CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thank you.
Most of us never say that enough to the people who are close to us.
That includes you, the readers.
I’ve been doing this a long time. It was 50 years ago that I walked into the old Cleveland Press building to work part time. Tim Rogers (a former high school writer for the Press & The Plain Dealer) helped me get that job in 1975.
Now, I’m still writing … thanks to you.
If there are no readers …
If no one is getting the paper …
If no one is visiting the Cleveland.com website …
If no one is listening to podcasts and our other forms of connecting with readers …
Without YOU there would be no US, as in the writers and editors.
I’m very aware that there are so many choices and media outlets, and grateful you spend some time with us.
Sports can bring together people from all social classes.APThe diversion department
I’m also thankful that I work in sports, which used to be called the “toy department” in the days of the typewriter and landline when I first started in the business.
One advantage of the internet is the data about what stories are being read. Quickly the stats showed sports bring in a lot of readers — even more than most in our business imagined.
That’s because sports often serve as a diversion from real life.
When my father was dealing with his major stroke, watching a game on TV brought us together. No one talked or thought about the stroke, the doctors and everything that goes with it.
I’ve had sports discussions with people in hospital waiting rooms, funeral homes and other places where the stress level runs high.
Sometimes, I’m recognized. We talk about the medical stuff for a while and then someone will say, “Will the Browns ever find a quarterback?”
Yes, that eternal question led to the title of my latest book. So I thank the fans/readers for that.
But I get it.
There is so much in life that can feel depressing, hopeless and even incomprehensible.
Sports brings its own set of frustrations. But unless you have fallen deep into the pit of sports gambling, it’s not likely to have a major impact on your life.
When the Cavs won the 2016 NBA title, readers lined up for days to buy the paper with those stories. The Plain Dealer sold more than 530,000 single copies the week after the title game.
I also believe the Faith & You column can bring comfort to many people. You won’t find anything quite like it in a major city paper/website.
Stacks of newspapers await sale outside The Plain Dealer printing plant in 2016. Thousands of extra copies of the paper covering the Cavaliers’ NBA Championship were sold. The Plain DealerI don’t do politics
That’s my standard answer when someone tries to take me in that direction.
We are so divided politically and the media fuels some of that anger – we don’t need it in our sports coverage. There are plenty of writers who deal with political issues. I bring zero expertise in that area.
At least, that’s my opinion. Others have different views and approaches to their job.
One of the aspects of sports that I appreciate is that there is no red state/blue state divide.
People from both ends of the political spectrum can share the same opinions on a bad Browns season or about a popular local star such as Jose Ramirez or Donovan Mitchell.
When one of the local teams is playing well, it can unite fans from all races and economic stations in life. The same when things go poorly and the fan base wants a coach fired.
We are blessed to live in what I call a big/small city. We are big time in terms of sports with franchises in the NFL, NBA and MLB. We also are the smallest market with teams in those three major sports leagues.
We have fans who go back generations – even centuries – cheering for the local teams. My father started going to Tribe games at old League Park nearly 100 years ago. I still remember some of his stories about taking the street car to those games.
We all have our stories of how we came to sports, many of them having to do with family connections. It helps us feel closer in a world that wants to pit us against each other.
That’s why you are important to me. Your encouragement keeps me going and my heart feels more grateful than ever to have this job.