Taking My Tea Sweetened
(I really didn't want to use "Nothing Could Be Finer ..." or "Going to Carolina in My Mind ...")
Well, to all those who found this site randomly or via Google searches wondering whatever happened to me since the Broncos laid me off, I've sat on some news for a little while, but now I'll share it with those who don't already know -- I'm headed to the Carolina Panthers, taking my scribblings and sometimes scatterbrained thoughts to Panthers.com.
I'm not sure anyone in such a front-office position as mine has moved to another NFL team so quickly after being laid off by one. It was the result of fortuitous timing, some wonderful references from people in Denver (whom I cannot thank profusely enough) and a growing understanding that seizing an opportunity from another franchise was clearly the right thing to do.
Uprooting oneself when there is so much going on in the personal side of life is not exactly the easiest thing, but this is the way of life in the NFL and in professional sports in general. In that respect, a writer on a Web site isn't much different than a player or coach. The difference between this move and the others is the presence of things and people near and dear to me in the place I leave, but I'll be back in Denver as often as the schedule allows.
There is, of course, much that is near and dear to me in North Carolina and the surrounding areas, and that's what will help make this move work. The family roots have grown in Tar Heel soil since before the United States of America was an idea on an 18th Century cocktail napkin. Barbecue is more than just a food to us; it's an heirloom. A series of novels could be written chronicling discussions of ACC basketball among my parents, my brother and myself. And, most importantly, throughout my lifetime of travels, I've regarded every return to the Old North State as a return home.
Will Blythe wrote in To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever that his father compared the rest of the world to North Carolina and "found it lacking." I reckon the old man had a point. So I head to a place I love, and to a team that I've had in the back of my mind since it was born.
A month after the NFL confirmed the Panthers' arrival as the league's 29th team, I received a Panthers T-shirt as a Christmas gift, almost as though someone knew that someday, a few moves up the chessboard of life, the chats noir of Charlotte would be my team.
And, of course, there's the sweet iced tea.
Well, to all those who found this site randomly or via Google searches wondering whatever happened to me since the Broncos laid me off, I've sat on some news for a little while, but now I'll share it with those who don't already know -- I'm headed to the Carolina Panthers, taking my scribblings and sometimes scatterbrained thoughts to Panthers.com.
I'm not sure anyone in such a front-office position as mine has moved to another NFL team so quickly after being laid off by one. It was the result of fortuitous timing, some wonderful references from people in Denver (whom I cannot thank profusely enough) and a growing understanding that seizing an opportunity from another franchise was clearly the right thing to do.
Uprooting oneself when there is so much going on in the personal side of life is not exactly the easiest thing, but this is the way of life in the NFL and in professional sports in general. In that respect, a writer on a Web site isn't much different than a player or coach. The difference between this move and the others is the presence of things and people near and dear to me in the place I leave, but I'll be back in Denver as often as the schedule allows.
There is, of course, much that is near and dear to me in North Carolina and the surrounding areas, and that's what will help make this move work. The family roots have grown in Tar Heel soil since before the United States of America was an idea on an 18th Century cocktail napkin. Barbecue is more than just a food to us; it's an heirloom. A series of novels could be written chronicling discussions of ACC basketball among my parents, my brother and myself. And, most importantly, throughout my lifetime of travels, I've regarded every return to the Old North State as a return home.
Will Blythe wrote in To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever that his father compared the rest of the world to North Carolina and "found it lacking." I reckon the old man had a point. So I head to a place I love, and to a team that I've had in the back of my mind since it was born.
A month after the NFL confirmed the Panthers' arrival as the league's 29th team, I received a Panthers T-shirt as a Christmas gift, almost as though someone knew that someday, a few moves up the chessboard of life, the chats noir of Charlotte would be my team.
And, of course, there's the sweet iced tea.
Labels: Carolina Panthers, Moving
posted by Andrew at
9:50 AM
3 Comments
