Once again, I’ve been a bad blogger.  I’ve been neglecting my site for a while now, but I have a good excuse! (Isn’t that always the case?!)

Here’s what’s going on:

For some reason I can’t quite figure out, I’ve been asked to write a monthly column for “Away From The Numbers” (AFTN) that appears on Canadian Soccer News.  To say that it’s an honor, would be greatly undercutting it — the caliber of the people who write for CSN (and the numerous blogs hosted on the site) is amazing.  These guys eat, breathe, sleep and deeply deeply love football.

Whereas, I’m just a girl who apparently is incredibly lucky — especially since this past week, I got to have a little sit down with Whitecaps FC defender, Michael Boxall, and talk about his experiences with the Whitecaps during his first year playing professionally, and the team’s first year in the MLS.

Boxall joined me for a “Nightcap with a Whitecap” before heading down to Arizona for pre-season training.  He was awesome to talk to, far more eloquent than I expected, and it took everything in my power to not end the interview by asking, “Can we be BFFs?!”

But, while I’m enjoying getting to know more about the guy behind the jersey, I was worried that no one else, especially die-hard football fans, would care. (And would they care about something written by me?!)  As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to know more about the players, and who they are when they’re not on the field.  I was practically giddy as I read the positive responses and messages from people (not just my mum!) who read the interview and liked the “human” side of it.

This was the first of what I’m hoping will be a long series of nightcaps with Whitecaps, and I’ll just continue to be utterly gobsmacked that this is something I actually get to do, and that people actually enjoy reading.

So, while it’s not a totally valid excuse to be ignoring my own blogging, it was definitely a fun distraction.

To read the full interview, click here, and tune in on the first Wednesday of every month as I find other, incredibly random, things to write about football!