My passion for sports began at the age of 7. One of the first things I can remember wanting to do in life was to be a baseball player one day. Fortunately, I soon realized (around 11-12 years old) that even if I was to go completely all in and play year round, field ground balls and go to the batting cage for hours after school each day, and do all I could to sharpen every possible skill in me, my best would maybe be good enough to ride the bench...on a A level team one day! There was no way I would ever be remotely good enough to compete for a Major League team, much less a decent college team! Shortly after this realization, at about the age of 11, I then wanted to be a sports broadcaster. I would spend hours listening to Orioles games on the radio and carefully study, emulate, and be in awe of the play-by-play broadcaster of the O's: Jon Miller. As the next few years went by, this growing passion stayed with me. I created tapes of simulated broadcasts, and would practice doing games while sometimes muting the TV for baseball and football games. My brother Jonathan and I would create and record sports talk shows. I participated in an Orioles broadcast challenge at the age of 14. I even talked to Jon Miller after O's games to pick his brain and ask questions about being a broadcaster. I wanted to pursue this. Friends and family told me I should pursue this. Then about mid way through high school, while seriously evaluating possible broadcast career path options to pursue, I realized that it wouldn't be an ideal career for me because I also wanted to be married and have kids one day, and I saw broadcasting as likely involving a lot of travel, sacrifice, and a lot of time away from home, which I perceived would be a very difficult path and not be easy with a family. I believed that God's plan for my life was to not pursue that path at the time. And I can certainly see more of this in hindsight as I reflect today. Still, just because I never pursued broadcasting as a career my passion for sports in no way diminished. Over the years, I have had the privilege to be pursued to be the PA announcer, as well as play-by-play announcer for various small scale sporting events. And of course I had a lot of fun doing this! I have also done some freelance writing that has been published by yahoo sports.
So where does all of this lead to today? No question, I love what I'm doing in Real Estate. This is my career. I love working hard to serve and help people achieve their home dreams. Still, my wife and I wonder from time to time if there is ever any sports gig for me down the road. Friends often tell me I should have been a broadcaster, or should pursue being a broadcaster. Maybe start a sports talk show, or perhaps have a sports podcast. Or, just start a sports blog. I don't know. What I do know is that I will always love sports. I love the competition. I love the thrill of victory and, this may sound a bit demented...perhaps even at times the agonies of defeat. I believe that in my life, God has used sports in an abundance of ways that has both benefited me, and helped me live more of my life the way He has wanted me to live. Sports has given me great relationships with people and has taught me a lot about people. I love how sports unites people. It brings together people of all races, backgrounds, beliefs, careers, and interests. Sports has helped teach me how to cope with some of life's circumstances in some of the high's and low's. It has taught me character, discipline, and perseverance. Sports has helped teach me how to hope and be excited about things.
Now I have to say that my sports passion and knowledge is also limited, as you won't get much from me beyond football, baseball, basketball, and some hockey! I do like boxing as well, but don't really follow it today. I love the great history of boxing in our country and love reading and watching clips from some of the great boxers of years gone by. Men like, Muhammad Ali (greatest ever), Jim Braddock (The Cinderalla Man), Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Evander Holyfield. Sadly, the sport has changed dramatically and does not really hold my interest today. My interest is more of the sweet part that this sport plays in our nation's history.
So my thinking is that perhaps an easy way for me to communicate my passion of sports and have fun engaging people who also love the sports culture is by simply starting with this. I don't have major aspirations, or pre-conceived notions and I certainly don't know where this whole "Local Sports Optimist" thing will go. I don't even want to assume that anyone will read or care about what I post in my small Jim-O-Centric world of sports passion! I just want to have fun, have an archive of my favorite sports memories, share my insignificant opinions about my favorite sports, ask the opinions of others, and learn from others. And to clarify, though my passion is mostly my favorite teams, I will not only be writing about my teams but from time to time will try to include some mainstream sports news. It's a hobby of mine. Also, full disclosure: I don't have the luxury of an editor, so hopefully my writing, grammar and overall structure is tolerable! My wife knows better than anyone how bad my writing style (like run on sentences and grammar) can be! And quite frankly, I have been told before that I write like I speak so hopefully that's not a bad thing!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read. I hope this serves people and enhances our mutual love of the God-given gift of sports! Here's to more lifetime sports memories to enjoy together!
