Off-Season Update

Ok readers I think I'm going through withdraws. I have a weird twitch whenever anyone mentions football and I start drooling at the mouth. Ok, not really but pretty damn close. At least I have had college football and the NFL to watch on the weekends.

The thing that is interesting about my team is that because we don't have one owner and we all act as owners on the team, then we are essentially running a business. This requires a lot of work. This means that just because it's the 'off-season' as far as playing that doesn't mean that the business side stops. It can't stop.

We raised close to $35,000 last year and pulled almost even when most teams in their first year lose money. I'm pretty proud of that because we really did most of it on the fly. This speaks volumes about the dedication and hard work that we all put in.
I almost think that the fact we are player owned means we actually have to literally buy into the team more. It brings us closer together because we have to make it work in order to be able to play. That doesn't mean it's always roses or easy. But it is well worth it.

Personally, I've been continuing on my job search. I got laid off a few months ago and moved up here to Vancouver with a couple of teammates. I am much happier in the Portland area. I love Portland. I love cities. I love being where things are happening. I love that Portland is a small-big city and that it's edgy and artsy. It's the green movement capital pretty much and is the first major American city with an openly gay mayor. He hasn't been the best at his position ever but the fact that we elected a mayor who happened to be gay was pretty cool. Portland is the city of bicycles, roses, awesome public transit, beautiful scenery, the best Saturday outdoor market, several national companies, the largest bookstore in the world, ten million coffee houses and microbreweries. We have great beer ok?! Portland is the cool edgy city celebrities sick of the stuffyness of LA move to. If you want a tour I can do that too! I have been to 14 countries all around the world only to discover my home was really in my backyard the whole time.

This unemployment thing has been challenging for me. I went from HR director managing almost 100 people, driving 600 miles a week, working 75-80 hours a week (if you include work, driving, and football), to...what the hell do I do now? I'm finding I'm over qualified for things and under qualified for others. I'm stuck in that middle section. I'm getting some part time work coming up but if anyone knows of anything let me know! :D

I have essentially put my off time into training, job hunting, and helping with the business side of football. I have been on a football training program for the past month and enjoy it. One of the most challenging things about football is that you get in great shape during the season and then after you want time to heal so you relax a bit and that later leads to relaxing a lot and then when it's time to start football again you have to get back into shape. This year I'm maintaining and improving so that when the season starts I hit the ground running this year. I always want to get better.

I tend to get bored with cardio equipment because it's the same thing all the time so I decided I would do some stair work this off season. I looked up stairs in Portland and found my Mt. Everest in the west hills of Portland. It's pretty much right out of downtown. Those hills are crazy steep to the point its scary to drive. The stair case cuts through one of the hills so you can shortcut up the stairs to the higher point up the windy street. There are about 9-10 different sections of the staircase and 200 steps in total. They are old and steep and I have nicknamed it my "Great Wall of Portland". I run this staircase 2 times a week. I can only go up and down twice before I get extreme muscle fatigue. You know the kind where in your mind you are sprinting but your legs are going in slow motion.

I see other people on the staircase but most of them are walking them. I think I'm the only crazy person sprinting them. It is challenging and is in higher elevation so it's harder to breathe. I love it though because it's kind of like my secret place.

We have held a couple of tryouts and have one more coming up in December. I am very excited about our rookies coming on board. They are all talented and athletic and have great attitudes. They all are competitive and want to win. They are enthusiastic and bring great ideas to the business side too. I really think this year we are going to take off. It's also cute getting to teach them how to stand and what all the equipment is for. My favorite is the "where the hell does this pad go?" question that always happens every year.

In other news my SF Giants just won the world series. I never thought I'd actually see that happen. I was at a football meeting getting updates on my phone and had to restrain myself from jumping up on the table to celebrate.

And my Ducks are the number one team in the country. It's really quite unbelievable. I mean you dream of your team being number one in the country and getting that much attention but I never thought it would actually happen. To be honest people we used to be the Boise State. We never got the respect we do now. We got close in 2007 but that was because everyone else lost in front of us before Dixon went down. It was the perfect storm. This team in 2010 is better than that team.

The efficiency of the offense is insane. You watch it in person and you can barely catch your breathe and you aren't the defense. I've noticed that sometimes like USC the defenses can play well early but they just get worn down. The 2-3 yard gains in the 1st quarter become 42 yard tds in the 3rd. It's not even a hurry up offense. It's like a turbo jet. The usc game there was a run for a loss and the usc band was playing their fight song because there normally is a break in between plays but oregon was so quick they got up and threw a 15 yard pass for the first down as the usc band was still playing the fight song.

And the defense is underrated. It's the best in the conference. Because Oregon scores most of their tds in under 3 minute drives, that means the oregon d is on the field much of the game. That means the opposing offense is on the field most of the game. That means that they are probably going to get yards. Oregon's D isn't dominating as far as strength. They aren't going to overwhelm you and stiffle you like the old nebraska teams. That's not the type of D they are. They have speed and playmakers. The O can get to the 20 and then get picked off. Or sacked. Or stuffed. The D creates turnovers and scores points. They are deceptively the best D I have seen at Oregon ever.

If Oregon goes to the title game in Zona. I didn't care how. I am going. And if the Ducks and Giants win in the same year I will go back to vegas and put down some money cuz I never thought that would ever happen.

Blackjack anyone?