Sports
Although a sport, surfing is not listed under my Sports section because it holds a much loftier place in my life than just being a sport. I've loved playing and watching sports from a young age. I was a late bloomer as far as body type and athletic ability so I did not participate on many organized youth teams. One year of Little League experience was fairly miserable. Unless you had skills or were the managers kid, those were the days when your time on the field was at an absolute minimum. Then there was the failed attempt at Pop Warner football. My body type was referred to as "husky" back then. God I remember hating the Sears jeans with that name on them! You might think that a husky kid was perfect for football but it is only advantageous when you can run. There is a picture somewhere, probably in a landfill, of me in my uniform - although I got cut before playing anything more than a scrimmage. Similar to my awakening with surfing, which came later, I was fortunate for "that person" who changed everything in my sporting world for the better. It was my next-door neighbor, Paul Sonnenborn. Paul was quite a few years older than me and he always looked out for me. Paul used to teach me football and he toughened me up by making me try to get by him in one-on-one drills. He always was the one who insisted to the other neighborhood kids that I be allowed to play in our cul-de-sac baseball games.
Not long thereafter was the start of Middle School. My school had a notorious reputation for PE class being like hell. They had gym classes named "Blood Day" where rumor had it that sadistic gym coaches worked you so hard that blood came out of your pores. How many kids do you know that took a PE class for summer school prior to Junior High? I was so fearful of my lack of physical ability and a certain F during the school year that I had to do something. We're talking about a kid who had to jog/walk to make a fifteen minute mile and I could not scale a fifteen foot rope even if there was a T-bone steak awaiting at the top. Fortunately things changed for the better because when I left 9th grade I was running under six minute miles and the rope was handled in seconds. I even somehow managed to play freshman football in High School. This did not continue because being about 5' 8" and 150 lbs does not bode well for survival in football against the likes of the man-child's of Gardena, Banning and Locke high schools.
Why would a fan of the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego/LA Chargers and have a picture of George Brett for the link to this page? And how is it that one can be a Padre fan and a Dodger fan? I'll have to get back to this one, or not, as it will take more time to explain than most anyone has the patience to endure.
Not long thereafter was the start of Middle School. My school had a notorious reputation for PE class being like hell. They had gym classes named "Blood Day" where rumor had it that sadistic gym coaches worked you so hard that blood came out of your pores. How many kids do you know that took a PE class for summer school prior to Junior High? I was so fearful of my lack of physical ability and a certain F during the school year that I had to do something. We're talking about a kid who had to jog/walk to make a fifteen minute mile and I could not scale a fifteen foot rope even if there was a T-bone steak awaiting at the top. Fortunately things changed for the better because when I left 9th grade I was running under six minute miles and the rope was handled in seconds. I even somehow managed to play freshman football in High School. This did not continue because being about 5' 8" and 150 lbs does not bode well for survival in football against the likes of the man-child's of Gardena, Banning and Locke high schools.
Why would a fan of the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego/LA Chargers and have a picture of George Brett for the link to this page? And how is it that one can be a Padre fan and a Dodger fan? I'll have to get back to this one, or not, as it will take more time to explain than most anyone has the patience to endure.