Sunday, March 13, 2011

Family Influence


I’d like to use this blog post to talk more about me and where I come from.  Family is extremely important to me and my family is very close. This post will just show what influence they have had on me through sports.

We live down “south,” or so I’m told. I don’t know what it is with people “up here,” but anything south of the suburbs seems to be “in the south.” In reality, I live about two and a half hours south of Naperville, in a tiny town called Morton, which is near Peoria.  No body in Morton refers to themselves as “from the south,” but rather refer to the area as Central Illinois.

My father, Brad, is from Pekin, Illinois, and was the oldest of four children in his family.  He loves sports and is a huge influence on why I love playing them so much.  He always was the coach for me when I was younger for both basketball and baseball and kept me involved in them, so my love for the game grew.  To this day, he still holds open gyms twice a week at the local high school where he plays with other guys.  Whenever I am home I always go play with them and it is an awesome time.

My mother, Michelle, is from a small town near Morton called Washburn. She is the middle child of three, and has two brothers.  She was never a very sportsy person, but as my brothers and I grew up she attended pretty much all of the games she could, which was pretty remarkable looking back. There were three of us and we were all involved in at least one sport at a time.   She always encouraged us to do our best and have a positive attitude the whole time.  She is a very religious person, and keeps us in line, making sure we all attend church when she can control it. She is also very involved in our church’s youth group.

My older brother, Matt, is far and away the most sport centered person I know.  If he’s watching TV, it’s probably ESPN and he loves playing basketball, football, and baseball, among others.  He is currently a senior at Elmhurst College where he played basketball for three years before switching to baseball for what will be his second year this year.  He was definitely the biggest influence on my basketball ability and mindset.  I loved watching him play in high school and college and often times my shot or a move resembles his.

My younger brother, Jake, isn’t as big into sports as Matt, or me but he definitely follows in my footsteps. He loves basketball and video games, which I feel is my doing.  He is also involved in the youth group as well as the high school marching band.  He likes a lot of the same activities I do, and I love hanging out with him and just playing video games.

I can’t wait to see all of them over Spring Break!

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