Thankful for my other parents

First of all, let me start by saying I told you once all my blog entries would be about sports. While I was once  adamant about my stance, it has since changed. I hope you're not overly upset.

I also apologize for the long wait between entries. Deal with it!

I felt led last night to post a few words about my girlfriend's parents, Mr. David and Mrs. Leslie. I can't begin to express how much this pair has meant to me over the last 14 months.

When I met Maggie's parents at the end of last year, I remember not being able to control my hands from shaking. They were like leaves...on a windy day.

About five minutes into the conversation, Mrs. Leslie started talking about different types of cheeses for whatever reason. She talked about a particular style of mashed potatoes, this batch made with gouda cheese. Mr. David calmly looked at her and said, "Well, it's not gooda." I recall laughing hysterically and thinking, "That sounds just like me." Other than my dad, I haven't met anyone with such a similar sense of humor to my own.

Mr. David is one of the most talented men I've met. Recently, he installed hardwood flooring. He has worked on a dredge boat, served as an assistant to the superintendent on several golf courses and can fix anything. He has worked construction and this is evident as I've seen him fix anything and everything that has broken around their house over the last year. If you know me, you realize I'm not what some would call "capable" in those areas, thus to see someone who is so comfortable with tools and handyman work is awesome.

Furthermore, last weekend - when he laid the floor - was really the first time I've seen Mr. David get worked up (or angry, depending on your viewpoint) over anything. There were some minor problems with the actual hardwood and he did not shy away from making his frustrations visible. Of course, that's okay with me, I wouldn't have known how to start on the floor, much less worry myself with the different angles around the vents and where the bedroom doors meet the living room. I can't tell you how impressed I was with his work. Not that he needs my affirmation, but it was certainly a sight to see.

Although there are many aspects that I admire about Maggie's father, one that sticks out is his ability to listen. He serves as the youth pastor at Eastside and this is a trait anyone in the minister should strive to acquire and improve. Have you ever had conversations with someone and noticed them simply thinking about what they are going to say next instead of actually listening to you? He is the antithesis of that - you can feel him listening to every word you say, digesting the material and basing his response around all the knowledge he has acquired during that timespan. It's such a pleasant conversation because he values my opinion as much as his own - at least that's the feeling I get and I sincerely appreciate it. I will remain forever grateful for the relationship I share with Mr. David and it has strengthened my bond with Maggie even more as a result.

As for Mrs. Leslie, her personality differs greatly from her husband's. Mr. David is also one of the most laid back guys I have met in recent memory while Mrs. Leslie can best be described as "passionate," as her daughter put it so eloquently yesterday at lunch. "Big Ma," as she commonly refers to herself, gets worked up rather easily. This is not a bad thing at all. As a matter of fact, it's the complete opposite. Mrs. Leslie never leaves you guessing as far as how she's feeling at the moment. If she's upset, you'll know it. On the other hand, if she's happy, you'll know that too. It's funny watching Mr. David intentionally get under his wife's skin because, well, he knows he can. At times, it might not seem comical to Mrs. Leslie, but from the other side of the living room I simply can't hide my laughter.

Mrs. Leslie shares youth pastor duties with Mr. David and they are a great team. I have been blessed the last few years to share a close friendship with Chris Surigao, the minister of youth at New Beginnings Community Church, the church in which I was raised. Chris is a man after God's heart and the same thing can be said about my new "second" set of parents. Mr. David and Mrs. Leslie are great teachers for many of the same reasons they have a marriage we should all long for. Regardless of the circumstance or the particular lesson that is taught on any given night, I find my eyes darting back and forth to both of them, eagerly anticipating what will be said next. Another recent source of laughter in my life stems from youth on Wednesday nights when I can see Mrs. Leslie "chomping at the bit" to share a tidbit of information while Mr. David is still talking. She begins to slide up in her chair and stare at Mr. David as if to say, "OK, I have something. Let me teach them before I forget it."

I hope you're not hungry this morning before reading this part of the blog, and if not you will be shortly. Mrs. Leslie is an outstanding cook. Other than my mother, the great Gail Hickman, Mrs. Leslie is the best cook I know. Sunday before last, we had one of my favorite meals - country style steak, rice, green beans, macaroni and cheese, the list goes on. It was nothing short of amazing. If you've seen me recently and my roundly-shaped belly, you can thank Mrs. Leslie!

I extend a great debt of gratitude to both of Maggie's parents and can't say enough about the role models they were not only to me, but to the entire community.

If you think I made this post simply to "suck up," you're probably right. Nevertheless, I wanted to share with the audience just how much these two have meant to me in all aspects of life.

Mr. David and Mrs. Leslie - thanks for everything. I appreciate more than any blog post could possibly convey.

NFL Power Rankings (5-10)

Well, after several bye weeks spent away from the blogging world, I have returned for one reason and one reason only - to spark an argument.

This marks my initial attempt to provide my very own (I know you were eagerly anticipating such an entry) NFL Power Rankings (5-10, for now) at the completion of Week Seven.

The Shield's lone undefeated team does not sit atop my standings and a 3-3 team checks in at No. 10 while a pair of squads with winning records do not crack the vaunted list.

Sit back, enjoy my take, and let the debates begin...


*Note: This first entry only includes my rankings from No. 10 to No. 6. Standings for teams 1-5 will follow in a post tomorrow.


10. Denver Broncos (3-3) - Hear me out before you erupt. Denver finds itself in a unique situation. Peyton Manning, one of the league's all-time greatest signal-callers, has only been in the Mile High City for a few months. Regardless of what you might think, the Broncos are very much a work in progress. Furthermore, they will continue to be such a project for the remainder of the 2012 campaign and into the offseason. Even still, Manning has become increasingly comfortable throwing to Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, former Colts teammate Brandon Stokely and others. John Fox's club opened the season with a win against Pittsburgh, it doesn't get much better for a team undergoing a face lift. The defense, led by resident stud Von Miller, will continue to improve throughout this process. Overall, not only does Denver crack this list at No. 10, but you could see it much higher in weeks to come. Losses to the Texans, Patriots and Falcons - which sport a combined 16-4 record - do little to fog my Orange and Blue shades. After a solid first two months for a team stitching new names onto jerseys just days before the initial regular season snap, there's no telling how much Denver will improve from October to November, and so on. With Manning at the helm, I can't help but think the Broncos will buck their way towards the top very shortly.

9. Minnesota Vikings (5-2) - I'm not a believer, yet. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure I've ever felt worse about a 5-2 squad that plays solid defense and runs the ball effectively. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly a Christian Ponder fan and have been since the Vikings' controversially selected him in the 2011 draft earlier than anyone predicted. However, he isn't quite ready to lead the Purple People Eaters 2.0 into a deep postseason run and this is the reason for skepticism. Right now, Minnesota is doing just enough. Yet, it's a matter of time before Ponder and a hapless passing attack lose games in which the sophomore quarterback throws for 58 yards and two interceptions as he did Sunday in a WIN against Arizona. Yeah, yeah, the Vikes won the game. But Ponder completed one pass for four yards in the second half and has thrown a pair of picks in his last three contests. Sooner rather than later, a team which runs the ball as well as Minnesota (ranked 7th in the NFL in rushing yards per game) and plays solid defense will fall flat if its QB throws away possessions. With all that said, the Vikings are finding a way to win ball games. 5-2 is 5-2 no matter how you slice it. As Ponder improves, so too will Minnesota.

8. New England Patriots (4-3) - The Patriots have found their names on lists such as these since they drafted that frail kid from Michigan years ago. What was his name? Brady, Tom Brady. That's it. This year is no different, despite a few red flags (no, not challenge flags) that have caused me reason for concern through the first seven tilts. Namely, the Pats have no wins against teams with a record above .500. To be fair, New England did hand Denver a 31-21 defeat and controlled the game from the opening kickoff. As you can tell, I think the Broncos have a solid team, thus I'm not discrediting the win over Denver. At the same time, these 2012 Patriots do not look like the championship teams from the previous decade. The offense utilizes the aerial attack with greater frequency, making it more difficult for the Brady bunch to convert red zone opportunities into touchdowns. The defense often times leaves the Foxboro faithful wondering if Tedy Bruschi has anything left in the tank, made evident by the Jets' fourth-quarter offensive explosion on Sunday. Had it not been for a Stephen Hill drop on New York's final drive of regulation, the Pats could have easily lost yet another game in which it held a late lead. Red flags, yes, but reasons to predict New England's 2012 is doomed? Absolutely not. For starters, the Pats have Brady. That alone causes defensive coordinators across the league to cringe. New England also possesses one of the deepest offensive arsenals in football. Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski complement Brady in the passing attack while Danny Woodhead continues to emerge as a favorite target, especially on third downs. The emergence of running back Stevan Ridley has made the Patriots even more difficult to contain. The second-year back out of LSU averages over 19 carries per game and ranks seventh in the league in rushing yards per contest (84.1). Most of the questions must be answered on defense, where the Patriots rank among the league's worst in yards allowed per game (23rd) and pass yards allowed per game (29th).

7. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) - I must make an admission. This slot for Baltimore made it difficult for me to pull the trigger. I have never been one to put too much stock in one performance, good or bad. However, Houston's beatdown of the Ravens on Sunday made it impossible to place the Ray Lewis-less squad any higher than No. 7. And since I've already mentioned it, let's discuss the loss of Lewis, destined for Canton, the face of the Baltimore franchise and perhaps the NFL. This is the equivalent of the Yankees losing their Captain, Derek Jeter. We saw how that panned out. But seriously, it doesn't matter how well-coached and disciplined a team is - and the Ravens are both - you can't just lose your middle linebacker and expect the unit to thrive as it has for so many years under Lewis' direction. The "next man up" adage is a darn good one by which to live, yet when your next man up is tasked with filling a void the size of Baltimore left by Lewis, it just doesn't hold much weight. Consequently, the team was still reeling from the hangover it sufferered upon the loss of its emotional leader on Sunday when the Texans - coming off a loss and hungry - steamrolled an overmatched Ravens club to the tune of 43-13. Ray Rice only carried the rock 10 times last week - never a good recipe for this team, one built on running the football and playing aggressive, ball-hawking defense. Additionally, the play-action passing game is completely ineffective when Baltimore fails to even attempt establishing the running game. Again, I try not to base the rankings on this week's result alone. Despite yielding 29 and 43 points the last two weeks, respectively, Baltimore is having a great year. The offense, led by the widely-criticized Joe Flacco, is more explosive than in years past, thanks largely in part to the play of receiver Torrey Smith. Rice is, in my opinion, the league's most versatile running back, and John Harbaugh continues to solidify his reputation as one of the NFL's best head coaches. The defense has no choice but to pick it up without Lewis. The return of Terrell Suggs will help, but it'll take a lot more than his infusion into the lineup for the unit to "sizzle."

6. Chicago Bears (5-1) - Chicago's vaunted defense struck again Monday night, forcing the Lions into three red-zone turnovers as the Bears claimed a 13-7 victory. At this point, the Bears almost look more like the 49ers of 2011 than the 49ers do. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the sample size is quite large enough to catapult the Beats ahead of San Francisco just yet. I still want to see Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall co-exist for a few more games. I approach the Bears with potentially-unfair reservation because of Cutler and Marshall alone, quite honestly. If the former Vanderbilt quarterback continues to trust the running game and the defense to win games while patiently selecting the right time to take shots through the air, I think this team could go all the way. He just hasn't proven, at this point in his career, that he has the ability to consistently avoid costly turnovers, which puts his team against the 8-ball as a result of his own careless decisions and recognition that the gunslinging mentality isn't always the best one. But, for this list's sake, he has been much improved in the turnover department through seven games. Cutler did a marvelous job on Monday night of taking what the defense gave him, not turning the football over, and taking chances when the opportunity presented itself. Chicago once again sports a defense that is championship-caliber and with Marshall's big-play ability on offense, the sky is the limit for this club. It's a fairly simple formula - don't commit turnovers, force turnovers, win the special teams battle, hand or throw it to Matt Forte as often as possible, and force opponents to come-from-behind to beat you, which will allow the likes of Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher to pin their ears back and go get quarterbacks. In a nutshell for Bears fans? So far, so good.

5. Green Bay Packers (4-3) - I know, I know. The Packers are ranked higher than the Bears. Rather you agree or disagree, I have my reasons. Most importantly, and perhaps the only explanation I need, is this - Green Bay beat Chicago (23-10 in Week 3) in the head-to-head meeting. Additionally, barring arguably the worst call in professional sports history, the Pack should be 5-2. Regardless of the '4-3' beside their name listed above, GB should be 5-2. Granted, Aaron Rodgers spent most of the night in Seattle before the botched call on his backside and it was probably the worst game of his professional career, the Packers still deserved to win. Fast forward a little bit to the loss three weeks ago in Indianapolis. Green Bay didn't close the Colts out and as is the case so many times in the NFL, it came back and bit, hard. Andrew Luck led an impressive comeback and the Green Bay secondary couldn't solve Reggie Wayne as Indy scored late and shocked the Cheeseheads. I'll use the term repetitively throughout the rankings, but that's not what championship-caliber teams do in the second half. And I firmly believe if the Packers have a team down big at halftime in the weeks to come, they will continue to press the gas and this time win convincingly. Furthermore, Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and James Jones wasted little time in responding to the second-half collapse as they hit the road for a Sunday night showdown in Week 6 at Houston. Previously unbeaten, the Texans had absolutely no answer for a dangerous, explosive Green Bay offense. More importantly, the Packers were hungry for a win, 2-4 with a pair of shocking losses at the hands of Seattle and Indy. Rodgers erased all doubt and answered any questions anyone had about the capabilities of his team as he tossed six touchdown passes and led his team to a 42-24 win over Houston - and the score is closer than the score indicates. Honestly, placing the Packers ahead of the Bears was probably the toughest decision I had to make, so I looked at it this way. If the teams played tonight, who would win? I think Green Bay is better. And oh yes, Chicago already had the chance to beat its archrival and could only muster 10 points in a defeat. The nod goes to Mike McCarthy's squad, for now at least.


I'd love to hear your feedback as I prepare tomorrow's entry, which will reveal the power rankings for what I have deemed NFL's best four teams. Did your squad crack the list?

There is no slowing this Tide's roll

Alabama will finish the 2012 season undefeated and capture the school's third national championship in four years.

There, I said it. No turning back now.

There isn't a force in collegiate football strong enough to derail the Crimson Tide as Nick Saban's bunch seeks to become the first dynasty in the game since Bear Bryant left Tuscaloosa.

Here are the reasons for my confidence in this prediction - a dominant defense and quarterback A.J. McCarron. I make this entry for two reasons.

First, to show fans just how dominant this Alabama team is. But more importantly, I don't want to anger Harvey Updyke with any criticism of his beloved team. I love the trees in my front yard, so Roll Tide!

1. Alabama lost seven starters on defense, including three who were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Remarkably, the unit has not skipped a beat. 

The seventh overall pick in April's draft, safety Mark Barron, told reporters at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis about the complexity of Alabama's 'D.'

"There aint no one who can learn that defense in under a year," said Barron, who currently starts in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defensive backfield. "We played in a very difficult defense, first of all. We did a lot of different schemes. I really don't believe anyone can learn that defense in under a year."

In fairness, Alabama did return four starters from last year's personnel and has several other players who saw significant playing time during last year's championship season. Those reasons pale in comparison to the challenges this team's defense faced.

Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart had to fill several voids.

There's Barron, fellow first-rounders Dre Kirkpatrick (corner) and Don'ta Hightower (linebacker), perhaps the best college player of them all in Courtney Upshaw (third pick of the second round), Josh Chapman (defensive tackle) and De'quan Menzie (corner). That's six players on one side of the ball lost to the NFL.

However, a cast of talented but inexperienced relative unknowns have stepped into their new roles with  great confidence. The transition on the defensive side has been seamless from 2011 to 2012. Not bad considering over half of last year's starters are now playing on Sundays.

Let me preface this by saying I realize we're only four games into the season. It's a small sample size, which makes 'Bama's efforts thus far even more impressive considering two of its four opponents entered the campaign with two of the nation's most explosive offensive attacks in Michigan and Arkansas.

Alabama ranks among the national leaders in almost every major defensive statistical category: rushing defense (sixth), pass efficiency defense (fifth), total defense (third), scoring defense (second), turnover margin (second), passing defense (second) and sacks (23rd).

The Tide dominated Michigan and electrifying quarterback Denard Robinson in the season opener. The defending national champions made Robinson uncomfortable from the start on its way to a 31-7 halftime lead. 'Bama forced three Wolverine turnovers and surrendered only a pair of touchdowns in a convincing rout. If the questions regarding the squad's ability to contend for a title in 2012 despite the losses it suffered on defense loomed before the game, they were quickly answered in front of a national audience.

Following an expected drubbing of Western Kentucky, Alabama hit the road for its first SEC tilt of the young season. The Arkansas Razorbacks welcomed their conference foes to Fayetteville by providing absolutely zero resistance or any semblance of competition as the Tide embarrassed John L. Smith's club, 52-0. Granted, Razorback signal-caller Tyler Wilson did not play due to an injury suffered a week earlier. But let's be serious, it wouldn't have mattered that much.

'Bama racked up 438 yards to Arkansas' 137 while limiting the Hogs to 79 passing yards. The Tide recorded five takeaways in their second consecutive shutout.

Last week, Florida Atlantic made the trek to Tuscaloosa and was handed a 40-7 defeat in which it had only 35 yards of total offense before driving 75 yards on a fourth-quarter scoring march. Before FAU's final possession, the longest drive it had sustained covered a whopping 13 yards.

This defense is the nation's best and it'll only get better as these younger players become more comfortable in the system.

And how can we be sure the Crimson Tide will score enough points to reel off 14 consecutive victories?

2. A.J. McCarron. What a difference a year has made for the shaggy-haired senior, who out dueled the highly-touted Philip Sims in a quarterback competition at the beginning of last season. He struggled during stretches of the 2011 title run but his poised effort against LSU in the championship game fueled his confidence. McCarron's performance through four games has indicated just that.

Arguably, quarterback is the toughest position to play. He has to read defenses, study coverages, call the right audibles, identify blitzes, make accurate passes, manage the clock, the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, all of these responsibilities are critical to a team's success. For McCarron however, his job is fairly simple.

Do not, under any circumstances, turn the football over. Saban has said it before - any drive that ends with a kick is a good one. Think about it, a field goal? That's fine, three points. An extra point? Even better. A punt? So what, we'll gain 35-45 yards of field position and force our opponents to score on our defense. Good luck with that, by the way (see numbers above).

McCarron has improved by leaps and bounds since his up-and-down season a year ago, which included a critical interception against LSU during the regular season that could have costed 'Bama a chance at the national championship. He responded admirably by producing an error-free title game against the Tigers in which Alabama seemed to surprise Les Miles' team by opening up the playbook a bit. McCarron calmly executed play-action passes to the flats, connected on a few tosses down the field, and made all the right decisions in a Crimson Tide victory.

He picked up right where he left off.

Through four games, the right-hander has completed 51-of-81 passes for 819 yards. He has fired 10 touchdown strikes against zero interceptions. Zero interceptions, a number that must make Saban himself smile.

'Bama has turned the ball over only twice and just once since the second quarter of the Michigan game.

The offense averages 42 points per game, which ranks 13th among all FBS teams. The Tide averages over 200 rushing yards per contest and ranks second in the country in pass efficiency, a balance that has made this offense more difficult to defend and team more dominant.

The defense wasn't the only unit that lost several starters, either. The 'O' returned just three starters from last year and was faced with replacing Heisman candidate and resident beast, running back Trent Richardson.

...

So here we are. Week Five is right around the corner and Alabama hasn't shown any signs of weakness. Surely, someone will exploit the Tide. But can they do it long enough to pull the upset? I just don't see it.

Alabama is that good.

What could possibly go wrong? This blog post. My prediction will ultimately doom the Crimson Tide. It never fails.

I'm sorry, Harvey Updyke. It's all my fault.

Family, Dawg House, 'Bottom Line' - College Football Saturdays

There's nothing like Saturdays in the fall. My two older brothers and I used to wake up and scan through the local newspapers, checking high school football scores from the night before. Like clockwork, we'd make a trip to the Dawg House, a hamburger and hot dog joint just up the road from our two-story home in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Perhaps we should have not visited the nearby restaurant so much, as my recent attempts to fit in size-34 pants have failed miserably, but that's neither here nor there. We always tried to time our lunch outing so that we'd be home and back on the couch for Saturday's first kickoff.

Dad, Will (oldest brother), Brett (middle) and I typically flipped to one of the local channels for the RAYCOM Game-of-the-Week, which featured a contest between a pair of ACC schools. Of course, we would have already noted which games were shown on ESPN and ESPN2 simultaneously. We had to occupy our time during commercial breaks of the ACC game somehow. ESPN frequently aired a Big Ten tilt from 12-3, prompting Pops' weekly joke about football in the Midwest - "I'd rather watch two goats fighting over a turnip." Fortunately, goat fighting wasn't on the TV Guide docket most Saturdays. Games from 12-3, a highlight show for a half-hour, then another set of games that kicked off around 3:30 - it was our routine and the four of us were and remain creatures of habit.

Then came the night games. The primetime slots featured the weekend's best matchups, but it also kicked off the family's second big meal of the day. Both reasons played critical roles in deeming the seven o'clock hour a Hickman favorite. You probably get where I'm going with all this. We didn't channel surf on Saturdays to find a good movie. Pigskin was all we knew. We craved it, and wouldn't have it any other way. Those days preceded perpetual use of the smart phone and Internet, thus eight eyes in the Hickman family living room were peeled on the ESPN 'Bottom Line' scoreboard ticker, between plays of course. It was always gut-wrenching seeing Wake Forest, my childhood "team," trailing by a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

I recall one instance vividly, the tracker reported a Wake upset over Northwestern in the season opener. I couldn't have been happier than I was in those short, glorious moments, only to see my squad lose eight of its next 11 tilts and plummet to the bottom-half of the league standings. I took solace in Duke usually finishing dead last during those seasons, which pleased us all. My fanaticism for the Demon Deacons was growing exponentially at a time when my happiness revolved around the 'Bottom Line' report on Wake's success, or lack thereof, usually the latter. I proudly rooted for a perennial cellar-dweller, which I still consider a remarkable accomplishment. On the other hand, the constant heartache did however provide me great practice.

You see, Dad planted his love for the NFL's Washington Redskins into Brett and I at a young age, before we were dumb enough to actually cheer for the Cowboys. I firmly believe the grief I dealt with as a Wake supporter facilitated the development of a certain numbness to Washington's ineptitude as a franchise, which has endured for the greater portion of my life. Wake's hiring of head coach Jim Grobe sparked a remarkable turnaround for the football program in Winston-Salem. With fingers crossed, I predict the selection of Robert Griffin III in this year's draft, which led me to believe team owner Daniel Snyder may have a brain after all, will lead to significant improvement on the gridiron in our nation's capital.

Even my mother peeked in her boys' college football theater periodically. First to make sure we were all breathing -- close games are still tough on us all -- and secondly to pick up on a handful of notable scores and key plays, which she commonly referenced the following week in an effort to impress us. Mom always knew what was going on during the action on Saturday somehow. Even more shocking was her ability to pick up on our commentary to learn the game. Still today, if a team faces a third-and-1 in the opponent's territory Mama Gail chimes in, "Run the quarterback sneak twice." It's a beautiful thing. Now we're working on my girlfriend, who last year asked me what a first down was during one of Brett's game last year at North Greenville. Apparently that information is not addressed during episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress." However, Maggie is making strides, mostly because she has no alternative - sorry, dear.

Our passion for the game flows through our veins. I don't have the records present but surely it's in our DNA somewhere.

And Maggie, too, will gain a better understanding of the game we love so deeply. Sara, a coach's wife to the core and fantasy football junkie, has spent the early stages of the 2012 campaign learning the intricacies of defending the triple option. I'll take baby steps with Mags. Before Monday Night Football this week, she will know the purpose of the pregame coin toss. Wish me luck...

Check out "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" Sunday evening for a recap of Saturday's college football action. I'll also explain why Alabama will not be challenged on its way to capturing the Tide's third national championship in the last four years.

Pregame Introductions

Welcome, readers, as I christen "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" and add yet another blog you don't have time to follow closely. I hope to provide you all with valuable and refreshing insight into the world of sport through commentaries on various teams, leagues, athletes and coaches, ranging from the Washington Nationals to tennis star Andy Murray. I must warn you, if you aren't remotely interested in sports, close the link. Believe me when I tell you, this platform will bore you.

I have several other interests, believe it or not. I earned degrees in history and religious studies from East Carolina University but seldom will this blog contain information about the German wars of unification or the growth of Islam in Africa. Both topics are fascinating and neither will be discussed here, that's all. A fair warning, if you will.

Some of may know me, others may not. Since before I can recall, my passion has revolved around sport. Granted, I've always been partial to the "big three" - football, basketball and baseball. I've also spent my life closely following the PGA Tour, professional tennis and more recently, European soccer. This site will examine issues in most realms involving athletics. With that said, don't be surprised if I don't flood this work in progress with entries concerning badminton or synchronized swimming. I extend apologies with not even an inkling of sincerity to the archery fanatics out there, both of you. Perhaps for the right price I would consider doing a piece on rowing, but we're talking big bucks.

Even if you and I share the same passion, my background may still put you to sleep. However, it's imperative that I briefly offer a glimpse of life through my lens.

Here's the shortened version, courtesy of my friend, Mr. Cliff Notes.

My father, Yogi (nicknamed after Yankees' legend Yogi Berra) stepped down from his position as an insurance agent in the mid-80s to become an assistant high school football coach in his hometown of Whiteville, where he once "starred" as a three-sport athlete for the Wolfpack. Dad, if you're reading this, I'm kidding. We all recognize your prep accomplishments at the turn of the nineteenth century. Moving on, he served as an assistant on Whiteville's 1987 state championship football team, which featured Clemson star and NFL Pro Bowler Chester McGlockton. Dad served as a head coach at St. Pauls and West Brunswick, where we won over eighty percent of his games. I attribute this to my skills as the team's water distribution coordinator. Pops disagrees, yet it's certainly debatable.

I have two older brothers, Will (oldest) and Brett. We were coach's kids and we ate it up, Brett more so than Will and I. Whereas myself and Will used the field house or locker room as a playground, our middle brother viewed it as if he were at work. Brett even took it upon himself in the sixth grade to remove a JV player from West Brunswick's varsity locker room before practice one day. There was one small problem - the JV player Brett "dismissed" had been promoted to the varsity squad by dad earlier in the week. Nice going, B.

After winning a state championship in baseball his senior year at West, Brett eventually landed at East Carolina where he accepted a job as a student assistant on the Pirates' football coaching staff. There was never a doubt Brett wouldn't be a coach one day. We have since tossed countless church bulletins with diagrams of isolation runs, passing routes and goal-line packages sketched in the once-blank space beneath the line reading 'Closing Prayer.' He later received an actual playbook, which didn't include tabs for an invocation or benediction. Brett graduated and eventually accepted a coaching job (linebackers) at North Greenville University, a small, Division II institution in Tigerville, S.C. He is currently in his fourth year as a member of the Crusaders staff. When he does have the rare opportunity to come home for a quick visit, he typically spends them in the living room with dad, a dry erase board and a host of 'X's' and 'O's.'

I recently finished my degree at ECU as well and returned home after working in the athletic office as a student assistant in the Media Relations Department. I spent my last two years of college covering Pirate athletic events, ranging from women's soccer to the Conference USA Softball Tournament in 2011. I loved every second of it. I spent my whole life around some kind of ball field, diamond, pitch, court, take your pick. Working as a part, albeit a small part, in collegiate athletics sparked my decision to launch a career involving sports just like Brett and my father. Upon graduation in May, I returned home and began working part-time for our local newspaper as a sports correspondent.

Fortunately, Will and his wife, Laura, live in the area as well, thus giving me an outlet to vent when dad tries to convince me Otto Graham would be a stud quarterback in today's NFL. Will shares my unrelenting passion for the Atlanta Braves. Actually, his exceeds mine with relative ease. The man can tell you Atlanta's salary cap and the issues it faces this offseason. This guy is non-tendered. This other guy is in his arbitration year. This outfielder is a client of Scott Boras - you get the picture. I'll admit, I'm not quite that intense. Whoever walks on the field donning a Braves' uniform has my support, unless of course Coach K stuns us all and begins a career as a member of the Bravos. Will and I discuss varying topics in sports for at least a half-hour each day, whether it by text or phone call if we don't see each other. He also has the luxury of Direct TV and its extensive packages for channels showing games, thus I take advantage of his dish when the opportunity presents itself.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Check out "I Think, Therefore I (S)am" later today for the blog's first non-autobiographical entry as I reflect on one of our family's favorite pastimes - watching college football on Saturdays.