Eating Dirt

As some of you already know, I took a header of my skateboard and ate some dirt. Something I was all too familiar with during my childhood. As I laid there going through my body checklist to making sure everything was still attached it got me thinking about how dirt has played an important role in my sporting life.

I remember the park on Rose Place, where the neighborhood kids and I played every conceivable sport. It was half block long on a slant and it was rocky on the top half and a little less rocky with some soft(beach)sand at one end and hard red clay at the other plus a big ditch at the bottom on the other half. You can see it right?
There I remember my first scissor slide into 2nd base. Rounding first and thinking I could beat Lenny's throw to second was my thought, well Lenny comes up throwing a dart and I really didn't plan on sliding, so I was caught a little in between, should I dive? slide? not slide? I planted my left foot into the soft sand and it gave way for my leg not to snap in half and my body just fell into a natural scissor slide my right toe catching the side of the bag. Just like I had seen so many times on the old reels of baseball films.
To this day I always think about my perfect slide.

"Dirt" plays a pivotal role in many sports and some others it's just dirt. These are some that I thought of.

Beach Volleyball-
Funny how a little sweat and little sand turns your skin into sandpaper.

Horse Racing
The mudders were the best. Down the stretch they come, everyone's colorful uniforms covered in mud. They should have put cameras in the goggles of those jockeys.

Baseball
I can't forget Mookie Wilson stealing second base, it was at Shea in August 83.
I had never seen so much cloudy dirt in the air.

Rainy Football Game
Besides a snow game these are the most entertaining games ever. You are sure to see something happen on the field you have never seen before .
Here's to NFL Films and the super slow motion camera.

Baseball mound
This is sacred territory for the pitchers and a mine field for everyone else.
Who hasn't seen a third baseman trip over the mound trying to catch a pop up?

Soccer Pitch-
Why is that in every Mexican soccer game I ever saw the goalies area is beat to crap. The rest of the field is a beautiful meadow of green and the goalies stood in mud puddles.

Hockey
Is just a dirty sport. They hit you with sticks.


My favorite Dirty things:

Movie: The Sand Lot

Song: Enter the Sandman

Musician: Muddy Waters

Sport: Mud Wrestling

ESPN Telecast: Mud Bog Racing

Baseball Player: Sandy Koufax

Football Player: Barry Sanders

Basketball Player: Dirk (that's pretty close) Nowitzki

Cartoon Character: Pig Pen

Nickname given to me by my brother Mike: Dirt


I wash my hands of you!
the sportsfreak