Dogg Man,
It’s been over three weeks and it’s still unreal. I continue to mull and fuss and replay the video and nothing changes but the weather. I wrote to some dear friends yesterday that at least the works days are marked by bustle reflecting function even though purpose isn’t present.
Today, I’ve been trying to figure out this athletics and sports thing that defined you. It seems you were born an athlete with sports in your blood. So how better than to come full cycle in representing athletics and sports in the end. The tough part is connecting these two: beginning and end. It shouldn’t end but be just another event strung together defining your life.
You so landed on your feet with the Sports Product Management Program at the UO and it was all on your own. I just found your opening paragraph to the writing sample of your application:
Three themes define my life: education, athletics, and design. They have culminated in a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Nutrition Science from Whittier College, a Master’s degree in Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership from the University of Oregon, and an interest in further articulating the relation among them. These three themes have shaped my goals and career aspirations throughout my life, allowing me to combine my knowledge and expertise with my passion. Asking about my future career aspirations is a loaded question and, until a few months ago, my answer would have been ambiguous. Since I first learned of the Sports Product Management Program last year, my path has become abundantly clear. This is my story…From my first word (“ball”), to playing every sport a kid can play, to college football and competing in weight lifting competitions, I have always been an athlete. At a young age, I also started sketching my own athletic shoes. My mother still has notebooks full of my sketches. I would dream of the perfect basketball shoe instead of doing my assignments, sketching high tops, low tops, and cleats with different designs and patterns depending on which sport and position…
So, it’s athletics and sports that will define your legacy. We will cherish your brief life with us and will keep you front and center with this program and beyond. Your privileging of teams over individuals, joining athletics and sports to define life and provide meaning, and making things happen on your quiet terms. That’s all you, Dogg Man. It was and is beautiful.
Otherwise, we are coming to terms with the cruelty of time: Today is just another day with different weather.
We love you so much.
Dad Man