SEATTLE — While I was trying to start this column, my last at the Herald, trying to explain why I’m leaving what in so many ways has been a dream job, my wife, Lyndsey, handed me our 6-week-old daughter, Colette.
She smiled at her dad and stuck out her tongue. It was a great moment. Then she pooped. It was still a great moment.
As those of you who follow me on Twitter already know by now … I love to tell bad jokes. But as you also already know, I am leaving the Herald and starting a new job Monday as the digital media reporter for the Seattle Seahawks.
First and foremost, this is a great career opportunity with a first-class organization. But this change is also about the two beautiful ladies mentioned above; it is for many reasons the right move for our family.
Even so, this wasn’t an easy decision. The Herald has been my home for eight years. There are great people here and great journalists who have done some amazing work through ownership changes, office relocations and the unfortunate inevitability in this industry — job cuts. I’m proud of what I’ve written over the years, but more proud of the overall product we put out together on a day-in-day-out basis.
My time at the Herald allowed me to work a few different beats, become a columnist, and to witness first-hand way more memorable sporting events than any 35-year-old ought to have seen in a relatively short lifetime.
I owe a ton of thanks to a lot of people who have helped me get this far, from my always supportive parents, to my friends in college who pushed an economics major to chase a crazy dream. To the media-relations folks at the Seahawks, the Mariners, the Sounders and the University of Washington who make our jobs easier. To my former co-workers at the Seattle Times where I got my start taking calls from high school coaches while listening to the late, great Jim Reding come up with creative new uses of four-letter words.
And of course, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to this paper and all the incredibly talented people who work here. Without this job, I wouldn’t have had a chance to witness young superstars like Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor lead a Seahawks resurgence, then watch that team play in consecutive Super Bowls.
I wouldn’t have seen Jake Locker mania at Washington; wouldn’t have interacted with Lorenzo Romar, one of the classiest men in sports (or out of sports, for that matter); wouldn’t have seen Felix Hernandez throw a perfect game on a glorious August afternoon; wouldn’t have seen Sherman tip the ball to Malcolm Smith; wouldn’t have been inspired by local paratriathlete Andre Kajlich; wouldn’t have seen the Sounders completely obliterate expectations for what soccer can be in this country.
I wouldn’t have spent two weeks in Vancouver covering the Olympics, which meant I wouldn’t have seen Canada win hockey gold on its home ice in overtime, setting off the biggest celebration I’ve ever witnessed; I wouldn’t have seen Lindsey Vonn collapse in the finish arena after winning her first Olympic Gold medal; wouldn’t have seen Bode Miller turn back the clock; and I wouldn’t have seen Apolo Ohno close out his remarkable career with two more medals.
And more important than any of those big events, this job also reminded me of just how powerful sports can be as we saw high school athletes from Darrington spend the first day of their spring break volunteering after the Oso mudslide. This job allowed me to see sportsmanship at its very best when Oak Harbor’s football team forfeited a chance at a league title in the wake of the Marysville Pilchuck shooting.
I’ve been beyond fortunate to witness so many great moments, and I’m even luckier that I will get to continue to do so with the Seahawks.
Most of all, thanks to all who read my work, who reached out via email or Twitter to praise my work, or to rip it — all feedback was appreciated.
OK, I think I’ve gone on long enough. Besides, I’ve got a diaper to change.
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