Alexandra Bogdanovic's Blog: That's life... - Posts Tagged "passion"

Author's/Blogger's Note: The following is dedicated to rabid sports fans around the world.
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Once upon a time, there was a little girl who grew up in the New York City suburbs. Although she was raised in a multicultural household, she quickly developed an appreciation for anything American... especially baseball.
She fell in love with the New York Yankees at the tender age of seven and by the time she finished elementary school, she had amassed a bigger baseball card collection than any of the boys had. She also had a crush on catcher Rick Cerone.
Sadly, one thing led to another and her passion for baseball waned. But all was not lost. As a teenager, she fell in love with ice hockey and developed a whole new passion -- this time for the New York Islanders. By the time she jumped on the bandwagon, the team was in its glory, having won the Stanley Cup three straight times. The teenage girl adored brash young goalie Billy Smith, and feisty Bobby Nystrom. But ultimately a big, rugged winger named Clark Gillies won her heart.
Around the same time, the girl realized she could write fairly well, and with the help of her freshman English teacher, started covering high school sports for the local newspaper. Her dream at the time was to become a beat writer for Newsday and -- you guessed it -- cover professional ice hockey.
In fact she was so vocal about her passion for the sport -- and her favorite team -- that her classmates named her "Class Islander" in the senior yearbook. Her classmates also decided that any girl who could write so well would be found working at Sports Illustrated within 10 years after graduation.
As it turned out, our heroine's dreams came true much sooner than anyone predicted. Soon after graduating from college, she started going to New York Islanders practices. There, she met her best friend, a young talented photographer. And together, they began covering minor league and professional ice hockey.
In their 20s, they were living every sports fan's dreams. They knew all the players and had locker room access. Life couldn't have possibly been any better. Or could it?
Along the way, something happened to our heroine. She no longer idolized the athletes she once adored. She realized that professional sports aren't all they're cracked up to be, and that the men who make a living playing games don't deserve the blind adulation society showers upon them.
Oh, some of the players she knew were phenomenal athletes. Some were even good people. Others weren't so good. For better or worse, all were human. Not gods. Not superheroes. Not even heroes. Just men blessed with skill, talent and good luck that allowed them to reach the highest level of their chosen profession. Nothing more, nothing less.
As soon as that reality set in, the "little girl" grew up, and the sports fan she once was disappeared for good.
Yes, you guessed it. I was that little girl. And I have no regrets.
Until next time, "That's life..."

It doesn't really matter if you've met me in person or in print. Either way, you always know where I stand on any issue. I speak my mind. I don't care what anyone thinks.
Yes, I am brash. I am outspoken... and opinionated.
So of course I love New York.
It's filthy. It's grimy. It's crowded. It's loud. It's ridiculously expensive. It's tough. It's resilient. It's beautiful.
There is no room for argument or debate. There is no doubt about it. New York City is the greatest city in the world. Period. End of story.
If you don't believe me, consider the following:
1. “The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
2. “I love New York, even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.”
― Truman Capote
3. “The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.”― John Updike
4. “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” ― Tom Wolfe
5. “New York is an ugly city, a dirty city. Its climate is a scandal, its politics are used to frighten children, its traffic is madness, its competition is murderous.
But there is one thing about it - once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.”
― John Steinbeck
6. “London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it.”
― Dorothy Parker
7. “You can do what you like, sir, but I'll tell you this. New York is the true capital of America. Every New Yorker knows it, and by God, we always shall.”― Edward Rutherfurd, New York
8. “New York is made up of millions of different people, and they all come here looking for something” ― Lindsey Kelk, I Heart New York
9. “When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.” ― Fran Lebowitz
10.“Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book -and does”― Groucho Marx
11. “When you leave New York you ain't going anywhere.” ― Jimmy Breslin
12. “My advice for aspiring writers is go to New York. And if you can’t go to New York, go to the place that represents New York to you, where the standards for writing are high, there are other people who share your dreams, and where you can talk, talk, talk about your interests. Writing books begins in talking about it, like most human projects, and in being close to those who have already done what you propose to do.”
― Walter Kirn
Until next time, "That's life..."