I was hooked the moment I turned on the television.
There wasn’t one specific thing that stood out to my kindergarten eyes. Maybe it was the pinstripes or maybe it was just baseball itself. But I couldn’t get enough of the New York Yankees.
Like a lot of New Yorkers, I dreamt about playing second base for the Yankees. I learned pretty quickly that wasn’t going to happen and I saw an advertisement for a sports broadcasting camp in Sports Illustrated for Kids.
I went to that camp for over a decade and fully discovered my love of sports media in the halls of the Montclair State University auditorium. In fifth grade, I wrote a story for the student newspaper at Public School 9, about MLB Network starting up and the new studio opening in Secaucus, New Jersey. During high school, I broadcast sporting events for the high school YouTube channel and honed my broadcasting skills.
I have often wondered during my professional journey what it would have been like had The New York Times or Wall Street Journal or any of the other NYC newspapers came to my tiny 350-person high school and reported on the sports teams. I want to give you, the readers, and the people that I highlight the feeling that you are being covered by The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.
I continued to cultivate that love in college where I went to Ithaca College and worked at the student newspaper, the radio station and the television. When I graduated in May of 2020, I realized that I was a better writer than an orator so my career path went to working in newspapers. During the time before my first job, I continued to try to expand my horizons by trying my hand at becoming a sports video game Youtuber, the dozen or so viewers that each video got can attest to the fact that my career lies elsewhere.
My first job out of college was working as a Sports and Education Reporter with the Craig Daily Press in Craig, Colorado, before I moved onto The Jamestown Sun in Jamestown, North Dakota, where I worked as a Sports Reporter. I spent four years in Jamestown covering NCAA Division II school, the University of Jamestown, high school sports and local community sports.
I enjoyed becoming engrained in not only the community of Jamestown but also the surrounding communities and being trusted to tell the stories of the athletes, coaches, fans and community members. I am excited to hopefully build those same relationships here in Niagara County and tell your stories.
Thanks for having me and I can not wait to get started.