Editor’s Note: This is our intro post for Pride of Detroit’s newest writer, Anthony Balaj.
If you’re familiar with me from Twitter/X, you probably know me as @BtwnTheNumbers, or Between The Numbers – Anthony. I’ve been writing and talking about the Detroit Lions there for a few years now, and I’m excited to officially be joining Pride of Detroit.
I’m 34, grew up in Michigan, but now live in Southwest Florida with my wife, Jessica, and our three kids. I’m always looking for good Detroit-style pizza and usually have Jimmy Buffett playing somewhere in the background while trying to keep up with our kids. Jessica became a Lions fan while we were dating, appropriately baptized when I took her to her first Lions game just to spend the rest of the evening explaining what a 10-second runoff was.
My dad was a longtime high school football coach, so I grew up on the sidelines, on the practice field and in the weight room. There was no escaping it, but I was more than okay with that. If you had asked me as a kid what I wanted to do when I grew up, the answer would have undoubtedly been something in football. That was the dream.
My favorite Lion growing up was Cory Schlesinger. I loved the physicality of the fullback position, the willingness to put your body entirely on the line and the selflessness of doing the dirty work. I wore No. 30 in high school because of Schlesinger and his 200+ broken facemasks.
Over the past few years, contributing to the Lions conversation online and eventually helping Erik Schlitt develop what has become the “Grit Index” here at Pride of Detroit gave me a way to stay connected to the game that had been my identity, even as my career took me somewhere else.
Now I’m here.
I’m fascinated with understanding the “why” behind the decisions of the coaching staff and the front office. You can expect my writing here to be a process of figuring it out together. That’s one of the best parts about Pride of Detroit. It’s a platform where we can share the experience of being Lions fans while also digging into the minutiae of the game, both schematically and philosophically.
So if you’ve followed me as Between The Numbers, I appreciate you. If you’re new to my work, I’m looking forward to figuring out the Lions with you.