The official "Your sports backround" thread

[chestnutz6]

Well since what we were talking about in CincyFan's legacy, I decided we should make a whole thread for this. It's fun for everyone to write about themselves and share whether they have a backround in sports (real life) or not.

Well as many of you know I'm only in high school. I play soccer, bball, and baseball. Been playing soccer since I was old enough to kick a ball. I'm not the most talented soccer player (trick wise) and I've only got medium speed, but I've got a great shot and I've improved a lot with my right foot (I'm a lefty), and I can cross the ball with some of da best. At my school we aren't really known for our sports (like soccer) and our JV team usually isn't v ery good, but in the past few years our varsity has won sectionals twice. Well in February, while playing with an indoor tourney team, I slid in to shoot it (too far away to kick regularly) and the goalie was coming out, as he landed right on my foot and it turned under him. Well I fractured the bottom of my fibula and tibula, and have been rehabbing since.

Because of that I missed baseball season, and my team really needed me because well my school is absolutely horrible at baseball, I can't remember the last time JV or V had a winning record. Well my team finished with 2 wins I think, and I'm pretty good at baseball. I'm skinny and pretty tall, so I don't have much power and I hit for base hits (basically a replica of Ichiro), but I'm an almost perfect fielder and good pitcher.

In bball my team didn't do too well. We had a few good players, but because I go to a small school that's all p***y like, there are no cuts for any of our teams, so basically we had some sh***y players on our team that were only playing to get gym cred. We had one superstar, a tall black guy that played PG but also led our team in rebounding, and basically if he played superb we'd win. He was the LeBron James of our team, but we still had some great players. Our varsity team is fantastic though (contrary to what we usually are, which is bad) and almost won sectionals. We had the best shooter in the county, a great big man (6'9'' dude) and probably the guy who's gonna be MVP the next two years (was a sophmore this year). My best friend since 2nd grade is great at sports too, especially at bball (as he started on varsity), but he's only slightyly better than me at socccer and baseball, yet he still started on those varisty teams. I'm a good shooter and great defender, but honestly I'm too nervous to shoot, even though I've got a good 3 point shot.

Sooo yeah tthat's my story. I'm really hoping my ankle will be better by july, since I'm going to Europe with a soccer team to play in the Belgium Cup. The only sport my school is ever good at is tennis. We have the best tennis school in probably all of New York. We almost always in sectionals, beat Class A schools all the time (the highest class in the county, while we're class CC), and in the past tournament at Fleshing Meddows (states and where they play the US Open) two of our guys won the doubles championship (one was an 8th grader, the other a junior).

[CincyFan]

well we all know my story about why i don't like Cincinnati and my background in basketball. I grew up playing baseball and soccer. I quit soccer in sixth grade cause i was more interested in playing basketball (plus everyone caught up to me in my soccer skills). So i lost soccer, but i started to get better at basketball. I also picked up football in junior high (my dad was an All-American lineman in college) so I went to that. However I was tall and lengthy so I was a wide receiver for football. I played baseball until my sophomore year. That’s when the track coach told me I had to run track and I couldn’t play baseball. Problem was I couldn’t argue since the track coach was my dad. So I did the 200, 4X1, 4X2, 4X4, high jump (and I could jump for a white guy).

So in high school I played AAU basketball and AAU baseball. For the school I played track and field, football, basketball. So that’s what all I did. I did have offers for about 30 D1 schools for basketball, but tearing out all my ligaments in my ankle I stop playing sports. And then went into theatre.

[jjredick4]

i played football in 6th grade(it was our first year ever for 5th & 6th grade football) we won 1 regular season game..but won the championship type game(after some of their players said we would get our *** kicked...funny thing, they didn't make it past like the 35) i had a sack, 2 tackles & an int. i have tailbone/back problmes now becuz of a game against Cadott(who was the best team) i got hit and landed directly on my tailbone..it kinda sucked tryin' to walk back to the bench...could stand up staright. I did go out for football, but quit shortly after, mainly becuz i just dont like it as much(i mean juss playin' around is fine, but like on a team and all that i dont' care for) Our varsity team isn't that bad, but we started gettin' sucker cuz all our best players are graduatin..we had a few freshman startin' varsity this year(and i don't wanna be cocky, but if i woulda went out for football i probably woulda been startin'...o and there were sopmores that weren't startin' either...and thats wat i was)

i started really gettin' into bball in 6th grade, we were like 8-3, but then we played Prentice in a tourney and got ****in' scrwed by the refs and lost 32-31. Then we played Stratford(like the best team in football every year) and lost 50-13. We did have an exciting game tho, we were down 27-25 with 1.4 left, and the best player on the team(and probably the best player in our grade still..i'm 2nd now tho) made a 3 and we won 28-27. In the last tourney we lost our first 2 games, but then complty killed the last team, we won 55-5. I did go out for bball in 7th grade, but quit cuz the coach was a ****in' douche bag(i wasn't the only one) i wore a headband one time to practice, and during a water break he came to me and was like "i don't mind you wearin' that headband during practice, but you can't during games cuz we go by teh college rules, and the only way you can is if the whole team does" but that was a bunch of bull **** and i didn't realize it till sometime afterwards. For highschool, our JV sux(like for football too) and our varsity girls usually kick ***...home games were always packed, but this past year they blew *** and the guys kicked ***. I wasn't elibile to play bball so i didn't even bother wit it. and after7th grade i was hit by a car and my knee was messed up(it don't really bother me that much ne more, cept in the winter) so i didn't play in 8th grade or 9th grade(9th grade partially cuz of grades) I'm a pretty good bball player, but i can improve, and thats wat i plan on doing this summer. I'm the best 3 point shooter in my highschool(and thats not self proclaimed either, ppl tell me that) and i'm probably the 2nd best freethrow shooter.

[chestnutz6]

Whoops forgot to say what the meaning of my name is. I use it for most of my accounts. I was nicknamed chestnutz in like 6th grade by most of my friends for the way that my last name sounds, and technically Erik is a nickname because my real name is Erikas (lithuanian). I just added the six because it seemed empty without a number

[knox33]

I played all sports growing up with the exception of football because my private school didn't offer it. I grew up in a small private Christian school in the ghetto. Basketball was our best sport. We fielded decent teams in baseball and soccer, but we were known as a basketball powerhouse. We even had a powerhouse track program, but funding got low and it got cut. Growing up, I played against some division I caliber guys, but they were underprivileged and lived in a bad part of town. They all ended up getting kicked out of the school and living a life of crime.

My body type is made for soccer, but basketball is my passion (I'm 5'6 w/ a 43 in. vert). During my basketball career, my teams won 3 district championships and 1 state championship. Our track teams won 3 district championship and 1 state-runner up. I ran both the 100 & 200 individual and relays. Other events I competed in were the high jump, long jump and discus. In basketball, I played PG and won all-conference (4 years), all-state (1 year), and both conference and state player of the year honors. The highlights of my career are the state championship, being the all-time leading scorer of my school, and scored 40, 43 and 50 points in single games. I played mid-fielder for my soccer team and scored 23 goals my senior year, but we always sucked. I played outfielder, 3rd baseman and pitcher in baseball, but my school was absolutely terrible (we won 5 games my whole career).

I was recruited by DII colleges (b/c of my size, 5'6"), but I ended up going to a private Christian college because of my Christian beliefs, but (b/c of politics) I stopped playing basketball collegiately. I still played intramurally, but I could not play for the coach anymore (Its too bad b/c my university won a national title the year after I hung up my sneakers). However, I did play soccer collegiately all four years there and played forward, mid-fielder, but ended my career playing defense.

[guckin1989]

Wow. Seeing all of these makes me wish i was better at basketball. =P
But anyways im a rather decent Bowler. And i placed ninth in my state and also won the in state olympics last year for my age range. I played basketball but stopped due to not being aggressive enough. Its still my passion and is why i play with my friends. Its always fun dominating my friends =]

But anyways i would like to hear some more peoples stories.

[CincyFan]

i got lots of stories, you just have to ask what you want to hear?

anyways congrats on the bowling. that is one thing where i just go to have fun since i usually suck so bad pretty much anyone can beat me.

[guckin1989]

People think its easy and not really a sport but there is alot of mental stuff involved with it. It sucks that the NCAA doesn't sponsor mens bowling tho. Even tho there are teams out there at schools. Its really fun to play. I just wish i was fortunate enough to have been a better basketball player. It was fun while i played and i really miss the competitiveness that doesn't exist between me and my friends since i pretty much demolish them and get triple doubles and what not.

[Lord Ash]

I have a bit of sports background.

Played soccer, hockey, baseball, and fenced when I was young and in high school. Okay at soccer, good hitter in baseball, very good hockey player, national team level fencer.

Fenced (and was named captain) and played hockey as the starting goalie at a D1 college. Don't laugh at fencing; 10k run, 1 hour of lifting, 2 hours of drills seven days a week sucked; the only other team that trained as hard as we did was the wrestling team.

Once I graduated I interned for a very prominent hockey writer, wrote a bit for the hockey news and worked for Fox Sports covering the Devils, Rangers, and Islanders. Spent a LOT of time in the Devils locker room chatting goal with Marty and a lot of times at practices hanging with the players. Did a bunch of interviews and such for some books, and some more writing. Got to meet a lot of neat people and talk shop with just about every goalie in the league.

After a year and a half went on to work as an agent, helping to represent a number of NHL clients including Yashin, Kasper, Afinogenov, Zelepukin, Salei, Skrastinsh, and a bunch of others. Chit chatted with NHL GMs when they called. Still remember when Gretz called, and my frequent trips to the Canadian consulate; those J tickets are worth their weight in gold! Actually tended goal in a pro camp run by Vladimir Yurzinov and against all the best Russian players in the NHL during that time and escorted our entire youth client base to the NHL draft in Chicago while my two bosses went to the NHL All-Star game and awards banquet with Yash and Carol:)

Went on after a few years to be the GM of a minor league hockey team in the ECHL and of an arena football team. Worked a lot of hours, sat on a lot of buses, ate a lot of team meals, and actually got to strap on the pads a bit with the injured boys or when a goalie wasn't in. Worked on a bunch of contractual stuff, as well as stayed pretty tied into the various leagues. Banged a pair of cheerleaders. Went to all the All Star stuff and the Governors meetings and such, as I was being bred a bit by the team owners to have a serious career in sports... agency tried to lure me back, as the boss said he thought I had potential to be a great, great agent (tho maybe he really was just telling me that to get be back)...

And then I dumped it all and became an elementary school teacher. I still coach a bit, taught at some goalie camps, but nothing serious anymore. I enjoy my job now a lot more than I ever did.:lol:

[CincyFan]

well i am glad Lord Ash you are doing something you enjoy more than ever that is awesome.

Now about the fencing i will have to commit about that though. Don't worry its not bad it's just my experince with fencing. I took a lot of stage combat in theatre when i got hooked in college. At conference's and whatnot some big people come down to teach or talk about their hollywood experences (what fights that made for what movie and stuff), and some are top people in their fields. Two years ago this guy who was an olypmic fencer came down to do some fencing. For theatre we use small swords which probably you know all too well.

I am the person who loves to fight, just cause for one i love to be the bad guy. Cause bad guys die and i am not going to lie, but its so much fun to die on stage. Well our teacher wanted me to fight him first, and we did the offical fencing rules. You have your suits (acutally had the suits that would buzz when you got hit). He went up 1-0 on me in like 2 seconds since i was actually trying to fight like a fencer.

For the next two points it took about 10 minutes to get and i went up 2-1. He actually started to play for real and the match went on for like 15 more minutes before he won 5-3. (he wanted to have someone win by two which i don't know if that is official fencing) The whole matched took like 40 minutes and we only had an hour to play around with him. Everyone else went and only one other guy went more than 10 minutes, but he actually fenced. BTW your guys lunges are crazy.

Afterwards we were walking out and he asked what martial arts i did for how fast i was with the sword. I told him none it was from my sports background. He really wanted to know what i did take to become so fast, and i said it really was sports. Another note is that i did kind of play the bad guy cause one time when he lunged i grabbed his sword and just started to cut him with the sword. Now i know and you know this is just a funny site (anyone who doesn't fence knows the only way to get a kill is from the tip of the sword. The blade is really dull and doesn't cut) I did get the point, but i didn't count it since it was kind of cheating in a way.

Also Lord Ash you should of went into why fencing is probably one of the coolest ways to fight and kill someone. Yes i know you can have a gun and shoot someone, but i know this is very out there or whatnot, but its a good history lesson. With a small sword that weapon is probably the dangerous weapon of all time. You can stab someone and they wouldn't hardly feel it. I saw a Demonstration of a year small sword from the real life time period. They had this 6" leader padding and the guy actually put about a half pount of pressure on the sword and it went right through it. One teach had this to say about the sword. "Think about the sword being a pin, and you are the material. That is how easy it goes though you."

Last thing about a movie that had some fencing in it with small swords. The guy got stabbed in the chest where it actually hit is lung and he kept fighting. He didn't even realize he was hit about 4 times before he fell over and died. Now personally that is just amazing you can stab someone and he can't even feel the sword going through organs, bone, and such. So now you should really not make fun of fencing (which is why i went into such a long spill about it) and actually be more afraid of people who fence. Cause they are crazy good in ways where it makes watching other fight matches boring. Boxing, wresting, UFC, if you can watch a fencing match, and know all the stuff behind it and the weapon it is actually very exciting and scary. Plus like i said their lunges are insane.

[chestnutz6]

"I seen you on da ESPN" (sorry couldn't help the quote from waterboy)
Well I did see fencing on da ESPN once, and honestly it was kinda boring. I know it's because they're just so good, but the points lasted like 5 seconds. It's like ping pong, it's no fun to watch because points rarely go on for so long (with the pros) and end when one guy just hits it insanely hard. Same with fencing, it's like once someone lunges the point is over.

I know what you mean about stage fighting. I haven't gone into it a lot with like weapons and stuff, but we did slaps/punches/chokes/kicks/picking up by hair and that kinda stuff in my improv class. All I can say is that it's so addicting and fun. I would just walk up to people in the hallway and slap them, or we'd pretend to get in a fight. And when you do it right, it looks so real.

[CincyFan]

ohh yes it does. what is bad is when you get into a play just for that (romeo and juliet) and everyone loves to see the fight u made on stage with your best friend (who also got in just for the fighting) than the other actors. But what really gets the icing on the cake is when hollywood comes knocking on the door to ask to steal your moves to put in a movie (only reason why is that they recorded the fight and sent it to some fight masters who do the fights for hollywood). Its all good cause when i get out to hollywood next year they won't have to steal it and they can just put me in to the movie to do so. ha at them.


I guess you actually have to know whats the parries and stuff to actually get fencing down. its funny how you say its so fast, but when i watch it i think they aren't that fast. Only cause when i see an attack i know whats coming to block it and then the counter attack.

But good job on staging fights. thats always fun. But make sure its in a close spot cause some people right think it is real and jump in.

[Superjames1992]

I am currently in high school. I played soccer when I was like 3-7. I quit afterwards, since I just lost interest in soccer (I still don't like the sport), and didn't do anything until 6th grade. In 6th grade I played midget football, and was pretty bad. I was like 5 foot 90 pounds then and they put me at defensive tackle, weird. I was manhandled most of the time against 150 pound linemen. Playing football really got me interested in sports, though, and since I have loved sports, and sports videogames.

What I would really like to do is race (It is my dream to race in NASCAR), but being that it is terribly expensive, I can't do it. I'm pretty smart, though, so I guess my lack of athletic ability is made up in the academics department.

That is my story of stinking at sports! :)

[Superjames1992]

Actually, I left out one part. I was a manager for my school's middle school basketball team in 8th grade. I actually could have probably made the team, because the 6th graders on the team were terrible! :)

I went to a small (300 people, about 140 high schoolers) Christian School in Teays Valley, West Virginia then called Teays Valley Christian School. The school always found managers from people from 8th grade on the basketball team. My Algebra I teacher, Mr. Sowards, asked if me and my friend Zach would like to be the team managers and we said, "Sure!"

Basically, we went to all the games, were responsible for the water bottles, but most importantly we had another reason. My friend kept team stats such as points, rebounds, assists, ect. for our the Lions (our team). I kept the book which as you all probably know, keeps the official stats, score, fouls, ect. On home games, I kept the official book while on away games I still kept the book, but the home team was the official one. I did pretty good, but in the 3rd game of the year, an away game, I had one of our players having 4 fouls and it turned out I was wrong and the guy fouled out with 5. Needless to say, our coach was pretty livid, especially since we lost that game. It was a fun experience, though, and I enjoyed it.

The Lions went 26-3 that year (the losses were a mere 3,2, and 1 points), but we didn't exactly play the creme of the crop. We mostly played other private schools, although we played 5 or 6 public schools and beat them all. We one the ASCI Regional Championship for the Ohio/West Virginia Region (The highest we could achieve as a private school).

We had this one guy on our team named Noah Osborne who was really good. He was in my same grade and I was friends with him. He was a starter on our varsity team as well as middle school. Of course, like I said before, we weren't the creme of the crop, but he was pretty good. Noah left after the 9th grade to go to public school.

I moved in June after 9th grade ended to live in North Carolina. I'm now in 10th grade and go to Southwest Guilford High School, a school of 1,500 kids (a lot different than 300, LOL!). Anyways, that is my strory.

[MDunknown]

I don't even remember how I first got into sports. I can't recall anything I saw on TV before '96, except the old-school WWF LOL. Anyway...

I'll start with my first time touching a football. I was about 8 or 9, me and my friends were walking around my old (it is now) neighborhood. We ran into a couple of older guys throwing around a NERF football (remember those days? LOL!!), you know, the one that made the whistling noise in the air. Soon enough, we were playing 4-on-4... and I was the only one who didn't know how to play. I asked, "What do I do?" My friend said, "When the ball comes to you, just run." So, the other team does the throw-off, and the ball comes straight to me. I'm like "Dag, that was sooner than I thought." Unfortunately, I was still standing there, and my friend yells out, "Run, David, run!!" (SERIOUSLY) Then I see this tall kid about 12 or 13 comin' at me, my eyes got real big, and I start to run. I break to my left down the "sideline" (just some trees), I keep my eyes on the sidewalk (our "end zone"), the older kid keeps on drifting back. I'm GONE!!! After I scored, everybody's crowdin' around me like I just won them State. I don't remember anything else about the game, but that day I also established myself as the fastest kid in the neighborhood...... and that's where the "child prodigy" cliche' ends :lol: .

Ever since that game, I was playin' football like every other day. I kept askin' my dad to let me play for the Clinton Boys & Girls Club, but he said I was too small (since I was 9 or 10 and only 4'4", 40-sum'n pounds, I understood). After we moved to Lanham before 5th grade, he finally let me go out for sports. He still felt I was a little too small for football, so I played up here too. Before long, I was "the man" around here--still the fastest (among the non-HS kids, that is) and almost unstoppable. Whichever team picked me, no matter how sorry they were, it was a wrap. Since I couldn't do football, I played intramural basketball 5th-7th grades at Lanham Boys & Girls Club. I was OK, had above-average rebounding skills for my height (I idolized Dennis Rodman, believe it or not), good defense and a decent handle, but no shot. Matter o' fact, my career points total is a astounding........ 3 (one lucky three-pointer my last year). I also went out for baseball, where I was one of the better baserunners. Couldn't hit for nothin', but I sho' could get around the bases and in the outfield. :D

When I got into middle school, I gave up basketball. But more importantly, Dad finally let me play football!!! I played on the 85-lb. team in 7th-grade, where we went undefeated (our backfield was made up of three of the top 50 sprinters in the nation... age group 13-14, of course) and won the Metropolitan Youth Super Bowl on the campus of the University of Maryland. Aside from special teams, I didn't get in much, but that was easily the best team I've ever played on.

During the springs in middle school, I ran track for New Carrollton Boys & Girls Club (7th-grade, alongside two members of the "85" team and another who would go on to be one of the top RBs in the county in '02) and the more-known Glenarden Track Club (8th-grade). I ran everything from 100 up to 800 (once) as well as doing the long jump. My personal bests were: 12.8 (100m), 26.5 (200m), 58-ish (400m... supposedly) and 16'9" (LJ). Nothing spectacular, I know.

Now for high school. I played on the 110-lb. team for the Boys & Girls Club, and ran indoor track for DuVal HS (alma mater of Cincinnati Bengals DB Madieu Williams) during my freshman year. Sophomore year: I was academically ineligible for football season, so I sat out until indoor track season. Unfortunately, I was so involved in the JROTC unit that I was cut the day of regionals for missing too many practices. I was gonna try to get back on the team for outdoor, but my dad made me play baseball instead, so I was ****ed at first. But I enjoyed myself, in spite of... four unforced errors in an away game on my 16th birthday. Also, I started receiving mail from Goucher College (a D-3 school outside Baltimore), recruiting me for their track team. Junior year: Ran indoor track, played baseball, continued to receive mail from Goucher even though I wasn't running at the time :lol: . Senior year: finally decided to go out for football. I was the back-up RB/LB/FS and scout team MVP (psych :lol: ). During the indoor season, I was 2nd leg on the 4x200 relay at the 3A/2A state championship. It's kind of a shame though; if the MPSSAA had adopted its new format (individual 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A state meets, just brought in this year) back then (1A/2A, 2A/3A, 3A/4A meets), I could say we were the 2A state champs since we had the top time of all 2A schools. Matter o' fact, DuVal just set the 3A state record in the event last year, led by two former teammates who were freshmen when I was there. Back to me.... after a pretty good indoor campaign, I shunned the opportunity to be a star/captain on the baseball team, and I ran outdoor. Aside from attending the Penn Relays (as a relay alternate), there isn't much to tell.

OK, that's about it....... ("FINALLY", I'm sure you're saying :lol: )

[bigjake62505]

Nice thread. I played football and street hockey in elementary school. When I got to middle school I grew so much that I was told to play football. I never could get that skating thing down anyways. I was 180 pounds in the sixth grade and I played TE, T, DT, and FB for my middle school. In high school I was on Varsity my freshman year and started from the sixth game on. My coach had me playing OT, and DT. I played with a bunch of D1 guys Brooks Daniels, went to Alabama as a linebacker and Alex Brown went to Florida now he plays for the Bears. I went to West Virginia my freshman year and was red shirted. My parents passed away that same year so when christmas time came around I didn't go back to WVU. I ended up at a NAIA school in nebraska of all places. My JR year I tore my ACL, MCL, and PCL in my right knee, had surgery and never properly recovered. Now I am married and my first boy is due in january and life is good.

[chestnutz6]

Nice to see this thread revived =D

Greetings all (and by all I mean knox, cincy, etc) I hope you remember me haha. Just reading up on everythin getting pumped for Hoops 2k8! You know I'll have my own lil legacy goin, with the Orange!

[CincyFan]

Yeah def can't wait for CHoops to start my new legacy.

Good to hear background of sports of people