Well, here we are. The possible end for Full Sport Press, a blog that I’ve been writing for you for the past five years. A blog filled with sports and hopefully some laughter. Along the way, we’ve anguished over some bad Saints teams and soared into the gridiron heavens with a ton of great victories by the Black and Gold. We also experienced the ups and downs of Tulane Green Wave baseball and I take pride in devoting so many words to the Wave and UNO when other local outlets treated the teams like an afterthought.
Now we’re at the end of the road.
Last week my headline screamed that the MLB is back. This week I had planned to scream the NBA is back and then next week probably scream that the NHL is back. Sports are doing their best to entertain us and, believe me, we need some entertainment. Alas, I won’t be here to talk about, make fun of or complain about it.
The pandemic has affected all of us and everything is far more important than this humble blog but I will miss the opportunity of getting to entertain you. I’ve been thinking about a cool way to wrap this up but don’t really know how. As I’ve been kicking ideas around I keep recalling the end of the Cincinnati Post, the newspaper from my hometown that was founded in 1881 and unfortunately closed up shop in 2007. It’s not that I was hardcore about reading this paper but I’ll always remember the cover of the last issue. In a giant font there were two numbers sitting inside a pair of dashes.
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It means the end. Readers of Errol Laborde’s “The Editor’s Room” see it every week at the bottom of his blog. It’s old school. It’s inside baseball. It’s a throwback to the printed word. It’s cool.
Until you have to use it to end your run.
It is what it is. We all are tightening our belts until things get back to normal. So, there’s a chance down the road where I’ll be back but for now it’s goodbye. I would say you can catch me down on the rail at the Fairgrounds or sitting at the bar at Rendezvous Tavern but, because of this COVID business, I’ll just say you can catch me on my porch.
Our small team, including digital editor Kelly Massicot and print editor (plus two blogs) Melanie Spencer, have collected two trophies for best “Sports Blog” of the year from the Press Club of New Orleans. I thank both of them for making this blog the best it could be. This outlet granted me access to press boxes where I immediately realized that sitting in press boxes is possibly one of the most boring things on earth and went back to buying tickets and sitting in the crowd with my fellow Black and Gold and Olive and Blue. Honestly, life’s too short to sit in a press box.
I also want to thank you for reading my little corner of the internet and sending me emails when I made you mad or happy. You indulged my shenanigans, a few political viewpoints and allowed me to express myself about the losses of my cat Cleo and favorite performer Prince. I’ll never forget that and owe you one.
Anyway, goodbyes suck. So, that’s it for now. I wish you nothing but the best. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance and all that. I promise we’ll make it through this.
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