I suppose I’ll start this by introducing myself. I’m Tim, a retired Air Force veteran, husband to an awesome lady and dad to two wonderful kids and a cranky old cat. I grew up in Arkansas and Mississippi, and have now landed in the Omaha, Nebraska area. hold a BA in English, an AA in Russian, and currently work designing instructional systems and courseware. I really enjoy penguins, reading, dad jokes, and video games.
Oh yes…and sports.
I love sports and competition, whether playing or—now that I’m a bit older—watching. My dad was a three-sport player in high school and introduced me to them very early on. My grandmother would sit and watch baseball with me every time I visited her. They were almost always on TV on the weekends; my Sunday schedule was church, NFL on TV, church. It was a constant indoctrination.
It also was a great help throughout my childhood. We moved around a lot because of my dad’s work; I was in 14 schools before I graduated. Moving to a new town multiple times a year makes it hard to fit in and make new friends, especially for an awkward kid like me. When all else failed, I could always use sports as that bridge. It wasn’t much, and it didn’t always work, but it helped enough for me to make it through each move.
That’s how I learned the about the power of sports to bring people together. It’s a lesson that never left me, and only continued to intrigue me as I got older.
So that brings us here, and why I started this project.
I want to explore why it is that sports affects us the way it does. The passion, the camaraderie, and, yes, the toxicity that can come from declaring allegiance to a club, team, crest, or player. What does it mean to support? Why do we choose the teams we do? When is it appropriate to stop supporting? I want to dig into the philosophy behind all of this and look at how we can use this to unite rather than divide.
A lot of this content will focus on soccer. Soccer is the world’s game. It is a great example of how a sport can bring even warring cultures together for a moment. At the same time, it’s also a prime example of how toxicity can bring out the worst in supporters and teams.
While also exploring the concepts above though, I want to help introduce soccer to others. It’s an amazing game, it’s the fastest growing sport in America, and it’s a global language that we can all share.
I’m not so delusional to think that this project will bring about world peace or anything. But if one person can take this and find a community, a sense of belonging, and a way to find common ground with others, then the world will be that much better for it. Such is the power of sports.
Thank you, and welcome to my project.
Ranting Blue Penguin Media 