I'm Selfish!

I haven't written anything for this blog since March, so you could assume I have a lot to say with five months of inactivity in my writing brain.  But I decided in March that I was going to side with my football brethren and not do anything until all the labor issues were settled.  In essence, I was going to be a part of the NFL lockout.  You may ask yourself, why would Andy want to do that?  What purpose does that serve?  What's wrong with him?  In order to understand all these things one needs to understand the history of me and sports.

I was born at a young age to my parents.  They met at Lake Havasu.  My dad was a part of a water-sking club called the "Ski-daddlers."  My mom was young and impressed by my father's skills behind a boat, skills on the dance floor, and, most likely, his good looks.  Years later they had me and I grew up, took naps in, and soon learned the joys of riding in and behind a boat.  Water-sking, knee-boarding, wakeboarding, wake surfing, and barefooting are all things that I can do and do quite well.  I also was fortunate to grow up in San Diego, CA and therefore spend a lot of time in the ocean.  I love the ocean, love the beach atmosphere and community, and love riding waves.  I can body surf (most people can), bodyboard (better than most), and surf (suprisingly not as well as I think I should).  When it comes to athletics I can ride most boards and I'm comfortable in the water.  That's it!  I enjoy running, but after running my 1st half-marathon, I realized I'll never be a competitive runner.  It's more of an enjoyable past time than a sport.

When people think of sports they usually think of the big 3 - baseball (yawn), basketball (better), and football (best).  I am not good at any of these sports.  I played one season of little league baseball where I received a pitch to the mouth and my front 3 teeth would've fallen out if hadn't been for the braces - now stuck to my lips- holding them in.  My favorite baseball memory was nachos, big league chew, and not playing a second season.  I never played basketball or football.  I did play years of soccer and thought I was pretty good until I got cut from the freshman team in high school.  Do you know how bad you have to be to get cut from the freshman team?  I was unaware of my lack of skills and the reality was a shock.

I did not grow up in a sports family.  My dad ran track and cross-country and my mom and dad are still impressive while water-sking.  I did not grow up watching sports with my family.  Although most of America watches football on Thanksgiving, I am still the odd man out in my family who wants to watch football.  My wife grew up in a sports watching, sports playing family, and still beats me at most games, but even she doesn't watch sports anymore.  She prefers to see games live, but who doesn't?

What does all this mean?  Not a lot.  But for some strange reason I LOVE football!  I can't get enough of it.  The NFL lockout and the idea of having no football this year depressed me.  Was I actually going to have to go outside on Sundays from September through January?  Was I going to be available on Monday Nights?  Was I going to have way more time to live life rather than research, argue, trash talk, and try to win at Fantasy Football?  As time went on I got more and more worried, but then last week things started looking up.  The NFL had a deal for the next ten years.  Then, today ,the players agreed to that deal. YAHOOOOOOO!  Football baby!  It also meant that I could go off strike from writing.  What do I have in common with football players that made me imitate their work troubles you may ask? Not a lot on 1st glance, but their are some similarities.  Here are some:

1.  I love football, but not as much as money.
The average teacher get paid about 40k a year.   http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary

The average NFL player gets paid 1.9 million.  http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_06/b4214058615722.htm
Obviously, I love money. (I will never complain about the huge difference in these salaries, because I signed up to be a teacher.)
2.  I am part of a union.

I am an educator and therefore I am in a union. Depending on who you listen to, teacher's unions are responsible for the downfall of American economics and are a communist influence in this smooth running capitalistic society we live in.  Other unions responsible for destroying America are police, firefighters, and nurses.  Football unions, or other sporting unions, or even actor's unions are never mentioned in these rants.  Why?  Entertainment is #1.  It's that simple. 

3.  Entertainment
As a teacher I think one of my best gifts is that I can entertain people with my personality and sense of humor.  NFL football is the ultimate entertainment.  It's unpredictable, full of mystery, suprise endings, and pain. 
4.  I watch NFL Network.
Although if the season was going to be cancelled, I'm not sure I could watch the same two NFL Network commercials anymore.  If you have watched in the last three months you know what I'm talking about.  The Play 60 "On the Bus" commercial and the "You Don't Own Me" NFL apparel for women featuring my junior high, high school, and current 37 year old crush - Alyssa Milano.

How am I selfish?  I'm willing to put all of this greedy NFL owners and players labor talks aside in order for me to enjoy my football.  I look forward to free agency, I look forward to pre-season, I look forward to the Chargers taunting me with their best team to blow it in the playoffs every year bit, I look forward to NFL Red Zone, I look forward to Fantasy Football, and I look forward to watching the playoffs.  Hooray for football!