Saturday April 30th, 2011 - St. Charles, IL Life can be so unfair. I was watching the NFL draft on ESPN and realized most people, no matter what choices they make, will NEVER have the opportunity to experience what those people are experiencing. It’s either in the cards for someone or it isn’t. That’s harsh. I think it’s even harsher that there are people who do have the possibility of achieving it but don’t follow through for whatever reason. Maybe their parents didn’t encourage them, maybe they were lazy or maybe they just didn’t like sports. So many key ingredients have to be combined in exactly the right dose at exactly the right time to have any chance at all. I was watching the last couple of rounds today, and by then all the big names were gone from the list. It would appear that those left were scrubs, but that’s not true at all. They’re in the top 1% of football players on Earth, and they spent years working hard to get there. The NFL draft has 7 rounds, and there are 32 teams in the league. That’s 224 draft picks total every year. How many colleges are there that have football teams? I couldn’t say, but the percentage of players that ever have a chance to get drafted has to be extremely low. I’ve always been a sports fan, and would have loved to have had a chance to play even a single game in the major leagues of any sport, but it wasn’t meant to be. Not even close. I not only never played at a college level, I didn’t even play in high school. I was out on my own then, and had to think about trivial things like paying rent and surviving in the world. That’s just how it worked out, and I can’t change it now. Am I bitter? Hell yes, but who else cares? Lots of people get disappointed in life and that’s just how it is. I wish it didn’t have to be like that, and that’s another reason I have my doubts about God, or at least the version we’re taught as kids. Why would a God make us to experience disappointment? I wish all those kids well who were drafted today, even though many of them will never play a down in the NFL. Some will fall just short of being good enough, others will get an injury and be taken out that way. The final tally of those who make it is a very elite group. Stand up comedy is much the same way. I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of aspiring wannabes come and go, but only a few ever stick it out for any length of time. Even fewer than that are lifers like I am. Even fewer than that get to achieve any kind of notoriety and I’m almost there. I’m in a small minority, but not in that elite class as of yet. I’m trying. There are no guarantees I’ll get there, but I do have a solid shot. I’ve made it through all the other levels to get this far, now I have to figure out a way to break through and have a career. I’m never going to be a first round draft choice, but I do have a chance for success. It’s always a numbers game, and sometimes talented people get passed by or just aren’t at the right place at the right time. I don’t know what else to do except keep slugging, and that’s what I intend to do. I had solid shows this week, now it’s on to Zanies in Chicago.
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