’t really care.

For me, why I train boils down to two things: I want to keep playing ball and it helps me be a better coach.

Here with James Deen, who ran the league, and Blake DeRenzis, our manager, after winning the MVP in 2024

I’m not going to lie to you, out of those two things, playing ball is number one. Even when people tell me I’m too old to do it. It’s annoying to hear, but I always remember that you usually hear those things from people that don’t have similar interests or goals as you.

I’ve played ball my whole life. It’s always been my outlet. It’s what I now do for fun. I grew up with baseball and then transitioned into softball. I want to play for as long as I can. I know the day is going to come when I’ll no longer be able to play. I want to delay it for as long as I can.

I always look at all the pros who had really long careers. Julio Franco played until he was 48. Tom Brady played quarterback until he was 45. Jaromir Jagr is 53 and he’s still playing hockey. There’s plenty of other examples, but those just came to mind. What those guys had to go through to keep playing is far more grueling than anything I’ll see on a softball field and I’m also some years away from even being their age.

My thoughts on life are that you get one life to live and you should live it how you want. Take care of your family, job and bills, and the rest is up to you. My interest in playing is only going up as I’ve been exposed to better competition the past couple of years. I’ve been a part of three championships and won an MVP last year while playing the best on the Island, great competition in New Jersey and competitive teams from all over the tri-state in tournaments.

This was the first year I played in New Jersey and won the championship with Candied Ham in August. They plan on traveling to more tournaments next year.

Next year there’s plans on traveling to tournaments over the summer. This is what I do for fun. I enjoy the competition, being around the guys and playing the sport I’ve played and watched my whole life. I love this. I’m doing this for Charlie from 10 years ago who was dying to play multiple times per week over the summer.

This is where the age comes in. In order to keep on playing, I have to take care of myself. This is why I train and do things the way I do. Everybody thinks I workout to look good for the pool parties in Vegas (and it’s certainly a nice benefit), but two weekends per year just isn’t enough incentive to train year round.

I have to train like an athlete. The qualities I’ve built in the gym and running on the turf have led me to these opportunities with softball. It would be nice to just be able to lay on the couch, wake up and get a couple of hits off of a sling pitcher, but, unfortunately, I’m not good enough. It’s been the same story since I was a kid, if I want to play, I have to put in the work in the gym.

This was the second title in a row with JVC on Staten Island. These guys introduced me to sling pitching in 2022.

What makes this great for me is it also allows me to be a better coach. I’m not saying that you need to be currently training and in great shape to be a coach. Some of the best coaches I’ve met don’t work out and I could only hope to be a fraction of as good as they are. I have to do it because my background isn’t in coaching. For those that don’t know, I went to school to get into sports media and worked in radio and newspapers for six years. I didn’t get into training until 2014. I don’t have the experience that others had coming out of college.

One of the ways I learn is by doing what I learned on myself. I take all of the things I learn from coaches, the books I read and seminars and apply it on myself. Since I still have a personal stake in training, it makes me pay close attention to what I’m learning because, I too, want to get better. Through trial and error, it helps me coach the exercises better, learn better cues, figure out what works and what doesn’t and deliver to my athletes.

At 39, I only feel like I’m getting better. My birthday let’s me know that I’m getting older, but I train the way I do so I can continue to do what I love.