Soccer.....I mean football......

I used to be one of those individuals who thought soccer or football as the rest of the world knows it was a boring sport. I just couldn’t understand why it was the world’s most popular sport. However over the past year, my attitude about soccer has changed…..drastically!!

Now I enjoy watching soccer games, especially at the highest levels. My attitude began to change when my boys started playing soccer. Grant has been playing soccer for about 3 years and Gibson played for the first time last year. I was the assistant coach for their soccer team this year. To be honest soccer at this level isn’t that exciting to watch. It is basically a mass of youngsters chasing the ball around the field. The skill level just isn’t there. (Although in the playoffs, Grant almost made a header goal!)

This year Gannon played soccer for the first time for the Lakeview Christian School Junior High team. After watching a few of his games, I realized that as the skill levels of the players increased, so did my enjoyment of the games. I was finally hooked when I saw the Lakeview varsity soccer team play Blackford in a high school sectional game. The action was fast-paced and quite exciting. I also attended an Indiana Wesleyan University men’s soccer game and was really impressed with the skills of the players.

Grant is the one that really likes soccer. We get the Fox Soccer Channel, and he is always watching soccer games from around the world including the English Premier League. His favorite team is Chelsea. Next year Grant will attend Lakeview and he will be on the Junior High team and Gannon will move up to varsity since he will be a freshman. I’m already looking forward to soccer season.

It's Official.....Colts are my NFL team.....

It’s now official. My NFL team is now the Indianapolis Colts. Having spent most of my life growing up in Michigan, I’ve had the misfortune of having the Detroit Lions as my NFL team. Over the years I’ve probably attended about 15-20 Lions games; all at the Silverdome. As any long-suffering Lions fan knows, there have been very few great Lion moments over the past 30-some years. There were some bright spots like a few playoff appearances, the occasional Thanksgiving Day victory and of course the Barry Sanders era, but that was about it.

In my lifetime, I have watched 3 of the Detroit professional teams claim a league championship: Red Wings (1997, 1998, and 2002), Tigers (1984) and Pistons (1989, 1990 and 2004). The Lions have never won a Super Bowl nor have they ever played in a Super Bowl. Over the years one of their biggest problems is that they have never had a quality quarterback that was a leader. The list of Lion QB hopefuls that never panned out is endless…..Chuck Long, Andre Ware, Scott Mitchell, Rodney Peete, Charlie Batch, Mike McMahon, Charlie Batch, Joey Harrington…are some that come to mind.

Since moving to Indiana in 2000, I have followed the Indianapolis Colts and I have been to about 4 or 5 of their games. While doing this, I always kept a close tab on what the Lions were doing and I rooted for them. But now, I have jumped on the Colts bandwagon!

How can you not love a team that has Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James? Manning is the QB that the Lions wished they would have had all those years. He is an amazing QB and leader on the field. The Colts are already 10-0 and appear ready to claim a Super Bowl XL title, which ironically will be played at Ford Field, home of the Lions.

I haven’t completely given up on the Lions, and I’m sure that I’ll jump back on their bandwagon once they ever get a decent team again, but for now it’s the Colts baby!!!

My First Buck

It’s that time of the year again….deer hunting season. Deer hunting has become one of my favorite hobbies. As a child growing up in Michigan, I occasionally went hunting with my father. I’ve hunted duck, geese, pheasant, and rabbits but I never went deer hunting with him. His deer hunting trips consisted of a week with his buddies in northern Michigan or the UP (Upper Peninsula for non-Michiganders). Deer season took place during the school year and I couldn’t take a week off of school to go hunting. Plus, I never thought deer hunting would be that much fun anyway. I was content with plinking squirrels and black birds from my 2nd floor bedroom window with a .22 rifle.

Fast forward 20 some years…….I first went deer hunting with my buddy Jeff Whetzel in 2003 and now I’m hooked. Christie’s Aunt Marilyn has about 10 acres of wooded property behind her home here in Marion. Appropriately, Deer Creek flows through the property.

On the first day of the season I took a shot at a doe and missed. I saw a few more deer during the next several days and finally on the last day of the season my luck changed. As daylight was fading that Sunday afternoon, I big 8 point buck came walking up the trail below my deer blind. The adrenaline rush that hits you when you see a big buck is something that you have to experience to properly describe. My heart immediately began to beat hard and fast. (I now know why some deer hunters have heart attacks while hunting).

I drew my gun on the big buck waiting for the perfect shot. The deer looked up towards me and I pulled the trigger. Blam! He dropped like a brick. I could not contain my excitement. I remember yelling, “jackpot!” Why I said “jackpot” is beyond me as it is a pretty silly thing to yell out. Anyway, I ran down the hill to view my kill. Jeff came running over from his blind to see the fruits of my labor.

I shot the deer, just below its right eye. I was aiming for his chest. Lucky shot perhaps, but a kill is a kill. Ever since that day in 2003, I’ve been hooked on deer hunting. Last year I didn’t have any luck and so far this year, I haven’t got one, but Jeff got a nice 6 point buck on opening day. Sitting out in the woods on cold fall days can get boring at times, but it is peaceful being out in nature waiting for the trophy buck to appear.