Hmm...where to start? I don't want to bore you with my entire autobiography. Basicly, I became an Ohioan by way of Philadelphia and L.A. So, moving to a small, rural northeast Ohio town at the age of 12 was quite the culture shock. My years in Ohio were good, but the best, by far, were from 1993-1997 at good 'ol BG!
I graduated in December '97 with a degree in Exercise Physiology. While at BG, I lived in Dunbar Hall and Rogers my 1st two years. My last 2 years were off-campus at 926 and 1030 E. Wooster respectively. Maybe some of you partied with me and my 8 other roomies. We had some legendary keggers in '95 and '96! I ran track and cross-country and also played a little club rugby during my time in school.
Since college, I've managed to get around. Immediately following graduation I worked back home in the Akron area as a personal trainer. From there I moved to upstate NY to coach track and x-country at a small D-III college (Hartwick Hawks) for a year. After finally realizing I couldn't stand snow and dark, frigid winter days, I packed up for sunny Phoenix, AZ. Best move of my life. While there, I met my wife of 7 years now (an Arkansas grad...Oooh Pig Suiee!). We've followed her career since 2003. From Phoenix...we landed in Rochester, NY briefly; and then back to MAC country in the Detroit Metro area. It was great being able to make random trips back down to BG and reconnect with old friends. However, after 3 years it was time to pack up once again. This falcon has now landed in San Francisco, CA where my wife and I have now been for just over 2 years now. We love it here (except for the Giants fans...they're worse than cleveland fans
). It really is a fantastic city. I sell residential and commercial fitness equipment for a west coast dealer, so I'm still kinda sorta using my degree. (Update.. not selling anything..my company did the whole ch. 11 thing.)I try to keep active with my free-time. I run marathons and play in league sports. My wife and I also keep busy by taking our almost 3 yr. old puppy to play at the beach.
We're also avid sports fans. College football being both of our favorite to watch. Although, she's an SEC fan I still love her. Nobody's perfect. Obviously, I bleed Brown and Orange, but I'm a huge Penn State fan. Those are my PA roots coming out, plus my uncle has taught there for over 27 years. Been to many games in Happy Valley. If it weren't for wanting to run at BG, I would have ended up in State College. As far as my other favorite teams....anything Philly is #1 (How 'bout them Phils in '08?), the NY Jets (thanks to my dad..he's a native New Yorker), and after having lived in Detroit and spending many summer afternoons at Comerica Park, I've adopted the Tigers as my A.L. team. I did go to over 30 games between 2004 and 2005, so I did NOT hop on the bandwagon.
Well, that's me in a nutshell. Glad I've found a little taste of home with this site. By the way, my name is B.J. (Bob Joseph) Ricketts. Although, living in San Francisco, I go by Bob or Rob.
Nevertheless its good to have a fellow harrier/track guy on board. Of course I ran for the dark side, as you can figure from my screen name. BG had a great track/cc tradition-killed me when BG and UT cut the men's side.
