Last week I was given an offer to write for one of the websites I’ve often visited over the past decade, OperationSports.com.
This writing job will be in addition to the work I do for BleacherReport.com. I’m excited about the opportunity and I look forward to getting started.
To the right of this page I have linked up my articles for both websites that I write for.
You never know where something will lead until you give it a shot.
I came into work today running on three hours of sleep. Last night the hours of 9:00 PM to 3:00 AM were spent collaborating, writing, and publishing an article for Bleacher Report in which I ranked the 25 best MMA Fight Posters of all time.
In fact, the most time consuming things I do have no underlying motives for financial gain at all:
Of course all of these bulleted items come after I’ve taken care of my husband and father duties. I am up most late nights because I refuse to play games, write, or study while my family is still up and about. It’s not their fault I’m still in school or that I have all of these extra curricular activities. On the flip side, I have so many things I want to accomplish in life that I am willing to sacrifice sleep so that I still have time to do the things that motivate me personally.
Many people are fueled by money. If it doesn’t make them money then they don’t see the point of investing time into it. The reward I get from the things I do is something you can’t put a price tag on. I’ve never been the kind of person who needs to keep up with the neighbors to have the nicest toys, and I’m not going to start now.
I’m not angry or bitter towards the people that are driven by money either. I respect those who are motivated to improve themselves from one day to the next. I admire individuals who have goals for themselves no matter what stage they are at in their lives.
I love coming across clients I help who are over 65 and have as many goals and aspirations as a 25 year old. That is the kind of thing that motivates me. Not only do I like to hear about their goals, but I enjoy listening to them as they describe how they are going to reach them. Their eyes light up, and I begin to hear excitement in their voice.
I still think about my grandmother, whom I lost about five years ago to cancer. About a year before she passed away she was telling me all the plans she had for the remodel of her house. She was excited about the sun room that was going to be attached to the kitchen. She described things in such detail to me, and I replay that conversation in my head quite often.
The reason I think about that conversation is because I know now that she knew her health was on the decline, but she didn’t let that get in the way of her plans for the future. She stayed motivated and optimistic until the end.
We have many choices in life, and many of the choices we make end up being the wrong route. It doesn’t matter which route we take because there are lessons to be learned along whichever path we travel on. As long as you stay motivated to obtain your goals there will always be something or somebody to strive for each day of your life…even if that “somebody” is you.
It has been quite some time since I wrote here. The last entry, written nearly five months ago, was what I used to submit to Bleacher Report as a writing sample in hopes of becoming a columnist for them. About a month after I applied and submitted my writing sample, they contacted me and brought me on as a contributer. I started to write about all the sports I follow, but then started to focus on Mixed Martial Arts. Two weeks ago I was notified that I would be bumped up to Featured Columnist, and even got paid for my writing for the first time.
Now, when I say I got paid for something I wrote, it’s not something substantial. However, it was exciting nonetheless. With continued diligence I should be able to advance my journalism career further with B/R. I’ve been surprised with how well it has gone in just the five months I have been associated with the site. We’ll see how it all turns out.
Last week I clicked on the link that was in the signature of an email of a friend of mine. What I saw was one of the most impressive blogs I can ever recall seeing. She ties in daily life, goals, inspirations, humor, and many other aspects of living in her writing. It made me remember why I started to write in the first place.
I didn’t start writing to maintain a quota for the number of views my posts received. I started writing because it came natural to me. Writing has always been fun, therapeutic, and motivational for me. Once I read the first paragraph of one of her posts I knew it was time for me to open my blog back up. I must say, this feels great.
If you’ve followed my journey over the years, you know that I’m trying to finish college…still. We all have a monkey on our back, and this is definitely mine. I’m very thankful for my current job, and it has provided well for my family. However, I envision a life where I’m teaching in a classroom. Being in Los Angeles and hearing about teachers consistently being laid off is discouraging. I’ve also heard that the teachers union is starting to break down. How will the teaching environment be when I’m ready to jump in? Well, that’s something I can’t control, but I can keep working towards it.
Softball season is in full swing, and once again I’m managing a team. We’re now in the 8U division, which means the girls are pitching to each other and score is kept. I’m thankful to have a very good group of parents, and their kids all have good attitudes. Coaching girls between ages 7-9 can be a challenge, but if you can get keep their confidence up, it’s not all that tough.
Speaking of tough, my daughter wanted to play catcher in our last game:
As we embark on B’s seventh birthday, I will most likely spend plenty of time being nostalgic over the next couple of weeks. I’m the kind of person who can look at a picture on my computer, then open up a photo album and start traveling down memory lane for a couple hours.
I hope you enjoy traveling with me.
By Joe Chacon
Take a step back to the kickoff of Super Bowl 37. Now fast forward to the final whistle as the Raiders walk off the field after getting dismantled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the next 7 years, Al Davis would become one of the most criticized men in all of professional sports. Fans would clamor for a real GM, the media would call him delusional, former players would tell of the horror stories of being associated with him, and a carousel of coaches never before seen by one team would begin to go around. Fans would cringe at each mind boggling draft pick Al was behind, and although people weren’t wishing for him dead (or were they?), they certainly were hoping for him to realize he had lost touch with reality.
This past weekend we learned that Al Davis had passed away. His death brought sadness to the Raider community and the NFL world, but even more surprising, it brought forth people recounting what a great man he was. The media erased every negative thing they had ever said about Mr. Davis and proceeded to esponge the previous 7 years from their memory. The highlight of the love fest for Al Davis was comments from Marcus Allen and Lane Kiffin. Both men had turbulent relations with Davis, and both had nothing but good things to say about their former employer after his passing. One can only imagine how hard that was for each of them to do.
During the last 7 years of his life, Al Davis was the laughingstock of the NFL. As soon as he passed away, he became the crown jewel of the NFL. In sports, entertainment, and in life, this happens way too often; People are praised more when they are dead than when they are alive.
Mr. Davis, you were no exception.
Sunflower
by Joe Chacon
It’s hard to express, what I see
For what I tell you, you won’t believe
Something…so…damn…beautiful
Think of the beauty you woke up to, and take it to the infinite value
People play their favorites, but this favorite trumps yours
Stare at a sunflower and then insert that into her iris
Close your eyes, lock lips with whoever you desire…
That perfected feeling, I experience daily
Mated by the soul is what I wish for you
Most give up hope, some think they have it
Few can say without wavering they live it
I’m living it
To feel the love on day 2,738 the same way you felt it on day 1
To miss her to the point where you want to pull a fire alarm
To feel disappointed in yourself when you can’t give her the world
This is to feel love
When you see your sunflower, be sure to grab it
If you thought the pressure was intense for the playoff series against San Jose this past week, then you may want to get your heart checked before the next season comes around. After years of saying “next year”, the 2011-2012 campaign is shaping up to be that year.
I am your typical college student. I am 29, married for almost 7 years, and have two daughters. I work a 8-5 job in the insurance industry and own a home. Wait, perhaps I am not your typical college student. Judging by the other students I see in my classes, the definition of a typical college student seems to be wavering a bit.
If you know me, you know that my biggest gripe is how long I’ve been in college. However, lately I’m beginning to see why I have been put on this long journey. Tell me, how long did it take you to earn your bachelor’s degree? 4 years, 6 years? Or were you an eager student like my wife who completed her degree in 3 years? I have been in college for as long as it takes a child to complete their entire pre-college educational career from 1st grade to 12th grade. That’s right, Fall 2010 has marked my 12th year in college. I have followed career paths in journalism, computers, video editing, radio broadcasting, and business…just to name a few. I would get about a year and a half into each program and then realize it was not something I wanted to do for a career.
Ever since I graduated high school in 1998 I had for whatever suppressed the passion I have for teaching. I love working with and teaching kids. I enjoy seeing their faces when the light goes on over their head and they understand something. The expression they give you for that moment is amazing. However, I never followed the courses needed to become a teacher. I thought of myself as being a famous person one day. I would be a successful business man. I would be a famous video editor. I have would become a renowned sports writer. I was shooting for fame and notoriety. Little did I know that all of the fame I needed can be achieved by teaching elementary school and being rewarded by the actions of the children.
My most depressing days are when I wake up and kick myself. I should be in my 7th year of teaching, not in my 12th year of college. Then I realize what all these years of school have done for me. I am still consistently striving for my goals, and I have somehow managed to find a balance between working full-time, raising a family, and going to school full-time. These are experiences that will be valuable once the time does roll around where I become a teacher.
If you feel like you are taking too long in college and are ready to throw in the towel, don’t. You may have been swimming around for 4, 5, 6, or 10 years in school without much hope for earning your degree or deciding what you want to do with your life. Please know that there are other people like you, like myself, and like others in the world who just take a little longer to get what they want. Think of the things you have accomplished in life during your time in college. Do not base your success in life thus far on whether or not you have earned your degree.
I’d love to hear from people who have spent or are spending a ton of time in college and compare stories.
My last post was in January, and it does not seem like that long ago. I’ve realized that the reason time seems to fly by as adults and not kids is because our minds are so preoccupied with things. My 5-year-old will be the first to tell you that 10 minutes is “a long time away”. Well, my goal with this website was to bring back some of the flair and fun I had with it back in 2002. Joechacon.com had a very funny cult following of sorts. When I was introduced by my friend Sam, it would be, “This is Joe, creator of joechacon.com.” I suppose it’s still a bit of an inside joke.
The funny thing is that in 2002 I really believed I was going to be famous one day. I had a ton of creative ideas, a ton of motivation and at 22 I had the whole world in front of me. Now, this isn’t a knock on what I’ve become today. I did envision getting married early (which I did in 2004), and I did plan on having kids at a young age (which my wife and I have done). However, I did not envision losing part of me along the way. Nobody took it from me, I just lost it.
I am now about 1 month away from my 30th birthday. People get freaked out about turning 30, not me. I’m not consumed with the fear of being 30 years old as much as I am depressed about what I have accomplished between the ages of 20 and 29. My twenties in essence brought me my life. It brought me my beautiful wife, and my two healthy daughters. My twenties brought me closer to God, closer (albeit slowly) to my bachelor’s degree, and a home. However it has also taken away three of my grandparents, removed my childhood dream of playing professional baseball, and has seen me grow further apart from my family. I’ve seen family traditions go by the wayside, and I can’t tell if my anticipation for being an adult has been what I thought it was going to be.
I’m not going to sit here and write out a complete highlight reel of the last 10 years, but I will say that I am looking to build on what I have started. I know for selfish reasons I am disappointed in myself. I am disappointed that I didn’t make better decisions. I think people who say they live with life without regrets are full of shit. I regret plenty of things. I regret not graduating college in 4 years and still struggling to get my degree. I regret some of the things I’ve said to the most important people in my life. I regret some of the financial decisions I’ve made, and I regret some of the personal decisions I’ve made. Why is it bad to say you regret something?
Here is the good news. Everything I have just complained about can be worked on and fixed. I am healthy, my wife is healthy, my kids are healthy, my family is healthy. Those are the things that matter. We have a roof over our head and food on the table. Some months may involve penny-pinching towards the end, but we make it.
This post is the exact reason why I write publically like this. I started out writing about what I have not accomplished. I ended my post with just how thankful I am for everything. If you are reading this and feel as if you’ve been dealt a bad hand of cards, I encourage you to write, and keep writing. You may start off with some heavily negative things, but you will see your emotions go up and down like a roller coaster. In the end, you’ll be able to reflect on the things that are important and some motivation for the years ahead of you.
An ode to my 20′s? nah…let’s bring on the 30′s!
2010 is going to be a great year and I want my website to reflect this. Over the next month or so I will be tinkering around with this place, trying to incorporate some new features and give it more of a purpose.
Joe on Bleacher Report
Joe on Operation Sports