Asst. Sports Digital Editor | Fall 2015; Asst. Sports Copy Editor | Spring 2016; Asst. Sports Editor | Spring 2017; Sports Editor | Fall 2017

This is for everyone, named and unnamed, who helped me realize working at The Daily Orange was never just about producing a paper.

Graham: Handing you the keys to this place is surreal. You’re so young. This job entrusts you with people and words, in that order, but to help, it gives you a team that ends up feeling like more than that. Trust yourself, trust them and please continue the new tradition of Setnor reads. P.S. Every time someone mentions this duck, take a lap.

Tomer: Well, old friend, this is it. We have escaped Midtown traffic, Talen Energy Stadium and more binds than I can remember. We’ve got one last semester for men’s basketball and self-deprecation, and I know we’ll have no problem with the latter. No matter what happens, let the eternal ledger show that, with Guy as my witness, I beat you at 2K in Forest Hills. This is our last necklaugh.

Charlie: My very loud, chain-wearing, hair-slicking, Sinatra-playing, gabagool brother. More than anyone else I’ve ever met at The D.O., you surprised me. You went from almost outta here to suddenly in house, where I saw you become one of our most reliable writers. No one can ever take away that we got “Shooters Shoot” in the paper.

Schaf: Sometime between Bellator 182 and our 3 a.m. read at the house, I realized you have “it.” I should’ve known sooner — your assistant copy editor interview is an all-timer — but this semester has shown me everything I need to know. Keep doing the little things, like Football Guys do. We’ll work together someday. I believe that.

Big Bill: The courage it took to leave Case says more than words could. Don’t forget that nerve, or when to use it now that you’re here. And, if a valedictorian happens by the house one day, ask if they like poetry. No one does that, but they should.

Michael Michael Jordan: It seems only appropriate to paraphrase Andy Bernard here: I hope you realize you’re in the good old days before you actually leave them. Try to only worry about what’s in front of you, because there’s a lot there. Approach everything like you would a cartwheel: You might not land it, but you’ll run into it at full speed.

Bloss: Thanks for writing those Phillies runners. Turned out to be useful when Syracuse pulled one of the greatest upsets in program history and you had gamer. #BlossTourneyTalk

E.B.: Never stop asking questions, remember what David Ortiz taught you and keep churning toward that big future.

Kaci: I envy next semester’s staff for getting your hustle and your PUP food.

Nalvy: You have the tools to be great. The will, too. Listen, think, learn and put it all together? Yikes. That’s unstoppable.

Liberman: The balance you maintained between That TV Station and The D.O. is, I believe, unprecedented. Let’s do a read soon.

Guti: I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand you, and that’s OK. Anyone can see your loyalty to people and dedication to the craft, and those are immeasurable. Now pass the pistachios, stud.

Rest of the Sports staff: The D.O. gives you a high floor. You determine the ceiling. Use the resources this place provides, including washed-up alums like me.

Malex and Murke: Best beat partners I never had.

Bishop: Next time I pick you up, I promise my car will be washed. Until then, got any tape?

Bailey: Best way I can show thanks for your help is by feeding your hot-hand at noon ball.

Phil: Sorry about softball. Thanks for not taking me off the beat.

Klinger: Reading with you was like learning a lot about writing while riding the Zipper.

Hass: If I had to bet my life on anything, it’d be on you from a foot behind the arc in Arch. Tremendous!

Hyber: It’ll always be your world. Thanks for letting me live in it.

Fabris: Thanks for not changing my first lede.

Brett: I was the only male head ed this semester. Say it with me now…

Chloe: The New Jersey State Police and D.O.-ers against lewd acts owe you an unpayable debt.

Sandler: At the end of a D.O. production or party, there’s no one I want to talk to more than you.

Stacy: I admire how much you embrace your individuality.

OG, Muller: Reporting informs everything. You both assure me The D.O. will keep digging deep.

Kathryn: I will miss a voice from the porch intruding into a sports conversation to praise Buffalo, or point out something we did wrong or argue just for the sake of it.

Satoshi: Never have I known someone as devoted to anything as you are to journalism. Your attention to detail gives this business a good name.

Lucy: If people remember a PD for her guides, then I’ll put you up against anyone else ever. You did good work, for the sake of the work, and that’s a legacy itself. My only critique: More memes in the paper.

Swann: Mountain mama, you and I are the only two in our class left from freshman Media Cup for senior Media Cup. It amazes me you were a head ed twice in between. It’s been an honor to be here for your Swann song.

Schneidman: If our D.O. legacy ended at the changed policy manual, that would’ve been OK. But it didn’t. On my 21st birthday, my favorite night of production here, we showed what differentiates us from every other sports section in the country. We made a Power Move.

Mettus: You trusted a freshman you barely knew with no sleep to drive your car out of Clemson from midnight to about 6 a.m. Your confidence, along with your insight and feedback, became one of the things I prized most here.

Liam: Turns out the best pizza within a 75-mile radius of Ann Arbor isn’t from Pizza House. It’s a slice of DiGiorno in Toledo, and you were the plug. Thanks for being a great beat partner.

Libo: We broke news on stairs together. That began a wonderful friendship punctuated often by an insult and an offered fist-bump. You read and thought and wrote BIG, and that taught the rest of us.

Grossman: Probably the most valuable lessons I learned at The D.O. came from watching you. How to handle a blog (RIP). How to put the work first. How to not take yourself too seriously. You were right, in your duck, that we are the same cut of person. And, since no one probably reads these anyway: Free money.

Sma: You brought me in house. You gave me a pull-out couch to crash on. You gave me City Diner after I didn’t eat at McCullough’s draft party, and a T-shirt and shorts after I got drenched walking two miles through rainy Central Park. You gave me one of the best games of catch I ever had, that summer day on the beach at Coney Island. The only thing I can give is a thank you.

Schwed: This could be about that time in the car on the Mount. This could be about that time in the Sports office. This could be about Faculty, or Rutgers lax, or all the times we talked for way too long. But it’s not. This is about the next time. Whenever you think of this duck, give me a call.

Jesse: You always push me to be better, yet remind me to keep writing in perspective when I get too wrapped up in it. That’s all I can ask for. Though I should also ask: What’s a good story? Because hell if I know, but I’ll enjoy trying to figure it out with you for the next several decades. (Thanks for giving me my first beat, btw.)

Díaz: At first, I knew you as the girl in all my classes with the cartoon avatar on Instagram. Then as Alexa Díaz, the Op editor out on the porch who wore the dopest cat sweater. Then as just Díaz, who worked tirelessly to better this place and its occupants, who I’m proud to call my friend.

Torrens: I wouldn’t have wanted to squad up with anyone else for a two-hour conference call in the art director’s closet. Your lawyerly, bulldoggish talents never quite made me file baby budget on time (sorry, I’ll send it soon), but they will undoubtedly translate to dope stuff. More than anyone else at work, you knew when I needed a laugh or a rock. You understood me. Thank you, Alexia.

Justin: Life was somehow simpler when you owned 64 fantasy baseball teams. What a world. You were my sounding board for every big decision. Thank you. You beat me in the last Breakfast and Ball of college, but I got you next time. Go team.

74Fun: I’m coming home. We have one semester left until the rest of our lives.

Published on December 7, 2017 at 4:49 am

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR