Sometimes, I just have to laugh and think through how I got to this point. The co-host of a weekly (now twice a week) podcast, at times a regular contributor to a mid-major website, and a credentialed media member asking questions regularly not just to a local hero, but sometimes nationally regarded coaches who are set to go down in the record books as all-time greats.
Not bad for a pep band drummer from a mid-major school in Rochester, Michigan. Or is it Auburn Hills? I still don’t know the right answer.
The reality is, I’m not sure how I got here. Fake it till you make it, is probably a large part of it. Being a man capable of ignoring his imposter syndrome probably didn’t hurt either.
I first became an Oakland fan in the fall of 2004. My older brother was a vocal member of the Golden Grizzlies Athletic band. I say vocal because while he played alright, his penchant for trash talk was easily the best part of his “game.” Well, as a young drummer and family member of his, it was no surprise that I liked to run my mouth at games right alongside him. Then, in the conference tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma the 7th ranked Mid-Con team went on a run that I never thought would be topped. Getting to be the drummer and miss nearly 2 weeks of school between the conference tournament, play-in-game, and absolute obliteration at the hands of the University of North Carolina, in North Carolina was simply amazing.
I was a fan for life. Ignore the parts where I have put my fandom up for sale on Twitter. We’ll get there! It’s part of the journey!
Throughout my time at Oakland, the pep band and basketball were one of my greatest joys. Not only the people but the sport itself. I grew up in a town obsessed with basketball. Former Indiana great and MSU assistant coach Dane Fife was my first basketball coach when I was in 4th grade. I greatly enjoyed the game of basketball. I just wasn’t any good at it. In a town where the top players were identified by 6th grade, I wasn’t in that mix. I accepted that and moved on from basketball. That I could be around it again in college and in a small way maybe impact the game or at least increase the environment was great.
When my time at Oakland was done, I became just another loudmouth fan. Trolling on message boards and social media, making a “name” for myself as OUdrummer and GrizztalkOU. As Twitter blew up more and more, I found myself tweeting about basketball. A lot. Why anyone cared what I had to say, I still don’t understand. Maybe because not enough people were talking about mid-major basketball? I had become known as an Oakland fan and that was pretty cool. Just another annoying person saying stupid stuff on Twitter, but I had engagement at times and at a minimum found a small group of people online that understood this niche world.
The Metro Series between Oakland and Detroit Mercy didn’t exist when I was a student. So when Oakland joined the Horizon League, I was a part of the fan side who was helping to fuel the fire. I had heard the stories about how UDM had kept Oakland out of the league previously. I learned their fans had a message board and hated “Mercy” almost as much as Oakland joining. I found a group of people to try and torment. And heading down to their “old musty gym” to watch Oakland take over with 5k other Oakland fans was pure fandom joy.
It also brought me to the HoriZone Roundtable. After one Oakland win, I got into it with a UDM fan (who will remain nameless because I consider them a friend now) while having not even left the parking lot yet. They had run their mouth about their team and after losing another rivalry game brought nothing but expletives and ridiculous to our “conversation.” It was stupid, fun and for everyone watching online, entertaining. Two of those people watching online were Bob McDonald and Jimmy Lemke, who had created a podcast centered around the Horizon League.
Fast forward a year, Bob and Jimmy asked myself and the UDM fan on to preview the upcoming rivalry game. It was my first time doing a podcast on basketball and I thought it was fun to break down the game and why I thought my team was better. Hell, I knew they were better. Little did I know, I would soon be asked to come onto the HoriZone Roundtable as a permanent co-host. And as they say, the rest is history.
It’s been wild being a part of HoriZone Roundtable. Highlights have included:
- “Giving up my fandom” as I was frustrated with Oakland and wanted to be a more unbiased fan of the league
- Realizing that Oakland was always going to be the team I knew and cared about most
- Having players start to appear in my DMs
- Having coaches start to appear in my DMs
- Having parents of players start to appear in my DMs
- Having coaches call me
- Having school admins call me
- Having parents of players start to call me
- Breaking the story of Rashad Williams’s midseason eligibility before ANYONE else (And yes, I know there are still some people at Oakland that aren’t happy about it. Sorry, not sorry.)
- Being allowed in the arena during COVID when attendance was only media and team personnel
- Pissing off every fan base equally and being labeled a hater until it was against your rival and you realized maybe I wasn’t so bad. Until it was your team again.
- Getting a 10-minute segment from some Oakland players doing an offseason podcast. And if you haven’t listened to it, you need to. 2 of those 3 had a lot to say about it. Micah, still don’t know what I did to make you hate me. Blake, I know what I did. I get why you would hate me. My offer will always stand that I would love nothing more than to buy you dinner sometime.
- Greg Kampe knowing who I am, although I know he thinks I’m stupid and he’s probably right
I could probably go on for an entire article or 3 about the experiences I have been so fortunate to have. So why is now the time I’m deciding to walk away?
The main reason is Oakland broke me last year, as media and more importantly, as a fan. What that team accomplished last year feels like the pinnacle. I can only hope every fan base in the Horizon League gets to experience winning a first-round game and becoming the darlings of the NCAA tournament. But this year, I realized, I don’t have the same passion watching any games. While I think I am fairly unbiased, I’ve still gotten to this point because of Oakland basketball. And I don’t know if I can feel the excitement again that I felt last year.
The other reason is HoriZone Roundtable needs your support more than ever. And if you’re still reading this, you’re exactly who we’re talking to. We know there’s a dedicated group of people who listen to the podcast, read the articles, and enjoy the coverage of the Horizon League that this publication provides. There’s not very many mid-major conferences that have a media publication this dedicated to providing coverage of your teams. But this coverage isn’t free.
I’m hanging it up. I’m walking away. And I’m doing it while opening my wallet to help ensure that all the teams in the Horizon League will continue to receive coverage for years to come. If you are glad to see me going, consider donating $20 as a victory that you won’t need to listen to me on the podcast again next year. If you’ve enjoyed my work, consider donating $20 as a thank you and to help ensure that the HoriZone Roundtable continues to live on. I have never taken a dollar from HoriZone Roundtable. When I have traveled to cover The Horizon League Championships, it has been on my dime. But for some of our writers, that’s not always an option. We want to ensure that they get the chance to cover the teams they put so much into during the season.
With that out of the way, it’s out there and final. Wright State doesn’t look like they’re going to be able to take me up on the offer in the standings I needed to walk away quietly. We still have a few more weeks of Horizon League action and it’s going to be a great end to the 24-25 season.
So, as Frank Sinatra said, “I did it myyyyyyy wayyyyyyy.”
That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.