By Brandon Ladd

Headline from Jack Perdek

I had my goodbye to the Oswegonian on B1 of this paper, but I would be doing everyone who has helped me out on my journey here at Oswego State a disservice if I did not talk about the impact athletics has had on me here. 

I never touched a hockey stick here, I did taste the ice though when I face planted playing broomball. I never touched a baseball or softball bat, but I felt the rain soaked hill leading up to the fields countless times. I never touched a basketball in Max Ziel gymnasium, but I got to watch the greatest basketball team in school history. 

Moral of the story, I never got to play in college but I had the opportunity to broadcast, report and recap countless athletic events for the Lakers during my four years. 

I joined The Oswegonian as a sports writer, the end of August my sophomore year. I honestly struggled at first because I had never seen my work copyedited before. Meaning that the red slashes from Matt Watling and Ben Grieco, the higher-ups at the newspaper, was a culture shock. I was so mad the first time it happened, I must have had 60 edits on my 900 word golf article. I was cursing coming around the corner of Onondaga Hall and by the time I reached room 332 and sat down, I was fuming. 

Then I sat down and looked at the edits, I decided to learn from it and get better. Each week I tried for less edits and was anticipating grabbing my edited article at the Friday writer’s meeting to see the damage. It kept getting better and I finally got in a groove. 

The best part of that time was covering the coaches and athletes that were the main characters in athletics. My first interview was with the golf team, with coach Howard and a young sophomore Ryan Fecco. Fecco went on to win multiple golf tournaments the next three years. Then I had interviews with swimming and the track & field team. It was a pleasure getting to know former Olympic trainer and then-running coach Jacob Smith. He always gave me honest and insightful answers. The swimming coach was a Dallas Cowboys fan, so we bonded over quarterback Dak Prescott. 

I would have my interviews on Wednesday’s in the early afternoon. I would go to the gym and think of my questions while working out. Then go do the interview after a shower, it gave me a clear headspace. Then a quick trip to McDonald’s for a cheap meal. Class would occupy my evenings and then I wrote the articles in the Onondaga lounge from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. 

I always wondered what happened after that in order to get the article placed in the newspaper by Thursday night. So, when approached about the Sports Editor position for the next academic year, I jumped for it. I started training with Watling and his Asst. Sports Editor Luke Owens. They taught me a ton and trained me for about six weeks on Indesign. Before I get to the darkest day in campus history, I want to backtrack. 

My sophomore year also saw me join the WNYO sports team, covering hockey as an analyst on the pregame, intermission and postgame show. This was the first time I had the chance to watch the action up close. I loved it. It was being a fan and journalist at the same time. 

Then COVID-19 happened, I do not want to make this too personal because it was an event that impacted so many at this campus. But it took my career path away from me and my love of journalism away. I called my year as Sports Editor, the year of “fake sports” because there were no athletic events until March. The paper came out weekly and I was lost. I went through the motions to get my two pages of sports in for the reduced paper. 

I was depressed and could not care less. So, I jumped at the opportunity to be Editor-in-Chief the following year. I wanted something new and I wanted to get away from sports. The thing that had made me who I was, also broke me for about a year, not having it.

I called a lot of games from spring 2021 up until March of this year. I followed the men’s lacrosse team’s struggles last spring; I do not believe they ever won. I watched the men’s soccer team play defense on its way to the SUNYAC Championship game. Then, for my last act, I got to watch the men’s hockey team from both the announcing booth and from the control room as a producer for select games. I also got to announce every single men’s basketball game for WNYO, watching them steamroll every SUNYAC team in its way. 

I looked down and realized that I had lost my love for what I was doing when it came to Oswego State athletics. That I would have to depart from this sports train I was on and have to find a career elsewhere. My torch that once burned the brightest, was a small ember that only could be lit again for a few select hours calling games. My love for preparation was gone, I called the games and would get home with tears in my eyes. Imagine a breakup, I went through it with sports. 

It was a couple weekends ago and I was walking around the athletic complex on a Saturday. I noticed all the games happening around me and remembered my love when I showed up to this college on the lake. It gave me closure, noticing the spring air and all the buzz happening around the events. I thought of my interviews in Laker Hall when I was young and driven. I thought of the way I wanted my words to dance while I wrote my articles. 

I need a new love, I hope I find it in news producing at CNY Central in Syracuse. COVID-19 took away my first love and it was never the same. But the memories are bittersweet and I have learned so much from sports here. Thank you for the wisdom. 

Photos provided by Brandon Ladd