So, I'm trying to finally start this blog. Don't know why but for some reason, starting a blog has been one of the hardest things for me to do. I keep asking myself, what in the world do I want to write about? Who am I talking to? Am I writing for other people or strictly for myself?
I don't yet know the answers to all of these questions. What I do know is if I'm going to keep a blog where I regularly write posts, then I've got to first start writing. Whether the writing is for me or for others.
I have been tossing around the idea of starting a blog for the last six years or so. I was laid off work in the summer of 2014 and I spent a lot of time listening to baseball games on SiriusXM. As a totally blind person, listening to games on the radio is how I enjoy sporting events. I don't usually get the most out of games by sitting and listening to them on television.
That same summer, I also discovered that sports websites like Espn.com, Mlb.com, and others, have game recaps, highlights, box scores, and all sorts of informative goodies for any sports junky to just log in and find out whatever they wanted to know. You couldn't have told me that I wasn't in Information Super Highway Heaven. I'm no sports journalist by any stretch but with the tons of information out there, I feel that I know enough to blog about my favorite sports a little bit. What I don't know, I can easily find out. This is after all, the Information Age.
As of today, my Carolina Panthers are a surprising 3-2 after the first five games of the 2020 NFL season. I say surprising because at the beginning of the season, many believed that this would be a rebuilding year for the Panthers. I'm sure that having a new coach, a brand-new franchise quarterback, and one of the youngest defenses in the National Football League has had a lot to do with making folks feel this way. But they have discovered ways that they can win and the continued growth and team continuity has produced three consecutive victories. I think the Panthers will be more successful than some people think.
My Atlanta Braves are getting ready to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, and my North Carolina Tar Heels look pretty good after a few football games. The Heels are undefeated after three contests. They ran past the Virginia Tech Hokies 56-45 on Saturday and are now the #5 ranked team in the country. The Braves will see if they can get to the World Series for the first time since 1996 when they play the first game of the NLCS tonight at 8 o'clock. I am also very hopeful about the young but exciting Charlotte Hornets and North Carolina Tar Heels basketball coming up in a couple of months. Yep, sports life is decent for me right now. Especially considering, we are still in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
In addition to sports, I am interested in a plethora of other things. I am an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction. I listen to NPR religiously and I check out a few other news outlets to stay up on current events. I'm a history buff and I love music. I love to write and I currently work as a research assistant where I read and write things down. Judging by my job and all of my interests, it would seem that I wouldn't have trouble keeping a regular blog. One would assume, I won't ever run out of things to talk about.
I used to say that I wanted to be a writer because I wanted to be rich and famous. I imagined all of my favorite writers earning millions of dollars writing short stories, poems, and books from wherever they chose to be and I wanted the same life. Trust me, if fame and fortune should find me via my writing, I would not at all be upset. I'll take it with open arms.
But I think the older, more realistic me, wants to write because I feel that I have a lot to say. I am the only one that can tell my specific story. This blog is just one way that I can share my voice with the world. It is just one of my contributions to the wide world of internet content. Something that long after I'm gone, the blog will say "Calvin Thompson was here." So I guess, I'm writing for my own self-fulfillment. Hopefully by reading my words, others will find fulfillment and a little information and entertainment as well.
