Cornerkicks returns.....well sort of

There are times in life when you need to just take a second to think about the past. It really puts life in prospective about the present and helps you learn for the future. While he wasn't involved in soccer, I've always said people need to listen to Jimmy V's ESPY speech at least once http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8neQJlTvMSs. Jimmy said there are three key things you need to do each day - laugh, think and have your emotions moved.

And when I think about Cornerkicks and Trost, that's exactly what I do - laugh, think and shake my head in disbelief.

It's hard to believe it was a mere 12 years ago when I was a young, inexperienced, fiesty reporter at The Star Newspapers. What soon became my second home, I basically lived in my cube at The Star in the south suburbs. The bi-weekly paper, part of the Sun-Times News Group, gave me the opportunity to do anything I wanted. I've always been a people person, but also a tell-it-like-it-is person. Sometimes, I've been burnt for being a little outspoken but more times than not that has paid off for me. (If it didn't, do you really think I'd be here today?)

So how did I get involved in soccer and why would I want to write a soccer blog? Not going to lie, I never played. I actually disliked the sport growing up - even though I had a ton of friends who played the sport. I attended one soccer camp in my life at Willowcrest School in Mokena, and left there thinking - are my parents trying to punish me by making me play a game where I can't use my hands?

(And with that, my baseball career started. I was a catcher, best position on the field. Involved in every play and the leader - it was perfect for me. Hey, I'm actually quite proud I can sum up my soccer career in one sentence. It was a hell of a career if I say so myself.)

One of my first assignments at The Star was to go out and do a soccer preview on Lincoln-Way. As always, Lincoln-Way was loaded. Brian Papa, who won a state title at Sandburg, was in his second season at Lincoln-Way. Midway through the interview, Papa snaps. "Why do you guys even do a preview," asked Papa. "All you guys cover is football, basketball, and if that isn't enough, you guys create an All-Area Football or Basketball Banquet so you can cover something else about football or basketball."

I remember that conversation like it was yesterday. I'll never forget it, because Papa was right on. Why did we cover just football and basketball? Soccer had and continues to have more kids playing at the youth level than any other sport in the United States. Papa, a P.E. teacher at Lincoln-Way, had me thinking. (And people say you don't learn anything from P.E. teachers.)

I went back to the office and started pounding the drum for soccer. I pounded it and pounded it and pounded it until Alan Macey, a longtime sports editor at The Star, said that if I found a sponsor, The Star would become the first Chicagoland newspaper to have a banquet for soccer. "I've tried to get Diadora," Macey said. "They won't do it. Who else do we go to?"

Without our promotions people knowing or giving the OK, I hit up a family member for $5,000. Ted Trost, owner and founder of a big video store chain in the south suburbs, helped me catch my break. I then went to another local businessman, George Georgiou, owner of Georgios Banquets. As I sat in front of this millionarie businessman in a pair of shorts and baseball hat, I told him about my idea of honoring not only the top local soccer players - but finding a way to get every program in the coverage area involved. Their parents, their money and their kids will be attending. Someday, those kids will get married and have a big party. So what better place to have that big party at than Georgios? They can rent movies from Orland Video when they are younger and then have a big party when they get married at Georgios. But to make this happen, I needed Georgios to cut me a deal and give a good price to host this All-Area Banquet. I promised I would have it on a Monday night, a dead night for most banquet halls. So Georgios would make money on a slow night, soccer would finally gain some respect and the players would get their time in the spotlight.

Two days later, I walked back in the office and said - "I've got a sponsor." I told Macey the story, and he laughed nonstop for five minutes as he pounded his desk at least three or four times. Then he looked at me, and said, "You're really serious?"

And that, in a nutshell, is how my career in soccer started. A month later, I began writing a column called "Cornerkicks," which eventually turned into an award-winning column focusing on soccer. Two months later, the first-ever All-Area Banquet was held and more than 500 people attended. A couple months later, I sat down with another local business owner and created the first-ever All-Star game for more 100 players from the south suburbs. By the next spring, I created a girls All-Area Awards Banquet. More than 600 people attended the first girls banquet. That number grew to more than 900 in a few years, making it the largest high school sports awards banquet in the state at the time.

(Sidenote: Keep in mind, if these events would've flopped - I would be picking up garbage or selling hot dogs at Wrigley Field. But luckily for me, the likes of Mary Kulack, Frank Shuftan, Sue Rosinski - all executives at The Star - let me live to see the sun come).

Even as I type this now, I still can't believe it. I was a 17-year-old college freshman and I pulled that off. I never wanted to tell people my age out of fear I wouldn't get the proper respect at the beginning. I still shake my head, but realize more now than ever how fortunate I was. The only thing I could never figure out was how to get paid for doing 99 percent of the work for the banquet. But it was never about the money. It was about standing in the back of the banquet hall on those nights, watching the sponsors, the newspaper and the people come together. Having the likes of Bob Bradley (current U.S. Men's National Coach), Debbie Keller (former U.S. Women's National Player) and Eddie & JoBo (B96) speak at the two-hour long banquets, which were highlighted by unforgettable videos at the end, are things people will never forget. To this day, I still have people come up to me at random spots and talk about the banquets.

Five years later, I graduated from Columbia, caught a break and moved to the Sun-Times. Using the same ideas, I created the largest high school boys soccer tournament in the Midwest - the Pepsi Showdown - four years ago. Just as I did at the banquets, I stand out at the Lyons Soccer Complex each year and look around. I wonder what can be done to make it better and what is going to be the next thing.

I've grown to love the sport. I've been honored four times as "Media Person of the Year" by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA), more times than any other reporter since 1972.

But at the end of the day, I am who I am - just the average Joe. For one reason or another, most people like that.

And with that, Cornerkicks returns....