So, What Else do the Players do?
A.J. Blazek
Friday June 22, 2001
With the great weather, a lot of guys choose to spend their free time outdoors. My personal favorites are getting in some time at the pool, golfing, or going fishing at the local fishing holes.
I head to the pool with different guys all the time. All of them treat it a little differently. Guys like OS Joe Douglas and FB/LB Jamie McGourty like to lie in chairs and bask in the sun looking all "cut-up" for the ladies. Us big guys, like Linemen Jim Stiebel, Marcus McKenzie and me, who don’t contain as much sex appeal as Douglas and McGourty, play catch with tennis balls and Frisbees, or have big-splash contests. By the way, NO! we do not swim with our T-shirts nor are we afraid to get out of the pool and show off our great bods. Big guys or not, we’re still built.
I have the most fun, and relax the most, when I’m on the golf course. If you talk to QBs Billy Dicken or Tim Carey, my weekly partners, it’s also the one thing that I need to practice at more than football. The three of us play at least once a week together and have a blast. As bad as I am and as good as they are, we always find a different way to make it a challenge for all of us. I still think the only reason they invite me every week is because they never know what to expect every time I step up to the ball. I’ve broken one driver over my knee on the 16th tee box (after 16 straight drives that could not find a fairway). Another amazing feat came when I scored an eagle on a par four and then turned around on the next par four and took a ten. If you ask Dicken what his most memorable tale is about my game, he’ll probably tell you about the five-putt I took yesterday.
Then there’s fishing. I like to spend that time by myself. Sometimes I’ll go with Lou Boustos, our head trainer, or Stiebel, but usually I go on my own. I hit different ponds and lakes for hours at a time. If I don’t catch anything, I still enjoy spending some solitary time to myself. I’m not usually the loner or the quiet guy, but when I fish, that’s a different story. Fishing is my escape from reality.
When the weather is nasty outside, I abuse my Playstation 2. I am game to play anyone in any video game. OL/DL Furnell Hankton is my number one competitor. He currently has the lead on me in NCAA Football 2001, but we’re tied in Madden Football 2001. We’ll be going head to head this afternoon in another one of our out-of-control games. When "Hank" is not around, Stiebel, McKenzie, and myself are DVD and VHS movie critics. We have seen over a sixty movies the past three months. (Yes, I know...Get a life!)
With Playstation 2, the pool, and a fishing pole, I can easily fill my free time. I have a lot of fun and spend a lot of time with my teammates, and that’s what makes being a part of the Chicago Rush so much fun.
Well, that and beating the heck out of people on the field.
A.J. Blazek was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2001 season.
