Sports Not Just a Hobby for Jordan
By Elizabeth Grimsley
For sophomore Jamari Jordan, sports aren’t just a hobby. They’re an addiction.
“I want to quit,” Jordan said. “I really do, but I just can’t. I go to AA meetings for Georgia football because they’re my addiction.”
Jordan’s obsession stems from his dad who would wake up early on the weekends for a full day of football.
“He was the hugest Miami Hurricanes fan,” Jordan said. “It sickened my stomach how much he liked Miami. They was very dominant at this point, winning national championships every year. So on Saturday he was calm, he was cool on the couch and he was talking trash.”
However, Jordan also experience the heartbreak that sports can often bring.
“On Sundays, it was the exact opposite,” Jordan said. “He wasn’t a saint — we’ll just put it that way. A lot of curse words were said on Sundays watching the Falcons because Dan Reeves was the coach, and my father hated Dan Reeves with a passion.”
After a failing at his attempt to play baseball in first grade, Jordan turned from playing on the field to watching on the couch.
“Our baseball team was awful,” Jordan said. “We were the Bad News Bears before Bad News Bears. We were a disgrace. After that I was like, ‘You know what? I’m done.’ That turned be to the other side of sports, watching sports as a spectator and now as a journalist.”
Watching his dad become so passionate about certain teams also contributed to a desire to get in on the fun too. So Jordan began to look for a team of his own, leading him to the Colts.
“The Colts were my first love,” Jordan said. “Peyton Manning’s the greatest — that’s just a fact.”
As Jordan grew older, merely watching sporting events wasn’t enough.
“I started off just watching the sports and the different sporting events,” Jordan said. “But then I started watching the greatest thing ever created in my life, and that’s ESPN. Twenty four hours of sports? Are you serious?”
But it was more than that. Watching Chris Burman and Stephen A. Smith sparked Jordan’s interest in the production side of things, eventually leading him to be the aspiring journalist he is today.
“I wanted to be Stephen A. Smith, battling Skip Bayless and telling him why he’s asinine, asi-ten, asi-eleven, asi-twelve,” Jordan said. “Then I realized being in front of the camera is fun, but telling the story of it behind the camera is even more interesting.”
Whether it’s watching with his dad on the couch or covering it on the field, Jordan has a passion for sports that can’t be diminished.
“I just can’t walk away,” Jordan said. “They’re my addiction. I just can’t get over it.”
By Elizabeth Grimsley
For sophomore Jamari Jordan, sports aren’t just a hobby. They’re an addiction.
“I want to quit,” Jordan said. “I really do, but I just can’t. I go to AA meetings for Georgia football because they’re my addiction.”
Jordan’s obsession stems from his dad who would wake up early on the weekends for a full day of football.
“He was the hugest Miami Hurricanes fan,” Jordan said. “It sickened my stomach how much he liked Miami. They was very dominant at this point, winning national championships every year. So on Saturday he was calm, he was cool on the couch and he was talking trash.”
However, Jordan also experience the heartbreak that sports can often bring.
“On Sundays, it was the exact opposite,” Jordan said. “He wasn’t a saint — we’ll just put it that way. A lot of curse words were said on Sundays watching the Falcons because Dan Reeves was the coach, and my father hated Dan Reeves with a passion.”
After a failing at his attempt to play baseball in first grade, Jordan turned from playing on the field to watching on the couch.
“Our baseball team was awful,” Jordan said. “We were the Bad News Bears before Bad News Bears. We were a disgrace. After that I was like, ‘You know what? I’m done.’ That turned be to the other side of sports, watching sports as a spectator and now as a journalist.”
Watching his dad become so passionate about certain teams also contributed to a desire to get in on the fun too. So Jordan began to look for a team of his own, leading him to the Colts.
“The Colts were my first love,” Jordan said. “Peyton Manning’s the greatest — that’s just a fact.”
As Jordan grew older, merely watching sporting events wasn’t enough.
“I started off just watching the sports and the different sporting events,” Jordan said. “But then I started watching the greatest thing ever created in my life, and that’s ESPN. Twenty four hours of sports? Are you serious?”
But it was more than that. Watching Chris Burman and Stephen A. Smith sparked Jordan’s interest in the production side of things, eventually leading him to be the aspiring journalist he is today.
“I wanted to be Stephen A. Smith, battling Skip Bayless and telling him why he’s asinine, asi-ten, asi-eleven, asi-twelve,” Jordan said. “Then I realized being in front of the camera is fun, but telling the story of it behind the camera is even more interesting.”
Whether it’s watching with his dad on the couch or covering it on the field, Jordan has a passion for sports that can’t be diminished.
“I just can’t walk away,” Jordan said. “They’re my addiction. I just can’t get over it.”