Introduction

Hello everyone who's following,
my name is Brendan Packert, and I am from Middletown, OH. Middletown in situated in between Cincinnati and Dayton, just south off I-75. I am currently a Print Journalism major with a Canadian Studies Minor. I am a junior, and just started working on the BG News as a news reporter and I hope to start working in the Sports department. This course is not required for my major, but I thought it would be an interesting course to take. I’ve always been an avid sports fan, and I played a few sports growing up, but I never developed into a real athlete, not a big deal.

Soccer is easily my favorite sport. But I also enjoy American Football, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, and I have begun to follow cricket. It’s a really confusing sport, but I'm trying to learn it. Chelsea FC (England) is my favorite Soccer club. I'm also a Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Columbus Crew, and Michigan Football fan. Don't worry, Bowling Green will always be number one in my heart, but it never hurts to have another team to follow.

It seems quite odd how a kid like me from South-west Ohio, ends up liking a team from London, UK. I have always been an American Football fan since I was born; rooting on the Bengals and Cowboys every Sunday was a family affair. But in 2006, something changed how I see sports to this day. In the days preceding the FIFA World Cup in Germany, EPSN was running profiles of all the counties participating in the World Cup Finals. I just so happened to be watching the segment on the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). In the African country, a civil war had been taking place since 2002. However, during a qualification game in 2005, the entire country stopped fighting from all over to watch the game. They won the game and earned their first entry into the FIFA World Cup Finals. The whole situation blew my mind, and just from curiosity, I found the Ivory Coast's captain; Didier Drogba. Drogba just so happened to play for Chelsea FC at the time, and he still does. I adopted Chelsea as my team to follow and it’s been history since that. I have become an avid fan and I watch as many matches as I can. In the summer of 2007, I had the opportunity to travel to London to see their Stadium, Stamford Bridge. Also in July, 2009 I was able to see Chelsea play during their summer tour in Baltimore. They beat AC Milan (ITL) 2-1.

Like I said earlier, I love sports, but I never became a real athlete. I played football and shot-put in Middle school. In high school I played golf and soccer in recreation leagues, not for my high school. I like to say that my claim to fame was while in Middle school, during my seventh grade year, I recovered a fumble (from my QB) and scrambled for two yards. That Quarterback is currently playing at Wake Forrest. I really missed playing then, it was a blast.

The event I would have like to see was the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. This event is epic on so many levels. For an African-American to dominate in the Nazi-controlled and win 4 gold medals was such a slap in Hitler's face. Jessie Owens did more than show American dominance in Track events, he stood up for equal rights and he didn't back down to the Third-Reich. It ranks #1 in my all-time sports moments.

I'm looking forward to taking this class. I know some sports trivia, but with getting an actual background in sports history, I feel like it could only help my career.