{"id":218,"date":"2026-02-23T01:46:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/?p=218"},"modified":"2026-02-23T01:46:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:46:59","slug":"making-the-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/2026\/02\/23\/making-the-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"Making The Connection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From what I have learned about the sports industry so far is that connections play a massive role and are very important. So lately I have been going outta my way to make more connections especially in the sports world. For this assignment I am choosing to connect with a Major league baseball player. His name is Neil Ramirez and he was in the MLB from 2014 to 2019. I first met Neil at a gym back home in Hickory Nc where I live. Since we have similar ideas and both love ball we were able to kick it off really well. Especially since we had some familiar people we know so the connection and talks just felt natural. One thing we connected on was that he is actually from the 757 and I go to school here at ODU and we meet from where I am from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neil is a former MLB pitcher who played for multiple organizations throughout his professional career. His journey through professional baseball has given him experience not only in performance at the highest level, but also in adapting to challenges, injuries, and the business side of the sport.\u00a0Personally we really connected on the injury side of things as I was rehabbing Tommy John surgery and he was struggling with a labrum injury where he had to get 10 anchors in his shoulder. That truly sparked our conversation. As someone who is pursuing baseball and wants to play for as long as possible I value in learning from Neil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our connection began throughout late nights at the local gym. Over time the conversations from causal conversations began to grow into pitching development, preparation and even working out together. Since working out with him and having a connection already I felt like this was the right move to have him as my penpal. His excitement to share insights and his professional background are what make this connection meaningful. Talking to someone who has played professional baseball gives you insight into how to prepare, be tough, and network in the sports world. I will be able to comprehend the business and performance aspects of the game more fully thanks to this relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m excited to grow this professional relationship and gain knowledge that will help shape my athletic career and my future goals in the sports industry as I develop as a student-athlete. As I enjoy making connections with people that are like minded as me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From what I have learned about the sports industry so far is that connections play a massive role and are very important. So lately I have been going outta my way to make more connections especially in the sports world…. Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32077,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32077"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/maddoxjackssportsjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}