Years ago when I was in college I used to read Dan Le Batard’s Miami Herald chats with readers. It was a different era. you had to be there. A reader asked him if he still liked writing—he’d started to write less columns by then. He said he liked to have written, but hated writing. Every writer knows what he meant. That is, looking at the final product and getting a reaction from it is the best thing in the world. The actual writing process—which if you’re doing it correctly includes pacing back and forth, multiple bouts of existential dread and an unsafe amount of coffee—is the worst thing in the world. I’ve been able to flex the writing muscle plenty in the last 15 months—I really enjoy writing the monologues I do for the ESPN2 version of my Omaha show, or the Sunday night solo pods. When I’m on TV and have a few hours to prepare I actually write what I would have written for a lede on a topic and just read it aloud so long as it makes sense. It works surprisingly well. But I *really* like having written.
I’m creating this page for two reasons: The first is I have enough stray thoughts on quarterbacks and Trent Baalke and the AP Poll and Scottie Scheffler that I’d like a venue to jot down a few hundred words when needed. The second is that as social media becomes unwieldy it’s just good to get everything in one place, and be able to reach people directly. Enjoy and talk soon.
Really looking forward to this. Your writing is like teach-tape. (For real, your profiles, whether on Stafford or Campbell, have been used in journalism classes at Oakland University in MI.)