This being my final article that I’ll ever write for the Campus Times, permit me a few extraneous thoughts.
Since I started writing sports in early 2006, I’ve seen my hometown teams continue a tradition of excellence. The Red Sox won in 2007, the Celtics followed by beating Kobe and his mistresses … I mean team, in 2008, while the Bruins continued to suck. Such is life. Then the Patriots had the gall to lose to the Giants and ruin a run at history. Now I’m not usually a very high-strung individual, but boy was I heated for that game.
I’ve had the pleasure of watching the greatest college football game ever (Ohio State-Michigan, 2006) and the worst football game of all time (Cleveland-Buffalo, 2009). In one particular instance, I made a bet with a friend that if J.D. Drew could only get a hit against the Indians in the 2007 postseason, I would become a Mormon. He hit a grand slam.
In my years of writing here, I’ve borne witness to some spectacular scandals, interviews and slip-ups by athletes. I’ve defended almost all of them on the basis that if every sports star was as boring a human being as Peyton Manning, there would be no reason for me to get excited about sports. We all need a little Kobe Bryant in a hotel or Ben Roethlisberger dropping a digit on an unsuspecting co-ed to get through the day. Imagine the excitement you’re now going to feel whenever you see Rick Pitino in a restaurant!
Having a NCAA Tournament preview in the paper was my idea and it became the most read article in the paper for the three years that it ran. On the other hand, I’ve had some horrible ideas, so maybe it all evens out. In the first year of that award-winning piece of journalism (OK, so not really), I correctly predicted George Mason University reaching the Final Four. That’s right, I’m a genius.
For 46 editions, I wrote my own sports column, supposedly the pinnacle of my journalistic achievement. Along the way, I’ve been censored and then when I tried to write about said censorship, got censored again.
There have been three co-editors who have worked with me. Each was great and brought something different to the table. I’m pretty sure each one has also called me a lazy sack of crap at least once (Ms. Dana Hilfinger, at least once a week). I’ve argued with everyone about everything, and loved every second of it, even when I lost.
One final thank you to Andrew Bruml, the intrepid ex-editor-in-chief who listened to my idea of having my own column, gave it the go ahead and stayed out of the way as I proceeded to mock celebrities and sports stars in less than complimentary language. Without the early support, I would’ve never been able to fully develop as writer. Mucho gracias. Obviously there have been those both in the paper and readership who have been less than complimentary toward my work. As I have developed myself as a writer, I have been constantly trying to provoke a reaction out of people. Most of the time it hasn’t worked, because, let’s be honest, sports are a luxury that most people don’t have time for. So for those people out there who have read my articles and complained or have expressed approval, I appreciate it. Truly. And for everybody else, screw yourself and the horse you rode in on.
Maystrovsky is a member of the class of 2010.
