{"id":78155,"date":"2016-04-25T13:42:37","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T13:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78155"},"modified":"2023-04-25T14:04:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T14:04:06","slug":"behind-mic-hard-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-hard-believe\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Hard to Believe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s \u201cBehind the Mic\u201d blog is written by long time RCN personality Scott Barr. He has covered a wide range of sports, including kickboxing, track and field, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, football, and baseball. Most of our viewers, of course, will know him for his work with District XI wrestling. Fans across the valley have heard him call \u201cGive him six!\u201d after a pin, while working with three legends of Lehigh Valley sports\u2014Gary Laubach, Ray Nunamaker, and Jim Best. Outside of RCN, Scott helps small businesses set up retirement plans for their employees, and lives in Macungie with his wife, Melissa, and their four children.<\/em><\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Hard to Believe<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I have a secret that I have been keeping from wrestling fans for years.\u00a0 When I discovered this about myself, I wasn\u2019t proud, and it took a long time before I could even admit it out loud.\u00a0 Nonetheless, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

I like baseball better than wrestling.<\/p>\n

There.\u00a0 It\u2019s out.\u00a0 I feel a little better now.\u00a0 Because this is a blog, and there\u2019s space to fill, there is definitely room for explanation.<\/p>\n

Many of you know that I have a son who played baseball at a high level.\u00a0 He had a great career at Emmaus High School.\u00a0 He was named to various \u201call-conference\u201d and \u201call-area\u201d teams as a hitter and a pitcher.\u00a0 He went on to pitch in college, and was actually a member of an NCAA championship team.\u00a0 My love of baseball is a direct result of his career.\u00a0 Each year on opening day, he sends me a \u201cBEST DAY OF THE YEAR!\u201d message, and we both know that it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

As his career got more competitive, my understanding of the game grew as well.\u00a0 I began to focus on every pitch and every movement of each player.\u00a0 I even began to appreciate a team\u2019s approach to pre-game rituals, and how they chased after foul balls that went out of play.\u00a0 Baseball, played well, is a beautiful symphony of activity.\u00a0 While the pace of the game is often reviled, I appreciate the time to observe, reflect, and consider what is going on.\u00a0 I really do love it.<\/p>\n

Now, baseball for the Barr family has entered a new phase.\u00a0 I have a younger son\u2014nine years old\u2014who is playing.\u00a0 From a baseball standpoint, he is NOT his brother.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just say that he plays for the love of the game.\u00a0 And I have to tell you, it is an absolute joy to watch.<\/p>\n

The little guy has taught me the pleasure of baseball without the pressure.\u00a0 He, like the vast majority of nine-year olds, does not have a perfect swing.\u00a0 He\u2019s not interested in a perfect swing.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t have a cannon for an arm, but sometimes he will make a cannon sound effect when he throws, just to be cool.\u00a0 He plays to be with his friends, to get dirty, and to wear a jersey with his name on it.<\/p>\n

He is not a future major league prospect, and would rather build Lego sets or play Minecraft if he had his choice all the time.\u00a0 He truly has fun with the game, and he allows me to have fun coaching.\u00a0 There is no fretting over an error, or a bad call by an umpire, or a stupid play\u2014by either of us.\u00a0 As a coach, of course, I will teach the right way to play the game, but it is not the \u201cperfect\u201d model that it used to be.\u00a0 It is nine-year olds becoming better baseball players than they were yesterday, and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, while I am on the road for work, I will pull into a parking lot at an empty baseball field and have my lunch.\u00a0 The scenery, and the memories, relax me.\u00a0 Of course, I remember the glory of an amazing career for my oldest.\u00a0 But now, as well, I chuckle to myself about some of the travails of my youngest.\u00a0 It\u2019s a true yin and yang.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even realize that anything was missing five years ago, but it truly was.<\/p>\n

I will always be a wrestler at heart, but as my boys and I say, \u201cwe will always have baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Barr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Fans across the valley have heard…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-78155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-baseball"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: Hard to Believe - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Mic: Hard to Believe - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s \u201cBehind the Mic\u201d blog is written by long time RCN personality Scott Barr. 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