The Other Guy

Growing up in the state of California, particularly the bay area, where there are so many national sports teams (2 NBA teams, 2 Football teams, 2 Baseball teams), 2 prominent Pac-10 schools, and a whole bunch of other notable league teams (MLS, NHL, Arena Football, etc.) it's hard to imagine anyone getting away from the culture of sports. Sports pervades so many aspects of our society, from newspaper sections, sports channels on TV, athletes as celebrities, it's unbelievable how many people if affects.

I think personally my biggest connection to sports and why I've become passionate in it is because I have realized how many people it really affects. Sports are a community endeavor, sports are a social endeavor. People don't have Super Bowl parties to watch the game alone. People wouldn't re-live Michael Jordan's game-winner over Bryon Russell if they had no one to share in it's amazement. And no White Sox fan would be as excited as they were in 2005 to win the World Series if people for 88 years had not been talking about "the curse".

In all honesty, I've gained much from sports not just from watching the game, but being apart of the community. One, it's an automatic conversation starter. To be able to show, I don't live under a rock and can talk knowledgeably about something that is going on in the world, while at the same time connecting with someone who I don't even know. This has been priceless in meeting new people as well as making new friends. Two, people always talk about the competitiveness that drives us human beings, and that drives athletes, however that drive also translates into us fans. When we adopt particular teams as our own, we become one with them. This has given me the opportunity to not only root for a team, but consequently now have competitions with other fans. I know I've gotten into some serious yelling contests trying to defend my team, which I think it's good to let some of my competitive spirit out of me. Finally, seeing your team succeed, is like you succeeding. You feel apart of something bigger, and you feel glad you are apart of this community. Through my time, I've seen teams I heavily support do extremely well as well as go through rebuilding stages. However, through all this time it's been great to have been provided with a community of people, the hope for success, and also the actual joy of success.

But now as I blog and my community of friends through sports continues to grow, I want you to continue with me. Continue from my evolution from a young die-hard basketball fan, to my Sophomore Undergrad self at Stanford University. I hope to bring you my in depth insight and analysis of sports particularly with stats and numbers (I'm definitely more of a stats guy), as well as important, pertinent, and funny news going on in the sports world. However, while I am particularly knowledgeable in NBA and College Basketball, I hope to grow and talk about other sports too. However, this all will not be fun without you. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, ideas on topics you want me to write about, or even debates you have with my thoughts. Let's keep this community rollin. I'm only an e-mail away.

P-H-I Double L