A sports fan's kind of day
Packers, Indians and Olympics
Today is a great day for sports fans. Well, I'm excited about it.I get to watch my buddy, C.J. Wilson of the Green Bay Packers, play tonight on ESPN. C.J. is a 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive end for the Packers. He's working hard to start fulltime this year for the green and yellow.
Here's more about C.J. (http://www.packers.com/team/roster/C.J.-Wilson/e0fe2993-47b1-4bfc-b875-9b9f1dabb283)
The Packers play at the San Diego Chargers in an NFL exhibition game at 7 p.m. (St. Louis time/8 p.m. Eastern).
I've known C.J. since he was a freshman at Northside High School in Yeatesville, North Carolina. (I swear, I didn't make that name up.) I can still remember the first day I met C.J. He walked up to me during a volleyball match I was covering, introduced himself and we spoke for a good 20 minutes.
I instantly liked the kid. It was so much fun watching him grow physically and mentally, and develop into an outstanding football player for the Northside Panthers, and then the ECU Pirates.
He was hoping to go high in the NFL Draft, but didn't get selected until the 7th round by the Packers. He was NOT happy about being drafted so high. (http://www.wdnweb.com/2010/04/25/wilson-lands-with-packersformer-northside-ecu-star-picked-in-seventh-round/)
It all worked out for C.J. He ended up winning a Super Bowl in his rookie season.(http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/took-94719-toward-trophy.html)
Through it all, C.J. has always kept God first. That's one of the reasons why I like and respect him so much. (http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/wilson-94628-association-pamlico.html)
What many fans might not know about the Packers' beast is that he is a heck of a piano player. He plays in church, and then eats the piano after he's done playing. (Okay, I made that last part up.)
It's so nice to see great people, especially friends, exceed at such a high level.
ALSO ON THE MENU
I also get to watch the gold medal soccer match between the U.S. and Japan, a rematch of the World Cup final.Oh, and the Cleveland Indians are on the MLB Network. The Tribe takes on the Boston Red Sox. I know, the Indians have been struggling lately. Buy they are still my team.
SHOUTOUT OF THE DAY
The shoutout goes to C.J., a good friend who still stays in touch even during the hustle and bustle of football season.You can follow C.J. on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cjwilson95
The Indians are starting to perform their normal August swan song. Despite having the best closer and set up man in baseball our starting pitching has disappeared. Despite trading our top two farm pitching prospects to bring in a number one guy Ubaldo Jimenez we got nothing. Grady Sizemore signs a one year contract for over a million bucks and doesn’t even make it to training camp. At last look left field was being manned by kid who brought his glove to the game.
ReplyDeleteOh well at least it’s almost football season. GO BROWNS…
Uh wait. Trent Richardson, who every guru guarantees will be a perennial 1,000 yard rusher is having knee surgery (note second time, same knee) before he even plays a preseason game. Shut down corner Joe Haden is facing a four game drug suspension. Starting DT and last year’s first round pick Phil Taylor did not even make it out of the weight room before tearing a pectoral muscle. Starting linebacker Chis Gocong has been lost for the season with a torn achilles
When does basketball start?