Welcome

I'm Brandon Sneed. This is my blog. It's basically an online notebook where I highlight good writing, storytelling, journalism and other acts of creativity, and explore how such things are made. 

I'm an author and journalist who writes about people, sports, science, nature, and more. I love learning, adventures, life, and stories. I've covered everything from a guy who played Division I basketball while battling cancer ... to golf courses that eat golfers ... to turkey vultures invading a town. You can read all those and more below. 

More about me and the blog: here

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Entries in NFL (4)

Wednesday
Apr242013

Read It: Patrick Hruby's Story About Medical Marijuana In Sports

Thought this was a solid report by Patrick Hruby for SportsOnEarth about the benefits that medical marijuana could have for athletes

Guys popped pills, Vicodin and Oxycontin, serious stuff, at first a few and then a few more. Guys took injections, Marcaine and Toradol, potent liquid lifelines that wouldn't be out of place in a trauma ward. Jackson did the same, swinging the rubber hammer. The shots made him uneasy. The pills made him groggy. Still, the sport remained a demolition derby, only without the cars. And so Jackson coped with the pain, in his own, personal way.

Sometimes, at night, he smoked marijuana.

"I never smoked weed before practice or games, before going to work," Jackson says. "I didn't think that was a good idea. I had no desire to be a stoner. But as the season would wear on and I would be in more and more pain, I found find myself smoking a little bit. It helped the pain. It helped my mind get away from the game. I think it allowed me not to dive too far down into the opioid [pain-killing drugs]."

Understand: Jackson didn't need to get high. He needed to get well. He didn't need to make a late-night Fourth Meal run to Taco Bell; he needed to make punishing catches over the middle. Marijuana fit the bill. 

Full story here. As always, talk about what you liked or didn't like about the story in the comments here

Tuesday
Apr102012

How Bad Do You Want It? 

Watch the video below. 

What the narrator says and how the football player works—it all applies in whatever you want out of life. Athlete. Journalist. Writer. Filmmaker. Poet. Businessman. Financial Advisor. On and on and on. Somehow, these concepts apply. And because I love you, I've transcribed the words below in case you're at a job where they lock out YouTube videos. Those commies.

People ask me, more and more lately, Brandon, how are you already writing for these big magazines? How do you already have a book published? How do you do this and that? 

First: I don't consider myself successful. I have had success, and so I'm on track to be successful, but I'm so far from where I want to be. Some people shoot for the moon so they can maybe land in the stars or however that cliche goes. I'm shooting for Pluto. 

Two: I hate writing about myself, but if I could try to find a way to illustrate what I feel inside about what I want out of life, to illustrate the goals I have and how I feel as I try to make them happen—this comes close. 

Shoutout to my brother Kramer, the 6-4 stud lefthanded pitcher who got drafted by the Yankees and who just started his second minor league season. He shared this on Facebook yesterday with the caption "This just got me hypeddd." All three d's were totally warranted. Also, I'm pretty sure this was popular like six months ago, but hey, it still works.

Transcription after the break.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan172012

Brandon and Katie Go To a Football Game

So last weekend this guy and his girl who've been married almost three years and who sometimes feel like they’ve been growing up too fast and who got tired of being all super tight with money decided for a weekend to just say "Screw it" and go on an adventure. 

Click to read more ...

Monday
Dec192011

Tim Tebow, Christianity, And True Faith

 

Took on Tebowmania today over at HGC. Thoughts on the guy's crazy success, God, and how it's all sort of related while not being related at all. Or something. Anyway, check it out here