Sports a Timeline of My Life
My father and I have done so many different sports related
things in our life it has caused us to become extremely close. Whether it be
watching hundreds of Chicago bears games at home or at soldier field or skipping
a day of school to watch the red sox in game 3 of the 2004 and 2013 world
series sports has provided some of the most pivotal moments in my life.
According to a article called Father and son on the website “Experience Life.”
It states that the connection a boy has with his dad is what makes him who he
is today. Sports are something that my father and I have always been able to
talk about. Whether it be talking about stats of a team and players or debating
about a recent happening in the sports world. My dad and I are always talking
about and discussing sports. It’s a bond that has made my father and I’s
relationships grow stronger with each passing year. A bond between a boy and
his father is one of the most important things that can be maintained through a
boy’s life. The most special sports extravaganza I ever had with my Dad was
going to game three of the 2004 World
Series. The reason why this game was so
special was because it was just my dad and I. Neither my mom nor my two
brothers went to this game. This gave my dad and I time to really bond. It was
also the beginning of my extreme love for baseball in general. I watched the
Pedro Martinez pitch the Red Sox to an easy victory to go up three to nothing
in the series. A series they would eventually win four to nothing. This was the
Red sox first world series in over eighty years. Seeing a once in a lifetime
event like this really made my relationship with my dad stronger because it was
one of the best moments in both of our lives. It is a memory I hold very dear to my heart. My dad introduced me in to the
world of sports. He brought me to countless sporting events and taught me
outside in the back yard how to throw a football and a baseball. He also taught
me how to shoot a basketball. I think the most important thing about this was
that it made me comfortable around my father. I knew from and early age that I could
come to him with anything I needed. Any questions I had about Masculinity or
just growing up in general my father was able to answer. That’s why sports were
crucial in our relationship. We talked so much it was just natural for me to
talk to my Dad. Being able to have that communication with my father helped me
find who I am and grow up to be the man I am today. If I had not had that
communication with my father I would not have been able to have some of my most
important life questions answered. I would have probably turned in to a whole
different person. Not only has sports helped my relationship with my father but
it has helped in making relationships with my friends to.
Fantasy football is a game where
you draft a team of players playing football in the NFL and you get points for
the statistics each player puts up. This was something we put a little wager on
so it always made the game more fun. It of course also caused us to interact
even more whether it be at home or together. It caused more debating and fun then
I have ever had in my life. I was also on the swim and water polo team with a
lot of my best friends in High School. When you are stuck in the pool and
weight room every day after school for 6 months a year with the same people you
really get to know them. It is very easy to realize whom you like and dislike.
My friends and I would always be pushing each other to get better. We fed off
of each other. All of our drive and passion for the sport we were playing
caused us to get better. For a while in
high school I was not in the greatest of shape. Through swimming began what was
my ability to lose fifty pounds. This determination started with the same
people that pushed me to be better which could have never happened if it were
not for my passion of swimming. Swimming is what started to get my weight in
check. When my junior year of high school came around I noticed myself becoming
the most lazy I had ever been in my entire life. I was not eating well and I
was not sleeping well and most importantly I was not working out like I used
to. I had always been involved in swimming. However, I never really took
swimming that serious. Finally when my junior year came around I finally looked
at my self in the mirror and said I need to make a change. I knew I had a long
road ahead of me but little did I know swimming was part of the answer that
turned me in to the human being I am today. Junior year I finally started to
take swimming a little bit more serious. However during junior year I got
extremely sick and missed a lot of swimming so I was not able to take swimming
as serious as I wanted to. Fast forward to senior year and I was finally
determined to have my best year of swimming yet. Plus I had gotten two of my
best friends to join the team as well. The fact that I had gotten my two best
friends to join the team made the experience so much better. We all wanted to
be better than each other so it caused us to push each other to be the absolute
best we could be. Which caused us to strive for our best in practice every day.
A article on USA today by Greg Toppo states that most children who are even a
little bit athletically inclined have better relationships and are even able to
raise there social status. This is because it gives children confidence they
need to talk to other children. Another thing that can be attributed to
children playing sports is that children who are not of the athletic type do
not play sports in school so they do not have as many chances as other children
who play sports to make friends. I can say that all of my strongest
relationships in High School can be attributed to sports. Whether it be meeting
my best friend at a football camp, which caused me to meet my girlfriend or gaining
a stronger relationship
with three of my friends over water polo and swimming, Sports
have caused me to meet some of my best friends and even my girlfriend. Time and
time again playing sports has been something that I realized has given me so
many great relationships. If I had not been in sports I would not have all of
the wonderful relationships I have today. This just further proves that playing
sport through out my life has caused me to make some relationships that may end
up lasting my entire life. Which further proves that sports have been an
integral part in my growing up.
to balls I have it all. However, just this past summer this hobby turned in to
a business for me. According to an article from AltaVista.com by Ellen Cannon
it states that once you have money it’s easier to make more. This was so
important because I always wanted to start a little side business but I never
had the money to do it. Once I started working I gained enough money to start
it and it took off from there. I started
buying sports memorabilia off of different vendors for the cheapest price I
could find. I also had to make sure this stuff was authentic. I would then turn
around and sell these items to my friends and others for a profit. This worked
because I could buy the memorabilia for so cheap that it was still less
expensive for people to buy from me then from other vendors. This was an
integral part of growing up to me because it taught me the value of money and
business. It was a way for me to keep earning a profit on my money. It also
made me become even closer with one of my best friends because we started a
little business. That was successful mostly around Christmas time. Collecting
and selling sports taught me multiple things. It taught me how to deal with
people and it taught me a smart way to keep growing my money. I would never
sell anything and less I knew someone was going to buy it. I talked to
different people all the time making sure they would buy form me and not from
someone else. This made my people skills even better. It was also a smart way
to invest my money and keep earning a profit. My sports memorabilia obsession
was not really the most necessary thing but it was one of the most important
things in my development through out life. It could end up being something I do
for a living when I am older. Whether it is a business or just a little side
job.
During life everyone has that one
thing that causes him or her to develop in to the person they are today.
Whether it is art, writing, or accounting. Everyone has something that has
caused him or her to grow into the person they are today. For me that one thing
has been sports. Since I was a little boy sports has been something that had
been installed in my daily life. Before I could even talk I was wearing Chicago
Bulls t-shirts and watching Michael Jordan hit game winners. When I became a
little bit older my dad introduced me to the sports of football and baseball.
The two sports which I hold so dearly to my heart now. As I got older I learned
to swim and found out that I was actually pretty decent at swimming. As I got
older I started swimming competitively and playing water polo. Sports were not
only something I enjoyed watching and playing but also they were something I
enjoyed collecting. I have thousands of sports cards and a lot of sports memorabilia
as well. Sports have been something that has shaped my daily life in more ways
than you could imagine. Its helped me grow and learn as an individual and I
would not be the same person I am today without them.
Being a fan
is the first way sports have helped develop who I am today. You may be thinking
to yourself how does being a fan or a sports team develop who you are? First
because its being a fan of sports has brought me some the best moments of my
life and has been pivotal point in the growth of my relationship with my Dad
over the years.
Sports are also something that has
made me become closer friends with just about every single friend I have come
to know over my lifetime. Whether it be going to Bears games on a Sunday
afternoon or sitting in buffalo wild wings watching every single Sunday
football game from noon until six. It was a great bond my friends and I had. We
also played something called fantasy football.
Fantasy football is a game where
you draft a team of players playing football in the NFL and you get points for
the statistics each player puts up. This was something we put a little wager on
so it always made the game more fun. It of course also caused us to interact
even more whether it be at home or together. It caused more debating and fun then
I have ever had in my life. I was also on the swim and water polo team with a
lot of my best friends in High School. When you are stuck in the pool and
weight room every day after school for 6 months a year with the same people you
really get to know them. It is very easy to realize whom you like and dislike.
My friends and I would always be pushing each other to get better. We fed off
of each other. All of our drive and passion for the sport we were playing
caused us to get better. For a while in
high school I was not in the greatest of shape. Through swimming began what was
my ability to lose fifty pounds. This determination started with the same
people that pushed me to be better which could have never happened if it were
not for my passion of swimming. Swimming is what started to get my weight in
check. When my junior year of high school came around I noticed myself becoming
the most lazy I had ever been in my entire life. I was not eating well and I
was not sleeping well and most importantly I was not working out like I used
to. I had always been involved in swimming. However, I never really took
swimming that serious. Finally when my junior year came around I finally looked
at my self in the mirror and said I need to make a change. I knew I had a long
road ahead of me but little did I know swimming was part of the answer that
turned me in to the human being I am today. Junior year I finally started to
take swimming a little bit more serious. However during junior year I got
extremely sick and missed a lot of swimming so I was not able to take swimming
as serious as I wanted to. Fast forward to senior year and I was finally
determined to have my best year of swimming yet. Plus I had gotten two of my
best friends to join the team as well. The fact that I had gotten my two best
friends to join the team made the experience so much better. We all wanted to
be better than each other so it caused us to push each other to be the absolute
best we could be. Which caused us to strive for our best in practice every day.
A article on USA today by Greg Toppo states that most children who are even a
little bit athletically inclined have better relationships and are even able to
raise there social status. This is because it gives children confidence they
need to talk to other children. Another thing that can be attributed to
children playing sports is that children who are not of the athletic type do
not play sports in school so they do not have as many chances as other children
who play sports to make friends. I can say that all of my strongest
relationships in High School can be attributed to sports. Whether it be meeting
my best friend at a football camp, which caused me to meet my girlfriend or gaining
a stronger relationship 
I have watched and been apart of
sports all of my life. However, nothing has been bigger than my hobby of
collecting and selling sports card and memorabilia. Through out my life I have
always collected sports cards. It started when I was five when I started
collecting NASCAR cards. It quickly moved into a hobby that was hard for me to
control. This was something my father and I also loved doing. He has a huge
collection of sports cards as well. As I got older and started working I
started collecting more expensive sports memorabilia that was autographed. This
was some of my favorite stuff. I collected countless things From Autographed jerseys
Through out
my entire life sports have been something that I could rely on to develop
relationships with my father and my friends and It was something that also
taught me some valuable life lessons in business and dealing with people. Sports
have developed me into the person I am today. When I am older I do not see me
working at any job that does not involve sports it is my passion in life. It is
something that I have grown up around my entire life and that I cannot live
with out. In fact my love of sports is what brought me to Ohio University. I
was looking for schools that had great sports management programs and Ohio
University had one of the best if not the best in the country. Sports are what
I am passionate about and I have followed my passion through out my entire life
and I like where it has gotten me so far. My best advice for anyone is to find something
you love. Once you find that one thing you are passionate about you will see
major strides in your development as a person. You may not start to notice for
a few years but trust me you will see them.
Citations
Cannon, Ellen. "AltaVista
Investing." AltaVista Investing.
AltaVista Investing, 13 July 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Hart, Joseph. "Father and
Son." Experience Life. N.p., Sept. 2006. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Toppo, Greg. "Sports Is Fuel for
Friendship, Study Finds - USATODAY.com." Sports Is Fuel for Friendship,
Study Finds - USATODAY.com. Gannett Company, 25 Nov. 2007. Web. 02 Dec.
2013.
Photo
1. The Picture of my dad and I is my own picture.
2. The Picture of the world series news paper was obtained from google images.
3. The picture that says fantasy football was obtained from google images.
4. The picture of me playing water polo was my own picture.
5. The picture of me holding a framed jersey was my own picture.
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