Know Your Knight: Brandon Tobias

KC Kingdom is expanding at a rapid pace, and our goal is to be the best Kansas City area sports site on the internet. Josh, Leigh, and John are pleased to announce we have added another new staff member, Brandon Tobias, to our team.

Brandon will be helping in our effort to expand our Jayhawks coverage. We are excited to have him writing for KC Kingdom.

Brandon Tobias is off to a flying start, and has already published several things for us. Recently, he broke down the Kansas Jayhawks’ performance in the loss to the Texas Longhorns, and, he gave us the low down on how the Royals match up against Jon Lester before the Wild Card playoff game.

Like all of the new writers to KC Kingdom, Brandon Tobias took a few minutes to answer eight questions so we can get to know him just a little better. Here are his answers to those 8 questions:

How did you become a fan of the team you’re covering?

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My parents grew up in Kansas not far from Lawrence and have always been Jayhawk fans – I didn’t take long following suit and have bled crimson and blue for as long as I can remember. I played football and basketball growing up and started playing volleyball while going to KU. My buddies and I followed the KU volleyball team closely, even starting “Ray’s Boys” in honor of Coach Bechard.

My Royals fandom took a little longer to catch on. I didn’t play baseball after 6th really into the sport. It wasn’t until I moved to Kansas City after graduating from KU that I really started to follow the Royals but it didn’t take long for me to be all in. If you look closely, you’ll find a paver in front of the K that my buddies and I had installed, the replica of which is still proudly displayed in my living room now!

Where did you grow up and where do you currently live?

I was born in Denver and have been a Broncos fan since before I could talk. The irony of writing for KC Kingdom is not lost on me, but that’s why you’ll never see a Chiefs article out of me. We moved to Kansas when I was five, living in Carbondale for a few years before settling in Osage City for most of my childhood.

I lived in Kansas City for 8 years after graduation (with 2 years spent working in Afghanistan) and recently relocated to Philadelphia where I live with my fiancé. I haven’t really taken to the Phillies yet, but I’m willing to give the Eagles a chance since they rarely play Denver.

What is your college/educational background?

I started helping my dad do construction when I was just 12 years old, and when I turned 16 I spent all of my Christmas and summer breaks finishing drywall. This parlayed itself into going to KU and majoring in Architecture, where I graduated in 2005.

While that may not sound like it lends itself to writing, I did spend two years on the newspaper staff in high school and was the editor of the Scholarship Hall newsletter my senior year at KU. I also spent three years in high school on the debate and forensics team, even winning a 3A State Championship with a 7-minute speech on hot dogs. Yes hot dogs.

So yeah, I’m a little quirky but have always enjoyed writing and FanSided was a perfect outlet for that.

What do you do for a living?

It’s a good thing the architecture thing panned out since the hot dog thing never went anywhere. I was fortunate enough to have my summer internship turn into a full time job with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City. I deployed to Afghanistan twice to work as an architect overseas, and after getting home from the last tour found a job as an architect in Philadelphia working for the General Services Administration. Which is basically like the federal government’s landlord. It’s a lot more interesting than that sounds though.

Do you have a family?

No family yet, but I like to think there will be one in the future. My fiancé and I are getting married next fall and I’m sure I can sucker her into a few kids eventually. In the meantime our cats Bill and Sadie keep us entertained. Oh, and we have 7 (soon to be 8) nieces and nephews between the two of us. In case family really means “people” and not just “things that make you feed them.”

What do you like to do for fun (sports related or otherwise)?

Considering I played in volleyball for the last fifteen years or so (rec at KU, sand and indoor in KC, even while in Afghanistan) I was pretty happy when I found a competitive indoor league here in Philly. I wasn’t so happy when I played my first game and was reminded that I’m getting older. Other than that, you’ll be hard pressed to find me traveling without my camera and generally annoying my fiancé with all the pictures I take.

I’ve also been able to design and build some of my own furniture (yay architecture) and definitely enjoy convincing myself that if folks can turn random ingredients into food on Chopped then I can do it too.

What are your least favorite team(s) and why?

While not likely to be a popular response, the Chiefs are definitely one of my least favorite teams. Hey, I’m a Broncos fan that grew in up Kansas – you think I got harassed from time to time? Other natural enemies include Missouri (I really shouldn’t have to explain this one), Kansas State (more of an amusing “little brother” rivalry, really) and the Detroit Tigers (good gosh they seem to have the Royals’ number, no?).

Oh, and pretty much all St. Louis teams. It’s hard to have many nice things to say about a team when its fan base is convinced they’re “just like Chicago” and pretty much disown the rest of their state.

Outside of the teams you’d expect me to loathe, my frustration for the coastal bias has gotten worse with my relocation. I’ve never liked the Yankees or Red Sox to begin with and living in Philly makes that ten times worse now. We can also throw in Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina just to make sure KU basketball gets some recognition too.

What is your favorite sports moment or memory?

I was lucky to go to a small high school because, let’s face it, my athletic prowess would not have made the JV team in most bigger schools, much less allowed me to play any real minutes at all. My senior year was pretty good, though – we won our league in football, the 3A State Championship in basketball, and I even managed to win league discuss in Track.

As far as, spectating, though, I’d say my favorite memory was November 29, 2008 at Arrowhead Stadium. I was at the heartbreaking loss to Mizzou the year before when KU had the best season in program history. Exacting sweet revenge via Todd Reesing’s amazing pass with 26 seconds on 4th most exciting plays I’ve ever witnessed.

My dad and I were there – lower level right in the end zone to where KU was driving – right where the crowd merged between crimson and blue to black and gold. Despite the pure hatred between the fan bases, that game was a blast – each fan base trading good natured jabs and no one taking things too seriously. KU winning naturally made the walk to the parking lot so much better.

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