We have had some very good games lately. And when I say very good, I don't mean close. I mean destroying the opponent making it enjoyable for me to watch. A week and a half ago, we beat San Antonio 68-34. This past weekend, we played in Georgia, beating them 60-27. Holding teams to an average of 30 points is remarkable in the AFL as 45 points is about average for a team. Our defense has also been without the same several players who have had injuries. Unfortunately, we lost another linebacker as he tore his ACL. This makes for the 3rd linebacker to have a significant injury. Unlike the NFL with huge rosters, we are not afforded that luxury. We are only allowed 24 on our roster and only 21 can be active for a game, which doesn't even give us a backup for every position. Luckily, one of the linebackers will be back within the next few weeks, and the other may follow soon after.
If you don't follow any sports whatsoever nor don't turn on a tv (hey, maybe you don't have cable like me), then you should know the NFL draft was this past weekend. I am usually excited for the NFL draft; however, this year I was by far the most prepared. I recognized just as many names in the last 3 rounds as I did in the first round. Since we had to do a bunch of research on these players, I showed more disbelief in the later rounds than the casual fan. It wasn't because my least favorite team got a good player, etc., but more a long the lines of players I thought we had a legitimate shot at signing went out the window. Then came the biggest shocker. About 90% of our targeted players went undrafted. However, after the draft, every player that isn't drafted becomes an Undrafted Free Agent. Within one day, my 90% quickly plummeted to approximately 10%. We are quickly trying to do as much research on these players to determine if we should bring them in. It has become a very busy time (as if it wasn't busy before).
My parents must have noticed how busy it has been for me and decided to fly me out to Colorado to where they will be visiting Patrick and Rachel. I will fly out at the end of this month and am very excited about it.
Adam Conrad
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Another Busy Week
Unfortunately, we lost last weekend by two in Iowa. That gives us two losses by a combined three points. Hopefully, our team can play better tomorrow at home against San Antonio. San Antonio has the QB who beat us in the ArenaBowl on the last play of the game last year. I am hoping our players are thinking revenge.
This week has been very busy for me. Tomorrow will mark the seventh day in a row I've worked, and some are days like today where I work for ten hours. However, work isn't the only thing I;ve been doing, as I've had a little fun as well. Last night, I was able to go to a baseball game. Now, going to an MLB game is fun enough in itself; however, the Diamondbacks were playing for the Braves. And, it just so happens that my friend, Brandon Beachy, was pitching for Atlanta. It was really cool to see him pitch, and he played great (even did well batting). We didn't have tickets to the game when we arrived, so we started talking to a scalper. We turned down his offer of the worst seats in the park for $10 when he offered us club seats for $20. I am pretty sure once he mentioned "all you can eat," all four of us reached for our wallets. Unfortunately, we had just eaten dinner, but that didn't stop four lower-twenties' guys of making sure we got out money's worth.
Today, we had a 4 1/2 hour meeting. I knew it was going to be long when my boss told me that we were going to take 3 weeks worth of meetings and put it into one meeting. Since we had started work on February 1st, we have been putting together a database for all of the college seniors. Each scout is assigned a region, for instance I have the northeast region. For today's meeting, we were supposed to have all of our prospects ranked according to position. At the meeting, we presented them to the group and placed them according to rank. At the end, we created a draft board by arguing over which player should be rated higher. This was definitely an eye-opening experience as we were able to not only see, but participate how these scouting meetings are ran at the NFL level.
My boss has also sent my resume to the director of personnels of the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, and Washington Redskins- so hopefully one of those will pay off.
Like I said before, we have a game tomorrow against the San Antonio Talons, and we are having a kicker workout before the game, meaning I have to be there even earlier than normal. Hopefully, next time I write, I'll be able to say we have one more win on our record. Have a great week.
Adam Conrad
This week has been very busy for me. Tomorrow will mark the seventh day in a row I've worked, and some are days like today where I work for ten hours. However, work isn't the only thing I;ve been doing, as I've had a little fun as well. Last night, I was able to go to a baseball game. Now, going to an MLB game is fun enough in itself; however, the Diamondbacks were playing for the Braves. And, it just so happens that my friend, Brandon Beachy, was pitching for Atlanta. It was really cool to see him pitch, and he played great (even did well batting). We didn't have tickets to the game when we arrived, so we started talking to a scalper. We turned down his offer of the worst seats in the park for $10 when he offered us club seats for $20. I am pretty sure once he mentioned "all you can eat," all four of us reached for our wallets. Unfortunately, we had just eaten dinner, but that didn't stop four lower-twenties' guys of making sure we got out money's worth.
Today, we had a 4 1/2 hour meeting. I knew it was going to be long when my boss told me that we were going to take 3 weeks worth of meetings and put it into one meeting. Since we had started work on February 1st, we have been putting together a database for all of the college seniors. Each scout is assigned a region, for instance I have the northeast region. For today's meeting, we were supposed to have all of our prospects ranked according to position. At the meeting, we presented them to the group and placed them according to rank. At the end, we created a draft board by arguing over which player should be rated higher. This was definitely an eye-opening experience as we were able to not only see, but participate how these scouting meetings are ran at the NFL level.
My boss has also sent my resume to the director of personnels of the Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, and Washington Redskins- so hopefully one of those will pay off.
Like I said before, we have a game tomorrow against the San Antonio Talons, and we are having a kicker workout before the game, meaning I have to be there even earlier than normal. Hopefully, next time I write, I'll be able to say we have one more win on our record. Have a great week.
Adam Conrad
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Still Alive
I apologize for not posting in awhile. Having no internet and being very busy has definitely been a hindrance with keeping this thing updated.
I did make it back from Colorado alright, and we've had two games since (one on the road, and one at home). Both teams have a combined one win, and we had that many before we played either of them only after two games. So, you are probably thinking that we beat both pretty handily.
We did beat Kansas City by a score of 56-28. However, we lost our starting linebacker (who happens to be from Cincinnati) with a dislocated elbow. Our other starting linebacker was hurt in our second game, and is still out. Kevin did show me his elbow, and I kind of wish he didn't, as it was completely swollen and didn't look pretty.
Last Friday, we played at home against Spokane. We were losing most of the game, but scored with four seconds left to get the win. I seriously believe that the team is trying to give me a heart attack at a young age; and unfortunately, I think they are succeeding. We also suffered another injury. Our starting safety leading kick returner in the league hurt his ankle. So, out of our original 8 defensive starters- we are without both starting linebackers, our starting safety, and a starting cornerback who tore his ACL in the second game of the year, forcing him to sit out the rest of the season. Not to mention that one our starting receivers is out, and it is nearly a miracle that we have the second best record in the league. Hopefully, our guys can get healthy, and can make an impact when they come back. Above and to the right is a picture of our guys after the win on Friday.
Just in case you thought all I did was watch practice and play around on the internet, let me give you an idea of what I have to do.
Five days before a game, our department has to give our coaches what is called an Advance Scouting Book. It is just like what it sounds like- it is a very detailed account of our next opponent. This weeks scout book was 50 pages long, so you know it is full of information. What got me hired to this job was my background in statistics. Because of that, I have been in charge of all the stats in the scouting department. Due to being in charge, I have a lot to do for this scout book. I have to put together nearly every stat of every player for our opponents. Not only stats, but I also have to research and compile every penalty they committed. Another statistic I put together is showing how they start and finish every possession our opponents have had all season. You may be thinking this is a lot of work to be doing, which it is. However, I keep up with it and update it every week, so I am not doing the whole season's worth of stats in a few days. Also, every member of our scouting department is assigned a certain position that changes weekly for each game. For example, the game against San Antonio (next week) that I am working on, I was assigned the wide receivers. For each player at that position, we need to watch the previous three games and scout them. After scouting them, we write up our reports and put it inside the scouting reports.
During home games, we are assigned specific positions to scout and take notes on. After the game, we are to do write-ups on those players on what we saw during that game. We eventually out all of that into a review book, which we hand out to all the coaches.
Not only am I working on this stuff throughout the week, but I also do random projects that my boss or the coaches ask of me such as updating rosters, helping new players with paperwork, and researching college senior or recently released NFL players.
Yes, this is quite a large amount of work; however, I definitely feel it is worth it. Due to my boss's experience within the NFL, we are running this Arena franchise as an NFL team, which will only help me when I, hopefully, get a job in the NFL.
Anyways, I'm sorry that I didn't give much information on what I've done lately, but now you know what I do when I am working. The team travels to Des Moines, Iowa this week, so I will have a few much needed days off as we only get one day off during home games.
Have a great rest of the week.
Adam Conrad
And below is a picture of our guys after our come-from-behind win on Friday.
I did make it back from Colorado alright, and we've had two games since (one on the road, and one at home). Both teams have a combined one win, and we had that many before we played either of them only after two games. So, you are probably thinking that we beat both pretty handily.
We did beat Kansas City by a score of 56-28. However, we lost our starting linebacker (who happens to be from Cincinnati) with a dislocated elbow. Our other starting linebacker was hurt in our second game, and is still out. Kevin did show me his elbow, and I kind of wish he didn't, as it was completely swollen and didn't look pretty.
Last Friday, we played at home against Spokane. We were losing most of the game, but scored with four seconds left to get the win. I seriously believe that the team is trying to give me a heart attack at a young age; and unfortunately, I think they are succeeding. We also suffered another injury. Our starting safety leading kick returner in the league hurt his ankle. So, out of our original 8 defensive starters- we are without both starting linebackers, our starting safety, and a starting cornerback who tore his ACL in the second game of the year, forcing him to sit out the rest of the season. Not to mention that one our starting receivers is out, and it is nearly a miracle that we have the second best record in the league. Hopefully, our guys can get healthy, and can make an impact when they come back. Above and to the right is a picture of our guys after the win on Friday.
Just in case you thought all I did was watch practice and play around on the internet, let me give you an idea of what I have to do.
Five days before a game, our department has to give our coaches what is called an Advance Scouting Book. It is just like what it sounds like- it is a very detailed account of our next opponent. This weeks scout book was 50 pages long, so you know it is full of information. What got me hired to this job was my background in statistics. Because of that, I have been in charge of all the stats in the scouting department. Due to being in charge, I have a lot to do for this scout book. I have to put together nearly every stat of every player for our opponents. Not only stats, but I also have to research and compile every penalty they committed. Another statistic I put together is showing how they start and finish every possession our opponents have had all season. You may be thinking this is a lot of work to be doing, which it is. However, I keep up with it and update it every week, so I am not doing the whole season's worth of stats in a few days. Also, every member of our scouting department is assigned a certain position that changes weekly for each game. For example, the game against San Antonio (next week) that I am working on, I was assigned the wide receivers. For each player at that position, we need to watch the previous three games and scout them. After scouting them, we write up our reports and put it inside the scouting reports.
During home games, we are assigned specific positions to scout and take notes on. After the game, we are to do write-ups on those players on what we saw during that game. We eventually out all of that into a review book, which we hand out to all the coaches.
Not only am I working on this stuff throughout the week, but I also do random projects that my boss or the coaches ask of me such as updating rosters, helping new players with paperwork, and researching college senior or recently released NFL players.
Yes, this is quite a large amount of work; however, I definitely feel it is worth it. Due to my boss's experience within the NFL, we are running this Arena franchise as an NFL team, which will only help me when I, hopefully, get a job in the NFL.
Anyways, I'm sorry that I didn't give much information on what I've done lately, but now you know what I do when I am working. The team travels to Des Moines, Iowa this week, so I will have a few much needed days off as we only get one day off during home games.
Have a great rest of the week.
Adam Conrad
And below is a picture of our guys after our come-from-behind win on Friday.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Once again, I've had a few great experiences over the past few days.
On Friday, I had the privilege of going to Arizona State's Pro Day. If you are unfamiliar with a Pro Day, it is very similar to the combine, held in Indianapolis, which tests a football players measures- such as height, weight, speed, agility, and jumping ability. The combine hosts the nations top prospects and each big college will have a specific pro day for their respective players and other local players from smaller schools. The NFL will usually send somebody to the pro day to look at the players. Depending on the quality of the players will determine who the teams send, such as a regional scout, director of college scouting, assistant coach, head coach and/or the general manager himself. Most NFL teams sent scouts to ASU's Pro Day; however, I did get to see the Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator and Marvin Lewis, who is the Cincinnati Bengals head coach. I really wanted and planned to introduce myself to Lewis, but when he wasn't on his phone (approximately 85% of the time), he had somebody standing at his side talking nonstop to him. Although I didn't get to talk to Marvin Lewis, I did get to meet some very interesting people and got to see a really cool process. Most scouts don't get the opportunity to go to a pro day until around their 3rd or 4th year, so I am very fortunate.
We had our first home game Saturday night. I had the privilege of sitting in a press box to watch the game. However, I wasn't able to just sit back and enjoy the game. I had to evaluate and take notes on the opposing linemen, because we will play the Milwaukee Mustangs later on in the season for a second time. The game turned out to be another barn burner. The game was going back and forth the entire game, with Milwaukee having the lead at halftime. We scored to take the lead by 6 with a few minutes left in the game. The opposing kicker was struggling, so I felt very comfortable with giving them the ball back. They marched down the field and scored a TD to tie the game with the point after touchdown to still be attempted. A Milwaukee receiver caught a batted ball giving them a two point lead with 27 seconds to go. Our offense received the ball and didn't waste anytime, as they scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 4 seconds to go giving us a 6 point lead. Milwaukee was not able to score with 4 seconds to go giving us the 71-65 victory. Dating back to the ArenaBowl last year, we have scored at least 70 points in 3 straight games. Unfortunately, we are 1-2 in those three games. I think we will build off of this win into a great season.
Sunday, I had to go into work for a few hours, and I was given Monday through Thursday off due to having a bye week this week. So, yesterday I drove 10 hours to visit my brother and sister-in-law, Patrick and Rachel in Montrose, CO. I've seen them a total of 3 times in the past year, so it was definitely worth the drive. Unfortunately, the drive could've been a lot better for me if I (and my GPS) knew better. Not only did I experience just about every possible weather change (sunshine, pouring down rain, mist, flurries, heavy snowfall, sleet), but I ended up climbing and descending two mountains about an hour before Montrose. Both of these mountains roads were covered in snow, going alongside cliffs, didn't usually have guardrails, and had constant blind turns. Thankfully, Patrick told me a better way to get home. Not thankfully, he waited til AFTER I experienced the mountains to tell me the alternative.
Well, I am off for now to go play with Patrick's and Rachel's dog, Dug. So, have a great week and Go Bucks!
Adam Conrad
On Friday, I had the privilege of going to Arizona State's Pro Day. If you are unfamiliar with a Pro Day, it is very similar to the combine, held in Indianapolis, which tests a football players measures- such as height, weight, speed, agility, and jumping ability. The combine hosts the nations top prospects and each big college will have a specific pro day for their respective players and other local players from smaller schools. The NFL will usually send somebody to the pro day to look at the players. Depending on the quality of the players will determine who the teams send, such as a regional scout, director of college scouting, assistant coach, head coach and/or the general manager himself. Most NFL teams sent scouts to ASU's Pro Day; however, I did get to see the Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator and Marvin Lewis, who is the Cincinnati Bengals head coach. I really wanted and planned to introduce myself to Lewis, but when he wasn't on his phone (approximately 85% of the time), he had somebody standing at his side talking nonstop to him. Although I didn't get to talk to Marvin Lewis, I did get to meet some very interesting people and got to see a really cool process. Most scouts don't get the opportunity to go to a pro day until around their 3rd or 4th year, so I am very fortunate.
We had our first home game Saturday night. I had the privilege of sitting in a press box to watch the game. However, I wasn't able to just sit back and enjoy the game. I had to evaluate and take notes on the opposing linemen, because we will play the Milwaukee Mustangs later on in the season for a second time. The game turned out to be another barn burner. The game was going back and forth the entire game, with Milwaukee having the lead at halftime. We scored to take the lead by 6 with a few minutes left in the game. The opposing kicker was struggling, so I felt very comfortable with giving them the ball back. They marched down the field and scored a TD to tie the game with the point after touchdown to still be attempted. A Milwaukee receiver caught a batted ball giving them a two point lead with 27 seconds to go. Our offense received the ball and didn't waste anytime, as they scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 4 seconds to go giving us a 6 point lead. Milwaukee was not able to score with 4 seconds to go giving us the 71-65 victory. Dating back to the ArenaBowl last year, we have scored at least 70 points in 3 straight games. Unfortunately, we are 1-2 in those three games. I think we will build off of this win into a great season.
Sunday, I had to go into work for a few hours, and I was given Monday through Thursday off due to having a bye week this week. So, yesterday I drove 10 hours to visit my brother and sister-in-law, Patrick and Rachel in Montrose, CO. I've seen them a total of 3 times in the past year, so it was definitely worth the drive. Unfortunately, the drive could've been a lot better for me if I (and my GPS) knew better. Not only did I experience just about every possible weather change (sunshine, pouring down rain, mist, flurries, heavy snowfall, sleet), but I ended up climbing and descending two mountains about an hour before Montrose. Both of these mountains roads were covered in snow, going alongside cliffs, didn't usually have guardrails, and had constant blind turns. Thankfully, Patrick told me a better way to get home. Not thankfully, he waited til AFTER I experienced the mountains to tell me the alternative.
Well, I am off for now to go play with Patrick's and Rachel's dog, Dug. So, have a great week and Go Bucks!
Adam Conrad
Thursday, March 15, 2012
When i first moved into my apartment, Jerry was allowing me to use his internet. Now, I never had the privilege of meeting Jerry; however, I'm sure he is a great man. About a week ago, I couldn't get on the internet because I could not find his connection. Unfortunately, I think Jerry moved. So, instead of buying internet, I have been using McDonald's free WiFi, which is where I'm at now.
Last weekend was our first game. We played at San Jose, and because I don't travel with the team, I got a few days off. Friday and Saturday were my first consecutive days off in approximately a month. Some interesting things had been happening up til the first game in Arena Football. The players were threatening to strike, and I was not allowed to talk about it. Since it has been in the news and is now over with, I feel comfortable talking about the news made public. Friday night, the Pittsburgh Power were playing in Florida against the Orlando Predators for the first game of the year. The rumor that was going around was that the players would strike right after the National Anthem. Since the owners did not want this, they decided to walk into each respective team meal and read a letter stating every player had been released from the team. Some of the players still wanted to play and didn't really care for the tactics of the players union, so they decided to re-sign with their team and play. Five players for one team and nine players for the other were all that chose to take that route. You are probably thinking that five isn't enough to play football. Well, you are correct. Since the teams weren't sure what would happen, they had been trying out "replacement players". Well, those "replacement players" played with the real players so the game could be played. The union realized that their tactics didn't work out too well, so they lifted the strike the next morning, on Saturday. Thankfully, our game was on Saturday night, and all of our players that were supposed to play- did. Unfortunately, however, the game did not go as I would have wanted. We were ranked #1 in the pre-season coaches poll, and the San Jose SaberCats were ranked #2. And if you think it would have been a great game, you thought right. We had been winning the whole night until midway through the fourth quarter when San Jose took the lead. In the final minute, we kicked a field goal to tie the game. As time was running out, San Jose missed a field goal for the win, sending the game into overtime. San Jose received the ball first and marched down the field for a touchdown and kicked the extra point. The Rattlers got a chance next. They drove down and scored a touchdown as well. Instead of kicking an extra point, we chose to go for the win with a two point conversion. San Jose played great defense on the attempt, and we failed to score, giving us the 71-70 loss. It is a sad way to start out a season; however, it just gives us motivation to finish the season 17-0.
I will definitely have more for you early next week, as I am going to Arizona State's Pro Day tomorrow and we have our first home game on Saturday. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Adam Conrad
Last weekend was our first game. We played at San Jose, and because I don't travel with the team, I got a few days off. Friday and Saturday were my first consecutive days off in approximately a month. Some interesting things had been happening up til the first game in Arena Football. The players were threatening to strike, and I was not allowed to talk about it. Since it has been in the news and is now over with, I feel comfortable talking about the news made public. Friday night, the Pittsburgh Power were playing in Florida against the Orlando Predators for the first game of the year. The rumor that was going around was that the players would strike right after the National Anthem. Since the owners did not want this, they decided to walk into each respective team meal and read a letter stating every player had been released from the team. Some of the players still wanted to play and didn't really care for the tactics of the players union, so they decided to re-sign with their team and play. Five players for one team and nine players for the other were all that chose to take that route. You are probably thinking that five isn't enough to play football. Well, you are correct. Since the teams weren't sure what would happen, they had been trying out "replacement players". Well, those "replacement players" played with the real players so the game could be played. The union realized that their tactics didn't work out too well, so they lifted the strike the next morning, on Saturday. Thankfully, our game was on Saturday night, and all of our players that were supposed to play- did. Unfortunately, however, the game did not go as I would have wanted. We were ranked #1 in the pre-season coaches poll, and the San Jose SaberCats were ranked #2. And if you think it would have been a great game, you thought right. We had been winning the whole night until midway through the fourth quarter when San Jose took the lead. In the final minute, we kicked a field goal to tie the game. As time was running out, San Jose missed a field goal for the win, sending the game into overtime. San Jose received the ball first and marched down the field for a touchdown and kicked the extra point. The Rattlers got a chance next. They drove down and scored a touchdown as well. Instead of kicking an extra point, we chose to go for the win with a two point conversion. San Jose played great defense on the attempt, and we failed to score, giving us the 71-70 loss. It is a sad way to start out a season; however, it just gives us motivation to finish the season 17-0.
I will definitely have more for you early next week, as I am going to Arizona State's Pro Day tomorrow and we have our first home game on Saturday. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Adam Conrad
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thrown to the Wolves
These pictures are from the scrimmage, that I just found a way to be in...
The last two days at work have been very, experiential, to say the least.
Yesterday, we had our inter-squad scrimmage yesterday, which was held at the stadium and free to the public. Since it was free to attend, the team didn't employ anybody to work the game- such as referees. One of the assignments that are normally occupied for regular games, but wasn't yesterday, was the chain gang. So guess who got to be a part of that yesterday? You got it- myself (along with two other guys). This was my first time doing chain gang for any type of football. If you are unfamiliar with football, the chain gang are the three bright orange marker sticks on the sideline that determine where the original line of scrimmage, current line of scrimmage and first down are. And, if you are unfamiliar with the arena league, 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall walls surround the playing field, meaning there are no "out of bounds." If you are thinking to yourself right now, "so where do the chain gang workers stand?" that is a very valid question. In arena football, each marker stick has an "anchor" tied by a rope to the stick. When the stick is in place, the "anchor" is thrown over the wall holding the stick in place. Now comes the tricky part. I had to go ten yards down field to place my marker stick. Once I had it set, I had to run back behind the offense before the play was called. For the majority of the time, I was already behind the offense by the time they were leaving their huddle. However, one time I had just set the marker when I heard the QB signal to the motion man to start. I instantly knew I had less than two seconds to get back. Those two seconds quickly turned into a fraction of a second as I heard the play beginning. I continue to sprint back when I see a receiver come straight towards me. I think to myself that the ball will not be thrown in my direction. I was 100% wrong. I see that ball come towards me, so I continue to run along the wall while ducking. I did not notice at the time, but after watching the film, I was less than two yards away from the defender hitting the receiver into the wall. Two professional athletes wearing pads sandwiching me, without any pads, with the wall definitely would not have felt good. However, I escaped the rest of the game unscathed and not running for my life anymore.
The second time I was thrown to the pack of wolves happened today. My boss called myself along with two other guys into his office and explained that our team had to keep in contact with free agents to determine if that player was still an option. He then told us things to talk about with the player, told us to get our phones out while he started to give us players' numbers. Then, one by one we had to call the players and talk to them to determine possibilities. This was definitely a learning experience as none of us had heard it being done prior to that meeting. We definitely were able to get some practical experience in the player personnel side of football today.
Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this post and have a little bit more understanding of how both the playing side and personnel side work for football. Have a great week.
Adam
The last two days at work have been very, experiential, to say the least.
Yesterday, we had our inter-squad scrimmage yesterday, which was held at the stadium and free to the public. Since it was free to attend, the team didn't employ anybody to work the game- such as referees. One of the assignments that are normally occupied for regular games, but wasn't yesterday, was the chain gang. So guess who got to be a part of that yesterday? You got it- myself (along with two other guys). This was my first time doing chain gang for any type of football. If you are unfamiliar with football, the chain gang are the three bright orange marker sticks on the sideline that determine where the original line of scrimmage, current line of scrimmage and first down are. And, if you are unfamiliar with the arena league, 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall walls surround the playing field, meaning there are no "out of bounds." If you are thinking to yourself right now, "so where do the chain gang workers stand?" that is a very valid question. In arena football, each marker stick has an "anchor" tied by a rope to the stick. When the stick is in place, the "anchor" is thrown over the wall holding the stick in place. Now comes the tricky part. I had to go ten yards down field to place my marker stick. Once I had it set, I had to run back behind the offense before the play was called. For the majority of the time, I was already behind the offense by the time they were leaving their huddle. However, one time I had just set the marker when I heard the QB signal to the motion man to start. I instantly knew I had less than two seconds to get back. Those two seconds quickly turned into a fraction of a second as I heard the play beginning. I continue to sprint back when I see a receiver come straight towards me. I think to myself that the ball will not be thrown in my direction. I was 100% wrong. I see that ball come towards me, so I continue to run along the wall while ducking. I did not notice at the time, but after watching the film, I was less than two yards away from the defender hitting the receiver into the wall. Two professional athletes wearing pads sandwiching me, without any pads, with the wall definitely would not have felt good. However, I escaped the rest of the game unscathed and not running for my life anymore.
The second time I was thrown to the pack of wolves happened today. My boss called myself along with two other guys into his office and explained that our team had to keep in contact with free agents to determine if that player was still an option. He then told us things to talk about with the player, told us to get our phones out while he started to give us players' numbers. Then, one by one we had to call the players and talk to them to determine possibilities. This was definitely a learning experience as none of us had heard it being done prior to that meeting. We definitely were able to get some practical experience in the player personnel side of football today.
Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this post and have a little bit more understanding of how both the playing side and personnel side work for football. Have a great week.
Adam
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Big Mistake?
I think I had made my biggest mistake ever, today. I went to Wal-Mart after work to get some things, and as I was walking out, a girl scout stopped me and asked if I wanted to buy any cookies from her. Because I'm trying not to spend any money I don't need to, and cookies are not a need, I turned her down. Then, things turned bad. She didn't say she hated me, or start crying or say she wasn't going to receive a girl scout badge all because of me. However, I was wearing a Rattlers shirt since I had just come from work, and she pointed at my shirt and said "I LOVE the Arizona Rattlers!" Let me tell you, it took everything I had to not whip out my wallet and hand her all the cash inside and ask how many boxes that will buy. It's similar to when one of your parents said to you "I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed in you." You might as well just toss a dagger straight to the heart, because that's how it feels. I got out of there so fast, I thought I was the one getting the conditioning test today, not the players.
Anyways, besides being completely out-classed by an 8 year old outside of Wal-Mart, I've had a pretty busy, but good, week. All of the players arrived on Friday, and yesterday was their first time (of the season) to the fieldhouse. When the players were arriving to the hotel to report for training camp, I was to make sure they got the correct paperwork done. There were about 5 of us helping, when one of the other workers said he thinks he sees our kicker at the check-in desk because he notices a Chicago Bears hat. And just to let you know, our kicker is the brother of the Chicago Bears kicker, which is why the inference was made. I went to go get my water bottle when I looked over to see our kicker, who was facing away from us towards the desk. I thought to myself that he didn't have the body type of a kicker, especially coming from a family of kickers. Matt, who was bringing the players over to us started walking towards him as the person in the Bears cap turned away from the desk. Just then, I realized that this was some 45-50 year old guy. Matt realized this at the last second and managed to not say anything, although he wasn't able to refrain from making it seem awkward for everybody.
Yesterday, when the players were arriving at the fieldhouse, I had to get their height, weight, arm and hand length. And just like typical athletes, these guys had to find out what their friends measured in at and gloat about it. The QB (last year's league MVP) had the biggest hands, and I kept hearing him talk about it in the locker room. About every other person that got measured, he would come ask me if he still had the biggest hands.
Today, I had to operate the film study for the defensive line coach. I enjoyed this because not only is it the position I played, but I am using a software that a majority of the NFL teams use, which would give me a huge advantage in the future. After the positional meetings, everybody went outside for the conditioning tests. They didn't even have pads on, and this really made me miss football. I've been to plenty of games since I played, but I think this was the closest thing to a practice I've been to since I played in high school.
Well, I woke up this morning at 5:20 and have to wake up tomorrow at 6, so I can work 7am to 8pm, so goodnight, and have a great week.
Adam
Anyways, besides being completely out-classed by an 8 year old outside of Wal-Mart, I've had a pretty busy, but good, week. All of the players arrived on Friday, and yesterday was their first time (of the season) to the fieldhouse. When the players were arriving to the hotel to report for training camp, I was to make sure they got the correct paperwork done. There were about 5 of us helping, when one of the other workers said he thinks he sees our kicker at the check-in desk because he notices a Chicago Bears hat. And just to let you know, our kicker is the brother of the Chicago Bears kicker, which is why the inference was made. I went to go get my water bottle when I looked over to see our kicker, who was facing away from us towards the desk. I thought to myself that he didn't have the body type of a kicker, especially coming from a family of kickers. Matt, who was bringing the players over to us started walking towards him as the person in the Bears cap turned away from the desk. Just then, I realized that this was some 45-50 year old guy. Matt realized this at the last second and managed to not say anything, although he wasn't able to refrain from making it seem awkward for everybody.
Yesterday, when the players were arriving at the fieldhouse, I had to get their height, weight, arm and hand length. And just like typical athletes, these guys had to find out what their friends measured in at and gloat about it. The QB (last year's league MVP) had the biggest hands, and I kept hearing him talk about it in the locker room. About every other person that got measured, he would come ask me if he still had the biggest hands.
Today, I had to operate the film study for the defensive line coach. I enjoyed this because not only is it the position I played, but I am using a software that a majority of the NFL teams use, which would give me a huge advantage in the future. After the positional meetings, everybody went outside for the conditioning tests. They didn't even have pads on, and this really made me miss football. I've been to plenty of games since I played, but I think this was the closest thing to a practice I've been to since I played in high school.
Well, I woke up this morning at 5:20 and have to wake up tomorrow at 6, so I can work 7am to 8pm, so goodnight, and have a great week.
Adam
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Moving Time
It's been a pretty busy week for me. I've been trying to get part of a long-term project done before a deadline, while working on other short term projects, getting ready for training camp to start and finding a place to live. Which is what I was able to do. Tomorrow morning, I'll be moving into my apartment which isn't too far from where I currently am, and is still about 10-15 minutes away from work, which is fantastic. Thursday, I was given the task to make sure all of the playbooks were put together. With some help, I think we got all 38 players done within an hour and a half. On Friday, myself and another guy proposed our first project to one of the coaches. He really liked it and gave some insightful suggestions while saying the project will definitely help him and other coaches throughout the season. I will definitely be very busy this season, which will make it even more fun when the time comes (right after training camp) for me to find another job. I've got some ideas in my mind that I may be checking out this week if I ever get time. In the middle of next week, I get to cross of two more NBA teams off my checklist of teams to see. A co-worker has a connection and got some suite tickets to the Phoenix Suns vs. Atlanta Hawks game this coming Wednesday. I am pretty excited about that. He also told me that he may be able to get some Chicago Cubs spring training games for me. I definitely told him I am interested. Speaking of the Cubs, they have been staying at my hotel. Due to my hotel not having a lobby and me not being a stalker, I have not seen any of them. However, I have noticed their charter bus parked in the lot. Meanwhile, a Southwest commercial just informed me that there is now a nonstop flight from Phoenix to Atlanta. They didn't say a price and I can't think of a reason to go to Atlanta, so I am not sure if I'll take them up on that offer. Anyways, it's about that time to go to sleep, so I hope everybody has a great week.
Adam
Adam
Friday, February 3, 2012
Mesa, Arizona
Adam
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