I never thought that sports journalism would ever be a side project for me. Ever since figuring
out what I wanted to do with my life at 17-years old, I always thought that one day I would be
anchoring Sportscenter or have my own talk-show that was Nationally recognized. Little did I
know at that time, that my life’s career path would take a couple detours and unexpected turns
over the next ten years. While the dreams of being a Sportscenter anchor have faded, the fire to
be a knowledgeable and respected sports journalist has not.
I was introduced to Hockey when I was about 11 or 12-years old. I played when I was younger,
but never felt like I could keep up or compete with the kids that had been playing for years
already so I decided that being 5-feet tall and not even 100 pounds would be smart for me to
stick to playing football. That went about as well as it was going to go. I never stopped skating
though, and my love for the game grew year-by-year. I got back to playing organized games in
2010 and haven’t stopped since, every time thinking in my head that I’m stepping out on the
United Center ice and that I have that red Blackhawks sweater on. Since returning to the ice as
a player, I’ve exhausted nearly every resource I could find to learn more about coaching the
game, figuring out how the game is played with X’s and O’s and understanding what I see
happening more and more.
I began my amatuer journalist career in college, knowing very little of what I was doing other
than blogging on forums and having long statuses on Facebook. I thought I knew everything
about everything, when in fact, I knew mostly nothing. What I did know was what it took to play
the games that I was talking about. The dedication every athlete puts into their craft every day to
be the best they can be. I knew I needed to tap into that mentality for school and for journalism.
I turned a corner after graduation and began my professional journalism career in Milwaukee
with Sports Radio 1250, or what is now more commonly known as 105.7 FM The Fan. I was a
producer on a multitude of programs, but with very little writing involved in my day-to-day job. I
still wanted to be writing about sports, writing about the topics of the day, and having that outlet
for my voice to be heard. But I didn’t know where to turn to do that. I’m not a Packers fan, so
that wasn’t an outlet. I like baseball, but not enough to be passionate about it. Same for
basketball. So where in Milwaukee could I have a voice? It just so happened that the radio
station I was working for was also the home of the Milwaukee Admirals broadcasts.
My first thank you has to go out to the staff at The Fan for allowing the weirdo who only wanted
to talk hockey have a platform under their name. Tom Parker, Steve Fifer, and Mike Wickett,
thanks for encouraging me to take the first steps down my journalism path and pushing me to
be better early on in my career. A huge thank you is also in order to the Milwaukee Admirals
communications staff for allowing me access to the team. Aaron Sims and Charlie Larson, I
couldn’t have asked for anything more from a support stand-point and from honing my skills.
Thanks as well to Daniel Lavender of Admirals Roundtable for helping and supporting me along
the way.
Along the way, I have contributed to Along The Boards (now Pucks and Recreation), Blackhawk
Up, and most recently, albeit briefly, for Second City Hockey. I’d like to thank everyone involved
with those sites for giving me the opportunity to continue to grow as a writer and for supporting
me in my journey. I’ve made a lot of friends over the last few years and never thought I would be
able to find such a supportive and honest community of like-minded people, mostly online.
There are too many to thank, but to Keith Schultz and Satchel Price, thank you for seeing
enough in me and my work to give me a shot to talk about hockey.
All that said, why am I here, at The-Rink.com?
I’m here because I love hockey. I love the sport, those that play it, the atmosphere of the game,
and I love the fellow die-hard fans that want every ounce of knowledge that they can get their
hands on. I want to bring the athlete mentality of day-in and day-out, putting in the work to be
the best that I can be, to my writing and to the coverage of hockey that The-Rink is putting
together. Some of us are former players, former coaches, parents of youth players, etc. But the
one thing that connects us is the passion for hockey. I’m coming to The-Rink just like I take the
ice in my beer league games, as if I’m stepping out on the biggest stage possible.