Duck: Connor Pignatello

To the sports family,

I’ll miss the grind. I’ll miss afropop in the sports room. I’ll miss the articles on the wall. I’ll miss the misspelled credentials. I’ll miss making fun of Citrus TV. I’ll miss scheduling the A13 tweets. I’ll miss 2 a.m. (or maybe 3 a.m.) copyediting.

But to those who are just getting started at the DO, or to those who are midway through their journey there, appreciate it. Appreciate having a group of people who care about what you care about as much as you care about it. Appreciate the people who talk about how they thought of their lede while they were walking into the bathroom.

I’ve known I wanted to be a sportswriter since I was 16. It’s definitely unusual to know what you want to do so early in life, but the DO has taught me far more than anyone else. As many before me have said, upon my graduation this spring, I won’t be an SU alum, I’ll be a DO alum.

All those nights working late in the night on copy editing, or graphics, or stories while my friends hung out never made me resent the DO, but rather, it tied me to the sports staff even more. While my friends thought I was crazy for my late nights doing graphics at the DO house or copy editing stories in some random person’s room, I loved it.

It made me want to make my stories even better. Seeing all those stories pasted on the walls made me want to put my stories on the wall.

To the boys:

Connor: My first sports editor. You definitely held me accountable to say the least. But I always admired how even-keeled you were and how easily you handled things. I suppose I’ll never hear the end of not posting the scorecard in the Duke game. Thank you for convincing me to do another semester. You were 1000% right.

Tony: My other first boss. I really appreciated how much work you put into the digital side of the paper. You didn’t just let my graphics, tweets, and instagram content slide through, you provided helpful feedback. You wanted me to be better. Your work ethic as DME made me want to add to the paper with my digital work.

Cirino: Man, I wished you stayed another semester – we had some great chemistry. We had some great banter last spring and shared a lot of laughs. I definitely missed your “just kiddings” this semester. I’m wishing you all the best of luck in your culinary adventures.

Cole: Good luck shepherding this new crop of sportswriters next semester. I’ll be looking on from my professorship at the University of Nebraska. I’m gunning for tenure soon.

Hank: I’ll miss your brilliant positivity and you always asking how my day/weekend was. I’ll miss your stories and your laugh – they truly were a highlight of my production nights. No matter if you stick to writing about sports or pivot to movies (or something entirely different), your enthusiasm will carry you far in life. You’re going to return the sports digital section to greatness.

Spooz: I can’t exactly say I’ll miss those softball wakeups, but they definitely brought us closer. Picking you up from Day each Friday, Saturday and Sunday was always a fun time. And I’m still pretty amazed about your encyclopedic Drake knowledge. Tuscan leather.

Wyatt: To be honest, we probably met in person only a handful of times, but we had the copy rotations down. Good luck with assistant stuff. I get runner/obs you get gamer/sider?

Tyler: I know it’s a cliche, but you never stop smiling and your personality truly is infectious. Keep going with that. I think you have real potential covering basketball and your intellectual curiosity motivates me. It’s been so great to see your improvement this semester and I can’t wait to see more from you.

Anish: Saving the best for last. You’re definitely my best friend at the DO and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you. From being an assistant to being “the guy”, you’ve shown me what my potential as a reporter can be. You really care about journalism and it’s evident. I love how we shared a commitment to not make the lede a random moment from the game and strived to make our writing really worthwhile. You weren’t satisfied with “good” work and neither was I. You pushed to make your stories interesting, and that pushed me to do the same. Keep finding cool story ideas, keep writing the s*** out of those stories, and keep brainstorming five-word ledes.

My final advice: take risks in your reporting, take the time to make your writing something you’re proud of, and always keep the reader on their toes.

So long, D.O.