a personal note

Many folks have asked me how I started writing for the newspaper
I am now going to tell you.
I am not a journalism expert whatsoever and I certainly did not go to college to learn about how to be a sportswriter for a newspaper.
But 10 or so years ago, My wife and I had two kids in private school and that was draining every penny we made.
Next thing I knew, my wife , who makes way more money than I do, had a part time job at Kroger and I was sitting at home with the kids, still tempted to take them out to eat.
I finally figured out that if I took them out, I was basically draining the money that she was making at Kroger.
Now my wife, Debbie is a fine woman who would never ever tell me that I needed to get a part time job of my own.
But I was also not so stupid as to not figure it out myself.
So I set out to find something that wasn't too hard and maybe a bit enjoyable.
A few days later I saw an add in the sports section for writers for the sports section, helping out mainly on Friday nights during the football season.
I sent the sports editor a quick email, and he gave me a list of things and stats for a football game and he told me to write a story.
I guess it didn't suck too much and then next thing I knew, I was covering a Mount de Sales and Tattnall football game.
That my friends is how I got to know Daniel Shirley and that is how I started to write for the Telegraph.
Things went well for the most part. I haven't taken an English class for 30 years and my grammatical abilities have probably taken a hit. I am sure Daniel had many nights editing my stories thinking I was a total moron. I am sure sometimes 10 years later, he still thinks that. But he stuck with me.
Thanks to Daniel Shirley, I have interviewed big names likes Bobby Bowden George Gervin, Demaryius Thomas, Kareem Jackson , Russell Henley and many many more. I have covered every sport I think , from lacrosse, to MMA, to even cycling. The only way I got to do all of this is because of Daniel Shirley.
I remember nights writing a football story while I was driving down the road, because a few years ago, we had deadlines on Friday night. Those nights were so stressful, but we got through it because we never wanted to let Daniel down.
It's true, the freelancers or stringers of the Telegraph have not stuck with it because of the money. Yes we do get paid and it has definitely helped, but we all do it because we like covering games and meeting people and we stuck it out for many years because of Daniel Shirley.
Brad Harrison, Ryan Jordan and myself have continued to work all sorts of games over the years and I feel like they would agree that Daniel Shirley has been the best boss that one could imagine having. Has he been pissed at me before ? Of course he has because sometimes I suck at writing, but he has always given me that professional courtesy, even though, well I am not a professional.
I am just a guy who got lucky.
Daniel Shirley is leaving the Telegraph and his last day is tomorrow. I have no idea how much longer a freelancer will even be used. But if it ends I will be okay with it.
Daniel Shirley has been the life and breath of the Telegraphs sports section for a long time and we all owe him a huge thank you . He will still be in Macon, so make sure he knows how important he has been to Macon sports.
I honestly don't know if the Telegraph will ever be the same without him.
Thank you Daniel for giving me this opportunity and letting me be a part of the sports scene in Macon.
By the way, please don't correct my poor grammar in my blog.