Where It All Began

"How much water you got?"

"About 6 inches over the angles," I reply.

This is an almost daily conversation in my workplace. Barge comes in for repair. Barge has hole(s). Barge is full of water. I have the fortunate position of being the first one inside the boat to survey just exactly how much water is present. I gauge my water levels on how far above the 6" x 4" steel angles that are welded to sheets of steel that form the floor of the boat. 

This process is not nearly as exciting as I have made it sound (sic.), but it has given me an idea for the name of something that I have wanted to do for a while: write a meaningless sports blog about the useless conversations we have to get through our day at work. The phrase "over the angles" will apply heavily to this blog because thanks to a very diverse and eclectic mix of coworkers, I will cover arguments from just about every sport.

Most of these discussions will center on pro football, but look for many also about soccer, baseball, and hockey with some basketball sprinkled in (after all it is my favorite sport). I will be open and up front with you, I am a diehard Philadelphia sports fan, but I will try to not be homer. However, our shipyard is located in New England and just close enough to New York City to breed many a Big Apple vs Beantown argument.

I mentioned soccer before as a featured topic, but in hindsight that may be an understatement. At times, and especially during this summer's European Championship, futebol will dominate this space. A good percentage of our yard hails from Portugal or Portuguese speaking nations, and they are constantly battling the Americans, who typically could care less about soccer, for my time to talk about the beautiful game.

I guess that is really what this is about in a nutshell. I am a sports fanatic. I care about, follow, and have an opinion on every sport. Ever since Day One, the different sporting factions of our yard have been battling for my attention to their favorite sport and to hear out their arguments. You see, I came in to the yard with quite the reputation. My father, the only other one who comes close to my acumen in the different disciplines, is the foreman of our yard. For many years I have provided him with information and fodder to pass on to the guys. This not only made me quite popular, but also has lead to some excellent discussions over the years that I have shared with my old man. So on top of the many random and pointless arguments, there will also be some highly intelligent conversations that he and I share on our commute to and mostly from work. 

I am guessing that if your reading this; you can only share some similar occurrences in your workplace. I am here to say you are not alone. I am here to give you these arguments. And occasionally, I am here to be the Great Arbiter in the most bitter of discussions. 

This is Over the Angles.