No goofy picture, straight to the point...
When I was sitting in the press box for the Vanderbilt/Auburn game eating a meal with Brett and Meggie, I thought about where I was and how I got to that point.
OK, let’s take it back a few years. For the first 18 years of my life, I was a relatively normal sports fan who let the wins and losses of my team affect my mood. If the New York Giants won a game on a Sunday, I was a happy guy that entire week. If the Mets won a game in the summer, it would make my day. However, when those teams blew games, it would make me sad and affect my morale. I always made sure to follow the rest of the teams in the leagues to gain the most knowledge possible, but I always held a spot for the Giants, Mets, Rangers, Knicks, in that order. I was a very passionate fan who would go to the games and boo and jeer just as hard as anyone there. Then, I went to Vanderbilt.
To be honest with you, one of the main reasons that I went to Vanderbilt besides the education, good weather, hot co-eds, being closer to my family in Georgia, the beautiful women, the nice campus, the women was the chance to see free SEC sports, especially football.
I would look at games on TV and see Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the other teams and want to be a part of that atmosphere. When I visited Vandy in the spring of 1999 and they told me that I can go to the games for free, it was a wrap, I said no to going to school in Vermont, imagine that, and made my way to Nashville.
Funny thing about the whole visit. No one told me about how bad Vanderbilt football was. I was just trying to see some games with some new friends. First game of the 1999 season was a home contest against Alabama and Shaun Alexander. I was in the stands and at that Alabama was ranked and wouldn’t you know it, Vandy was winning the contest. However, my Commies found a way to blow the lead and drop the contest.
Let’s take it even further, that same season, Vandy is beating Georgia that same season at home and the Bulldogs are ranked in the top-15 that year. Vandy is forced to punt the ball on their own-20 with the lead in the second half. What does Vandy do? Calls a fake punt! Of course it gets stopped and Vandy loses.
Let’s keep the theme going with that 1999 season. Vandy loses a tough game to a top-10 Florida team on the road before hosting Kentucky and sporting a record of 5-4. Vandy has two games left, hosting the Wildcats before heading to a top-five Tennessee team on the road over Thanksgiving weekend. Vandy moves the Kentucky game to a nighttime contest and its on ESPN 2. It’s a “blackout” and everyone is in black in the stands including me, and I was in a “festive” mood after prepartying at Kappa Sig. Shouts out to the Kappa Sigma brothers out there, good times at that house. Anyway, we get to the game and we know that if Vandy gets to six wins, they will be bowl eligible and have a winning record.
So Vandy is down by two late, late in the game and they’re driving down the field . I’ll never forget this. The running back fumbles the ball deep in Kentucky territory, the Wildcats recover and the final score is 24-20. I’ve never been so sad after a loss with any of my teams ever. I was supposed to continue the partying that night, but I just went back to my dorm room, said nothing to my roommate and went to sleep.
Of course Vandy loses the Tennessee game, finishes 5-6 and my fandom actually diminished over time. Vandy went 3-8 in 2000, 2-9 in 2001 including a loss at Florida under that jerk Steve Spurrier 71-13 in the most blatent example of running up the score that I’ve ever seen. I still haven’t forgiven Stevie for that one. Finally, in 2002, they went 2-10.
While sitting in the stands during all of these loses, I learned to look at sports as less of an attriction of my passion and as more of an event. I liked going to the games, tailgating, having a few pops but I wanted more.
After graduating from Vandy, I moved around between the NYC, Atlanta, Charleston and wanted to get back involved in sports in some capacity.
When I got my break at Georgia Tech working in game day operations, the first thing that they taught me was to not cheer in the press box. I had to be a professional and act mature.
You’re asking me how does that tie into my Vandy experiences? Well, when you see your team get beaten often and the opposing fans act like jerks around you and taunt you, you learn how it feels to be on the losing end of a contest. When I work at a press box, there are representatives from both teams in the contest and I have to consider the feelings of the team that’s losing the contest and not be mean to them.
So this season, I’ve been working at the Vandy games in the press box and this year has been great because the team is doing so well. Amazing stuff.
When I was making my mile walk from my car to the stadium because I couldn’t find parking, I saw all of the fans tailgating, having a great time. I wanted to be out there with them, eating some food, having some drinks, but I couldn’t because I was working for Vandy and for Belmont, who I was posting some sports stories for that day as well.
It was kinda lonely because I was walking to the game alone and knew that I would be leaving alone but that’s the nature of my life right now and I accept that.
Once I finally reach the pressbox, do my Belmont stories, I have the meal with Brett and Meggie. I tell Meggie that I saw all of the people out there tailgating and wanted to be a part of that. But then I thought about that for a moment.
I’ve busted my ass for years now to become a sports professional and while I work in a fun industry, it requires sacrifices. I can be out there having a good time, but I want to be in the Nashville sports scene as much as possible, even if that means volunteering for Vandy games.
The whole reason that I’m putting myself through all of this is to become someone more than a fan. Nothing wrong with being a fan, I still am one despite how this post may make me sound, but I want more.
This point was driven home when I headed down to the field to do my postgame duties and saw all of the fans in the stands. I had a credential to be on the field in one of the biggest wins in Vandy history because I had the drive to better my career. All of my past experiences made me come to this point and I was getting emotional on the field.
I really wanted to shout and cheer for Vandy but the same rules in the press box apply for the field during the game. I looked around and held back my tears because the moment was so strong for me.
I did my postgame duties and walked past the same tailgaters on the way to my car, smiled, drove home and went to sleep.
The whole experience made me question how much of a sports fan I am right now? Working in sports, especially in my position, takes a lot of time and is draining. The pay isn’t great, the hours are long and the accolades and glory are small.
Sometimes it means working days on end without time off. Sometimes it means not having a meaningful relationship in your life.
Do I plan to have this lifestyle in five years? Probably not, but I know that I can’t and won’t be that innocent sports fan I was as a youth again. I know too much about the operations of how this industry works and want to embrace all of it.
When I was a kid, I looked at a game, lets say football, saw the players, the score and kept it moving. Now, I look for the operations of the game. Who are the referees of the contest. How is the stadium structured. What security plan are they using. How functional is the press box. What uniforms are they wearing. Where are the cameras placed, if there are cameras at all. Where are the season ticket holders at. How much is each ticket. Who is buying the tickets. I can go for hours on tickets.
You get the idea. I look at the sport as an event that is operated.
Do I want to be a blind fan of sports again? No, I want to be a fan of the sports industry and that’s why I work in it. Does that make me less of a fan? Fan is short for fanatic and I’m not a fanatic, I’m a business man. But the best business men are fanatical about their business which for me is sports.
That may or may not make sense, but each of us can figure that out somehow.
Until then, good fight, good night.
Oh, I was listening to some Pandora radio and they were bumping some Alice in Chains, one of my favorite groups ever. Here’s some of their music.
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