So they day has come. College, a new city, new friends and my last day as Sports Editor of the Upstate Courier or as my family still calls it, 518 Sports.
To say it’s been a pleasure would be cliché, and at the same time, an enormous understatement. The last 27 months have been the most defining period in my short life of only 18 and ten-twelfth years. A Twitter page and an idea has now brought me to the ninth largest market in the country at a critical point in the crossroads of journalism. But before slipping away to a ten by ten room, I owe a few thank yous.
Many thanks to Daily Gazette Executive Sports Editor Mark McGuire, who rushed to my aid when the New York State Public High School Athletics Association would not credential me for their final basketball tournament at the Glens Falls Civic Center. It was a small token, that, to my 17-year-old self meant the world. For a young person chasing their dream in a “man’s world,” it’s amazing how validating a simple 818-word column can be.
To the Times Union, which I will forever be indebted to, thank you for putting my byline in the paper and for the opportunity to work with some of the kindest people I have ever met. I thoroughly miss the Thursday morning internship experiences with Emily Masters, Mike Goodwin, Casey Seiler and the entire newsroom. If journalism is dying, there isn’t a group of people on this planet I would rather die with, Including now, former Sports Editor Pete Iorizzo, who did not yell when I made the rocky mistake of not including captions on photos for a deadline story.
Additionally, a huge thank you to WRGB’s Brittany Devane and former sports directors Doug Sherman and Kelly O’Donnell for helping me face my TV fear with a primetime interview on “Upstate Sports Edge.”
Then, there’s the mighty Anne-Marie Sheehan, thank you for always pushing and encouraging me to go get the story regardless of how overwhelming it may seem. It’s a real shame to see Capital Region BOCES give up on the journalism program and go the way of the industry, but as you say “everybody relaxes.”
Most of all, to my colleagues who fill press boxes and write in cars, pizza joints or wherever they can find free wifi to tell the amazing story that is sports, thank you. As a youngster, I often felt like an outsider, but you accepted and welcomed me as one of your own even when I didn’t feel like I belonged.
No, this is not the end of the Courier. I am pleased to announce that effective today, Friday, August 25, 2017, Aidan Joly is our new Sports Editor, and I take the title reserved for zany old newspaper men: publisher emeritus.
Thanks for reading, commenting, liking, tweeting, pinning, posting and snapping. Without a loyal audience, this website would have folded many bylines ago..
This is goodbye, for now, Upstate. I can’t tell you when or how, but if the powers that be allow me to, I will be back. Until that time, good night, and good luck.
