About John

(March 2007) - So, i'm John, 22 from Basingstoke in England. Baseball was probably about the 10th sport that i got into, but for some reason its the only one thats ever come close to challenging my greatest sporting love - football (yes, yes thats soccer!). I've been watching football (more specifically Southampton) since the age of 6, and still go to every home match, and a fair few away ones too, despite the fact that the Saints are far from playing at the peak of English football. The first I really knew of baseball on the other hand came when my Dad moved to America when I was 9. I went to my first ballgame 2 years later in 1997 - to see my Dad's adopted hometown Birmingham Barons beat the Huntsville Stars, and from that moment I was hooked. I chose to support the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, as at the time they were yet to start playing - and i thought it would be cool to get in from the very start. I had also visited Tampa, as my godfather lives there. Things of course don't always go to plan, and while i tried my best to keep track of what was going on across the Atlantic, I didn't get the chance to see another ballgame until 2003, again on a visit to see my Dad, who by this time had moved to Seattle. You can imagine my delight when i found that the game that he had bought us tickets for was the Mariners against the Devil Rays! Even though the Rays lost, I was hooked all over again, and thanks to MLB.com, MLB.tv, and my newly installed high-speed internet connection (God I love technology!) finally i could give baseball the attention it deserved. I've since been to a couple more Mariners games, on my subsequent trips to the States, but its the Devil Rays that still have a hold on me. And as i write this, I'm looking forward once again to the new season, convinced as ever that this is finally going to be the Rays breakout year! Theres one thing I've learnt from watching Southampton for over 15 years. In sport, blind optimism often helps!