Summer of Dan

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part XXVI

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

     

Back at it

With the exception of the All-Star game in a few weeks, my season is over and what better way to get ready for next season than to get back in the gym and start my offseason program. Every year is different for me and I have some new things I want to try in preparation for the 2010 season (doesn't that sound so Sci-Fi?). 

Every offseason program starts with music. I have an iPod that is almost 6 years old and seems to be hanging by a thread. I try to give it better music and playlists as a reason to keep living. For my offseason program I think I put together a solid list.

 
 

42 songs designed to keep an angry look on my face when I walk around the gym. We'll see how this pans out.

How's it going champ?

Saturday afternoon was the culmination of all the hard work I've put in, not just this season but since I first strapped on my pads way back when. It was slow going at first, it was muddy as hell. In some places there were 3-4 inches of water and 6 inches of mud. Our fullback Chase ripped a huge run to give us a 7-0 lead and we never looked back. We scored twice more and our defense stepped up huge and kept the Ravens out of the endzone from the 5 yard line as Rick punched the ball out and gave the ball back to our offense.

And despite the weather I had about 15 people come out and support me and my teammates as we tried to win a championship. I don't know if they will every know how it feels to look over on the sideline and chat them up during a quick break in the game, even moreso because of the shitty ass weather. That alone made me happy.

The Niff was in attendance for her 10841081 straight game. My parents and sister made it to the game. My sister took almost 500 pictures. 

 

 
  

Flack, Mark, Will, Anna and Dean, and Poppy all were all there. My boss and his wife were there in raincoats and seemed to love every minute of it.

 
 

It was so special to share that championship atmosphere and game with everyone.

Saying it was a dream season sounds cliché but it's 100% true. In 10 games, including in the playoffs, we pitched 5 shutouts. Not including the first game of the season we never gave up more than 8 points in a game. We forced 9 turnovers in one game. We never fought with our offense, we picked them up. When our offense gave us a lead we kept it. We always kept our heads high. It all sounds so cheesy but it's so fucking true. 

 
 

 

I'm closer today to more of my teammates than I've ever been and thankful for that. A fantastic and amazingly talented group of guys and even better friends.

  

Without my teammates I would accomplish nothing and without the Niff I would be nothing. I owe everything to them.

 
 

We hung together all season long. We let it all hang out, we pushed ourselves and each other. We knew it was possible from Day 1. 

And that's why we are champions.

 
  

You just have to grab it

This time tomorrow I will either be the happiest I've ever been next to proposing to the Niff or I'll be the lowest I've ever been since I had to put down the best dog in the world. 

Tomorrow I suit up with my 39 football brothers, in the pouring rain, and seek to accomplish a goal many of us have been aiming for since we put on pads for the first time.

We face a team that has no qualms about facing a team that has our record, our defense, and our homefield advantage. 

We have a chance to do something great. Some of us have a chance to close this chapter in our lives and be remembered that we went out on top.

I want to win the championship tomorrow not just for myself but for my teammates. 

Jim Levesque has been playing even longer than I have and never won a playoff game until last weekend, much like myself. He earned his 2nd Defensive MVP and said to me that not only was this one of the funnest seasons he has ever had but it's been with one of the greatest bunch of guys. That tells you something.

Jim Sanford. Our QB. He's been around the league as long as I have been, played on at least as many teams and knows what it is like to play on shitty shitty teams. Great leader, greater friend.

Rob Browne has played with me for 5 seasons, was on the Predators with me when I first came into the league. He missed his senior year in high school with a knee injury which forced him to miss the championship game. He's seen it all.

Skip Harris. The elder statesman on the team. He turned 45 this year and for sure it will be his final season. He's been in the league since almost Day 1 and has sacrificed time with his family and his kids (much like the rest of us, but come on, the guy has like a million kids and is almost ready for AARP).

Rick Fitzgerald is one of my best friends on the team. He's 40 and is playing in only his 3rd year of organized football. Arguably could have been the Defensive MVP of Single A in place of Jimbo, he is one of the most dedicated and nicest guys I've ever had the pleasure of befriending. His stats are insane: 30-35 tackles, 10 1/2 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 6 passes defensed, a safety, a blocked PAT, only 2 penalties, and has missed only 2 practices. He plays next to me at Defensive End and is just one of many stories I can't even begin to tell about all these guys.

So yes. I play for myself. I play for all my friends on the team. I play for the younger guys like Nickola, Zap, Evan, Casey. But I also play for the guys that have a small window of time left on the field.

I play for the Niff who comes to all my games. Who at away games sits in the stands for 2 hours prior to kickoff while we warmup. Who spends entire days living, eating and breathing football.

I play for all of them. 

It's within our grasp tomorrow. We just need to reach up and take it.

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part XXV

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The best home defense system

The Niff and I were talking about the best home defense systems, which we believe need to include at least a couple dogs, some machetes/swords/axes, and more guns than Rambo.

And something else...

 

If you haven't thought about moats you won't survive long in the Zombie Apocalypse. 

Think happy thoughts

I don't understand why/how people that are with each other for such a long period of time can hurt each other so deeply. I don't know why they do it. I mean, I guess I know the how, I don't understand the why. I don't think I ever will. For all the selfless acts of a relationship or friendship, you'd think people would do everything they could to prevent that sort of thing. When you are with someone to the point where you know what they are thinking before they open their mouth or can guess what they want to do that Saturday without any hint you've reached a level with them where you need to fully understand that the little things matter, both good and bad, and that the big things matter just as much. I've seen too many cases where someone does all the little things for someone and when it comes to the big decisions/things they only think of themselves. And you know what I have to say to those people?

Fuck you.

Nothing else. That sums it up.

  

Forget I brought it up

Jim Mora is the bomb. Most casual football fans don't even know who he is by name, even by face. But he's stupidly famous because of a single word:

Playoffs?

That's right. That's Jim Mora. Because of him, anytime someone on my team mentions the word you hear 30 guys say "Playoffs??!" in unison. 

Tomorrow marks the furthest into the playoffs I've ever been. We haven't played a game but earned that bye which is essentially a win, but it doesn't feel like a win. Yes we earned it. Yes we deserve it. But it doesn't feel like a win.

Tomorrow at 2:30pm in Concord we find out if we are championship material. Playing for a championship is something I've always dreamed about. Winning one has always seemed out of reach.

But we are a special group of guys and this year it all feels different. We just need to seal the deal and play the way we have the entire season and we'll be celebrating next weekend.

If only Jim Mora could see us now, playing in the playoffs.

Awesome Random Picture Friday - Part XXIV

 

 
 


   
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 


 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Perfection in one day

This past weekend we had another bye week football-wise because of an issue with scheduling refs. I still had practice on saturday but sunday the Niff had extensive plans for us prior to watching football all sunday. Once the first game on sunday starts there is a permanent dent in my recliner. It is glorious.

Thinking back I'm not sure how she convinced me to do tempo runs with her given the fact that I was sore as hell from practice on saturday but I did it anyway and we had a good time. We ran about as fast as we could for a minute and then walked fast for two minutes and repeated.

For like 7 hours.

Ok, maybe not, maybe more like 40 minutes but when your legs feel like jell-o it feels like that long. We ran at a park down in Manchester through the woods on the trails and I'll admit that it was fun, even though I saw a 3 year old running faster than me at one point.

We hit up Jewel and the Beanstalk after for breakfast. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Talk about the hiddenest (that's a word now) gem of a breakfast place in all of Manchester. I had one of the specials (you ready for this?): Apple Crisp French Toast and Cheesy Eggs. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. And better.

After breakfast we went apple picking for the week. Rather than buy produce from the supermarket we try to hit farmer's markets if they are open or at the very least try to get apples from one of the orchards near where we live. I was worried they wouldn't have a lot of apples at first, most of the front rows were picked clean.

And then I saw it.

 

The Giant Apple Tree.

I've heard stories about it before. I've heard stories that you can pick it clean and the next day it happens to just be overflowing with apples again. I heard it's the original tree from the first seed that Johnny Appleseed dropped on the ground. I heard the apples give you special powers when you eat them.

I can't tell you where this tree is. It's something you need to find on your own, just like the Fountain of Youth. But I can tell you one thing.

All of the stories are true.

The rest of the day capped off what is perfection in my book: sitting on my fat ass, watching football and tracking fantasy football stats, screaming at the TV for the refs to throw a flag during the Cincy/Ravens game so I could be happy at the end of the night (Cincy was my dog in my old office pool), and eating vegetarian chili courtesy of the Niff. I wish I had more of the chili to fill my gut right now.

It was a full sunday but a great one at that. Including the running thing.