Since I stopped coaching football 2 years ago, I have made it my mission to find opportunities in life for personal growth every day. Traveling Coach 56 was just the spark I needed to start this journey. It started as a way to see high school football games I have never seen before in person. However, it turned into so much more. I reconnect with people, places, and things from my past that made me fall in love with the sport over three decades ago. It gave me a chance to write, reinvigorate my passion for food, and be creative. It was a love letter to football that I never got a chance to write when I was caught up in the day to day of coaching for eighteen years.
The pandemic has forced me and others to adjust our plans. The saying goes “You plan, God laughs”. I had a whole schedule of games, sports bars, and Pilgrimages lined up for the fall of 2020. That schedule was quickly thwarted with restriction and cancellations in high school sports and restaurants. I couldn’t image being a senior in the state of Connecticut right now, and everything I worked hard for was railroaded by the first global pandemic in 102 years. Although this experience may have been devastating to some, I hope that it will make those kids stronger mentally in the end and appreciate every moment just a little bit more.
I did manage to make it too one game this year. On Friday October 30TH, I attended a contest between the Pennridge Rams and the Abington Galloping Ghost (excellent name) in Perkasie, Pennsylvania. My friend for 30 years, Chuck Burgy, is an assistant coach and teacher at Pennridge high school and managed to get me a ticket. It was strange to see the stands where half full and people wearing masks. By all accounts from Chuck’s wife and parents, on a normal Friday night the stands would be packed and the atmosphere would be incredible. For a couple moments that night you forgot we were in the middle of a pandemic. It was an exciting, hard fought contest, which saw Pennridge come out on top 21-15. It was worth the three hour trip just to catch a glimpse of Friday night lights once again.
A week before everything was shut down, I remember my wife saying to me “I wish we could just slow down a little”. Among other stresses, she was growing weary of the ‘Uber service’ we had become for our children. However, I am pretty sure she wanted a weekend off, not a year. My wife and I were lucky that we have flexible work schedules that we could be home for remote learning, but I wanted us to do more as a family.
During quarantine I didn’t want to waste any time. Spending this much time with my family was going to be productive. Michelle and I began developing sauces, I started to edit cooking videos of my kids (Cooking with Alli & Breakfast Rocks with Tony Socks), and even continued writing about other topics. As hard as this time has been I have refused to let it be an excuse to be stagnant.
When I started Traveling Coach, I was 38. For a while now, I have been thinking of learning new things and stepping outside of my comfort zone. In this thought process, I came up with 1st and 40. The premise was I would take the 10 years between 40 and 50 and learn 10 new things. Each year I will dedicate myself to learning that new skill and document my progress through blogs, videos, pictures, and possibly a podcast.
Although I have made progress in different areas of my life, unfortunately my weight has also made some significant progress. At the start of this year I weighed in at 315 pounds, which is the heaviest I’ve ever been. So when coming up with my list of things to learn, I felt it would be advantageous for me to pick something physical and kill two birds with one stone.
On Wednesday January 20th I turned 40 years old and began year one of learning something new. My first venture will be learning how to Box. Boxing is always a skill I wanted to know and never took the time to completely dive into. I have always been a part of team sports both as a player and a coach. In Boxing you are in the ring with no teammates, standing toe to toe with another human being, and it’s on you to get the job done.
Since I was 8 years old and watched Rocky for the first time, I was hooked. The training, endurance, and strategy are the aspects that intrigued me. Heavyweight fights of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, and Lennox Lewis were wars in the mid and late 90s. Fighters standing in the middle of the ring and pushing themselves to the limits for 10 to 12 rounds is an astounding physical feat. Testing myself physically is something I haven’t done in 20 plus years and time has come to push myself again, both mentally and physically. The training is only one aspect for me. I am going to diet, watch film (right in my wheel house), and learn the history and evolution of the sport. I inquired at a local gym in Danbury Champs Boxing Club. Champs is the kind of old school boxing gym I was looking for. There is ring in core of the gym, a number of heavy bags, speed bags, and weights. I connected with veteran trainer, Dave McDonough, told him my plan, and he was all in. On first impression, it will be a good fit with his intense demeanor and old school mentality. Walking in the gym for the first time there is an energy there with young/old, experienced/novice, and a diverse group of people all in the same place.
I am going to continue with sports blogging, sauce making, cooking videos, and God willing a full Traveling Coach 56 high school football schedule next year. This project for me will be a huge addition to my content, and I hope you come along for the ride with me.
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing. But the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”
-Cus D’amato
