By Max Sass, Sports Editor

I always wanted to be a boxer when I was younger. Okay, well not really, because my mom and I were afraid to let it happen. My mom was afraid because she thought I would get hurt, I was afraid because I could never figure out exactly what would be the best way to be announced.

When a guy comes out to the ring they announce his name, nickname, height, weight, reach, stats, etc…

I think I was afraid mine would sound like this: Now entering, the challenger, from Livingston, NJ, standing a bit too small and a bit overweight, not quite agile enough to hold his own…its MAX “SECOND TIER” SASS!

I never wanted that to happen so I stayed away from boxing, but I did play soccer for a number of years, including travel soccer for a few. My best sport though was baseball, which I played through sophomore year of high school.

Now, I use the term ‘played’ a bit liberally. I was the third string catcher. But I was the first string bullpen catcher. And I was a damn good bullpen catcher.

People think a bullpen is a place for pitchers to warm up, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. That rarely happens in high school, especially freshman and JV baseball. The pitcher and the catcher go over with the other token benchwarmer who has to wear a helmet and a glove to protect the pitcher from a foul ball. Then the three of them shoot the s*** for the rest of that inning until the pitcher goes into the game. It’s also a great place to complain about the coach, teammates, teachers or compare who met the cuter girl in math class that day.

When we did actually do that thing called pitching which we were supposed to, I took a beating. I decided I would wear as minimal of gear as possible. Now, in New Jersey it is a rule that you need to wear a catcher’s helmet to warm up a pitcher, so that was all I would wear (with of course my glove).

Being a catcher, my first instinct was always to block a ball in the dirt and pitchers who are just warming up tend to throw quite a few in the dirt. Needless to say, I took a few to the chest and had a number of bruises on my shins.

I did get to know the pitchers very well though, both as people and the way they threw. I was able to give tips to the starting catcher and head coach about what was looking good for the pitcher that day and what to avoid. I learned tendancies and what each pitcher liked from their catcher. I even learned to catch a knuckle ball.

Because of all the hard work I put in every day in the bullpen and the knowledge I gained about each pitcher, my coach decided I would become the starting catcher. Okay, I totally made that up, but it would make an excellent movie. I think I would have Eric Bana play me in it.

I did get to start one game though freshman year, but it was in the outfield. We were playing at Randolph, and I was starting in right field. I ended up robbing a home run in the game. I reached over the fence in one of the earlier innings and brought back a homer, so that was really cool. Of course just an inning later I was pulled from the game. What happened?

Well, we had two really good pitchers that year, and the one who was not pitching was playing second base that day. A kid on Randolph hit a short pop up into shallow right field. I ran in from right field and had a beat on the ball. I called it (communication is key) and settled under it. Now, those who know baseball know that the outfielder, who is coming in on the ball, has priority over the second baseman who is going out to the ball. Well, the second baseman and I collided and the ball fell to the ground. I got pulled out soon after even though I did nothing wrong…besides not get out of the way of one of our good players.

I stopped playing baseball junior year when I started broadcasting football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball games for the high school. Senior year I assisted the basektball team and baseball team as a student – assistant coach and found I had a real passion for the sideline. I guess you appreciate the sideline more when you know coming into the season that you will not be playing.

I wanted to be involved in sports still and when I came to Hofstra I started writing sports for The Chronicle. I have done a ton of cool things and reaffirmed to myself that my future is not in baseball and especially not in soccer.

I do plan on getting involved in coaching when I get older or maybe right after I graduate. How cool would it be to be the head basketball coach at Hofstra after Mo Cassara? Cassara is 36 years old, so figure maybe 10 years until he leaves for a better job or Fordham.

I have learned that being a bench warmer is not something to be ashamed of, in fact, many bench warmers know just as much about the game if not more than the stars and will probably make the best coaches one day. Also, some bench warmers are as cool as Mark Titus and can make it rain like he can. I have a ton of respect for the Matt Grogan’s of the world. I do think I may make one change for my ego though. From now on can I call myself the Starting Sports Editor?