Rookie Duties: The One-Man Juggling Act

For the most part, this past week was actually a quiet one for our hockey division. With my immigration law practice coming together, I’ve had to devote almost every spare second to that. Last week I checked out a couple of offices located nearby my home and I plan on leasing one of them to serve both my immigration and hockey work. One thing that’s made this process more difficult is the fact that my clientele in each of the two professions will probably be very diverse. Obviously having an immigration law practice can serve a number of international hockey clients of mine, but at the same time, most of my revenue from that venture will be coming from the average immigrant either faced with removal proceedings or looking to have a relative admitted to the States. Decorating the interior thus could be a fairly difficult task. I plan on signing a lease later this afternoon and then to begin my filings with the State, finalizing my application for legal malpractice insurance, and printing out business cards. Oh, and I can’t forget to submit my final attorney registration payment of $350 to the Supreme Court of Ohio…as if they don’t already have enough of my money.

But just because I had most of my attention drawn towards immigration doesn’t mean there wasn’t any work for my hockey clients. As you know, we’ve been looking for teams to get Matt called up to. I spoke with some more coaches and GM’s over the week and sent out his updated resume (I am working on getting Matt’s resume posted online so you can all get an idea of what I’ve been sending out). Some of the teams should be scouting Matt’s club over the next few days, and hopefully we’ll get some good leads from that. Besides that, I’ll basically be following up on some conversations I’ve already had with front office officials.

When I started this column, I said that I wanted to give you all a look into what goes on behind the scenes when starting a career as a sports agent. I’ve tried to keep any personal issues out of my entries, but the more and more I thought about it, the more I wondered whether you readers would be interested in what’s going on with me outside of my work. Since I’m the author and I can write about almost whatever I want, I’ll just share a little with you now and try to tie it in with the stuff you really want to hear.

For the past two years I’ve been seriously involved with my girlfriend, Bridget. She’s from Cleveland and I met her at Ohio Northern where she was attending pharmacy school. Currently, she’s finishing up her final year of the six-year program with nine monthly rotations at different hospitals and pharmacies around the country (although most of them have been in the Cleveland area). This coming Friday, she’ll actually be leaving for Kenya where she’ll be living for three weeks. While the time apart has been hard on us at times, we’ve always managed to make the most of our moments together and we’ve taken advantage of both Skype and our unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes on AT&T.

Throughout the time we’ve been together, Bridget and I really have made a great couple. We pretty much find enjoyment in anything we do together and truly make each other happy. One problem, however, has been an issue with her parents. I’ve never really been accepted by them as being a “good fit” for Bridget. I’ve always felt as though a lot of this was due to the fact that I might be “the one” that ultimately “takes” her from her family. Whether or not that’s the actual reason, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. Sometimes I’ve heard that I don’t appreciate money and live beyond my means. When I accepted my current position running the hockey division, it was a problem because it doesn’t provide an immediate source of income and I have some hefty loan payments beginning next month. They didn’t understand why I wasn’t applying for more full-time positions at law firms even though it would keep me from running the hockey division. For the most part, I save what I make, but I’ll admit I’ve never been cheap when it comes to Bridg and some of my trips to see her have been viewed as a waste of money. While I agree that at times I spend more than I probably should, I’ve always budgeted my money and been able to pay my bills. On top of that, practically all my expenses are just made in an effort to bring Bridget and I together. In the end, I just want them to know how much I care about and appreciate their daughter. Regardless, all this has put an enormous strain on our relationship and as a result, we decided to take some time apart so she could sort all this out in her head. I know she’s still in love with me and I obviously still love her, which should make this easier, but unfortunately it seems as if it’s even harder now.

Now to segue back to my hockey work…with all this going on, it’s been extremely difficult to concentrate. I wish I was a person who could just distract myself with work, but that’s just not how I’m built. At the same time though, I know that right now is the worst time for me to just sit around and feel sorry about my situation. Besides writing this column, I began journaling in a notebook (diaries are for girls) to help me deal with some of this frustration. I never considered myself a writer (don’t tell Darren), but suddenly it seems as though I’ve found something that helps balance me out.

To get to my point, being a sports agent alone can be an extremely demanding occupation. Throw in a second and third job for additional income (which most people trying to make it as an agent need) and your personal life, and you’ll find yourself strung out more often than anyone would like to be. In order to keep you from going insane, I think it’s important to always have some sort of outlet to help cope with the enormous amounts of pressure you might find yourself facing. Working out and continuing my illustrious men’s league career are other passions of mine and have also made a big difference. Nobody’s the same, so try a few things out and figure out what works best for you. In the end, if you’re a more balanced person, you’re going to be more successful  – whether its running a division of a sports agency or trying to get through pharmacy school.

Anyway, I hope that while there wasn’t as much business talk in this week’s edition, I was able to provide some sort of insight as to what I’m going through on a different level. I apologize to my favorite Sports Law class at Minisink Valley High School if all you end up doing in class is discussing my love life. If you like the personal aspect of the column, I encourage you to let me know in the comments section below and I’ll be sure to incorporate a bit each week. And if you really don’t care about my personal life and just want the industry, feel free to share that as well (although for my own ego’s sake, I might just pretend I don’t notice). Well…time to hit the showers.