Another newsletter about whatever.
"And cousin, business is a-boomin'." (Actually, it's not. So, here's a newsletter)
Hi friends! If you’re reading this, you probably found a link on Twitter or Facebook (or maybe someone forwarded it to you), and that probably means you’re a friend, a family member or a fan of my work. Either way, thanks for checking in.
So, as you’ve probably noticed, there are no sports happening right now. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted how we go about our everyday lives in a big way and I’m no exception.
Since I moved to North Carolina in October 2018, I’ve been freelancing full-time. I was nervous about if I could pull it off, unsure if I could make a living off working random and regular gigs. Was my writing and reporting good enough? Would my pitches get accepted? Would the money come through? Could I handle juggling everything if assignments piled up? All of these questions ran through my head. But, I took the leap anyways. (To be fair, I didn’t have a choice. No one around here was hiring. And my girlfriend — now fiancé — had a regular, full-time job that gave us some stability.)
Until March 12, everything had been going great. I kept a planner to keep myself straight. Work had been steady. I was making money. I was traveling. I was writing about sports. I was getting to do what I loved.
On the morning of March 12, I looked at my planner and I had an assignment everyday from then through April 10. It’s a busy time of year for me, as I have somehow carved out a niche for myself in covering college basketball and pro soccer. The former ending and the latter starting up around the same time. I was set to travel to Greensboro, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; Birmingham, AL and New Orleans. A lot of driving and a plane ride was in my future — or so I thought.
My whole calendar got wiped out. The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments were canceled. The MLS and USL seasons were suspended. The start of the NWSL season was postponed. My freelance gigs quickly vanished. There was no work.
Suddenly, I had nothing to do and nowhere to go.
Then, last week, on my 28th birthday, I buried my Pappy in West Virginia. That sucked too.
I’ve been trying to pass the time in various ways; going for walks, playing video games, reading, cooking, watching way too much Top Chef on Hulu, watching way too much Sopranos on HBO. But the void in my life has been, well, unavoidable — there’s been no sports. And, wow, this is the first thing I’ve written in 12 days (which is weird for me, considering had there been no coronavirus, I would’ve probably written two or five stories today on basketball and soccer).
Unfortunately, I can’t just make sports happen. And I can’t force publications to send me a check.
But I can still write. And that’s what I’m going to use this here newsletter for.
What am I going to write about? That, I’m not quite sure.
To remind you for the 5,678th time, there are no sports. So, I’m going to have to get creative and flex my writing muscles a bit.
I might write about movies (we watched Inglourious Basterds the other night and 11 years later, it’s still my favorite Tarantino film). I might write about a beer that was stashed in the back of my fridge. I might unload some unpublished notes and quotes from the past women’s college basketball season. I might write about why Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie of this century. I might write about Top Chef. I might write about books I’m reading (speaking of which, I just finished Jay Busbee’s “Earnhardt Nation” which was absolutely riveting and terrific). I might write about weird formations I’m making on FIFA 17, or why Bowser is the best Super Smash Bros. character (that side B move where he grabs an opponent, jumps in the air and belly flops on them is fun and mean at the same time).
I don’t know what this newsletter is going to turn into. So, while a lot of newsletters on Substack are paid subscriptions, I’m going to keep this one free, at least for a while.
Still, hit that subscribe button at the bottom and you won’t miss an issue. I’m not sure how often this newsletter will get published, but I’m hoping to fill your inbox with my random musings and words at least once a week.
Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue of whatever this thing is going to be.
(When you hit the subscribe button, you’ll notice there’s options for free, monthly and yearly subscriptions. For now, all of these posts are going to be free and visible to everyone. But if you want to throw me $5 a month, I won’t stop you.)
And here’s a few things I’ve done in the past month or so:
For SLAM, I wrote a short thing about N.C. State’s Elissa Cunane.
At Against All Enemies, I took a look at a few candidates for the Navy women’s basketball head coach opening.
Over at Pro Soccer USA, a story on the women behind Landon Donovan’s technical staff at San Diego Loyal SC.
Hopped on the Movies and a Meal podcast with some good friends to talk about Goodfellas.
That’s it for now.
Stay safe. Stay inside. Y’all be good.
“I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It’s all in the game though, right?”