40 years and counting

It can be difficult, even embarrassing, to shine the spotlight on yourself, but at the urging of my esteemed and learned BPSN partner, Bernie Puchalski, here goes.

Forty years ago this week I walked into the newsroom on the second floor at The Standard on Queen Street in downtown St. Catharines, not really sure what to expect.

Freshly graduated from the journalism-print program at Niagara College, I was so keen on landing a job in the business I had sent out a grand total of zero resumes.

I had even turned down two full-time jobs — one in Fort Erie and the other in Smith Falls — because I correctly surmised I could not live away from home on less than $200 per week, which is what both positions were offering.

Instead, I was content for the moment as a kitchen worker at the Welland Country General Hospital where the pay was very good, the work hard, hot and dirty, and the co-workers mostly young and female.

Out of the blue one day I received a call from the college informing me The Standard was looking to fill a part-time position in the sports department. I quickly threw on my best (and only) suit, updated my resume, and headed to the big city for an interview.

Once there, I was quickly ushered into managing editor Murray Thomson’s office where I was surprised to learn I was offered the job on the spot — three mornings a week, 12 hours total, at a rate of $8 per hour. Heck, I was making almost twice that much mopping floors and doing dishes, but it was a way into the business, even if it meant working from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. to help with the massive amount of area sport the paper ran each day. 

Following two days of training on an archaic word processing system — there were still typewriters in the office — I was ready for game action.

After a few weeks of learning the ropes in the office, I was offered an assignment. My big break! I was assigned to cover an Industrial Fastball League playoff game, then come back to the office that night and write it so it could appear in the next day’s paper. No www dot anything back then.

I happily accepted and, as luck would have it, the game went 18 innings and finished in the wee hours of the morning. No matter, I had a byline in The Standard and was on my way.

Little did I know it would take five years almost to the day to land a full-time job. That meant five years of working two jobs, often on the same day, often going directly from one to another. It was not uncommon to work at the paper in the morning, head to the hospital for a shift, and then sometimes back out to cover a game at night.

It was exhausting, but being young and energetic, very doable. One summer I recall working 64 days in a row between the two jobs. I’d be six feet under if I tried that now.

The point was I was willing to do what it took to become full-time sports reporter.

Looking back, it was definitely worth the sacrifice.

I have been fortunate enough to cover every possible local sport imaginable along with a World Series in 1993 in Toronto and a Stanley Cup final in 1999 in Buffalo.

Along the way I have met hundreds of wonderful and interesting athletes and people and got paid to do so. I wish I could name them all.

While the work was cool and interesting (still is) the state of the newspaper industry began to deteriorate. Staffs were cut, belts tightened and in late 2016, seeing no long-term future, I made the difficult conclusion to leave The Standard and venture into the digital world of BPSN.

It was the best decision possible. Seven years down the road I miss my time at the paper and feel awful for those few left behind who are barely surviving, still heroically trying to do their jobs against all odds.

Meanwhile, co-owning BPSN with Bernie has given me a new lease on my work life and rekindled the passion I had when I started in the business.

I’m very fortunate to still write sports for a living with a partner who is a good friend and has a work ethic second to none.

It has also given me an opportunity to spend time with my daughter, Daniele, who is a frequent companion on my assignments  and has expressed an interest in the business.

Who could ask for more?

Thanks for reading all these years.

Here’s to 40 more.

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