Allow myself to introduce...myself

Welcome to Starr* Rated. Primarily, you could classify this as a sports blog, but honestly, I have several interests that may rear their heads in subsequent entries. Aside from being a heavy sports fan and aspiring front-office employee, we may dip into video gaming, music, TV, professional wrestling, and some very, very uninformed political viewpoints. I don't pay tremendous attention to politics, and as a result, have very little to say about it. But there's really nothing off-limits here.

About me: I'm 30 years old, about to re-enter the collegiate rat race after a 10-year hiatus. I have a wonderful wife who's put me in a good position to do so, and supports whatever it is I want to do in and after school. No children yet, but we do have a lovely basset hound named Abigail, or Abby for short.

About my sports: I grew up on Walter Payton and Barry Sanders, Michael, Larry, and Magic, the Gretzky-Kurri-Messier-Anderson Oilers, and the Braves' Rotation From Hell (Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz-Avery-Leibrandt). The Indy 500 will always be the most important car race in the world for me, no matter what NASCAR trots out with. As I've gotten older, I've grown much more interested in some of the more "European" sports, like tennis and soccer. You still can't get me to give a damn about golf, except to marvel about Tiger preparing to shred the record book, and I can't get into horse racing, except for the Derby...and even that excitement is primarily spillover from the wife, who lives and dies for the Run for the Roses. I'll check the Belmont to see if someone's going to cap off the Triple Crown, but otherwise, not so much.

My Teams: Colts and Bears in the NFL; Pacers and Bulls in the NBA; Braves and Mets in MLB; Lightning and Capitals in the NHL. Oh, and Man United and Yeovil Town in English "football." Very odd that I've gravitated toward pairs of teams in the same division, isn't it? Even when one does well, it's often at the other's expense. There's some psychological-Freudian-babble issues at the center of this, probably, but I can't quite afford that $100 per hour just yet.

Hopefully, talking about my pet sports issues here will be a lot more productive than trying to discuss them with Abby, who can rarely be bothered to wake up from her usual 21 hours of sleep per day.

And to close it out, let me give props to the sports fans over at EWBattleground.com, even if a bunch of them are myopic homers. I kid. Mostly. Some of them will likely come weigh in with commentary, and they are more than welcome. You'll be able to spot them as the ones who spit venom whenever I talk trash about the Ravens and Steelers. I kid.

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Well, okay, no, I don't. I often do, just not right now. Anyway, welcome and enjoy. No matter who your teams are.