Now I was about to compete in front of hundreds of people.
Players, who can make as little as $60 a month, often compete in front of empty stands.
Players win their contracts in an NFL-style draft, train daily, and compete in front of a live audience.
For most British athletes, the Games will be special because they have the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd.
Our athletes can't wait to compete in front of what look set to be the biggest crowds ever at a Paralympic Games.
He started the monthly sessions about 11 years ago as more and more businesspeople joined the gym and wanted to compete in front of a crowd.
"They've been great to me over the years, just a lot of fun to compete in front of," Agassi said of the Melbourne crowd.
"Perhaps a gag about a new TV show in which thousands of lazy fathers compete in front of has-been judges for the mantle of Pop Idle".
But it is hard to deny the visual impact, as multimillion pound horses compete in front of Inigo Jones's Queen's House.
"The most exciting thing about 2.007 is that the students get to build their own personal robot and compete in front of an audience of more than 500 people," Kim says.
I spend a couple of hours out at the field daily, get to travel the world, get sent pretty new Nike cleats, and occasionally get to compete in front of big crowds and win championship games.
