I apologize in advance for the longest blog post ever. This being the introduction and all, I thought it was important to show you where I'm coming from. I promise the posts from here on out will be much shorter. More after the jump.
Well. Here it is. My first ever blog post. I am now one of the countless "blawggers" on the web, a seemingly endless fraternity of individuals who think their thoughts are worth their own webpage. Actually, even I'm not that full of myself. But on a recent trip down to our nation's capital, my amazing girlfriend suggested that I should start my own blog on football. After all, there is really one thing I'm passionate about and that is the sport of football. (Did I mention she is beautiful and amazing? #browniepoints). It was one of those moments when a simple suggestion seems like the best idea ever. (begin sarcasm) Of course I should start a blog about football. The world definitely needs another one of those (end sarcasm).
In all seriousness, the idea made perfect sense. I love football. Ever since I first learned the sport, which by the way was at the relatively old age of 15, I have loved it. I love the teamwork, the intelligence and discipline required to play the game, all of the little nuances of all of the different positions, the schemes, the plays, the celebrations, and everything else that football is about. Above all, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful thing in the world is when a team executes a play to perfection. When everyone simply does their job exactly as they are supposed to and indeed everyone needed to do their job to advance the ball into the end zone or to get a stop on defense.
I moved to Connecticut from India at 15, and really didn't know much about football before then. I learned the basic rules by watching it and playing video games with my cousin who happened to be a Buffalo Bills fan. Of course, I am now a die-hard Bills fan. Sad, I know. I have continuously watched the Bills since 1998. In the 14 years I've followed them, they've made the playoffs twice - the first two years. I had no idea it would be such a bleak next 12 years as a Bills fan. I missed all the glory years with Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and all the greats in the 90's. Since then, the Bills have gone through five head coaches and are currently on their sixth one. That's six head coaches in 14 years and two playoff appearances. The last playoff game the Bills were in was the Music City Debacle against the Tennessee Titans (or elsewhere known as the "Music City Miracle"). Oh and it was a FORWARD PASS! So as you can imagine, I am no stranger to watching losing football. But because my beloved team has been essentially stuck in mediocrity, I started paying a lot of attention to winning teams. I always wanted to know what they were doing and why the Bills simply seemed to be behind the curve. The result was a new-found appreciation for football.
In high school, I started out playing soccer (since that was literally the only sport that translated from India) my sophomore year. The following year I decided to give football a try. Just imagine a slightly built Indian kid (5'6", 135lbs) with shoulder pads that rose above his head getting thrown around the practice field like a rag doll. That summer, I decided to bulk up and apparently my body decided to hit a growth spurt as well. I went into my senior year at 5'10", 175 lbs. I was still only learning football though. Its amazing how much you learn about the back end operation by standing next to the coaches on the sidelines. I was basically a practice field performer, a scout team hero of sorts. I never started a single varsity game but I earned the "Scout Team Player of the Year" award. For those of you that have never played, scout team is the band of 3rd and 4th stringers that help the starters prepare for their games every week by resembling the opposing team. Basically, we're the ones that the starters beat up on for the whole week before they play the real game. A week-long tackling dummy if you will. But I took a lot of pride in it. I played free safety and wide receiver. Every pick I made, every pass I caught, I felt a sense of pride. I knew I wasn't ready to play with the starters yet. I still had a lot to learn. Most importantly I had to learn to get over the mental hurdle of being afraid on the field. I had been playing the game for two years (really mostly just learning) and I was afraid to get hit or hit someone. You know, the two things that every football player needs to be able to do.
But I was just a late bloomer. After high school, I attended the University of Connecticut and I decided during my freshman year that I would try and walk-on to the football team the following year. But, I was also in the Army National Guard and my unit got activated after 9/11, so that plan went out the window. By the time I returned to UConn, they had moved from 1-AA to 1-A and were in their first ever bowl game under head coach Randy Edsall who essentially had put UConn football on the map. I knew I simply wasn't good enough to hang with the improving recruits. I then heard of semi-pro football in Connecticut and went in for a tryout for the CT Thunder. Not only did I make the team, but I started at safety for the second team - CT Storm. My first career interception resulted in a horse-collar tackle and a broken leg, temporarily taking me out of football. I played for another semi-pro team a few years later. Playing for those two teams, I often wished I knew in high school what I knew in college. (Don't we all!)
Later on, I attended the University of Connecticut School of Law. For the longest time, I wanted to become a sports agent and I figured law school would be a good graduate degree to have. Before and during law school, I interned at a couple of sports agencies. The first was at a baseball agency where I learned a lot about the business and the game of baseball. Later on, I worked at a a sports and entertainment agency within its NFL division and I thoroughly enjoyed my work there. I learned how to scout players, make player comparisons, grade their play, and mostly how to market players - both to teams for employment, and to businesses for marketing opportunities. I realized while working at these two internships that what I really wanted to do is not necessarily be a sports agent, but be a scout for an NFL team and eventually a general manager. How original, right? "Yeah I want to be a GM of the (insert favorite NFL team)" I know that I have a lot to learn. But I also know that there's nothing that excites me more than talking football. My girlfriend would probably describe me as "stoic" except for when I walk her through a play sequence on the DVR and describe to her how amazing the block on the backside of a counter was which essentially sprung the back to the opposite side for a touchdown. Or how that Quarterback froze the free safety dead in his tracks with his eyes and essentially created his own throwing window for the wide receiver on the post pattern. But I know excitement alone will never be enough to land a job in football. I need knowledge, and an opportunity.
So, here I am, creating my own opportunity and trying to gain some knowledge. Here are a few ground rules that I will try to abide by and those who post should as well.
1. No cursing. I shouldn't need to explain this but I've been on countless forums and everyone seems to think they can do whatever they want since they can hide behind their anonymity on the web. For that reason, I require you to subscribe below before posting any comments.
2. Don't get off topic. This blog is strictly about football. The internet has endless blogs about every topic one can think of. If you're into squirrels juggling rocks on a frozen lake, well there's a blog for that. But seriously, I don't want to make this blog about anything else but football.
3. Treat each other with respect. This really is just an extension of the first rule, but I thought it deserved its own place. People have different views. That's one of the many things that makes us who we are. Only write on here what you would say to another person face-to-face. This is not a forum for trash talk. I want to have intelligent conversations about football.
4. If you make a point, back it up with evidence. Please don't just make some blanket statement like "Player A is the best quarterback in this year's draft" without showing why you think so. Statements like those don't hold much weight in the real world, and it won't here either.
5. Have fun.
I look forward to many fruitful discussions on here. Bear with me as I'm sure comments will be sparse in the beginning, but hopefully we'll get more people to join and share with us. Thanks for reading.
Well. Here it is. My first ever blog post. I am now one of the countless "blawggers" on the web, a seemingly endless fraternity of individuals who think their thoughts are worth their own webpage. Actually, even I'm not that full of myself. But on a recent trip down to our nation's capital, my amazing girlfriend suggested that I should start my own blog on football. After all, there is really one thing I'm passionate about and that is the sport of football. (Did I mention she is beautiful and amazing? #browniepoints). It was one of those moments when a simple suggestion seems like the best idea ever. (begin sarcasm) Of course I should start a blog about football. The world definitely needs another one of those (end sarcasm).
In all seriousness, the idea made perfect sense. I love football. Ever since I first learned the sport, which by the way was at the relatively old age of 15, I have loved it. I love the teamwork, the intelligence and discipline required to play the game, all of the little nuances of all of the different positions, the schemes, the plays, the celebrations, and everything else that football is about. Above all, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful thing in the world is when a team executes a play to perfection. When everyone simply does their job exactly as they are supposed to and indeed everyone needed to do their job to advance the ball into the end zone or to get a stop on defense.
I moved to Connecticut from India at 15, and really didn't know much about football before then. I learned the basic rules by watching it and playing video games with my cousin who happened to be a Buffalo Bills fan. Of course, I am now a die-hard Bills fan. Sad, I know. I have continuously watched the Bills since 1998. In the 14 years I've followed them, they've made the playoffs twice - the first two years. I had no idea it would be such a bleak next 12 years as a Bills fan. I missed all the glory years with Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and all the greats in the 90's. Since then, the Bills have gone through five head coaches and are currently on their sixth one. That's six head coaches in 14 years and two playoff appearances. The last playoff game the Bills were in was the Music City Debacle against the Tennessee Titans (or elsewhere known as the "Music City Miracle"). Oh and it was a FORWARD PASS! So as you can imagine, I am no stranger to watching losing football. But because my beloved team has been essentially stuck in mediocrity, I started paying a lot of attention to winning teams. I always wanted to know what they were doing and why the Bills simply seemed to be behind the curve. The result was a new-found appreciation for football.
In high school, I started out playing soccer (since that was literally the only sport that translated from India) my sophomore year. The following year I decided to give football a try. Just imagine a slightly built Indian kid (5'6", 135lbs) with shoulder pads that rose above his head getting thrown around the practice field like a rag doll. That summer, I decided to bulk up and apparently my body decided to hit a growth spurt as well. I went into my senior year at 5'10", 175 lbs. I was still only learning football though. Its amazing how much you learn about the back end operation by standing next to the coaches on the sidelines. I was basically a practice field performer, a scout team hero of sorts. I never started a single varsity game but I earned the "Scout Team Player of the Year" award. For those of you that have never played, scout team is the band of 3rd and 4th stringers that help the starters prepare for their games every week by resembling the opposing team. Basically, we're the ones that the starters beat up on for the whole week before they play the real game. A week-long tackling dummy if you will. But I took a lot of pride in it. I played free safety and wide receiver. Every pick I made, every pass I caught, I felt a sense of pride. I knew I wasn't ready to play with the starters yet. I still had a lot to learn. Most importantly I had to learn to get over the mental hurdle of being afraid on the field. I had been playing the game for two years (really mostly just learning) and I was afraid to get hit or hit someone. You know, the two things that every football player needs to be able to do.
But I was just a late bloomer. After high school, I attended the University of Connecticut and I decided during my freshman year that I would try and walk-on to the football team the following year. But, I was also in the Army National Guard and my unit got activated after 9/11, so that plan went out the window. By the time I returned to UConn, they had moved from 1-AA to 1-A and were in their first ever bowl game under head coach Randy Edsall who essentially had put UConn football on the map. I knew I simply wasn't good enough to hang with the improving recruits. I then heard of semi-pro football in Connecticut and went in for a tryout for the CT Thunder. Not only did I make the team, but I started at safety for the second team - CT Storm. My first career interception resulted in a horse-collar tackle and a broken leg, temporarily taking me out of football. I played for another semi-pro team a few years later. Playing for those two teams, I often wished I knew in high school what I knew in college. (Don't we all!)
Later on, I attended the University of Connecticut School of Law. For the longest time, I wanted to become a sports agent and I figured law school would be a good graduate degree to have. Before and during law school, I interned at a couple of sports agencies. The first was at a baseball agency where I learned a lot about the business and the game of baseball. Later on, I worked at a a sports and entertainment agency within its NFL division and I thoroughly enjoyed my work there. I learned how to scout players, make player comparisons, grade their play, and mostly how to market players - both to teams for employment, and to businesses for marketing opportunities. I realized while working at these two internships that what I really wanted to do is not necessarily be a sports agent, but be a scout for an NFL team and eventually a general manager. How original, right? "Yeah I want to be a GM of the (insert favorite NFL team)" I know that I have a lot to learn. But I also know that there's nothing that excites me more than talking football. My girlfriend would probably describe me as "stoic" except for when I walk her through a play sequence on the DVR and describe to her how amazing the block on the backside of a counter was which essentially sprung the back to the opposite side for a touchdown. Or how that Quarterback froze the free safety dead in his tracks with his eyes and essentially created his own throwing window for the wide receiver on the post pattern. But I know excitement alone will never be enough to land a job in football. I need knowledge, and an opportunity.
So, here I am, creating my own opportunity and trying to gain some knowledge. Here are a few ground rules that I will try to abide by and those who post should as well.
1. No cursing. I shouldn't need to explain this but I've been on countless forums and everyone seems to think they can do whatever they want since they can hide behind their anonymity on the web. For that reason, I require you to subscribe below before posting any comments.
2. Don't get off topic. This blog is strictly about football. The internet has endless blogs about every topic one can think of. If you're into squirrels juggling rocks on a frozen lake, well there's a blog for that. But seriously, I don't want to make this blog about anything else but football.
3. Treat each other with respect. This really is just an extension of the first rule, but I thought it deserved its own place. People have different views. That's one of the many things that makes us who we are. Only write on here what you would say to another person face-to-face. This is not a forum for trash talk. I want to have intelligent conversations about football.
4. If you make a point, back it up with evidence. Please don't just make some blanket statement like "Player A is the best quarterback in this year's draft" without showing why you think so. Statements like those don't hold much weight in the real world, and it won't here either.
5. Have fun.
I look forward to many fruitful discussions on here. Bear with me as I'm sure comments will be sparse in the beginning, but hopefully we'll get more people to join and share with us. Thanks for reading.
As a Titans fan I have only one thing to say about the " Music City Miracle " It waS a lateral pass from Wycheck to Dyson.... Go Titans
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain about being a long time suffering fan of a team, my two favorite teams are the Titans and the Falcons. Both have made it to the superbowl and lost and had more years of losing than winning.
I look forward to your reading and commenting on your blog posts