Lately, I have noticed that my posts all share a cynical
tone toward the world of sports. I don’t want the few readers that Semi-Pro
does have to be turned off by my writing. I can imagine that the last few posts
of mine could have done that, and I want to change how Thundegun is perceived
by the “masses”. I don’t want people to envision me as some contemptuous d-bag
sitting at his computer steadily tearing down sporting figures left and right.
That’s not me. It’s just recently; I have found it easier to write in this wild
rant style as I work out my frustrations on the figure(s) who have been a
source of aggravation. That however, is all behind us, and now I want to show
people that Thundergun does indeed have a softer side. For your benefit, I have
before you a “feel good” piece. If this doesn’t prove to you that I can do more
than seethe about sports I don’t know what will.
*Oh and I also noticed that I use I a lot in my pieces and
at least for this specific entry I would like to cut down on that in order to refrain
from personal judgment. I hope you enjoy it.
You Tube is great. Anyone that doesn’t like You Tube is
either lying or has never used it before. So many great things come from the
video-sharing website that burst onto the scene in 2005. It seems so long ago
since You Tube became such a sensation that it would be hard to imagine a life
with it. The site is just chock full of videos on just about anything because
people are constantly uploading stuff to it. Right now people are putting up
videos of cats doing cute things or dumb people injuring themselves. If you want
to find a video on the Internet, you find it on You Tube.
You’re probably asking yourself, what this has to do with sports? The answer my friends, is that along
with producing hilarious cat videos and redneck lawnmower races, sometimes it
can also make dreams come true.
Anyone can post a video to You Tube, that’s why there are so
many videos present on the site. This time last year, D-III quarterback Alex
Tanney of Monmouth College in Illinois decided to put a video he made on the
site, highlighting his ability to perform football trick shots. This year, he is
attending the Buffalo Bills rookie camp. The trick shot video showcased the
starting quarterback’s abilities in a number of non-game situations. His strong
and deadly accurate arm are on display in a five-minute highlight reel that has
him throwing footballs out of windows into passing by trucks and into garbage
cans from stories above. My descriptions clearly cannot do his feats justice so
the video will be attached so you can see for yourself.
Little did Tanney know that when he put the video up it
would become so popular? To date it has over 1.3 million views. It is a fun
little video and yet now it is the source of his numerous mini-camp offers. It
is not often that a small-time D-III school sends a kid to an NFL tryout. To
put this in perspective, Monmouth College has just 1,321 students, Ohio State,
a breeding ground for NFL talent, has around 50,000 undergrads. So yeah, the
school is itsy-bitsy. The odds of one of their players being invited by
multiple teams (more than just the Bills inquired) to their preliminary
workouts are astronomical and the importance of the You Tube video cannot be
over looked. Tanney now gets a shot at living out his dream to play in the NFL
because he put himself out there and showed everyone just what he was capable
of.
Boom, told you I could do it.
-Thudergun Out!
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