I’ve shared press boxes and media centers with Gene Frenette since 1990 when I was promoted from a high school sportswriter to Florida State beat writer, at college football games in Tallahassee and Gainesville, at The Players Championship and the Masters, at Jacksonville Jaguars games and River City Rumbles.
Through all those interactions over nearly 40 years, I will always admire Gene’s work ethic and his attention to detail. There was no key third-down play late in the first quarter and no missed putt early in a round that Gene forgot and was able to translate into the big picture as to why a team won or lost, or why a golfer shot under or over par.
Road trips to college games or The Masters were hours-long debates and discussions on the sports we covered, the state of the media industry, and our families.
Working with Gene was not without its lighter moments, such as his technological challenges with computers and web publishing. It took him so long to master the “mute” button on Zoom teleconferences that even former Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew poked fun at him during one session.
That gave rise to former Times-Union writer and now ESPN Jaguars reporter Mike Dirocco getting a friend of his who had a business printing T-shirts and hats to work up a few lids with the symbol for the mute button on the front and a familiar lament from teleconference moderators on the back: “You’re on mute Gene.”
He always took the ribbing with good humor and had more than enough ammo to fire back.
I can guarantee one thing: no local or national writer ever hoofed it on the golf course at The Players or Masters as much as Gene did. Watching golf on TV at the media center was, to him, the height of laziness. He wanted to hear the club meet the ball, see the expression on a player’s face, and hear the crowd’s reaction.
The details he picked up while walking 18 holes with Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy contributed to our total coverage. If he couldn’t work a tidbit he observed into his column, he made sure one of us knew about and got it in the relevant story.
Case in point: At the 2024 Players Championship, Gene was walking the course. He was the only member of the news media who recognized Caleb Williams, who was to be the overall No. 1 NFL draft pick a month later and was in the gallery. His short story on Williams got more hits than anything our staff generated that week.
And no one was better at long-form feature stories and projects. Two editions of the top 100 athletes in Jacksonville history, 25 years apart, were informative, compelling and a must-read for anyone who cares about athletics on the First Coast.
The main thing I will remember about Gene is how much family meant to him. When we’d leave an FSU or Florida game, one of his routines was to call his youngest son and talk about the big plays and bad calls, like any father and son who had just seen a game together. And there’s no prouder grandfather around than Gene.
Enjoy retirement, Gene. Now we’ve got to find someone willing to walk 18 holes a day at The Players.