mikesteelnation1's Blog

Looking Back at Childhood- The Over Involved Dad Diaries

The topic of pushing kids too hard came up in a couple of blogs I read and I wanted to put my spin on it from the athlete's point of view (POV) that HAD the very involved father. Of the other 2 blogs I read one was from an athlete's POV (but he was a teammate with the guy who had the "over involved" father) and the other one was written from a father's POV. I 100% believe there are 3 types of sports dads- the casual observer and supporter (majority of dads- they aren't going to be discussed), the involved maniac, and the involved disciplinarian/motivator. I think the issue gets muddied by not having 3 classifications- it's not just casual and maniacal dads. To me maniacs are the guys who verbally and physically abuse their kids all in the name of sports and do the 3rd thing I'll speak of later in the blog. My dad was the 3rd type, an involved disciplinarian/motivator. I will describe both in further detail throughout the blog. Here is background on me to better illustrate my point of view:

 

 I was a 3 sport star athlete in high school at a very large school. 1st Team All state in all 3 sports for two years in a row. I was recruited in all 3 sports to go to D1 schools (I was a 4 star recruit in 2 sports, and a 5 star in the other). I got a free education from the finest educational institution in America because I was pushed so hard to succeed. If I had not gotten the free ride I probably would not have been able to attend college (at least the one I wanted) because of the cost and my family's inability to help cover any of the costs. That motivated the HELL out of me. I HAD to go to college and it HAD to be to the one I wanted.  NEVER once did my father ever mention that, though- I knew it was a fact of life.

 

Was it easy for me to tell my friends every night that I couldn't hang out because I had practice, then weight training, then (if it was wrestling season) another running session (to make weight)? NO!!! Was it easy for me to go and work out during the summer for 4 hours a day every day between conditioning and weights, while my friends hung out by the pool and did other stuff? NO!!! Was it easy to not see friends for 2 weeks at a time during the summer while I attended a lacrosse camp, or two more weeks for football camp, or 2 more weeks for wrestling camp? NO!! Did going to AAU wrestling tourneys every other weekend during the summer suck? YES!! BUT my father never forced any of this on me- I decided that is what I wanted to do and he helped to keep me motivated. Did my Dad "kind of" make me do some of this extra offseason stuff? Yes he did- but only because his rule was that I don't do anything halfass, it's either all or nothing. I could have quit at anytime and quite simply, when I didn't want to go to a tourney or something- I was presented with a fair choice. He would politely remind me that i could either go and be the best I can, or if I wanted to devote my time to other pursuits I might want to quit the sport all together. All my father did was remind me of my commitment.

 

BUT, just like my Dad always told me- "Nothing that is truly worth having will EVER be easy. IF it comes too easy, it probably isn't worth what you thought it was". I'm sure he wasn't the inventor of the phrase, but to this day it remains my personal "mission statement".

 

My father never, EVER spoke of me ever making money from sports- that's far fetched, only the truly short sighted person plans to ever make money playing sports. Only a small handful of people ever get to do it for a living- even the most talented. Sports to me was always an means to an end- 100% thru and thru. My end was a great education, and sports was the means. I get questioned all the time why I chose the scholarship I did (lacrosse) . Why did you pass up playing D1 Football? You had the size, speed, and ability to definitely start (I was given a guaranteed starting position by 8 D1 schools) and  perhaps one day play in the NFL. I did it for 3 reasons:

A Call Out to the Fannation Administrators

OK, let me start with this. I love the site for the most part. Having the ability to interact with other sports fans and compete in throwdowns is awesome. Meeting and talking to people who have a love for sports and can discuss it as intelligently and in depth as I can is the #1 appeal for the site. I love the adversarial debate on sports views and fannation gives me a worthy opponent to engage in this. The worthy opponent is paramount. It can be somewhat difficult to find fervent, knowledgable sports fans, not in cyber space. Is there some silly stuff that goes on? YES, but up until now nothing that absolutely INFURIATED me. I'll get to that in a minute....

Pre Season Ranking Top 10 Overall Defenses in the NFL

As in previous blogs, I will list the criteria I used to derive my rankings. I will use a mix of personnel (including what key additions/subtractions the team made) , previous results, and most importantly my analysis of what scheme they utilize (basically my take on the skill of defensive coordinator/head coach/defensive assistants). As always I welcome your comments, but ask that you read my reasonings why before you post (don't just skip through the team names) .Now that I have dispatched with the formalities- on to my rankings.

Most UnderRated Defensive Players in the NFL

This is a continuation to yesterday's post of Underrated Offensive players. I used the same methodology as previous blogs to determine these.

Defensive Tackle- To me this position almost doesn't have anyone who is underrated. The guys who deserve the attention get it. Last year you could have said Big John of Jacksonville, but he went to the Pro Bowl (finally). Every DT who is good gets his credit, so I'm not going to rate anyone as the most "underrated" and my honorable mention has made so many underrated lists I almost can't put him as an honorable mention. This is one of the toughest positions to cultivate a "dominant" player. Just look at all the draft busts that come from this position. In my opinion, this position has the second highest failure rate of 1st round draft picks (next to QB). The position either has dominant forces that everybody knows, or def. coordinators use a platoon system to at least have a fresh mediocre player in there.

List of the Most Underrated Offensive Players in the NFL

As promised here is my list of the most under rated players in the NFL. I used the same methodology to derive this list as I did my list of Over rated players (Please refer to the blog I posted yesterday for those). This list I feel may be viewed as a bit more controversial than yesterdays. I will again ask that before you post a comment you at least take the time to read the blog and not just skip through the names. I am not quite as passionate about these picks as my most overrated, so I will list honorable mentions for each position.