When Doug Glanville
On paper, I was ready for my ride into the sunset. I had a nice Ivy League engineering degree, a wonderfully supportive family, some coins in my pocket. My transition to the other side was supposed to be smooth sailing to blissful relaxation. But I didn’t really know much about this world I was entering. I had a Ph.D. in baseball, but in every other realm that involved making a living, I was stuck at my college graduation ceremony, 15 years before.
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Managing finances is just part of the problem. An even bigger issue is what to do with your time. The pleasure of a hammock at age 35 only lasts so long for someone who likes to be engaged. Like most players, I had been on the go for decades. I only had one gear, and when I retired I discovered that it had nothing to do with the beach and a glass of iced tea.
On top of that, most players are not set up for “real life” at all. Having been nearly invisible for a decade between every March and October, you have no idea how to be an ever-present father or a spouse, no idea how to create a resume or handle a job interview, no idea what is required to run a business or even what to do in the summer — a season with a suddenly inordinate amount of time. Plus, because you can no longer perform athletically, you’re probably fighting a strange emptiness that you can’t talk to just anyone about; with a million dollars at your disposal, complaining could be seen as insensitive.
Powerful words … but what does he think about Vick?
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