Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

For those of you who ended up reading this blog accidentally, do not fret. I am not about to wax nostalgically about my glory days, even if the title of this blog suggests that I believe I have glory days to discuss. I am also not going to sit here and play Monday Morning Quarterback or any other kind of second guessing game where I pretend I know more about sports than the professionals who are paid to play or coach them. No, I am simply here to share my thoughts on different topics in sports as they come into my mind with the hope that, maybe, there is one person out there who reads it and thinks, “Yeah, I see where you’re coming from,” or “that was cool, I hadn’t thought about it like that.” If that happens, even once, I will be forever grateful so thank you for taking the time to read any of my thoughts that I write.

I have thought about starting a blog for a long time, now. I imagine most people who start blogs go through the same process. Will anyone read anything I write? Do I even want anyone to read anything I write? How will my thoughts be received? In fact, for me, one of my greatest fears is being misunderstood. Those who know me personally are very aware of this and are sometimes annoyed by it. I tend to over-clarify my points and simply talk and talk until it doesn’t matter anymore if they understand me or not. They just want me to stop talking. In the context of this blog, though, when I write a post, my part of the conversation is effectively over. If I am misunderstood, what do I do from there? Sure, I can write a new post attempting to straighten out any misunderstanding and hope that it solves the problem. In my experience, though, the internet is an unforgiving place, and do I really want to open myself up to the potential ramifications of posting an opinion online?

While the answer to my last questions is clearly yes seeing as I am writing this post for an internet blog, the concern still lingers. The short answer as to why I have decided to finally go ahead and start this blog is that my beautiful girlfriend is currently working on a project that involves promoting a blog. Not wanting to start one herself, presumably for some of the reasons I have already mentioned, I suggested that I start one and she promote mine. Before anyone says to themselves, “oh, that’s sweet,” let me remind you that I have been considering this for a long time and she has only recently received this assignment. There is also a longer answer to the question, “why start this blog now?” and my girlfriend plays a role in that, too, which I will get to in a bit.

First, I have to explain why I have so much going on in my head that I think a blog is even necessary. It mostly has to do with the way I follow things in which I have an interest. Maybe you and I are completely different in how we respond to things we see in the world. Maybe you see a news story on Anthony Rizzo wearing his game jersey on the plane, think to yourself that it is kind of cool of him to do so and take pictures with fans, and place the information somewhere in the back of your mind. Maybe you heard there was a major controversy at the U.S. Open involving Serena Williams and a chair umpire, read an article pointing out the absurdity of the no coaching rule in tennis, and move on to the next story. That would be more than acceptable behavior on your part, and in fact, I commend you for even taking the time to read about the situations. I, however, react differently. I need a deeper dive.

When I find something I am passionate about, like sports, I find out as much as I can about it. I do this to a pretty extreme point, too. If I find an actor I like, I will watch as many of his or her movies as I can get my hands on. The same goes for me and musicians. If one reaches “favorite” status, it means I have heard every song they have ever put out and probably watched hundreds of videos of them on YouTube. And don’t get me started on backstories and biographies as I could go on for days. And this is where my girlfriend comes back into the mix. She is uniquely aware of how passionate I can be about the smallest things. She has had to endure countless conversations that are of no interest to her, but had to do with an upcoming episode of a TV show I like that I just read about online and had to talk about or an obscure new record that was broken by a baseball player when he hit the most home runs on Thursdays in the month of August. Then, there was the time I got so excited about a movie that was coming out that I talked about it incessantly during our 45 minute drive home from dinner one night. And when I say “incessantly,” I mean it. I don’t remember her saying one word the entire ride home. Obviously, that’s not fair to her. I need to find a way to get my thoughts and my excitement out without subjecting her to my same annoying habits.

That is where this blog comes in. Instead of boring the crap out of my girlfriend, and my friends and family for that matter, with my need to discuss minor topics, primarily sports-related ones, I can put my thoughts here and have a conversation with possibly thousands of people about whatever it is I want to discuss. Although, let’s be real, chances are only a very small number of people will actually read these posts. Even still, I can get my thoughts out and maybe, just maybe, someone else will appreciate what I have to say. So, if you have read this far, thank you so much for doing so. And if your interest has been piqued in to what I may have to say, keep an eye on this site as new posts will be coming soon.

 

-People are good. They have the capacity to be great. Treat each other accordingly.