You’re Probably Wondering How We Got Here...Part III
ATM Sports Bank is my new creative outlet to unleash my incurable opinions on all things sports, in blog-form. Welcome to the third and final chapter of my introductory blog series. Part II can be found here.
Bleacher Report
When I started at Bleacher Report, I thought this was the perfect marriage of my interests and talents. I’d get to work for one of the coolest brands in the sports media landscape, continue to polish my corporate communications skills, and enjoy weekends in NYC. I had it all.
My corporate communications position at BR was temporary and I am ultimately grateful for that. After the shine wore off during the first few months of this temporary gig, I realized something was still missing. Trust me I was perplexed at first, too.
Yes, I was working for the biggest competitor to ESPN that’s ever existed. Yes, I was reading and talking about sports all day long. Yes, I was hanging out with colleagues who’d rather discuss the latest college football rankings than anything else.
After some long thought, I realized something. I missed those long and odd hours. I missed walking through the tunnels of MSG. I missed being on the field. I missed interacting with the athletes. I cherish every moment during my ‘Jordan Years’, but it wasn’t close enough to the action. I worked and sat at the same desk in the same office every day. I read about sports instead of watching them. I wrote press releases instead of interviewing the players.
Now, We Got Here
It’s funny how the universe has a way of working things out for you. My gig at BR ended shortly before the COVID-19 outbreak in NYC. This led to my girlfriend and my decision not to renew our lease in NYC and I decided to take some time off to ponder a next step (I hadn’t quite realized what I was missing at BR until this sabbatical).
Due to these unforeseen circumstances, we moved out of NYC at the end of February. Just before the outbreak. And I’m thankful each and every day that we weren’t and aren’t stuck in NYC during this pandemic.
I know there’s a lot of people experiencing a lot of struggle right now. And I think and pray for those people every day. But, this time off has been a blessing in disguise for me. This time off has granted me the opportunity to slow down and truly evaluate my next steps. To explore them, to sharpen my skills and to develop new ones.
I’ve created ATM Sports Bank as the next step in my career. It’s time to sharpen my skills and passion for writing about the thing that I love most: sports. Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it.
