When I picked up my one of my first few copies of The Cavalier Daily upon arriving on Grounds in 2010, it seemed like an innocuous act. I had already acquainted myself with the sports section and begun skipping straight to B1, just as I have always done with any newspaper.
But on this particular day, I ventured into the foreign land of the A section. It was there that I discovered an ad for an open house about joining the paper. Before long — so little time had elapsed that I still harbored hopes for a winning season in Mike London’s debut campaign — I found myself engulfed in the amazing experience of being a student sports journalist. I owe many thanks to the many athletes, coaches, friends and family who encouraged me, taught me and inspired me throughout an amazing three years at The Cavalier Daily.
My first thanks goes to men’s tennis player Alex Domijan. During that first semester, I wrote preview after preview until I received my first crack at covering an event when the editors needed someone to cover the ITA Atlantic Regional. Then fellow first-year Domijan endured being my first interviewee, which he might even remember, because it was his first interview at Virginia too. I’ve never felt as small as I did looking up at his imposing 6-foot-7 frame, but fortunately for me, he appeared just as shy as I did. To this day, I’m still not sure who was more scared of whom.
Next, thank you to the women’s tennis team, the first group I covered on a regular basis. I owe a shout-out to Maria Fuccillo’s dad for saving my journalism career while it was still in its infancy. I never would have stuck with it if it weren’t for the gloves he let me borrow. The three-mile commute to Boar’s Head was often a tough one, as I rode my bike down Route 250 through the frigid January air. I will never forget getting lost on my way to the first match of the semester and showing up with fingers so cold I couldn’t hold my pen, let alone use it to take notes on the action.
If not for that generosity, I might have let my frazzled nerves get the best of me and quit right then. By the time the doubleheader concluded, my hands thawed and I wrapped up talking to coach Mark Guilbeau — the most entertaining and upbeat coach I encountered in my three years — I was finally felt like I had what it took.
Thank you to all the athletes and coaches who gave me their time and shared their honest, thoughtful opinions with me no matter how difficult the moment. Asking coach Julie Myers and her players about their memories of Yeardley Love before they honored their fallen teammate in a special pregame ceremony at the 2011 home opener stands as the hardest set of interviews I ever conducted. I wasn’t even at the University yet at the time of Love’s passing, but they still welcomed me in and embraced the opportunity to divulge their heartfelt sentiments.
Interviews after a team loses are usually the most dreaded part of sports writing, but every team I came into contact with displayed the utmost class. I vividly recall approaching coach George Gelnovatch after a crushing late season loss for the men’s soccer team, and just as I came within earshot, he muttered to someone that he had “nothing good to say” about his team’s performance. Nevertheless, he spoke with me for several minutes, patiently fielding my probing questions about what exactly had led to the defeat.
I would be remiss not to also thank the teams themselves for providing me with an abundance of compelling storylines. I always felt my job was to relate the stories, but the subjects of my writing deserved the credit for creating the events that I simply retold. Not every college sports writer has the chance to write about Olympic gold medal winners, conference champions and programs on the rise, so for that, I am lucky.
Finally, thank you to my team. I was never alone in this endeavor. Thank you to my parents for supporting me when you could have told me to spend the 20-plus hours per week on something that actually paid. Thank you to my readers for making it all worthwhile. Thank you to Ashley Robertson, Matt Welsh and Stacy Kruczkowski for building this economics and statistics major into a writer. Thank you to Ashley, Daniel Weltz, Fritz Metzinger and all my Cavalier Daily peers for always having my back no matter the adversity we faced: deadlines, breaking stories and even concussions – yes, journalists get hurt too.
Though I’m sad to leave, I say goodbye with the peace of mind that The Cavalier Daily is in good hands. Come August, when I set up permanent residence in Rouss Robertson Hall as a graduate commerce student, I look forward to once again picking up the paper and zipping right to the sports section. After all, tradition never graduates.
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