2012 Season

Hello Reader, It's been a long while since I have posted in here so I have a lot to catch you up on. Firstly, I finally found another job. Yay! It was a long and tiresome road in this economy but I found a position at a staffing company. I like the company, the people that work there, and feel like it fits in path of my career. I can't say it was easy.

There have been days I took naps in my car to save gas money. Changed clothes in my car like it was my personal sit down closet. I had to make a lot of sacrificies and go without certain things in order keep gas in the tank so I could get to work and practice. Living in Salem and working/playing football in Portland has been draining. That being said I did have help. My teammates helped me in various ways which has really re-iterated the feeling I have they are like my other family. I honestly don't know how I was going for so long and I feel like God's timing was perfect for me.

I literally walked in for a temporary position one day, not really feeling like anything would come of it because the previous dozen times I had been close but hadn't gotten positions. It tends really hit your confidence. I was feeling extremely discouraged for being a college graduate, hard worker, good work history, bright, and driven. None of those attributes had seemed to matter when I kept placing 2nd after 3 rounds of interviews. I walked in that day not expecting anything. They liked me so much they recommended me for their internal opening and here I am. The timing was completely perfect.

This season has been a step back in the right direction for my team. We had a new coaching staff, new talent, and re-united our bond. We ended 5-3 overall this year and just short of the playoffs for the first time in 3 years which is pretty tough. We did make strides however and got better overall as well as fundamentally. I'm very proud of my teammates. However, in the 3rd game in, I was delivered the blow of spraining my left MCL.

This was emotionally hard for me. I hadn't missed a game in 6 years of play and had been able to play through every injury I had. Until this one. My body just wouldn't work the way I wanted it to. I tried everything. Acupuncture, electrotherapy, physical therapy, epson salt baths, icing, heat, giving it rest, testing it, different braces...it gradually did get better but not at the pace I wanted.

Obviously, injuries are a part of football. It's the price of admission. But this injury I think taught me a few things. Firstly, you don't know how much you love it until its taken away. Secondly, mind over matter works but sometimes at slower paces. Thirdly, I'm very competitive and hate not playing. Fourth, all I can do is all I can do. Sometimes it just doesn't work the way you want it to. The good news is...this has taken a fire I already have and ignited it ten fold. It will push me in the offseason. I will come back like a bat out of hell and a phoenix from the ashes.

Then again, this has been a pattern in my life. I'm constantly getting back up. It's probably why football is so ingrained in me. I already get knocked around in life and just get back up. I just refuse to stay down. So here we go again. Back to the drawing board. Back to the gym. Back to the grind. Don't get me wrong. There will be plenty of fun times too.

Speaking of which...here are some highlights of fun from the 2012 season:

- Beating cross town rival Portland Shockwave when treated like the underdog
- Partying in Mel's condo in downtown portland for New Years
- Mel trying to run into traffic and fight random guys listening to ipods
- Cassie's Easter party with chocolate covered shots of alcohol
- Maddox wearing the "robe" and serenading people through windows
- Driving home from the Bay Area with Lauren and Ollie and listening to 2 hours straight of "baby making" music until Lauren got irritated that Ollie and I liked songs from the 90s, aka before Lauren's time, and then Lauren insisted we listen to the Backstreet boys, until Ollie and I vetoed profusely, and Lauren acted all offended.
- Denver and Salad taking care of me in the hotel room in the bay when I was sick. No joke. They brought me soup and nurse denver brought me ice for my elbow.
- Our several trips to Casa Diablo pre-season. Ashley not believing how crazy it is until she got there. - Our linebacker meeting during which we used empty beer bottles as offensive and defensive players to go over coverages
- Watching Salad and Coach little Smythe give each other shit every practice
- Our many visits to Duffy's after practice. Well until Teters insisted to the very drunk annoying man that I was straight and needed drinks. At least I got us a free couple rounds...
-Driving home from Utah with T-Lo and Andy and attempting to walk into the bathroom in a race of who can walk the slowest with TLO (from being sore)
- Going out to the Moon in Utah and waking up not hungover at all because their alcohol is a lot less in content
- Jenna asking me to get on the stripper pole at the club and missing it and being upset she missed it - Watching Teters and Terry start their own band on Mac's back porch
- Running over Gretchen the first practice so that she got air (welcome to football)
- Lauren losing her apartment key literally INSIDE my door and getting locked out. Staying at Asia's...then taking apart my door the next day to get the key
- Smuggling people from Utah across the border. Watching them drink Portland alcohol.
- Meeting someone from Utah
- Finally getting to play again the very last game and finding the endzone
- Listening to Big Smyth and Little Smythe bicker
- Feehan getting extra security checks at airports
- Vanaken and his habit for telling us to do things "with VIOLENCE!" -
 Auntie Asia saving the day several times
- Wilson and her "sprizing" -
 CJ coming to the game dressed as Rainbow
- CJ coming to the game dressed as Teters
- CJ coming to the game dressed as me
- Grundy never coming on time to anything. Has to be a record. It was actually impressive.
- Rainbow attempting to walk through plays with 2 cans of redbull. And she's the center and needs to handle the ball.
- Our 2 point conversion play of a no look backwards pass actually working
- Everything Mel's sister says

Here's to 2013!