It was the tenth day of my 3rd year of NCAA college football camp. The perfect summer weather, 80 something degrees, the hot sun burned down on the old condemned astro turf of red hawk stadium as players meandered about warming up and stretching away the early morning imperfections like a pack of lions preparing for the hunt and I felt like a king.

We were ranked top 10 in the nation after proving our worthiness in a national championship attempt the year before reaching the second round against many critics predictions. My path as a collegiate athlete had led me to this moment and while many people questioned my decisions to leave a division one school no one second guessed my talent as a football player however soon they and I would be swallowed by the painful events of that day overflowing with hindsight and regret.

The practice began like any other and I as always excitedly stepped onto the field eager to improve and master my new found position as sam linebacker in a devastating 3-4 defense. It was a conscious decision to switch to linebacker as a career move and one that I welcomed and as it proved, was working well for the defense. In our linebacking drills I quickly applied my defensive end skills and adapted skillfully wreaking havoc on our offense without much opposition. I was almost impossible to protect against and my defensive abilities were on display as I consistently evaded any blocking scheme that our offensive line could throw at me. The line at that time consisted of a highly skilled and seasoned core, one of which was my former all american older brother and like any brothers we had our battles. We challenged each other day in day out from the moment I suited up in a red hawk uniform. Brotherly competition, one filled with a high level of mutual respect and ferocity which proved beneficial to our improvement as players after all this was the main reason I made the move to a division 3 school when I could easily have taken a roster position at any competitive 1AA or 1A school. More than that it was his senior year and I wanted nothing more than to give everything I had to be my best and contribute to making his last year a memorable one.

Blitz Period! My favorite! As a sam linebacker I had freedom, room to play, it was like uncaging a 800 pound tiger after years of confinement. I had the ability to start my rush from distance and depth concealed in 3-4 unpredictability I made pass rush into a poem, an art and in my mind the flow and rhythm just poured out of every step. OMAHA, OMAHA, HUT, HIKE! I dashed forward from 3 yards deep 4 yards wide timing the snap flawlessly easily a step or two ahead of my brother which was rarely done by any of his opponents. I hastily closed distance and so did he, making up his ground quickly being the high caliber player he was I was never surprised. Like two 1000 pound oxes collision was inevitable but being the smaller in stature that was not my game plan as i knew he could easily win that battle. Rather than engage him and lose, I had other plans. Right at the moment of immense impact I chopped his outside blocking hand throwing him slightly off balance giving me a window of seconds to reach for his back shoulder, flip my hips around his and pull myself through to advantage. Swimming my inside arm over and bringing the rest of my weight through, I placed myself between him and the now vulnerable quarterback with his body now behind mine. Knowing I had won the immediate battle, my eyes widened and heart pulsated  coursing a concoction of blood, adrenaline and testosterone through my veins. I turned up the speed and closed the distance, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand, the silent pass rush clock in my head counted down pressing me to hurry my feet before the qb had time to react or my brother recover and enact one of his miraculous and sometimes painful punishments. 4 one thousand, i slapped the qb in the stomach and cheers of encouragement from the defense and harsh words of criticism from the offense filled the air. I celebrated internally showing no emotion and jogged back to the huddle. Just another play. Another learning experience, a chance to improve. A typical day at the office.

Blitz period quickly ended, my brother and his pack of offensive lineman went back to the drawing board and the linebackers went on to engage in our S.O.S. as my highschool coach and mentor would drill in our heads. “Same Old Shit”! he would say, boring, tedious, but necessary if you want to be the best. And I had grandiose plans, perhaps conceited plans of glory. Plans to reach the NFL like one other player from MSU history had done, Sam Mills. I knew it was a long shot but I also knew it was possible and I always believed I had the ability, maybe not the size, but my skill I knew was top notch and unmatched. With that I was confident enough I could play with anyone at any level.

Our practice period consisted of bag agilities, linebacker reads etc typical drills that were absolutely necessary, especially if the position was somewhat foreign to you like it was to me. Halfway through our S.O.S. we readied for the bags. High knees, shuffling, cross overs etc. I was last in line anxiously awaiting my turn to improve and fine tune my CNS which due to a tough hamstring pull the spring season before, was giving me trouble. I stepped up to the bags and exploded through but my body pushed back. My mind was telling my body to turn it up but there was a disconnect. I felt like I was in quicksand. Maybe it was the heat or the hour of practice on old astroturf which I was introduced to a year ago and which I knew could quickly cause fatigue. I mentally attempted to dial it up a notch thinking to train my body through it, I forced myself to into a higher gear. Planting my right foot and exploding back through the bags to finish the drill strong my right knee buckled under the stress. POP! TEAR! An agonizing and alien feeling flooded my nervous system and I collapsed to the ground, scared and furious, immediately i knew what had happened. I had torn my ACL, ravaging my meniscus and with it my aspirations of fulfilling the dream I had of glory.

My painful screams echoed through the stagnant summer air seemingly freezing time and our practice. Everyone stopped to look at the origins of the catastrophic event like onlookers of a devastating car crash. They gazed upon my injured form as I tried to bury head into the turf. Squeezing my tear filled eyes shut I strained to turn the hands of time back, begging for a do over, but fate is sometimes not so kind and instead my brothers in red were now audience to a tragic play of which I was the star. It was surreal, as our athletic trainer carted me off the field and through the glassy veil of tears and sweat I caught a glimpse of my oldest of kin, my hero, my friendly opponent, my motivation and my best friend. His posture was of disbelief, hands out to his side and through his shaded helmet he helplessly followed the path of the cart off the field, the field for which we were not too long before battling upon, sharing and growing together through a passion of the sport that other brothers could only imagine. I will never forget that feeling being carted off my stage where I was king and I most undoubtedly will never forget the feeling of letting my brother down. A feeling that haunted my dreams for some time. It wasn’t until much later and would shortly be reinforced thereafter through my brothers undying support, that I realized my dreams had already come true. The love for the game is nothing compared to the love of a brother. My gift to be a football player would mean absolutely nothing without that.

This game is a team game and an often overlooked benefit of that is acquiring and building lifelong friendships, a family. I look back now after so many years and I have no regrets. Sometimes things you love are taken from you. Life is finite and fleeting you must grab hold and savor every moment you can while it lasts never being complacent. Every decision I made throughout my unexpectedly short career were done willingly and without outside influence. Yes, I never lived up to my potential, yes i miss the sport, yes i believe that i would have been great and every sunday and saturday it hurts me to watch players fulfilling their dreams. BUT the friendships I’ve acquired and life lessons i learned along my path are insurmountably more important.

Now injured and sidelined indefinitely, my struggles had just begun but I faithfully and passionately cheered on my brother through every game and practice I could. It was a great feeling watching him at his peak and enacting an incredible vendetta against his opponents especially because I was often times on the receiving end. His last play of his last game concluded and to me he was one of the best damn offensive lineman i ever went against and i had played against many talented and large individuals. The final whistle blew and he came slowly walking over to the sidelines where i had stood propped up by crutches the entire game. He in elderly brother fashion he knowingly passed right by my emotional self to greet our large family of support but then turned back to me as I stared at him with love and admiration. He shoved me, a typical move, trying to avoid the inevitable as he was and is very seemingly tough with a solid control over his emotion. But I rebounded quickly, even with an injury i still possessed remnants of my once formidable agility and dived into embrace him. And there we stood on the field where two brothers born almost a year apart, inseparable from infancy crossed paths yet again exemplary of the sport that was so much a part of us both. My eyes overflowing with emotion, i knew i had missed a chance to partake in his last year and share those moments that only two brothers in battle can, but this was it and the finality of it all was too much even for him and he too broke down and we shared a moment, though short lived i will remember it till the end of my days. My brother loved this sport, that team and the players and coaches that made the red hawks unique with a passion that few men feature and which many including myself aspire.

My brother will always be my hero and my best friend, football just reinforced that. I even, after 2 years of an imperceptible hard recovery returned to the field where my brother continued to play an immense role in my athletic life, not as my competition which i was happy as i do believe i had lost a step and he would without a doubt have painfully paid me back for many of battles i had won earlier, but now as a coach. He supported me until the last snap of my last game of my football career. When it ended I was content and happy with my performance, I could not ask for anything more. I am proud and thankful to have been giving the opportunity to share the field with him and my other brothers in red and I hope he knows how much it means to me that he was a big part of that.

Fast forward to today, my older brother Frank and I now watch our younger brother (when Frank is not coaching high school) who is a captain on the football team wearing the same uniform we both once wore. He carries on the tradition of brotherly camaraderie. He, through his trials and tribulations is a huge role model for the other players which may not be so apparent to him but is obvious to all observers. Every snap he plays he proves his ability as a player and as a person. It’s arguable who the best of us 3 is and any brother would never admit to the other having the better skill however Frank and I, i think, secretly believe our youngest one (not smallest) is the best brother of us all to have played the game and that more than any stat he could ever gain is what the sport is all about.

To Frank and Alex whom I love and adore more than they will ever know and to my many, many other brothers in red….Keep Pounding! ~The Warrior In Me by Vini Iachetta Jr.

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Fade Away Vividly

And the past once strong and vivid, slowly it fades like a beautiful dream upon mornings wake. Struggle to hold on to fleeting details as you organize what event dare leave you breathlessly ecstatic yet so dispassionately unfulfilled.  Calm yourself, collect your consciousness, arise, yawn and stretch to the suns early warmth, I assure it brings a message in its ambiguity and in some time that answer shall reveal itself to you at the right moment. But not now, breathe the life of the day, our dreams, our past, like the wake of a boat in open water surge us forward with power, turning blue glass to white frothy undulation.

~by Vincent Iachetta Jr.

Preface: I watched this whole video and it’s no secret my political views tend to lean to the right though I stand very liberal in many social arguments, financially and military wise I’m very much conservative but I don’t have anything against people who are democrats or liberal. So with that said after watching this video I though why not send this to a bleeding heart liberal and revel in his outrage.  SO i sent it to the biggest liberal i know, my cousin Andrew. I love my cousin more than anything in this world and we don’t argue much but on politics we do, and I don’t mind cuz it’s not personal and we learn a lot from each other. He’s a very intelligent dude so I wanted to share his response with the world. Without further adieu, a hippy’s response to a severely far right conservative video.

I watched the first 15 minutes.  I had to stop right there. This guy first of all calls Obama a socialist based off what he said in his inauguration speech, which he never said anything about “big” government.  Then he tries to compare why socialism doesn’t work using a tiny class experiment.  Because a tiny class experiment is easy to compare to a nation with the largest economy in the world with 300 million people.  What a joke.  Im not saying I agree with socialism, but the fact that the guy makes ridiculous generalizations like that is absurd and he loses all his credibility in my opinion.  Capitalism works with regulation, and the only body that can regulate is the government.  Then this guy makes the claim that history teaches us that the New Deal was a great success.  I do not know 1 history teacher that claims that the New Deal brought us out of the Great Depression.  The New Deal was more a buffer.  It did bring down unemployment from
25% to 14%.  This guy is spewing B.S. left and right.  The fact of the matter is that if you look at big economic dips over the last 100 years, there is a correlation with deregulation (i.e. the great depression and the great recession).  Both big wall street failures due to a lack of oversight and special interest.  THIS MOVIE IS SHIT.

He followed up shortly with this:

This guy also briefly mentions how the economy was booming and the government was showing fiscal restraint under Eisenhower.  What he fails to mention is that the top income tax rate under Eisenhower was 70%, now compared to 36%.  Funny how he leaves that out because it does not fit with his ideology.  I have watched 20 minutes of this movie and found 20 minutes of lies and bullshit.  THIS MOVIE IS COMPLETE SHIT.

Ok, so there you have it. Now I have to give him credit he did watch a full 5 minutes or at least he said he did, but that’s a lot more than any liberal would ever give a movie like this. At least watch the whole thing before you chastise it. Damn! lol Oh I’m not an idiot I took this movie as entertainment, I’m no history teacher so I can’t validate any of what is said but I do like the analogies and the live footage of the Reagan speaking.

Oh if you want to watch the movie its here: http://www.movie2k.to/I-Want-Your-Money-watch-movie-671114.html?drgn=1

I’m a huge xmen and all things comic book fan but the recent trend in the movie industry is to put out butchered comic book movies just to make the big bucks. The x-men series, the hulk and even the batman and remake of superman movies attest to that. They all sucked, why you may ask, well crappy story lines that deviate from the originals, bad acting, and shitty cgi action scenes. These movies just seem to kid oriented which is good for the people collecting the paychecks (bigger demographic = bigger payday) but sucks for true more mature fans who covet a more sophisticated and grittier cinematic presentation. Dark Knight was a god send and a true testament to how every adaptation of a once thought “kid” genre can make big waves on the big screen. Dark Knight set the bar high and is now what we as fans expect to see every time our comic book heroes cross over to a full length live action movie.

X-Men first class is another step in the right direction. There wasn’t much buzz about it because there are no big name actors or insanely popular characters like wolverine to carry the movie but I like it that way and quite frankly it stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun despite that. The plot was well written and is at the core of the movie what holds it together. I mean what better way to relate a fictional story line with a factual event. It worked so well for the Watchmen. What I also liked was the detail and visual explanation the movie goes into in describing to the audience the story of Magneto and Professor X, showcasing two truly powerful characters and their intricate relationship. It very was interesting to see. The casting was impeccable, in particular James McAvoy and a true stand out Michael Fassbender. These two actors perfectly complement each other and prove like Heath Ledger before them that there is much more depth to these characters than the superficial powers they exhibit. It’s not only what they can do in this movie that is amazing but it is why they do it.

I know there will be more comic book adaptions, there is just too much money to be made from them, but I hope before they decide to go the Spiderman 3 or X-men Last Stand route they look at the value of creating true works of art like Dark Knight and now X-men first class.

I give this movie a 4 out of 5 a must see for every warrior out there.

I was cruising through some art galleries looking for potential graphic designers to work with when I came across a post on one of the edu blogs. The post talked about a documentary on a caricature artist whose subject was Conan Obrien. It had created some buzz and was receiving nods, so I being in love with art myself, documentaries and Conan Obrien, I figure this will be good, and well it was awesome!

I’m a huge movie fan and probably have wasted a good portion of my life escaping into worlds on the big screen, some good and some horrendous. But one of my favorite things to do is go to the movies in the summer cuz of course that’s when the biggest and best movies debut for the year and this year is no different, well for me at least. Here’s my top 3 best and worst movies to go see in the summer of 2011.

Top 3 must see movies of 2011:

1) X-men: Firs Class -- Opens June 3rd 2011

2) Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon -- Opens June 29 2011

3) Captain America: The First Avenger

3 Movies That You Couldn’t Pay Me to Go See

1) Mr. Popper’s Penquins

2) The Beaver

3) The Zookeeper

Please if you think I’m wrong which and tell me I’m an idiot feel free to leave comment. Oh and don’t forget to click the share button and tell your friends all about it.

After a long hiatus of side projects, work and personal b.s. I am deciding to return the blogging world. I hope to make this a regular thing, posting maybe 2 – 3 x week. After launching this site I thought I had an idea of what direction I wanted to take it focusing mainly on strength training, fighting, life etc. but i quickly learned i only had motivation to right when i was somewhat emotionally bound and needed an outlet. Don’t get me wrong i still will be doing those posts, just not as often and hopefully not drunk at 3am in my boxer briefs eating a meatball parm sub

Long story short stay tuned for some cool stuff like:

• Movie reviews
• Game reviews
• MMA rambling
• Strength training tips
• Interviews with random people
• Photos of my life
• ARt gallery

And of course, when i make a sex tape with Arianny Celeste i’ll be sure to post it here first! lol

I hope everyone is having a happy Valentine’s Day and if your lucky enough to have someone to share it with you did something special for that person. True love is very difficult to come by and even harder to cultivate and thrive, to go into greater detail would be beyond the scope and time of this post but I intend to in another sometime soon.

With that said for those of you who are alone on this day of St. Valentine, like myself, this day simply sucks. If you know heart break or just never knew love have faith and don’t be afraid to jump in feet first. Remember its the man in the arena who is to be admired not the spectator.

“It is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.”

7 Best Heartbreak songs (in my opinion) If i missed one that you think just has to be included in the list, please let me know in a comment.

1.) Always on My Mind - The King

2.) What I Need To D0 -- Kenny Chesney

3.) I Told You So -- Carrie Underwood

4.) Need You Now -- Lady Antebellum

5. ) I Will Always Love You -- Whitney Houston

6.)  On Bended Knee -- Boys 2 Men

7.) Nobody Knows it But Me - Tony Rich Project

I’m probably gonna catch heat for these songs but I’m a sucker for country and r&b especially about heartbreak. Guess its the maschist in me lol Let me know if I should have included something else in a comment.

Don’t forget to share this with your friends on facebook and follow me on Twitter.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Great quote from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic“.  Read this and be motivated. This paragraph spoken by a wise man Teddy Roosevelt, has become a famous quote for obvious reasons. Many of those who are attempting greatness will meet along the way hardships, pitfalls and critics. It is a difficult climb to reach the summit of success. You will doubt yourself and others will doubt your efforts and abilities but the President exclaims that no matter whether your efforts are unfruitful you are the man in the arena and are to be respected and admired more than anyone whose too afraid to even make an attempt.

Have hope, have faith and continue on your warrior path and let no one ever convince otherwise.

People will never understand how much I care or why, but i do, i do. . . Another risk, another let down another downfall, my life, thats how i choose to live it. Thats me, take it or leave it. There was one person who understood that, who stood by me at my worst, that meant so much to me. I’m a true warrior, a selfless king without a queen, im nothing.     I’ve lost, I’ve overcome, I will make my mark on this world. It will not be monetary but it will be remembered by the people I leave behind. A man is measured not by what material things he attains or by the size of his bank account but by the people around him. I live towards that, and that alone.

“I have the spirit of a warrior brave and courageous yet vulnerable at times. I believe that there is good in everybody and that all it comes down to is love. I care for and love each and every person in my life and would die for all of them if need be.” Read that again and your that much closer to knowing me.

This is my voice, this is the warrior in me…. http://www.thewarriorinme.com/