My Interests
(What gives me a rise...)

"If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

Sport and Game

Why yes! I am a sportsman. I've always been pretty big on sports and I pretty much enjoy everything. I can watch hours of ESPN, provided I'm not watching NASCAR...for some reason that doesn't captivate my interest.  I'm more mainstream when it comes to sports and I'll go on about my two favorites.

I'm a huge baseball fan. I've collected baseball cards since around...1988 but I stopped around 1992. Not before I amassed a pretty good collection. Alot of the cards are sitting in my garage at home, but are stored rather well. Beyond that, I have a big love for the game. I've always wished that I had played organized baseball, but I never got to it. I love playing at the park or going to batting cages. I would argue that baseball is hardly a slow paced sport and is very physically demanding. Yah, Tony Gwynn kinda let himself go...but I haven't won 8 batting titles. Have you? It was thrilling for me to watch my team, the Padres, go to the World Series in 1998. Sure the Yankees, the "team of the century" handed it to them in 4 games, but it was great for this city nevertheless. Up in the Bay Area i'm fortunate enough to enjoy Giants and Athletics games, which are lots of fun. Sometimes it doesn't even matter who is playing because it's baseball.

I'm even more of a soccer fan. I started playing soccer at age 9 and haven't stopped since. I actually play goalkeeper, which to me is extremely exciting. I have played for several club teams including the world famous La Jolla Nomads Soccer Club, and played all four years on my High School team, which at least every year won either the league Championship or the City Championship. That is probably one of my best memories from high school: the feeling of being on a team that played it's heart out and won a title. I've been playing intramurals up in college, having, this past Spring, been fortunate to play on a team with a great bunch of guys, including my friend Jim "The Hammer" Drossos who came over from Australia to spend a semester with a study abroad program. Most recently, I spend 5 weeks at San Diego Mesa College enrolled in a PE class in which I spent 4 weeks training at the goalkeeper position and the final week playing in full sided games. It was my 3rd consecutive summer doing it, and my reasons, besides love for soccer and to stay active also included being good friends with my coach Nikolaj Owcharuk who has been to date, one of if not the best trainers I've had. I'm planning on involvement in Intramurals again this fall.

Music