Edit Desk: On the doorstep of retirement

Alex Buford, B&W Staff

Well, it’s about that time, and it’s been coming for about 11 years now. The time for me to hang up my cleats, or sneakers, or whatever, is about a month away. My competitive sports career will come to an end on Nov. 22 at Yankee Stadium, where I’ll finish my senior season as a member of Lehigh’s football program.

Sports have always been something that have defined me. My dad introduced me to basketball at an extremely young age, but I tried everything from basketball to hockey to soccer growing up. Eventually, I realized that I excelled in basketball, baseball and football, so I stuck to those up until high school, where I focused on football and basketball.

While it may seem like a normal rite of passage into the retired-athlete-turned-NARP life, that’s not necessarily the case for me. My dad passed away in November 2009, and if it wasn’t for him, sports would have never become so important to me. Sports were the main highway on which we bonded. He coached me up until high school. He taught me how to shoot a jump shot, how to catch a pass and how to run the bases. He taught me how to respect the game and how to show sportsmanship. Almost everything I have ever known in sports stems from him.

I can only hope to have the effect on my children that my dad had on me when it comes to sports. Though it wasn’t pretty at times (we did have some huge fights), his guidance influenced me as an athlete and as a person. He was supportive and tough, both as a father and as a coach.

Losing him at a young age forced me to grow up quicker than I might have wanted to. But it made me a better man and gave me a source of motivation that I did not have before. Each extra sprint, each extra rep, was done in his memory. That last set, that last workout, was done in his memory. If it weren’t for the memory of my dad and the wisdom he brought to me each day of my life, I couldn’t tell you where I would be. I am eternally grateful for the 16 years I shared with him, both as a player and as a son.

People who know me or follow me on Twitter (sorry, guys) know that I live and die with the teams that I support. Almost nothing gets me more excited than analyzing a player, a team or a sports issue. That being said, playing has always been the best part. Most of my favorite memories in life directly involve participating in sports, not watching them. But that’s probably because I’m a Jets and Knicks fan.

Although my Lehigh football career hasn’t turned into what I had hoped when I committed to coming here, I haven’t regretted my experience for a second. I was never a starter; I was never an all-league player. I’m not going to lie, my ego took a hit. But the people I have met, the things I have learned, the friends I have made along the way and the memories I have will be cherished forever. The good and the bad of my college sports experience will be something that I’ll be able to tell my kids about, and I’m hoping that the 150th edition will make the top of the list.

If I were forced to speculate on the feeling I’ll have after Lehigh-Lafayette, it would probably be bittersweet — but mostly bitter. As the game clock strikes zero, I will most likely be emotional. I was after my last high school football game. There’s no reason why the same won’t happen this time around as well.

However, while one chapter ends, another opens. Without football in the picture, I will get the opportunity to make my journalism future a priority. Furthermore, I will undoubtedly have more time during the spring semester to focus on academics and whatever else I involve myself in.

To be honest, there’s nowhere else I’d rather see my sports career end. I grew up a Yankees fan. Yankee Stadium is about three miles away from where my dad grew up in the Bronx. There could not be a better way to honor my commitment to sports and to my dad than to finish it against our fiercest rival on the hallowed ground that is the Yankee Stadium grass.

But hey, not all is lost. There’s still adult league basketball, adult flag football and Saturday morning beer league baseball. I’ll be the guy treating each play like it’s the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl or the World Series.