Sunday, April 30, 2006

Minor League Arena Football?

My love of college lacrosse, college hockey and college volleyball leads me to get the Directv Sports Pack every spring. I see some obscure sports or games on some of the channels that come with the package.

Today I watched about 15 minutes of the Central Valley Coyotes vs. the Everett Hawks in an Arena Football 2 game. I am guessing that AFL2 is a minor league because while I am not really and AFL fan I know that none of the team listed on the league's website show up on NBC's coverage. Anyone can feel free to correct me on this.

I think lesser covered or lesser-known professional sports are a great thing for the athletes involved. Realistically very few people in the AFL2 will make an NFL squad but if they can make a living for a few years in their mid-20's playing a sport they love, I am all for it. Same goes for the different kinds if bicycle riders, water skiers and any other type of athlete along these lines. Most of this people will not make serious money but they might be able to pay the rent and keep the refrigerator full while pursuing a dream.

I received some great advice when I was 18 that I did not heed. Someone told me that your 20's are for horsing around and having fun. You don't need to start making money until your 30's and 40's.

When I was in college I played a lot of beach volleyball. While I had no future playing on the beach I really was a very good setter and had a very good jump serve at a time when almost no one was jump serving. Perhaps those two strengths could have overcome my weaknesses on the court and I could have latched on as a back up in a European league for a year or two. While this would have been a remote possibility, at 23 years old I thought I knew it all and went right into a serious job.

While I have zero to complain about, the proliferation of lower dollar sports makes it possible for people to have more time to go after their dreams.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Jim Rice

During the first week of the MLB season Directv shows a free-view the extra innings package. It is during this week that I can watch local broadcasts of the Red Sox games and then some of the post game if I am so inclined.

While I don't watch a lot of post game coverage, I am married after all, it is kind of wild to see Jim Rice, a great player from my youth, doing the show.

As a suggestion to Directv, I can not see paying $180 for every single baseball game in MLB. However I would pay $50 for every Red Sox game. I have to think I am not the only transplanted fan living away from my team. I called this suggestion in last year and I think was blown off by the customer service rep.

BC Hockey

BC plays Wisconsin for the NCAA hockey championship today. The Eagles beat North Dakota 6-5 in kind of a sloppy game but they won nonetheless.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

A Pirate Blogger Looks At 40

Apologies to Jimmy Buffett but today I turned 40 years old. I find myself not worried or bummed out, frankly I'm glad I've made it this far. The only depressing milestone in my life was graduating college.

Not that I have more answers than anyone else but I think one reason that getting older has not bothered me yet is I am not wishing my life away, working in a job I hate and living someplace I don't want to live.

I know people that want to make changes in their lives and have wanted to make changes but have not. Change involves risk and an uncertain result. Some people can overcome this and some cannot.

I think I may be in the middle. I have taken a couple of big risks with regard to not having a job for a while and have no fear of that but before taking those risks I lined up my financial ducks to carry us through much longer than would have been necessary.

Things being what they are it has been a personal priority to not want to waste time. This does not mean I don't believe in working hard and paying dues. I spent my mid-twenties and early-thirties working very hard on a trading desk trying to learn what could and save what I could to get to where I am now. In between there and here I had a bout 18 months with almost no income as I tried to create this current phase of my career.

For anyone with a dream but no plan of action to achieve that dream I would urge you to do whatever you have to to get on the road to making your dream happen. If you are waiting for your next bonus, but you have said that before, recognize what you are doing. To get to where you want to be you will have to give up something. Nothing is free. It may be a bonus or maybe the security of a paycheck or something else.

Change can only come by getting off the pot.