BOOMER'S Rookie Diary - 8.7.05

[Fire Me Boy!]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2005/08...omer_grigsby2/




BOOMER GRIGSBY
Aug 07, 2005, 3:42:42 PM


Rookie Diary - Entry 1
Entry 2 – August 7, 2005

Welcome back to my training camp Rookie Diary, let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to here at training camp that last few days.

A few days ago I got one of my first tastes of rookie hazing. The guys all made me get up on a desk before one of the team meetings and sing. So I sang a little Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight”. I threw a little air fiddle in there and a little two-step on top of theboomer2 desk I was standing on. I think it’s all about confidence in these deals. If you look like you know what you’re doing and have fun, it doesn’t matter how you sound. I got about 20-30 people singing along with me and then about 30-40 clapping along. Then when I was done I got a little ovation and sat back down. I was pretty comfortable with how my first rookie show went, but we’ll see how the rest of them work out.

I had some family come visit me here in River Falls over the last few days which was really great. I had my grandparents, plus a few aunts and uncles and cousins come visit. I probably had about 10-12 people drive up from all over Iowa, Kansas City and Canton, Illinois to spend a few days watching me practice. I was really relieved to see people from home and see friendly faces. It’s kind of inspiring to see people that care about you and wish you the best.

On our day off my family and I went to see a movie – Wedding Crashers. (Great movie by the way) I had already seen it once, but I needed some humor. With the grind of camp it gets really tedious all day long and it’s pretty serious and focused. Everybody here is vying for a career and a position on the team and I think you need something to loosen yourself up every once in awhile. There’s no better way to do that then to catch a movie and stay off your feet on the off day.

We also went out to eat a couple times. Applebee’s in Hudson and the West Wind here in town. It was tremendous to get away from the dorm food. They take pretty good care of us up here, but it gets little routine. It’s nice to order what you want and not have to eat off a tray.

My family stayed at the Country Inn Hotel and so I met a lot of other really great, hard core Chiefs fans who were staying there. They were pretty special people themselves. I got to meet some of their kids and see how inspiring it is to play the game and how you can light up some ones eyes just by putting on a uniform and playing. I think I have an even better understanding of how good I have it. Every time it starts getting rough and tough I just think of those kids’ faces and how they felt and how they say my name. Seeing all of the people and the fans that came up from Kansas City and all of theboom1 surrounding areas makes you want to go out there and play a little harder.

We had Family Fun Night. It was a pretty special experience. While we were practicing I could hear some of the people I had met cheering for me every now and then. It seems like if you’re good to people they appreciate you so much more. It’s so much more fun to watch a game when there is some one you can relate to or know playing it. I don’t really watch baseball much, but I met a buddy in Atlanta when I was training that plays for the Cubs, catcher Michael Barrett. Now I’ve found it much more entertaining to watch the games since I know him and he’s playing it. So I try to be as nice as I can to all of these people that are so good to me. They’re already die-hard Chiefs fans, and then if they can relate to a lunch-pail carrying kid who works hard, then they might enjoy the game even more.

I hope I can meet all of you fans someday. Until next time…

— Boomer