Against all odds.

 

“But we can't stop this real world from spinnin' us

Your bright lights called, I don't blame you for pickin' up

Your big dream bags are all packed up and ready to go

But I just need you to know.”

There are more than 5.1 million football players in the United States over the age of six. So, when you go to a local game on a dusty lot or in a high school stadium, you know there are dreams happening right in front of you. Now start to do the math and you realize that those who make it to the next level, and levels beyond that, you whittle down the number significantly. (If you think 5.1 million is a lot—there are more than 3X that number of baseball players.)

I remember when I was a boy, I wanted to be a hockey goalie; not just a street hockey player, I wanted to be in the NHL! I should have realized there was no way—especially when you consider there are less than 600,000 players in the U.S., and 2 goalies per team. The odds of winning the lottery were much better!

My favorite team were the St. Louis Blues. They had two goalies and one of them was a former all-star named Jacques Plante—or as I used to say, when I slipped into the role of goalie—-Jacques Rosenplante. If you are laughing, there was another player on the Blues named Gary Unger—-who became in my brother’s eyes…”Gary Ungerbaum.” Needless to say, we were living in a strange world.

But, as crazy as we were, there are men and women who made it!

Yesterday, I was talking with an associate and he told me his cousin played for the Chicago Cubs. He had been in the minors more than the majors, but he made it. He sent me a YouTube video, replaying his cousin’s first home run. It was a grand slam and because of this massive hit, “MY” St. Louis Cardinals were eliminated from making the playoffs that year. I should have been angry, but I thought it was cool. I mean, how many people go from a pool of 15 million to the pro’s? This guy did!

I never made it beyond street hockey, but when I was playing I did dream I was on the ice, with my pads and stick in my hands stopping pucks from the some of the greats who were playing during those days. It is something I still think about it today.

The photo above was taken a number of years ago; I made some changes with software and it went from a great play to a stratospheric move into space. As it turned out, I learned this player stopped playing football, but since he went to Harvard I am not concerned about his not making the pro’s!

Thanks for stopping by.