Steve Romer
Steve Romer is both a sponsor and captain of the Westrock-Refuahs.org softball team and the recipient of the 2008 and 2010 Captain of the Year award. He was also instrumental in driving his team onward to win the 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013 RJSL championship titles. A team captain since 2003, Romer has consistently led his team to the playoffs and continues to be a force to be reckoned with. At 58 years of age, he is certainly one of the "senior" league members and his love for both the game and the RJSL makes his blog one worth reading.
Romer is a real estate entrepreneur as both an investor and for 30 years, the president of Westrock Appraisal Services, Corp., a commercial real estate appraisal provider. He has earned both an MBA and the prestigious MAI designation. Married for 34 years, Steve has three children, all who are married and grand-children running into the double digits.
Season Closure
Sunday September 13, 2009
This has certainly been a season of surprises and it's now time for some closure. We began the season with virtually every team in the RJSL feeling completely intimidated by the composition of Team Samet. On paper, they appeared invincible. But in reality, this team experienced a type of neurosis which inevitably led to their implosion. Sometimes, when a team is already great, you don't change the players and you don't change the field. Maybe a rollback to the Samet team of 2008 is in order...the dynamics of that team were awesome!
Another inconceivable surprise is Sterling finishing in last place. This heretofore monster of a team was plagued with a variety of difficulties including player disabilities which were not widely reported. How this will all translate next season is certainly a mystery to me. Personally, I think that Sterling should make another go at it if they can get their act back together. However, I'm not so sure that this team can recover from such a monumental seasonal defeat and they may need to be separated and disbursed to greener pastures.
Well, having dealt with the two teams bringing up the rear, lets jump to the top two teams of the regular season, Jada and WC. By and large, these two teams dominated 1st and 2nd place and possess excellent defensive talent and enough offensive ability to win 60% to 65% of their games. How neither one of these teams made it to the Championship round is an enigma to this writer. But, having lost, I anticipate that both of these teams will remain largely intact next season to divide and conquer once again.
Framing...what to do about Framing. Well, they made it to the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, but then they were demolished. I must say that it was not pretty. What's so interesting about this team is that they started off the season so well, and then collapsed. If I recall properly, this team experienced too many injuries and far too many times the right mix of talent simply was not available at the right time. Captain Avi has some critical decisions to make so that he can avoid a repeat performance of this demeaning season.
In certain ways, the greatest disappointment to me is Bubbas. This team has more energy and talent than most of the league combined and I actually thought that they were going to go all the way. However, as it turns out, they are their own worst enemy and when things do not go right, they put so much pressure on themselves that they self destruct. Although I believe that Bubbas will be a force to be reckoned with next season, I cannot help but wonder what the result would be if both Sterling and Bubbas were combined and two new teams formed. It could conceivably be the perfect combination of experience and young talent to bring both of these teams way up in the league standings.
And this brings me to Marv'les and Merockdim. Seriously, who ever would have guessed that these two teams would go the distance and battle it out for the championship. Certainly not me! But I can't say that I'm unhappy. Both teams are seasoned with wonderful and talented men who deserve their shot at the title. Whoever wins will have the benefit of bragging rights for the entire 2010 season and for the rest of us, fresh meat to gun for during the regular season. I wish both teams well and may the best team win!
One final thought. This season, a "tremendous" amount of time was spent on blogs, game summaries, web site enhancements, video postings, live game postings to the web site, among other activities. In addition, I have begun to explore the possibility of live web cam presentations which appear both viable and a potential reality so that family members can watch a game at home. However, is it all really worth the time and effort? Is the appreciation for this content great enough to justify the investment in time and money? I guess what happens next season in this vein will depend on you. A simple but direct show of appreciation is all that it would take to get me to continue my efforts. However, a weak or absent response will be viewed as pervasive apathy which will rob me of my desire to make the extra effort. If you like what we've been doing and you want it continued into the future, then please just let me know. I can be reached via email at Westrockchairjsl@aol.com or by phone at 845 371 2626.
So, at this juncture, I wish all of you a meaningful Yom Tovim and may all of us, our families and our loved ones be written in the book of life this year and until we are 120.
Steve Romer