s harder on a player than the player himself. When you start and play 162 games a year, even a superior athlete at 22 years old feels the effect of the grind

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said the pink ball, which was introduced to Indian first-class cricket in the Duleep Trophy, would be used in the Ranji Trophy as well.Thakur said the BCCI was open to innovation, but added the board would not rush into a pink-ball Test without examining feedback from different stakeholders. We will experiment in the next few rounds of the domestic matches as well, he said. We are not in a hurry to implement the pink ball. If the experiment is successful, then yes, we can look into it.The 83rd edition of the Ranji Trophy is set to begin on October 6 - a month after the Duleep final, in which many of Indias first-choice Test players were participating. Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were part of India Blue and Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny were in the India Red XI. Thakur was looking forward to their opinions before committing one way or another with the pink ball.This game, many players who play in the Test matches and the ODIs are participating. I will wait for the full report after the completion of the Duleep Trophy and we need to look at the various areas we need to improve before taking a final call if BCCI has to play day-night Test match in the future - what are the pros and cons of playing with the pink ball.While most of the players have given the pink ball a thumbs-up, Gautam Gambhir, who was captaining India Blue, has remained a prominent voice of dissent, calling for the traditional format to not be tampered with. Clearance Custom College Jerseys . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Custom College Jerseys Outlet . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. 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His slow start is a liability. He has no position. He has lost velocity. What is he taking?Yes, even David Ortiz heard some of these comments about his career, and it wasnt that long ago.The reality is that players dont get to ride off into the sunset on their own terms without, at some point, being on the receiving end of such commentary. In fact, no one exits without cuts and bruises, maybe even a few arrows to the back. It doesnt matter how glorious, thankful or championship-caliber the ride was just moments before.David Ortiz is leaving at the top of his game, having the greatest over-40 final season in history. His hands are adorned with rings. He has brought victory and glory to his city, country and family. Then in this final campaign, he led the league in many major offensive categories and helped carry his team to a division title after it finished dead last a year ago. So why in the world would he leave with so much left in the tank?Because the opposite of a full tank is an empty one, and even he knows that with age comes holes in the fuel line. Its inevitable that you will eventually be overmatched, that you will spend more time getting ready for the game than playing in it, that you will stop being a starter if you keep going. Ever pinch hit in early April, in Boston, off of Wade Davis after sitting for four games? Go get em!Remember, two of the greatest performers of our time were Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and they both hit close to .200 in their final seasons. We heard all about Jeters declining range and inability to hit at the top of the order; we heard all about A-Rods struggles and health issues. And Jeter had a world tour to go on while scuffling like he never had before. Then someone is on your heels to replace you (see Gary Sanchez), and this is while it takes three hours to get your legs ready just to play. That is where its heading.I caught up with Ortiz a few years ago before an interleague game between the Red Sox and the Cubs. As always, Big Papi was holding court with teammates, opponents, legends, 8-year-old fans and reporters. On this day, he was almost starting his farewell tour, telling Anthony Rizzo about the dos and donts of the game, talking to the Cubs middle infielders during the game. He could share institutional knowledge with an opponent and then bury him in the next breath in the ninth inning. The game, according to Ortiz, was meant to be passed on to everyone, not just those in your uniform.At one point, he came over to me to explain that he was old, in a jovial way that only Ortiz can pull off. These days, everyone in the bullpen throws hard, everyone! he said. I am running out of time.No one is harder on a player than the player himself. When you start and play 162 games a year, even a superior athlete at 22 years old feels the effect of the grind. It becomes difficult to tell the difference between a permanent reduction in skill and a blip. They feel the same during the exhaustion of a long season. They even look the same. Managers see it and give you a day off when youre a fixture in the lineup, but if it continues, and youre of advanced age, it will signify bigger issues. And baseball, like all sports, has a natural ageism to it. Managers and front offices know when youre supposed to decline, and they can map it as a function of age. Then life will imitate science.So at 40, your days are numbered, every slow day a marker for a larger issue. I tore a hhamstring tendon just running down the line at 32 years old.dddddddddddd Ortiz was hobbled with bad feet and heels. Youre the upside-down hourglass with no hope for anyone turning it right-side up. The question is how much can you produce before the sand runs out? Can you squeeze out another big moment or two? Does your contract give you coverage to play while the sand falls? Will they trade you at the deadline to rebuild?Ortiz followed what musician Daryl Hall once said when he was atop the music world in the 1980s: I stopped before it stopped me. Sure, most players have to worry about appearing ungrateful because the general sentiment is seeing the gift side of playing baseball, and to leave when you can still enjoy this fantasy life is hard to fathom. But fantasy is tied to performance. As players, we have expectations that we need to meet to continue in this game.Then, there is the challenge of fighting denial, a tool you use to keep on keeping on. I am not hurt, I am not slowing down, I am not going to lose. The willpower to overcome is a necessary trait, and this can carry you to play through the finish line until a limb falls off and you hit .156. Or until you just get released.And keep in mind, Ortiz has seen a lot. Two years ago, I spoke with Ryan Howard on the field. Howard had come up in my final season with the Phillies. He watched how I got phased out of the game. I was not performing well, I was 34 years old, and our team was not going anywhere. I helped Marlon Byrd take and keep my job, I smelled the roses, I took time to thank everyone, and then I realized I was close to the end. Howard saw how I pinch ran, pinch hit, how one day I had to face a super ace, like a Brad Radke, after no one told me until I got to the park that I was starting. You start to feel like age is pushing you downhill, and the powers that be are tilting the hill to accelerate it. I am sure when Ortiz was younger, he remembers how veterans got pushed out of the game. He filed that away. Even how his former manager, Terry Francona, ignominiously left Boston. Players pay attention because they know one day that will be them.Ortiz ended on top, and what he probably already knows is that the the top is just an illusion. It is thinking you have reached the peak on a foggy day when visibility is low. You have so little perspective when the curtain falls. But for sure, life will bring new challenges, he will struggle with certain adjustments, it will still feel unresolved even if he is happy in another world. Because like most ballplayers, you love the game, you love to perform, you love the uniform, and when you hang it up in your closet, permanently, when all of your young adult life was invested into this game, you will feel vulnerable.Ortiz decided to write the final chapter of his career book, not have it written for him, and even if a ghost writer would have said glowing things about him, it would have mattered if in his final season he hit .212. So to exercise some semblance of control, you set artificial targets for the end of your career, saying to yourself that you will play until you have no job, until your body fails you, until the passion dies, until you hit a milestone, until the uniform is ripped off your body, until you stink, until, until, until -- but true to David Ortiz, he decided to be the entertainer until the end. One who lives by the adage: Always leave them wanting more. ' ' '