This time last year I was the biggest NFL junky I know. I never got into college football other than the annual UCLA game my buddy Phest takes me to in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl. I think the athletes go through the system too quickly at the college level for me to keep up. NFL - Different story! I was born and raised a Broncos fan. How’s this? The ‘curtain’ I’m looking at right now, the one covering the back entry to the kitchen, it’s a Denver Broncos flag. As I type this article to you I’m drinking coffee out of a Denver Broncos coffee cup and the DJ is wearing a Broncos hat.
That probably doesn’t justify my opening sentence, though, does it? This is my softail I built back in 2003 - R.I.P C.W! Even the seat is navy with orange stitching and the open primary says Mile High in blue and orange.
Living room parking - Garage is for dirt bikes
More? Before fantasy football and draft kings became a full-grown, adult man’s Pokémon, about a dozen of my buddies and myself played a similar game. At X buy-in we would each pick game winners every Sunday and at the end of the season, whoever had the most wins, they win the pot. Are you convinced yet? And the players, too, I could tell you where they went to school, how fast they run the 40-yard dash, their wing span, the numerical order in which they were drafted by the league, etc.
It all stopped last season. It was around week five or six, about this time last year actually, I haven’t watched it since. Being a Broncos fan, we know more about the Oakland raiders than most raiders (no caps) fans. This season, however, I haven’t watched a minute of it. I have zero knowledge of the raiders and Broncos draft picks, either teams’ coaches, running backs, I don’t even know who the quarterback for either team is. I assume Daryl Trukk is still throwing for the raiders and the Broncos signed Case Keenum during the offseason but I haven’t seen either of them play. It’s been like this for about a year now and I’m surprisingly comfortable with it.
The whole kneeling thing and the President of the United States calling the entire league what he called them was a bit much. The President does what he does and I count on the NFL for entertainment. When the guys who entertain me got into a pissing match with the guy who doesn’t entertain me, I turned it off. That was right about the time I released Saved By A Junky - I didn’t know what a trail was before that. Soon after that I did that eyeball - Another one. I began investing more time into myself and less into the remote.
I had a lot of time on my hands. It takes quite a bit, several hours each week, to stay on top of those stats I listed. Injuries, off-field issues, hold-outs, it adds up. I’m talking about the NFL with in-laws, the guy wearing ‘Any Team’ shirt at the market, anyone really, just know a little bit about the league and we have something in common. I devoted a lot of time to the them. I’m learning how to do anything else instead.
My mornings no longer consist of coffee and Sports Center. Rather than the remote control I’m editing something or even writing song lyrics. I began drawing, too, and I’m paying attention to contests around here but the craziest part is I’ve entered some of these competitions and had amazing results! Look who second place is!! Time spent practicing various arts and building confidence to enter competitions is tough to acquire during football season, offseason, post season and preseason.
Check out my “sports” folder today, this time last year it was: Draft Kings, Bet Counter, NFL, Fox Sorts, Sports Ticker, Las Vegas Odds, LA Times and a few more. I have yet to let go of these last two. I haven’t clicked on either of them this season but I guess I haven’t fully committed.
Coincidentally, my “web tools” folder is growing. I had never cut and pasted a photo - Photoshop is great for that stuff! And there’s even an app called “Cut & Paste!” As any commentator would say: “The momentum of the game has changed.”
I miss Carrie Underwood singing the Sunday night football song - It’s such a great song! I don’t know the words or anything but Carrie rocks the heck out of that red, tuxedo looking dress thing when she sings it. You shouldn’t hear the television volume played at exponential levels during football games anymore either. I’m not as concerned with the batteries in the remote control as I am the charge in the iPad or how to properly save images on the GoPro. I still stop randomly while peddling but I’m not checking scores or my fantasy teams, I’m most likely rearranging something, writing down a new idea or taking pictures of the perfectly straight lines in the sky.
GoPro Hero Black - San Pedro, California
C.W was one of my truest friends in this world. Now that I’ve introduced you to him I look forward to telling you more stories about him - He was twice my age and 10 times wiser. I learned how to build a custom softail in his garage that year, that’s where we were the night Johnny Cash died but more importantly, I learned about obligations in that garage. Nothing came before that man’s family. I know a lot of men with families but I don’t know anyone like him. Thanks C.W, save me a seat! He taught me something about football, too, it took me this long to figure out what he meant.
It would’ve been the ‘02-‘03 NFL season and the raiders (no caps, still 😉) beat the Tennessee Titans in the AFC championship game advancing their season to Super Bowl 37 vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (they lost btw). C.W was a raiders fan. When we got back to work the following week and his team was headed to Super Bowl XXXVII, I asked him where he would watch the game. He told me he wouldn’t watch it. He said he’d probably stop by the clubhouse to make sure everything is ok and they’ll have the game on but he didn’t care. It didn’t make sense to me at the time but I’ll never forget the way he said it:
“They’re going to play whether I watch them or not and they’ll either win or they’ll lose.”
