A Long Overdue Thanks

This column is long overdue. Not in the sense of how long it has been since I posted an article on this web site. But rather, long overdue in the fact I have someone that I have needed to thank publicly for quite some time -- over five months now. This person is really the one that should get the credit (or blame, depending on your perspective) for my name and commentary appearing on e-sports to begin with. It's not my loving and wonderful wife. She should simply get the credit for putting up with me and my life-long facination with the world of sports. It's not my parents either, though they deserve the lion's share of the credit for whatever redeeming qualities I may have as a person. And it's not my brother who has an equivalent love for the sports world, though somewhat jaded from his personal experience in college, which was fabulously successful on the field, but tainted by a tempestuous relationship with his brilliant, yet manic coach.

Indeed, none of the aforementioned had anything to do with my writing on the site. But Tim Van Prooyen did. He was the catalyst for my venturing into the most enjoyable hobby I've ever participated in. And unlike Bo Jackson, for me it's not "another day, another hobby." Quite the contrary. Typically when pressed into having to fill out a survey and list "hobbies" in the process, I'm usually kind of lost. The only thing I do with stamps is lick them or stick them to letters/bills. The only things I do with coins are roll them or (more commonly) take a handful of them to Burger King and purchase the "Lunch of Champions" -- Fish Sandwich combo, with extra tartar. And as for "art collecting" if you rule out several really nice sports-based framed and matted lithographs, I'm bone dry. So adding this "sports journalism" endeavor as a hobby was quite a personal development.

It truly has been marvelous to combine my deep love affair with the sports world with something else I enjoy, but on a completely different level -- creative writing. Still, I have no delusions of grandeur with this undertaking. Baring a tragic nuclear holocaust that just so happens to kill or incapacitate ALL the credible sports journalists on the planet, except ME, there will be no Pulitzer Prizes. There will be no calls from the LA Times to fill the shoes of Jim Murray or even from the Atlanta Journal/Constitution to follow Furman Bisher. For that matter there will not even be a request from the Montgomery Independent (the micro-tiny local paper that in terms of pages resembles a sales insert in your local Sunday paper) to get my permission to reprint one of my other columns. But despite the lack of glamour, gloss and green (as in big paychecks), this opportunity is even BETTER than the above mentioned because I have the latitude to share my insights and commentary in a fan friendly forum. No calls from "top management" on how we need to focus on "shareholder value" or have story ideas either pushed forward or set aside because of pressure from advertisers. This truly is freedom of speech in a sports genre and that is what makes it so exciting for me, because pure freedom of speech (while protecting the misinformed's ability to state their case) nearly always advances ideas and issues that rise above the common mass media drool. Also, I have a burning desire to teach the games (fundamentals, strategy, tips, etc...) that have meant so much to me down through the years and an equally powerful quest for fairness (treatment of material/sources) -- both desires are satisfied through this medium. Further in the praise of e-sports, the very fact it is web based allows for immediate feedback from the readers -- which we love to hear, pro or con.

And again, my adventure into the wonderful world of First Amendment participation has been brought to you by my friend, Tim Van Prooyen. I still remember the exact scenario when I met Tim. Arizona and Kentucky were to square off in the finale of March Madness `97. I'm on a Stairmaster at the local Gold's Gym watching ESPN's college basketball crew as they discussed the upcoming game and the guy two Stairmasters away turns to me and says, "no way Arizona wins that game, don't you agree?" I did indeed agree and thus showed why I need to stay away from Vegas for more than just moral reasons. But nonetheless began my friendship with the Air Force active duty serviceman, Mr. Van Prooyen.

Despite both being equally wrong on that game, we do have a lot of things "unequal." He has computer programming skills. My skills in this area stop with "can fix the clock on the VCR." He has kids, I've got a dog. He's fairly intense and high strung, I'm laid back in a similar vein as Don Meredith. He's from Michigan, I'm from the Heart of Dixie. He loves hockey, but since my Bruins have faded from sight -- well at least I still have my dog. I love the Wall Street Journal op-ed page and I doubt he's ever seen it. He thinks Griese will have a better pro career and is better than Manning, and I'm just not with him there. We even think of rivalries in a different manner. But we are united in this ultimate broiler pot called sports and our hobby in writing about them.

So hats off to you Tim. I'm deeply indebted to you for encouraging this pursuit. Our opinions may never match perfectly, but you've given me a perfect match in e-sports. Long live you and it. Amen.