Finally Started... An Introduction of Sorts

Welcome... First, thanks for checking this out. You must me one of two things, a great friend or incredibly bored. Either way, I appreciate you and your time. I promise to try to make this interesting, timely, funny, sad, utterly irreverent and a worthwhile excuse to kill some time every time you read.


So, for starters, who am I? Hopefully if you are reading this you have a vested interest in who I am. My name is Aaron, I am 26, good looking and happily taken; oh yeah, and I am a delightful human being - that pretty much summarizes it all. I live in beautiful Pensacola, Fl and work for a minor league hockey team, the Pensacola Ice Flyers. We play in the Southern Professional Hockey League, or the SPHL or the "SP" as us in the league like to shorten it. I serve as the Director of Marketing/Business Development & Game Presentation. I have a Master's of Science in Sports Administration from Mississippi State University and a Bachelor's of Science in Hospitality, Recreation and Resort Management from the University of West Florida. I won't bore you with much more right now as I am sure more about me will come out in my posts. However, that gives you a little background to get your started.


So, on to this Blog. I was inspired to start writing because my girlfriend was tired of my Facebook rants on a variety of subjects - particularly sports, and Facebook doesn't provide me enough space to make my points anyway. The subjects will probably be varied, but, who are we kidding, it will most likely be about sports. I have a passion for sports, but more importantly, the BUSINESS of sports. Too many times I read ignorant posts and opinions by people who only see one side of things - mainly as fans. But, the more I spend time working in the "biz", the more I see an entirely different side of things that not everyone does. That will be my goal, to bring together the views and opinions as a fan with those of a sports professional.


Now, the title... yes, that fancy, creative, witty title at the top: Missing the Wheelbarrow. The reason behind it is simple, my friends hate me. You see, one week, while celebrating the harmonious joining of two souls in love, myself and several friends spent lots of time around a campfire reflecting on life, love, world problems, drinking, making fun of each other and drinking some more. Due to the copious amounts of Coors Light (sponsorship, please?!) being consumed, we would toss empty cans into a wheelbarrow. Well, that was the plan. The problem is I missed the wheelbarrow... A LOT. Not just the occasional can, MOST of the cans. Being the ham I am for attention you may think I did it on purpose. Good thought, and one based in logic for those that know me. However, that was far from it. My competitive side came out and I tried and tried my best to get those cans in the wheelbarrow but just couldn't. I folded under pressure and couldn't perform.


Nonetheless, when I solicited ideas from my friends, they reminded me of that time and voila' a blog was born. Now, it makes sense in more ways because in life, I have always felt I "missed the wheelbarrow". I should have played way more sports than I did and wish I had found the passion for sports that I have now earlier in life... probably would have led me to a great college career in football and probably the NFL (just sayin') and prevented me from having nicknames over the years like "Big E", "Hagrid" and the "Big Show". But, here we sit. The full name of the blog, for your reference, is actually, 'Missing the WheelBarrow: Thoughts from the Sidelines".


So, there you have it... the beginnings of something great. Be sure to check back often, drop me a line if you have an opinion on what I say, want to shoot the wind or want me to talk about something in particular. I'd love to know who is wasting time reading this, so you can always just say hello. In closing, welcome, enjoy and have fun!


That's my TFTS (get it... Thoughts from the Sidelines). :-)