My first visit to an Alabama football game: Reflections from a young sports writer

ATHENS, Ga. — I’d only ever been to two college football stadiums in my still very young journalism career.

Both are pretty obvious.

First is Spartan Stadium, which I attended both as a fan and working media while in my years as a student at Michigan State. I wrote about it in my introductory article when I started my job with the Athens (Georgia) Banner-Herald, how my parents took me to a game when I was small and influenced my blood to turn green early.

Second, of course, is Sanford Stadium, which I entered for the first time at the end of last summer following a 14-hour move from the mitten state. Truthfully, I still get lost in that labyrinth of a stadium, and they just had to go and change up the routes I memorized — how to get from the parking lot to the press box to the postgame presser and back — last year by giving us a new press box this year.

On Saturday night, I scratched a third stadium of my bucket list: Bryant-Denny.

(It’s here that you might be surprised that I’ve never been to the Big House in Ann Arbor.)

I remember the Microsoft Teams message I sent to my boss’ boss, Tommy Deas. The big kahuna, the one who has believed in me and allowed me opportunities to get where I am today. It started with a “what if,” and ended with my signature, “You can say no lol!” I sent it as I sat in my brand-new seat overlooking Dooley Field, waiting for Georgia to kick off its home opener on Sept. 7 against Tennessee Tech.

There was an underlying ask to the question at hand: a want to meet Anna Snyder.

You all may know her very well as the resident high school and Alabama recruiting reporter for The Tuscaloosa News. We’ve been friends since we started in the Gannett system at the same time last summer, introduced by none other than Deas. We’ve been trying to make it work for a while, since she wasn’t able to come to the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/first-visit-alabama-football-game-080334869.html

Author : The Tuscaloosa News

Publish date : 2024-10-02 08:03:34

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