A giant influence (no pun intended) is my dad. Growing up with a dad who is 6'8" and who played and coached basketball definitely influenced my view of sports. One of the many things that I appreciate about my dad is that he loves to analyze a game and he most definitely passed that trait on to me. For those who watch any game with me, I realize this can be annoying. In fact while most people look forward to Super Bowl parties so they can catch up with each other and watch the commercials, I am the opposite. My favorite Super Bowl was the year when I watched most of the game with just my dad. We tried to out analyze the analyst and each other!!
In the world of broadcasting where entertainment can be king, finding an announcer who really focuses on game strategy is something that was always important come gameday. We loved listening to Billy Packer call college basketball and Madden call football. Gruden and Aikman are a couple of today's favorites. My dad, brother and I are known to call back and forth during games and exchange our opinions. It's a family affair!!
Another influence has to be my grandmother. Debbie is a sports fanatic. She passed her love of the Miami Dolphins and the Duke Blue Devils down to more than one of her grandkids (this one included)!! It wasn't unusual discuss with her Marino's passes to Duper and Clayton or Coach K, Hill, Hurley and Laettner. She was on the sideline of every football game that my uncle played. It's a running joke in our family that for every yard my uncle rushed for in high school and college that Debbie ran every yard with him!! Debbie, thank you for showing me that sports isn't only a guys club:)
As time goes on I'll delve deeper into different sports greats that I have the utmost respect for and my opinions on different topics, but for today I thought a more personal approach was best. Our passions start somewhere, which for me happened to be right at home.
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