Our Humble Beginnings
This site was created as a vehicle for me to say what I wanted to say about the football team; specifically the happenings at the games and not so much about the games themselves. I tend to be a little opinionated, and for people who don’t know me well, I might rub them the wrong way. So, I created this blog site and purchased the domain name “TheFalconNest.com” and I began my weekly rants about the football games. Some was serious, some was in jest, but all was done with the intent of exposing the team and the games to not just the alumni who cannot make it to games, but to the world. There’s no easier way to do this than with the Internet. It was with this humble beginning that this blog was created.
After posting a few articles, I was asked by Tom Crosset if I could create a similar blog for the soccer team. You see, Tom is a thinker, and I believe he saw a real value in this blog thing. Hell, I was just doing it for fun. But, after Tom’s inquiry, I started thinking, despite the pain that I feel sometimes when I do that. I suggested that we use the same blog for both sports. After all, the name “TheFalconNest” was generic enough for any team to use, yet specific enough for North Catholic. Tom made his first entry on behalf of the soccer team on September 15, 2008 and the multi-sport North Catholic Sports Blog was born.
Gaining Momentum
After the football and soccer seasons ended, I felt that there was definitely something to this blog thing. I intended to follow the basketball team and do whatever I could do to help them out. So, after driving to Upper Marlboro, MD, to catch the first game of the 2008-2009 campaign, I posted a blog entry for the basketball team on December 7, 2008. Then, after finally tracking down Jim Savage, our wrestling coach, I was able to convince him that a blog would be much better than the normal email summaries he sends to the wrestling community. Coach agreed and sent me his first submission, which he had already sent out via email. But, on December 22, 2008, the wrestling team officially joined the nest and now can be followed by everyone and anyone.
I often get emails, text messages, phone calls, etc from alumni asking why nothing has been posted after a game. Sometimes I get those inquiries just hours after a game ends. I generally try to take care of stats and photos first and then, after a day or so, post an article here. One alumnus told me that this blog has become as regular as his morning cup of coffee. Wow! We’re now competing with Maxwell House. I can’t guarantee that we’ll be good to the last drop, but this blog certainly will make you “regular” after reading it.
A Desire to Expand
As I stated above, 4 sports teams at NC use this blog. It has gone from my personal blog about the football games to a community blog about all NC sports. But, there are more teams out there who could definitely use the exposure. If you would like the baseball, lacrosse, track and field or bowling teams to post here (we don’t have the table tennis team anymore, do we?), contact the coach and have them contact me at this email address: NorthCatholic@gmail.com. It’s totally painless to get hooked up…and it’s FREE!
The Rules of the Road
Since I technically own this blog, I get to set the rules.
Rules:
1. You have to have a basic understanding of the English language. I’m not an English major, and I’ve dangled a few participles in my day, but I have to believe that what I write is readable. We expect the same from any contributors to this blog.
2. What you write must be positive. We frown on this blog being used as a bully pulpit for a disgruntled writer.
3. We encourage the mentioning of the crowd, parents, alumni and any out of the ordinary thing that happens at a contest. We’ve found that people love reading about things other than raw stats and outcomes.
4. You may not take shots at the NC Administration. But, poking a little fun is always encouraged. They all have a good sense of humor……we think.
5. Taking shots at the league and/or the puppeteers at the Archdiocese is fair game. But, be nice when you do so.
6. No criticizing the officials. They have a tough job, and it doesn’t even pay them enough where they can get the glasses that many of them need.
7. A picture or two is always nice. (I prefer a sunset shot over the ocean myself)
8. As owner of this blog, I reserve the right to change the rules as I please.
Is He Done Yet?
In closing (probably didn’t think this would ever end, did you?), I just want to say that starting this blog was easy but the evolution was serendipitous (that word is worth about $3.38), and could be the single source of sports summaries for Northeast Catholic High School. But, we can’t do it without you (I’m talking to the coaches here).
It’s tough to be a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) champion, and just as hard to be a champion outside the ring. Eddie Alvarez is blessed to be both. He is at the top of his profession as a MMA fighter. But, even with his grueling conditioning schedule, Eddie found time to put on a clinic for the XEO3 wrestling club. XEO3 is a wrestling club run by North Catholic wrestling coaches, for kids from throughout the city of Philadelphia. 
Eddie Alvarez, before becoming a world-class MMA fighter, was a wrestler and football player at Northeast Catholic. After finishing his studies at North, Eddie decided that college wasn’t something that he wanted. Instead, he decided that the one thing that he was always good at was fighting. Coming from the tough streets of Kensington, Eddie did a lot of fighting. And, being on the small side, he often had to fight guys twice his size. But, Eddie usually won his street fights, and decided to give professional fighting a shot. Apparently, it was a great move, as Eddie began fighting at 170lbs and only lost once at that weight. Eddie’s true weight class is 155lbs. I guess Eddie was so used to fighting bigger guys that it didn’t matter much to him. Eddie is currently ranked #3 in the world in the lightweight division. Click Here to see the rankings. 
This clinic was not the typical type where the big star rolls into town, says a few words and blows out. This was a “hands on” clinic, with Eddie demonstrating moves for the young men and then personally assisting the young wrestlers with their technique. This lasted for the entire practice session. After the technique portion of the clinic ended, Eddie stayed and talked to the wrestlers, explaining how to overcome doubts that arise before a match, mental toughness, sound body and how to have the heart of a champion. The wrestlers in attendance were spellbound by the champ, as it will most likely be a session that many of them will never forget. 
Eddie explained how he was just like these young men just a few years earlier. He down played his own wrestling ability, but Coach Savage corrected him to let the young men know that Eddie was a superior wrestler at North Catholic. That seems to be the type of humble guy Eddie Alvarez is, and continues to be, as he credited his time at North for helping him become the man he is today. As an Alumnus of Northeast Catholic High School, I can only say that Eddie certainly is a fine young man and we’re all proud to call him a brother.
Eddie's official website is : http://www.alvarezfight.com/ 
