After 18 years at The Dallas Morning News, a thank you and fond farewell
When I was offered a job at The Dallas Morning News in the
summer of 1999, I knew that I was done moving around. I had somehow projected
enough competence to get my foot in the door, and if I didn’t get thrown out, I
planned to be there a long time.
Last year, I got to write about the football team at Gainesville State School, the juvenile-corrections facility that allows its kids to play on the football team if they follow strict behavioral guidelines. One of the players I talked with, who survived a terrible home life, described being incarcerated in an 8-foot-4 by 7-foot-7 cell most of the day as “a blessing.” It gave him a chance to become the person he knows he can be, he said, and his goal was to be a nurse so he could help people.
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A long time turned out to be more than 18 years.
As I finish my last week of work at the DMN, I’m thankful
for all the people who have helped me along the way. It’s a long list of
writers, editors, photographers, designers, readers, coaches, players, parents and
a bunch of others I don't mean to leave out. There were also the occasional heroes
who helped in unusual ways, such as helping me find an unlocked door or gate at
a dark stadium.
One time after a high school playoff game, I thought I might
end up sleeping at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys’ old home, because I got stuck on
a level where the elevator door wouldn’t open. It was on a level with stained
gray carpet in the hallway, which I think described almost every level of Texas
Stadium circa 2008. (I still loved that stadium, though).
To the security officer who led me to an exit that night, a big thank you. And to everyone who led me in the right direction over the years,
thanks for everything.
I could end things right there, but I’ll go on … after
offering you a parachute so you can bail out now. Because when a writer’s life
takes a turn after more than two decades in journalism, he or she is going to
write about it. And without the deadline and space constraints of the thousands
of stories I’ve written over the years, I’m confident that I can make a short
story a long one.
* * *
The Dallas Morning News: My work home for 18 years. |
So I’m leaving The Dallas Morning News, which still feels
weird to say after a few weeks of knowing it would happen. I got a job offer
that I can’t refuse, although there was no Godfather involved, and I’ll be
working for the Frisco ISD in a role that's part reporter, part sports information
director, part whatever comes next.
That’s the best way I can describe it at this point. My wife
is a teacher in the district, my three kids attend FISD schools, and I’m
excited to have the opportunity to work for a great district (total kiss-up).
The best part is that I get to continue writing about high school athletes, which
I’ve enjoyed in a journalism career that unfolded in the opposite way of many
other sports writers.
A lot of writers start out covering high schools with the hope
of moving on to the colleges and pros. But when I was young – I’m going to say
“ridiculously young” to make myself feel better – I got a taste of covering
college football and the NBA.
One moment that stands out was the famous Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan played despite suffering from the flu, or as some people believe, food poisoning. I was there in Salt Lake City at the Delta Center, now atrociously named Vivint Smart Home Arena, about five or six rows from the court. Back then they gave really good seats to the home media, even if the media member was ridiculously young and might use valuable cell-phone minutes to tell his friend, “I was just in the buffet line next to Newman from Seinfeld.”
One moment that stands out was the famous Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan played despite suffering from the flu, or as some people believe, food poisoning. I was there in Salt Lake City at the Delta Center, now atrociously named Vivint Smart Home Arena, about five or six rows from the court. Back then they gave really good seats to the home media, even if the media member was ridiculously young and might use valuable cell-phone minutes to tell his friend, “I was just in the buffet line next to Newman from Seinfeld.”
There were some great opportunities like that early in my
career, and I would later help cover the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, NCAA
Football Championship and other memorable events. But the DMN is lucky to have
a lot of talented people to cover colleges and pros, and I always knew that I
wanted to write about other things. When sports editor Dave Smith made me the
sports columnist for the new Collin County edition in 2002, a position that a
couple years later would morph into the high school columnist position, I had
my chance.
It was an amazing opportunity. I got to write about all the
things that make high school sports great – stars and benchwarmers, dramatic
achievements, character-building disappointments, all that good stuff. I
experienced Texas high school football, a phenomenon that is difficult to
explain to my friends from other states.
Last year, I got to write about the football team at Gainesville State School, the juvenile-corrections facility that allows its kids to play on the football team if they follow strict behavioral guidelines. One of the players I talked with, who survived a terrible home life, described being incarcerated in an 8-foot-4 by 7-foot-7 cell most of the day as “a blessing.” It gave him a chance to become the person he knows he can be, he said, and his goal was to be a nurse so he could help people.
What writer wouldn’t feel lucky to tell that young man’s
story?
It was fun to see dozens of high school athletes’
professional and Olympic dreams come true, and the DMN let me do all kinds of
other things. I wrote a story on professional bull riders from Brazil, covered a youth golf championship where a kid named Jordan Spieth seemed pretty good and hung out at a minor-league baseball game with Ethan Hawke.
We talked about two things he loves, sports and acting, and I asked why he hadn't done a sports movie.
We talked about two things he loves, sports and acting, and I asked why he hadn't done a sports movie.
"You have to try to pick your movies based on whether they
are going to be a good movie," he said, "not by whether you get to take batting practice."
Good point. And I think I can relate it to my start at The
Dallas Morning News.
I decided that I was tired of bouncing around small
newspapers as I tried to take big-league swings at writing. So I put the bat
down, sought out the best sports section I could find, and got hired as a page
designer and copy editor for DMN's SportsDay. I decided to do my best at that.
And then I started writing again. I had written humor
columns for my previous newspapers, so I started pestering the DMN lifestyles
department with new ones. The editors, in a moment of brilliance/weakness, ran
one, and I ended up writing a bunch more. They ran weekly in the paper for a
while, and despite all the sports topics I hit on over the years, my most-read
column was the "Humor Me" one that described how my 4-year-old son fainted when he saw his
mom after her knee surgery. Nathan saw an adhesive electrode sticker on his mom's side
and thought she'd been turned into a robot.
Yes, that really happened.
Now it’s hard to believe what is about to happen. I’ve been
working for newspapers since I was a paperboy at age 12, when I rode a wobbly bike
and threw papers at front porches with a frightening lack of accuracy. You know when
you’re bowling, and your ball hooks right into the sweet spot and you get that
explosive pin action? Well, the same thing can happen when the evening edition
of The Phoenix Gazette gets sidearm-whipped into a plastic Nativity scene. The feeling that
follows, however, is quite different.
The feeling now is strange. I’m leaving The Dallas Morning
News to start a new job, hoping to succeed with my same approach from 18 years
ago – “don’t get thrown out.”
So a final thank you to everyone.
For all the readers, thank you for your ideas, help and
feedback, even when you told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. For all
the coaches, thank you for your ideas, help and feedback, as well as the times
you spared my feelings by simply telling another coach, “I don’t think Matt
knows what he’s talking about.”
And to all of my colleagues over the years, thanks for your
friendship, support and everything else that made my time at The Dallas Morning
News so rewarding. It wasn’t always perfect, but it definitely had its
batting-practice moments.
I was lucky to get so many swings.
-30-
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Humor Me: If you could, would you be a kid again?
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