Why Sports, Why???

Alright, so call me an overachiever, but this is a post that just had to be put up. Working today at a well-known wholesale discount juggernaut, I was asked the question as to why I like sports so much. Not exactly in those words, but "What's so great about sports, that you want your whole life to be centered around it?" Granted the person who asked the question did not graduate high school, and still enjoys prank phone calls to his own department, and lives in his parents basement while living his life through a computer game where he believes he is indeed a "dwarf." Nonetheless, that question, "Why sports?" got me thinking...
Why sports? After a long thought process, and reading a page out of my idol Mike Greenberg's novel Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot, it all made sense to me.








-Some of my friends enjoy taking shots at a bar. I enjoy watching Michael Jordan taking shots...with 20 seconds on the clock, everybody in the world including the home Utah Jazz knew he was going to shoot the ball...they couldn't stop him, nobody could stop him. With 6 ticks left, drain a bucket with a defender in your face en route to your 6th NBA Championship. After all, he IS Michael Jordan.



-When some people talk about GREATNESS, they often talk about the feeling after finals. When I talk about GREATNESS it wears the number 99, owns 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, 6 All-Star records, won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and won 9 MVP awards and 10 scoring titles. He is the only player ever to total over 200 points in a season (a feat that he accomplished four times in his career). In addition, he tallied over 100 points a season for 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. Still think you're great?




-Determination is something that can be used loosely, however when I think of myself as being determined, I immediately find myself thinking about Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (AKA Joe Montana) and his determination against the New Orleans Saints. Down by 28 at the half, "Joe Cool" led his teammates to a 38-35 victory. A feat that still stands to this day. Let's not forget 1981 when Montana led San Francisco to a 13-3 record, the best in the NFL. In one of the most memorable games in 49ers history, he led the 49ers on an 11-play, 89-yard drive, ending with a dramatic touchdown pass to Dwight Clark, which came to be known as "The Catch," for a thrilling 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship game. Two weeks later Montana led the 49ers to a 26-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI. Not to mention a Superbowl MVP.

You see with me, it's not an obsession with sports as much as it is a passion. Greenberg says in his book that:


"Sports is like war without all the dying. Imagine how intriguing war would be as a spectator sport if, when it was over, everyone shook hands...The strategy, the passion, the courage, the stakes: war is magnificent theater until you count all the bodies."
-Mike Greenberg

I couldn't have put it any better. However, it's not my job to be these men. I don't want to be them, I want to tell their story, I want to be that guy. The guy that makes them look them look great, instead of just good. Who made Michael Jordan "Michael Jordan?" The media, the producers who run his shot over and over. I want to be the guy that takes an athlete and creates a legacy. Who is to say that someone at ESPN isn't Michael Jordan's hero for making him a hundred-millionaire??

So by now you may ask the question of what my reply was to "What's so great about sports, that you want your whole life to be centered around it?"

.....................everything......................

If you stole my sunshine...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you...please don't take my sunshine away."

The pre-mentioned was a song that my grandmother used to sing to me when she was rocking me to sleep. Ironically this week we were given the assignment to show what we could do in a world without broadcasting. For example, if we weren't BC Majors, what could we bring to the table of a job market. This may be the only assignment we've had that has really shaken me up. I've kept a pretty steady hand throughout the capstone experience, except when Mr. Weaver threw us a curveball with this one, it kind of tripped me up. No Broadcasting??? What would I do??? Would I be meaningless??? No chance! You see, the way I've been programmed to think is when there is an obstacle in your way, you have 3 choices. Stop what you're doing, and give up, avoid the problem by going around the obstacle. Or claw, scrape, climb, destroy your way through/over the obstacle learning everything you can so if it ever shows up again, you'll know it's number. Guess what choice I took?
If there were no Sports Broadcasting/News I have skills I can bring to the game that would help me succeed. First and foremost I have confidence. Confidence without cockiness is key, because no employers hire employees that are cocky, yet at the same time they don't want a pushover either. They want somebody to show them that they can do the job, and do it well, and when I do things, I make sure people know it's a quality product. Secondly, I would bring maturity and stability. It is important for an employee to show his/her employer that they are reliable, and have the maturity level to think on their feet without losing their head. I'd also bring my education, life's experience, and diligence. However, I'd also bring something extra to the table that others may not even think of...humor. A sense of humor is key, I don't want a best buddy to be my boss, however, initiating and knowing a positive relationship in the workplace has never done any harm for anyone and shows people that you are a real individual, and a thinker as well.

Hope this helps everybody, because thinking of this has made me more inspired than before. Until next time...I'm DJ Yokley.

Back to the Future...

In our first class of the semester we found new careers, old careers, dream careers, and feared careers that were amongst us all. We as a class decided to go back to the (10 year) future e-mail and revisit perhaps what we have changed and what has stayed the same over the past semester. *Warning* PERSONAL JUNK IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH...

Dr. Weaver,

It was so good to hear from you, I hope all is well with the ladies at home and hope the teenage years for them haven't run you down that much. Life is good here in Bristol, I've been here for 9 years now working for ESPN as a features producer on NFL Countdown and Baseball Tonight. Denny Wolfe really helped me when it came time to pick who landed the P.A. jobs here the the Worldwide Leader. We're actually really good friends now, it's nice to have that common bond of Chuck Chirozzi flashbacks. I just wanted to thank you for giving me the inspiration, the motivation, and the realization that the sports broadcasting business is a rough one, but one that I love with all my heart. Without you or Dr. Barner, who knows what the hell I'd be doing today. Luckily for me the other love in my life, my wife, has been very forgiving and understanding of the time that I'm "on the road." Speaking of my wife, she's currently pregnant with our second little person, we have a son already, his name is Trey, and I've already got him scanning the wire for breaking local news (Not really.) It's been nice talking to you, but I've got to catch a flight to the West Coast, but please stay in touch, it's been too long.

-DJ

I know it's not the most detailed description of what I'll be doing, or where I'll be at, but this is honestly where I see myself, and where I have a passion for being in 10 years, and if this comes to be, I won't be surprised in the least, because I feel it's what I'm meant to do. It may not be easy, but nothing worth while ever is! That's all for now, until next time...I'm DJ Yokley.