Happy New Year
We’ve reached 2012. It was a long, difficult journey at times. As is the case with many year, we look forward to the next and look to put the last behind us. 2011 saw its share of sports controversies and negative stories, but the year also featured some of the great stories in our lifetime.
The Padres are clearly looking forward to a new year with new beginnings. They have almost an entirely new front office including Josh Byrnes at the helm. Byrnes, through trades and signing, has shown he won’t tolerate the status quo. Whether you agree with the moves or not, Byrnes is clearly trying to win.
The 2011 off-season, which now becomes the 2012 off-season, brought us an old friend in Mark Kotsay, saw us lose a familiar face and a young fireballer in Heath Bell and Mat Latos, brought us a young proven closer in Huston Street, and landed us a big name outfielder in Carlos Quentin. In the mix were a number of other moves and players including John Baker, Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, Brad Boxberger, Edinson Volquez, and Cory Burns to name a few.
As we make our way through January, head into February, and approach Spring Training, there are sure to be many more moves. This Padres team is doing everythingit canto build toward a better future while attempting to be competitive in 2012, and Padres fans shoul be happy about that. If for nothing else (and I hope you all have more than sports to look forward to in this new year) we should be excited for a new Padres team – complete with new uniforms – in the coming year.
With my very first post of 2012, I was hoping for something moving. Something poingant. Instead, I’ll settle for this; take the Padres off-season as a blueprint for your own lives. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Dont be afraid to build toward your future while doing everything you can to succeed now. There are no rules saying you can’t have both. It may be a struggle, but that’s what brings the reward. When you fight through adversity and find that success that only you knew you could, the pride is unparralleled. You may fil more often than you succeed, but as long as you keep trying, all it takes is one big success to wash away all the failure. Keep this in mind as you wake up on New Year’s day, with clear head or foggy from the celebraion last night, and set goals for this year. Work on building toward something great in your life.
Sports don’t always often parallels to our own lives, but the Padres and their future can surely be compared to our own futures. I know I am looking forward to the journey. I hope you are too.
Happy New Year!