Compliments can often be few and far between in this business.
From parents upset that their child was left off an All-Examiner team to high-profile athletes who don’t respect media members “who didn’t play the game,” you need to be thick-skinned to be a reporter. But every so often, you receive a reminder of just why you got into the newspaper field to begin with — and it obviously wasn’t for the money.
I’ve received reminders since it was announced a few weeks ago The Examiner was folding up shop, becoming the latest victim of an apparent dying industry in the worst economy since the Great Depression.
I’ve been inundated with calls and e-mails thanking us for the work we did and the presence we had in Baltimore over the past 2 1/2 years. The most recent one came from Lisa Phillips, a Bel Air resident who I met while covering the Ravens’ playoff run this season. Her group of tailgaters — The Baltimore Ravens’ 12th Man Tailgaters — all felt the paper gave Baltimore a much-needed second voice.
“The Examiner brought a freshness to the town that has been missing for a long time,” Phillips wrote. “Like I have said in the past, your paper was a breath of fresh air for many. You seem to care what people have to say. You involved the community and made it feel like it was our paper. I am honestly sad that there will no longer be a Baltimore Examiner. Who will represent the little people and care what we have to say?”
Giving the silenced a voice was one of my biggest goals after I joined The Examiner. For too long, there was only one venue for a story to be told in this town, and if they didn’t tell it, it was as if it didn’t exist.
But they did exist — and The Examiner tried to tell their tales.
But they did exist — and The Examiner tried to tell their tales.
From covering Navy to Morgan State and from Maryland to the Ravens –all first-class organizations — I’ll remember that I got a first-hand look at what makes this area’s sports scene so great.
And one of my best views was when I was sitting courtside at RAC Arena last when the UMBC men’s basketball team defeated Hartford, 82-65, to win the America East title and earn its first berth into the NCAA Tournament. The vision of guard Jay Greene cutting down the net and longtime athletic director, Charles Brown, crying amid a throng of students who stormed the court, provided me with one of the purest moments I have witnessed in sports.
But Brown wasn’t the only one to help me do my job, as I’d also like to thank Scott Wagner, who promotes the Ballroom Boxing cards; Orioles scout Dean Albany, who has coached some of the top baseball players today, along with sports information directors like Towson’s Dan O’Connell and Peter Schlehr; UMBC’s Steve Levy, Navy’s Scott Strasemeier, Morgan State’s Leonard Haynes and Johns Hopkins’ Ernie Larossa.
We wouldn’t have been as good as we were without you.
But most importantly, as I move into the next chapter of my life, I need to thank my family: my beautiful wife Lori and my three wonderful children — William, Marissa and Megan. They are the reason I wake up every morning and provided me with the motivation to try and help make The Examiner succeed. While I’m sad that The Examiner is going away, I can wake up tomorrow feeling happy knowing I have such amazing loved ones I can move forward with.
Thank you, Baltimore.
