Tuesday, April 12, 2005
I Want To Be Mike Reid, But Not Because He Played Football
So I'm well over 100 posts now. It's hard to believe that I can write so many words and still manage to say nearly absolutely nothing. I'm just trying to write a little something every day. Ocasionally it's going to be good. Most of the time it's going to be crap. Most of the time it's just going to be me bitching about something or chronicling the mundane occurances in my life. Sometimes I'm going to have real insight. I guess this blog will continue to be hit and miss, just like real life.
Also I'm nearing the 1000 visitors mark. That amazes me. A lot of those 1000 are people I know, but a good portion are people I don't. A bitchy Valentine's Day post got me the most visitors and a couple of responses. When I started this, I didn't ever think that anyone would read it. I still write it as if nobody's reading it. I guess if I were trying to get readers I'd make up better stuff than the crap I post here. No, this is what it is. When I figure out exactaly what it is, I'll be sure to let you know.
Another uneventful day as a sub. I had a computer class at the high school today. The students were working on a Power Point presentation. Most of the students were quite happy to work on the project. Some weren't, and it's hard to tell when a student is looking for pictures or music for a legitimate project, or just looking at pictures for something to do. I gave 'em a lot of lattitude. I was able to help a few students with some Photoshop stuff. I have a feeling I have a better grasp of that particular application than anyone else at that school. I guess you could say I actually made some money with my Photoshop skills today then. I guess that would be a first.
There was an assembly at the end of the day. The speaker was a former NFL football player now associated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. After finding out that he played for the Bengals and the approximate years he played, I wanted to talk to him about a former teammate of his, linebacker Mike Reid. Mike Reid was a good, if not great, linebacker for the Bengals in the '70's. He quit football at his peak to move to Nashville and pursue a career as a songwriter. I remember when he did that, but never heard from him again until years later. He wrote a couple of songs for some Bonnie Raitt albums in the early '90's. One of them, a ballad called Too Soon to Tell is one of my favorite Bonnie Raitt songs.
Once I hit junior high, I was absolutely crazy about football. I'd shown no interest in it before. I remember the 7th grade middle weight football coach trying to get me to go out for the team. I just wasn't intersted. In eighth grade I showed a little interest, but once again didn't go out for the team. I had knee trouble during my freshman year and didn't go out for the team. As a sophomore, I finally gave organized football a shot. I won't kid you or myself, I wasn't very good. Yet, I was good enough to earn a starting spot as a defensive tackle on the JV squad. Maybe if I'd played before that, I'd have been a little better by that time. I tore up my knee during two-a-day drills as a junior, and a doctor convinced me not to go back to it. He was right, even if I'd have been playing for a number of years at that point, I was just never going to be a great football player. I knew that then and I know that now. Still, through my college and early professional years if you'd have asked me what I wanted to be, if God would immediately give me the talent to pursue any career at the highest level, I'd have picked professional football player over anything else.
By the time I got married and subsequently divorced, my goals had changed. I had started to play harp a little, had picked up the guitar some, had written a couple of songs. If God would have immediately given me the talen to pursue any career at it's highest point at that point in my life, I'd have picked musician.
Mike Reid was both. He was a good enough football player to start for a pro team for a number of years. He ended up being a good enough musician to write songs that appeared on two wildly successful albums. I guess because he had succeded at both of my dreams, I always found him fascinating.
I never made it as a football player. In retrospect, I'm pretty happy about that. I'm glad I attempted to play the game, I still love it and have a better understanding of it by having played it at even a low level. The people I played football with, though, are in their 40's now. None of them played at a very high level, my guess is that few, if any, are playing tackle football today at any level.
I just turned 40, I started playing music with a little seriousness a little more than a year ago. I'm no professional, but I just got back from an open mic, a guy stopped me in the parking lot to tell me that he enjoyed what I did. I play a couple of times a week, occasionally playing with professionals who seem to think I'm good enough to play with them. I'm not getting big headed about this, I've been around enough real musicians to know that I'm not one. I'm having a great time playing music though, and I'll continue to be able to do so for the rest of my life. Had I decided I needed to be a football player, I'd be at the end now, looking regretfully back at missed opportunities. As it is, I'm looking forward, every time I pick up a harp, I play a little better than I did the last time. My skills haven't dropped off the radar yet.
BOJ
Also I'm nearing the 1000 visitors mark. That amazes me. A lot of those 1000 are people I know, but a good portion are people I don't. A bitchy Valentine's Day post got me the most visitors and a couple of responses. When I started this, I didn't ever think that anyone would read it. I still write it as if nobody's reading it. I guess if I were trying to get readers I'd make up better stuff than the crap I post here. No, this is what it is. When I figure out exactaly what it is, I'll be sure to let you know.
Another uneventful day as a sub. I had a computer class at the high school today. The students were working on a Power Point presentation. Most of the students were quite happy to work on the project. Some weren't, and it's hard to tell when a student is looking for pictures or music for a legitimate project, or just looking at pictures for something to do. I gave 'em a lot of lattitude. I was able to help a few students with some Photoshop stuff. I have a feeling I have a better grasp of that particular application than anyone else at that school. I guess you could say I actually made some money with my Photoshop skills today then. I guess that would be a first.
There was an assembly at the end of the day. The speaker was a former NFL football player now associated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. After finding out that he played for the Bengals and the approximate years he played, I wanted to talk to him about a former teammate of his, linebacker Mike Reid. Mike Reid was a good, if not great, linebacker for the Bengals in the '70's. He quit football at his peak to move to Nashville and pursue a career as a songwriter. I remember when he did that, but never heard from him again until years later. He wrote a couple of songs for some Bonnie Raitt albums in the early '90's. One of them, a ballad called Too Soon to Tell is one of my favorite Bonnie Raitt songs.
Once I hit junior high, I was absolutely crazy about football. I'd shown no interest in it before. I remember the 7th grade middle weight football coach trying to get me to go out for the team. I just wasn't intersted. In eighth grade I showed a little interest, but once again didn't go out for the team. I had knee trouble during my freshman year and didn't go out for the team. As a sophomore, I finally gave organized football a shot. I won't kid you or myself, I wasn't very good. Yet, I was good enough to earn a starting spot as a defensive tackle on the JV squad. Maybe if I'd played before that, I'd have been a little better by that time. I tore up my knee during two-a-day drills as a junior, and a doctor convinced me not to go back to it. He was right, even if I'd have been playing for a number of years at that point, I was just never going to be a great football player. I knew that then and I know that now. Still, through my college and early professional years if you'd have asked me what I wanted to be, if God would immediately give me the talent to pursue any career at the highest level, I'd have picked professional football player over anything else.
By the time I got married and subsequently divorced, my goals had changed. I had started to play harp a little, had picked up the guitar some, had written a couple of songs. If God would have immediately given me the talen to pursue any career at it's highest point at that point in my life, I'd have picked musician.
Mike Reid was both. He was a good enough football player to start for a pro team for a number of years. He ended up being a good enough musician to write songs that appeared on two wildly successful albums. I guess because he had succeded at both of my dreams, I always found him fascinating.
I never made it as a football player. In retrospect, I'm pretty happy about that. I'm glad I attempted to play the game, I still love it and have a better understanding of it by having played it at even a low level. The people I played football with, though, are in their 40's now. None of them played at a very high level, my guess is that few, if any, are playing tackle football today at any level.
I just turned 40, I started playing music with a little seriousness a little more than a year ago. I'm no professional, but I just got back from an open mic, a guy stopped me in the parking lot to tell me that he enjoyed what I did. I play a couple of times a week, occasionally playing with professionals who seem to think I'm good enough to play with them. I'm not getting big headed about this, I've been around enough real musicians to know that I'm not one. I'm having a great time playing music though, and I'll continue to be able to do so for the rest of my life. Had I decided I needed to be a football player, I'd be at the end now, looking regretfully back at missed opportunities. As it is, I'm looking forward, every time I pick up a harp, I play a little better than I did the last time. My skills haven't dropped off the radar yet.
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 10:38 PM 
