My entire life, working in sports is all I've wanted to do. My career began by muting the video games and calling the play-by-play myself. When I got to college, I realized it could be a career, and I've spent the last 12 years of my life not working a day.
I was a baseball player by trade, playing four years at Kalamazoo College (yes, there is a real place called Kalamazoo). When I was a sophomore, I began broadcasting football games, which turned into soccer, basketball, and volleyball. If you want to learn how important preparation is in broadcasting, call a women's soccer game with little-to-no experience with the sport. The opportunities that came from my decision to attend "K" have been astounding. In college, I interned at Fox Sports Detroit. I worked as the lead play-by-play voice of the Kalamazoo Kings, at the time an independent professional baseball team. After graduation, I started working at 97.1 "The Ticket" in Detroit, starting as a board operator and phone screener and leaving as an update anchor for most of the overnight hours.
While at 97.1, I started kicking the tires on a potential foray into the world of sports video. So from there, I applied, was accepted, and headed to Syracuse University where I earned my Master's Degree in Broadcast & Digital Journalism with a Sports Communications Emphasis. It was an awesome time to be in central New York. The basketball team was ranked #1 in the country for a few weeks, the lacrosse team was its normal self, and I met the love of my life, my wife, Danielle, while I was a student. It was at Syracuse where I really gained the confidence necessary to succeed both in front of and behind the camera.
I finished up my program at SU interning at one of the most well-respected TV stations in the country, KARE11 in Minneapolis. After that, I took a job as the Weekend Sports Anchor at KVRR, the FOX affiliate in Fargo, ND. Within a few months, I was promoted to Sports Director. One might not think Fargo is the world's greatest sports market, but after nearly three years in the Red River Valley, I can unequivocally say pound-for-pound, Fargo was as good as it gets. My first weekend working was the first start of Carson Wentz's college career. Between following him and the NDSU football program as well as North Dakota hockey, I traveled all over the country covering national championship teams and learning to hone my craft.
In February of 2017, our family made the move back to Kalamazoo where I accepted a position as the Weekend Sports Anchor at the CBS affiliate, WWMT News Channel 3. Piggybacking on the ride in Fargo, I found myself covering the teams I grew up rooting for, and traveling to cover them in the biggest sporting events the NCAA has to offer. I was live at both the 2018 and 2019 Final Fours, I covered countless enormous college football games, and worked extensively on coverage of Western Michigan athletics. I loved every second of it, but it was time for a change. My wife was offered a position as a producer in Washington, D.C., and if you work in news, what could be better?
Since COVID hit right around the time I moved, it made finding a job more difficult, but offered plenty of time for self reflection. I realized after all that time, my passion for sports media hadn't dissipated one bit. So I started this website, a place where both my past career and future can coincide in perfect harmony. I've started a podcast I'm having a blast with, called, "Open Mike." You can find that right at the top of the page. And I'm bringing blogging back, as anyone will tell you in media, you better be able to write. If you've read this far, you might as well come along for the journey. It's bound to be entertaining.