Being Inspired (March 2014)

            Looking through the archives on my laptop, I found something that I totally forgot I had written. Be inspired like I was:

March 2014

Yesterday, as I watched George Stroumboulopoulos interview newly introduced TFC superstar Jermaine Defoe, I couldn’t help but find myself so incredibly intrigued as to what I was witnessing. Two human beings discussing the world of sports. And it was at that point that I said to myself I knew for sure what I’m meant to do in my life.

            I’ve always known that I want to make a career doing what I love and what I’m passionate about, and there’s nothing that I love more than sports. As I watched this interview take place in front of my eyes, I came to realize that there is nothing more interesting than watching two individuals have a conversation that is sincerely in depth. This is the art of interviewing, and that is what George Strombo has shown me.

            When the taping was done and George had asked if anyone had any questions. Something within me compelled me to ask him what advice he had for an aspiring sportscaster like myself. He mentioned a lot of things, but two of those many things are going to stick with me for the rest of my life.

            The first thing he said was that I need to be able to understand human philosophy to be a good broadcaster in general. At first I didn’t clearly understand what he meant, but then I got it. To be able to have a conversation with someone and being able to ask them all sorts of questions, means that you need to be able to see how the human you are talking to works and reacts to the things you say. It’s a wonderful tip.

            The second thing he said to me was a quote that I will be replaying in my mind for the rest of my life. He said “There’s one thing you need to know about our business… and that is that, you need to toughen the **** up”. He went on to reveal to me that people in the industry are going to rip me apart, but it just comes with the package of being a broadcaster. Granted, I know that’s something I need to work on, but at the same time it doesn’t scare me. I know within myself what I was meant to do. I was meant to talk about sports for a living, to live through my passon. To report on things and bring interesting news to the people around me who love and care about sports just as much as I do. I know that nothing will bring me greater joy.

The Year in Sports - 2014

2014 has been a year like no other. It doesn’t happen often, but this year sports fans were granted the best of the best. When people talk about sports and go into the deeper meaning behind it all, I like to call it all a cliché, but it’s far from that. We wake up every morning, every day of the year looking forward to something. I wake up, I get ready for school and I turn on Sportscentre, it’s my simple daily routine. 2014 had me waking up to the best. I woke up in the morning excited, excited to relive the goose bumps I got on my arm from watching the game from the night before. And I mean, isn’t that all we want from these superstars on our TV screens? We hope to see greatness, and in 2014 I’d like to think that was accomplished. 2014 in the world of sports had been no less than monumental. I look back on my favorite moments of 2014 and think to myself, “When am I ever going to be so lucky in my lifetime again to see so much greatness all in one year”. I hope it happens soon, but for now I’ll just sit down and fantasize about all those nostalgic moments 2014 engraved in my mind.

Let’s start with one of the biggest events that 2014 had to offer; The Olympics. Being Canadian, watching the winter Olympics is incredible because us Canadians seem to totally excel in winter sports. The women’s gold medal hockey match between Canada and USA left everyone in a state of shock. I’d like to believe that this was one of the most intense games I had watched throughout the entire year (maybe even my entire life). With 1:25 left to go in the third period, somehow and someway the hockey gods decided that it was Canada’s redemption time. I will contemplate and wonder how the puck shot down the ice by Catherine Ward of the USA didn’t go in the empty net that day, but I will never complain. The momentum of the puck missing the net is what inspired the Canadian women to get the gold. With 54 seconds left in the same period Marie-Philip Poulin scored the goal to send it to overtime, and do I need to say much more? We all know how this story goes, we win it in over time and the crowd goes wild… Canada wins the goal medal, that’s a nice little story isn’t it? With the Canadian men’s 3-0 win over Sweden in the gold medal game, I think it’s safe to say that hockey stays in Canada for another 4 years.

The World Cup, a phenomenon known throughout mankind, a spectacle that the world patiently waits for to come around every 4 years. There was tons of build up about Brazil being the home team and them having the biggest chance to win the entire thing, but when Brazilian superstar Neymar went down with a back injury, Brazil’s chances at hoisting the World Cup went down as well (not to mention the beat down Germany handed to Brazil in the semi-finals, 7-1). The final was set, Germany vs. Argentina. Truth be told, 2014 was not Lionel Messi’s year to shine, it was Germany’s year, and it was much deserved.

With every year comes along more draft days and scandalous trades that keep all fans engaged. Generally speaking, players have to be good to get attention (or they need to make everyone think they’re good at least). This is what I’d like to the call the Cleveland hype of 2014. I think everyone knows what I am refereeing too. “The King” Lebron James returning to the Cavaliers where he got his basketball career started, adding on to the legacy he has already achieved in Cleveland, and Johnny “football” Manziel trying to begin his legacy in Cleveland. It was all a nice little parade until majority of the parade went down hill. As many know, the Cavs are not doing as well as expected in this NBA season, and after Johnny football got his first NFL start, he proved he was not ready. This is not to say that Lebron or Manziel are not terrific athletes, but it is to say; Sorry Cleveland fans, maybe next year?

When you think about baseball in 2014, a couple headlines come to mind. “Goodbye Captain” “San Francisco Dynasty” and “Kansas City Royals; Royal” just to name a few. With Derek Jeter’s final goodbye to MLB in the regular season to the World Series matchup that had us all begging for more, the 2014 Major League Baseball season was most definitely a memorable one.

Rory Mcilroy; It’s safe to say that in 2013, he didn’t show off his best work, but hey “New year, new me”… Right Rory? After ending his rather public relationship with pro tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, Rory got back into the groove of things. This year, Rory was categorized into an elite list, being only the third player in golf history to have won 3 major championships by the age of 25. After winning two majors in one year, the media started talking about Rory being the next Tiger again, and all was good in Rory land.

2014; cue the Canadian tennis emergence. Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic put on a spectacle and for the first time in a very long time they brought excitement back to tennis for Canadians. Although Milos didn’t make it to a grand slam final this year he sure showed the world that his big serve is something to look out for. When Genie Bouchard made it to the Wimbledon Final a whole lot more Canadians became tennis enthusiasts. Although Genie could not win that day, we look back on 2014 and know that we will have a lot more to look forward too next year in the tennis world. Thank you Genie and Milos… you did us all proud.

The 2014 year sparked something big in the NBA, and no I am not talking about big shot teams like The Miami Heat or The Golden State Warriors or even The San Antonio Spurs. I’m talking about a team that has come together and shocked us all, I am talking about The Toronto Raptors. In 2014 the Raptors showed that they weren’t going to fly under the radar anymore. In 2014 the Raptors came to life. This all starting with winning the Atlantic division and making it to the first round of the NBA playoffs to face off against the Brooklyn Nets. I think we can all recall the outcome of that series but on the bright side, the raps proved that it wasn’t all a fluke. They currently stand at the top of the eastern conference and have the second best record in the NBA… how’s that for flying under the radar?

Really though, what would this post be if I didn’t talk about some of the bloopers that took place in 2014. There are those things in every aspect of life that we hope don’t fall onto our paths ever again, but with Luis Saurez it seems to be reoccurring. The infamous “bite”. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that, “the bite” may have been the dumbest move 2014 had to offer.  How about Richard Sherman and his post game interview with Erin Andrews of Fox Sports after the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. “I AM THE BEST CORNER IN THE GAME…DONT YOU EVER TALK ABOUT ME” does that ring any bells Michael Crabtree? So to the Luis Suarez’s and Richard Sherman’s of the world; thank you for making this year entertaining for all us sports fans, (to say the least).

Like i said, 2014 has been a year like no other, and as I sit here and reminisce I take away pure brilliance. I take away the sweet bliss of being able to say I was alive to watch pivotal and monumental moments in the world of sports. In 2015, I could only hope that we as fans can witness as much as we did this year, because like I always say, there is no better feeling in the world than being a sports fan.