Blue & Gold Tourney:Dancing with the Stars Championship

Brooklawn Legion\’s Joe Barth and Sonny Graci, tie for first!

July 02, 2008 –

OK, it was supposed to be a baseball banquet but it turned into a salsa contest between two hot-blooded \”young\” coaches, Joe Barth and Sonny Graci! Between the two of them, Emmitt Smith and Elio Castrovenes do not have a chance.

Barth showed off his classical dance style and destroyed the competition with moves that make Gene Kelly look weak. The smooth-as-silk Barth showed the clearly less talented group of remaining coaches in his set, that there is nothing more captivating than experience and hard work on the dance floor. Of course having a hot looking partner doesn\’t hurt either!

Graci, on the other hand resorted to nothing less than bump and grind tactics that brought his players and the guest speakers to their feet for a rousing ovation! If Graci made some of those same moves in the 3rd base-coaching box, he\’d get ejected for crossing the line. However, once again, having the tallest blond in the room following every move he made in masterful synchronicity, didn\’t hurt his cause either.

To say that the crowd was \”jumping\” with these two hoofers is a gross understatement. It was, and they were, \”ELECTRIC\”!!

Oh yeah, there was a baseball banquet in there somewhere and the theme for the evening was put on everyone by the guest speaker, Greg Raab. Greg did an incredible job bridging the chasm between the player’s expectations of going to the \”show\” and eventually living the show everyday…but not in pin stripes, but in a Brooks Brothers suit.

I had the opportunity to talk with a few players after the dinner and they admitted that they never thought that being an engineer, a school teacher, a business owner or an executive at any level, was really about being a \”professional\” living the show. That the practice and lessons learned while playing American Legion baseball, were truly life-long lessons. That their world will always be challenged and tested from the green rookie, to the seasoned veteran.

I may have only sampled a couple of players tonight, but I have a feeling that this night will be remembered many years from now in a much more critical time and place and while his name may be forgotten, the message will endure, whatever they will be doing as they provide for their families, they will be doing it as \”professionals\”.