One of those 'Year in Review' things: 2016

31 Dec, 2016

2016 was a pretty big year for me, even if collectively the world can’t wait to leave it in the rearview mirror.¹

I graduated from the best University in the world, got to cover a national championship basketball game, managed to travel to a handful of awesome cities, spent the summer getting paid by MLB.com to watch baseball in San Diego, saw my little brother play college football during his first season and saw my older brother get married.

I got to take a quick road trip across the country with my dad, where we took a pitstop and had a quicker look at the Grand Canyon. A few months later I took another trip across the country with my cousins and we stopped by the Grand Canyon again, but actually spent more than a few minutes doing it.

I had some fun writing about music for the first time with a group of fantastic writers from UNC, had even more fun channeling my obsession with Chipotle through writing, and got asked to help coach a high school girl’s basketball team.

(Quick interruption here. The guy who asked me to help coach knew that I’d never coached before and also knew that I’d never played organized basketball before. I figured “why not?” and jumped into it. Our point guard figured out on the first day that she knew more about basketball than me. Mission completed.)

I had planned on doing this “year in review” thing in a few different posts, but as is sometimes (ie: always) the case with me, I procrastinated. So here I am sitting in the living room on New Year’s eve, watching the Clemson-Ohio State game, and trying to figure out how to finish my “best of” lists and also make them decipherable.

So it’s going to be more of a list than a long-winded post, and that’s probably for the best. As my former mentor Mark Bowman told me when I was covering an extra-inning Braves game on my first day on the job alone: “tight and bright.”

Well said, Mark.

The best stories I wrote in 2016

I was fortunate enough to cover some pretty big events this year, and even more fortunate to work with a large collection of talented and generous writers and editors. So thanks to all of you for making each one of these stories possible, and better than they were when I submitted them.

1. Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson end their careers at UNC
2. Column: My time in Hell (Duke)
3. Joel Berry and the ride in the white truck
4. With key adjustment, Jankowski spurring offense
5. 5 standouts from Perfect Game showcase
6. Mickey Moniak confident, relaxed heading into Draft

The best stories I read in 2016

There’s a 100 percent chance that I left out some stories that should be on this list, and to make sure that doesn’t happen again I’m going to keep better track of the “wow” stories I read during 2017. Still, all of these deserve a read if you haven’t read them yet.

In no particular order:

1. The Mastermind, by Wright Thompson
2. Jose Fernandez Was a Singular Superstar, by Ben Lindbergh
3. The Carefree King of Cleveland, by Justin Tinsley
4. A Long Night In Charlotte, by Tommy Tomlinson
5. Because We Could, by Dylan Howlett
6. ‘We’re the Only Plane in the Sky,’ by Garrett M. Graff
7. LeBron James chases the ghost from Chicago and basketball immortality, by Lee Jenkins
8. The Accidental Best 14 Years Of My Life, by Brendan Marks
9. A Refuge In Right Field, by Aaron Dodson
10. It’s Supposed To Hurt, by Turner Walston

The best albums I listened to in 2016

I listened to a lot of music this year, and more hip hop than I’ve ever listened to before. Unlike the previous list, this is probably the order that I’d put my favorite albums/mixtapes of the year. Also note, this is entirely personal preference; I’m far from a music critic:

1. 22, A Million — Bon Iver
2. We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service — A Tribe Called Quest
3. 4 Your Eyez Only — J Cole
4. Bobby Tarantino — Logic
5. Coloring Book — Chance the Rapper

Honorable mentions (no particular order here):

• Handshakes With Snakes — Apathy
• Stoney — Post Malone
• “Awaken, My Love” — Childish Gambino
• Views — Drake
• The Life of Pablo — Kanye West
• SremmLife 2 — Rae Sremmurd

I’m going to try and make a few more “Best of” lists for 2017, but just know that the best movie I watched was The Revenant, the best TV show I watched was Stranger Things, the best book I read was The Only Rule Is It Has To Work and the best game I watched was UNC vs. Villanova for the National Championship.

I’m not big into New Year’s Resolutions, but I have been meaning to write more frequently and read more often, as those two things are guaranteed to make you a better writer. Who would have thought?

So moving into 2017 I’m going to try and make more time to do those things. I’m planning use this Medium page as an outlet for writing about baseball and sports and music and movies and books and whatever else I feel like writing about. As for that reading thing, I’m starting with The Arm, by Jeff Passan, which I should have read last year.

Now that I’m talking about procrastinating again, I’ve come full circle, which is a fantastic writing technique and an even better way to end this mess.

I hope you all had a great 2016; here’s to an even better 2017.

Happy New Year.

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