What’s up fellow addicts of The Original Winger! I figured since it seems to be the cool thing nowadays to express ones professional thoughts on here, I would give in to the peer pressure and show some love to the TMZ of soccer websites (minus the awkward up-skirt photos of soccer players getting out of the cars!)
Anyways, its been an eventful off-season for myself to say the least. At the end of 2007 I had just finished my third year in MLS and was one of the few original members left from the 2005 season with Real Salt Lake. If I tried to count the number of guys that had come and gone in the time I was there, I would probably need a calculator (sorry dunny, miss ya as a teammate bud, but I don’t miss the pranks you used to pull on me).
[Editor's Note- Brand new shoes out of the box being Gorrilla Glued together, sleeves being cut off or Tiger Balm in the underwear before 5 v 2]
I never quite understood just how hard it is on someone, both as a player and as a person when they get the news that they are being let go. For me, it was always something I could never quite understand since I had never been in that situation.
Well, all that changed this past off-season when I got a harsh reality check that this is just as much a business as it is a game. It is never something you can fully prepare yourself for, but what I’ve come to realize is that it’s not “how” it happens, but how you react to it that matters. For sure it sucks when that decision is made and it is a tough pill to swallow, but is isn’t going to change the situation. And when you get drop kicked in the pants by life, what else can you do but get back up, enjoy the ride and hope the next time you get kicked in the nuts, that it doesn’t hurt as bad as the one before!
Its weird to think that something that was so devastating at one point can turn out to be potentially one of the best things that has ever happened to you. I am for sure going to miss all the wonderful people and the best friends I met over the years in Salt Lake and my time living there will always be something truly special to me. All the fans were so unbelievable to me and I can’t thank them enough for that. It’s times like these when you find out who true friends are, the people that mean the most to you and the ones that are standing by your side, going through thick and thin. The people who I truly consider best friends know who they are and I want them to know they mean the world to me.
But now it seems like things are slowly getting back to normal for me. I’m sitting in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, waiting to catch a flight to meet up with Toronto FC for a second training camp, this time in San Antonio. All the guys are cool as hell and I’m really enjoying being with them, although it’s always weird the first couple of days being with a new team. New styles of play, new teammates, trying to figure out their playing tendencies and even the different jerseys take a quick second to get used to. Even if it doesn’t work out with TFC, there’s always somewhere else, but hopefully I’ll be listening to the Canadian national anthem in the next few weeks! Pretty crazy, eh?!
Yea ok, sorry that was ridiculous and probably my clue to quit writing and let you go. Anyways, I’ll be checking in in the near future and thanks to the boys at TOW for letting me show some love! Keep up the good work fellas!
Jamie
Image via Julia/Jamie’s Myspace
