Who is Your Worst Enemy or Greatest Allie?
Richard Balchan's last game for the Columbus Crew was sometime before the end of last year. The exact date doesn't matter, just matters that it has been a while.
I keep a list of things I would like to write about and "Columbus Crew Starting Lineup by most Twitter Followers" has been sitting there for a while. So after work I decided that today was the day to do some superficial Crew stuff. Fired up the computer machine and looked up the ever so meaningful twitter data to complete my post...
Urso: 765, Finlay: 1163. Check. Check. Eric Gehrig: 1317, those tweets about his cat are getting him somewhere... Duka: 702, hey computers are people too... Balchan: ?
R-i-c-h-a-r-d_B-a-l-c-h-a-n: [click] [click] [searches conversations, mentions] [click]
It struck me as strange that I couldn't find Richard as he has been tweeting up a storm over the past month about his walk in life. I liked it. It reminded me a bit of my time in Buies Creek, North Carolina where I attended college at the (then) second largest Southern Baptist college in the nation (FIGHTING CAMELS).
Something like Balchan giving his soul searching testimonial (and walk) to his Twitter "followers" was akin to what was talked about twice a week during mandatory "Cultural Enrichment Program" (chapel) or at Wednesday night bible study at my college. Heck, the Baptist Student Union (BSU) ate testimonials for breakfast.
On one night during a large group outing to the Raleigh Krispy Kreme (near Peace College), BSU had one such testimonial that sent a student darting off into the darkness. Never to be seen again.
True story.
Anyhow, as of right now Richard Balchan's account is gone. GONE. Just when it was really getting interesting.
Balchan is clearly struggling through multiple sports hernia surgeries. I can only imagine the frustration. Richard showed lots of talent last year (EA's FIFA 12 and Football Manager 12 rated him above average as well (and I type that with a straight face)). I wish him the best - all the best, and most of the other Crew fans and supporters out there do too. When he get's healthy we'll see him back on the pitch for sure.
Before he left the world of Twitter he did leave us with a couple posts on a Wordpress blog that will probably soon be deleted, so I will re-post his "Balchan Rap".
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First Rap ever made (by: Rich Balchan)
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They say they can’t read me, bitchin
That’s cuz they only readin’ mothafuckin fiction,
Yes I’m insulting your intuition, and I ain’t trippin
Man all I’m saying is I have this vision
But that’s life man, everyones on a mission,
In the midst of this vision, cookin’ up dreams in their
Mystical kitchen, but in life things gon’ fail, back to movin slow like a snail,
then its back to the lab, man I’m itchin’ like a scab,
cuz I want it, but I ain’t gon’ flaunt it,
cuz pride will haunt me, hidden from the devil’s flauntin,
but then comes evil, to trick the fool, you think you live, cuz you feel cool, no longer in this lull
Truth is, you victimized by the bulllll
Shit man His horns got you, the devil’s foothold, but like clay you can change your mold, before you grow OLD, faced by the cold, then graced by the LORD, ultimate salvation, vacation, HEAVEN!
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Amen, Richard.
So...Q: Who is Your Worst Enemy or Greatest Allie?
A: You.
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Posted this illustration a year ago last month here:
Never underestimate the power of a single goal in soccer at any level.
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