Why Greater Lafayette Sports Report exists

How we arrived and what to expect from GLSR.

Greetings from the Greater Lafayette Sports Report with a heavy emphasis on covering the Purdue women’s basketball program.

Thanks to those who have already subscribed, and feel free to share with your friends, loved ones and even adversaries (maybe you won’t be enemies if you encourage them to join, or they’ll be upset you sent them here and your relationship will never get off the ground).

I apologize for bursting onto the scene without an explanation, but hopefully, I can provide some clarity as to why I’m doing this.

BACKGROUND

I worked at the Lafayette Journal & Courier for 32 years and decided to accept a buyout from Gannett last December. The buyout was too good to pass up and I was at a stage in my life where I was tired of juggling a lot of responsibilities as the company continued to cut employees and opted not to replenish resources to newsrooms to stuff as much money in the pockets of CEOs and VPs as possible. The overlap of covering Purdue football, men’s and women’s basketball and high school sports became a tremendous burden with the travel and everything involved.

I was willing to do my share and help in areas outside my responsibilities because that’s how I was brought up in the business. That’s what we did at the J&C. You never heard me complain about helping my co-workers. Multi-tasking was cool early in my career, but not so much as I started accumulating white hair (it’s more of a salt-and-pepper look now).

Plus, the influence of managers outside the J&C grew more and more each day and they enjoyed coming to a Purdue event and overwhelming me with their staffers. Basically, they staged a coup when they felt the need to receive credit and show everyone they cared about the Boilermakers equal to other schools in their circulation area, quickly pushing J&C staffers to the side of the road to cuddle next to the deer carcass. At last year’s Big Ten championship, three additional writers joined me to cover the title game. When they told me what they were writing – even though I thought I was in charge - I looked at my screen and said: “What the hell am I supposed to write about?” Nobody was listening. It was my last day and driving home at 4 in the morning reaffirmed I had made the right decision.

A few weeks later, I joined GoldandBlack.com as a freelancer, helping out initially with men’s basketball coverage since ace reporter/writer/guru/swami Brian Neubert was scheduled for surgery. I was happy to help and enjoy working with Brian, Tom Deinhart and Alan Karpick (I’m not sure they enjoy working with me) and the rest of the staff. I’ve expanded to help with football this season and will continue to assist in men’s basketball coverage. Alan has allowed me to post information about the women’s basketball team/program on the message board and I’ll still take advantage of that.

WHY FOCUS ON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL?

I’m not eligible for the Taylor Swift/Beyonce job openings with Gannett since I can’t return to the company until early December. That was my first choice.

On a serious note, when I started at the J&C, I began covering the program and remained the beat writer until I left. I took on more responsibilities throughout my career but always made time to cover the team. I have over three decades of experience writing about Purdue, the Big Ten and the national landscape. I still have a passion for covering women’s basketball, maybe because it’s the only thing I’ve done well, although some will challenge that statement. I’m not going to apologize for wanting to cover women’s hoops, even though some in the business questioned me for still covering the team when the program was sinking.

The change in coaches has rekindled the energy and enthusiasm. Recruiting is on the uptick. There remains strong interest in the program, and I believe that will be reflected in attendance numbers as Katie Gearlds continues to reshape the culture.

There are stories to be told, games to report on and opinions to share. My perspective and institutional knowledge of the program runs deep – and I’m proud of that – but others cover the team, and they do a fantastic job. This is something I want to do, regardless of who else is doing it.

WHY NOT COVER OTHER SPORTS?

Right now, women’s basketball will be the centerpiece of this enterprise. Could it expand to other sports – Purdue and local – in the future? Yes. I feel this community, from a local/high school sports standpoint, is deprived of coverage, but I’m not ready to jump into the deep end. There are plenty of stories out there and some haven’t been told yet, but we’ll see if I’m the person to do it. I always enjoyed covering high school sports.

I don’t want to take on too much and be forced to produce content every day and then I’m right back where I was a year ago, without the meddling interference from corporate minions. I’m not interested in the 24/7 timeline anymore and there might be some news items I pass up initially because I’m living my life away from work.

WHY IS IT CALLED GREATER LAFAYETTE SPORTS REPORT?

No. 1: I like the name. That’s all that matters, right?

No. 2: It allows me to expand in the future if that’s where this goes. I’m not opposed to expanding, but I’ll know when – or if – the time is right.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Nothing. It’s free for now. To those who have offered financial support, thank you. I’ve communicated with those outstanding individuals who wanted to pledge money to the project, and they know how much I appreciate their desire to support this endeavor. But for now, we’re keeping it open to everyone who wants to sign up unless you want to make an offer I can’t refuse that doesn’t involve a horse head in my bed (Google it if you don’t understand).

WHAT TO EXPECT

The plan is to cover the team, the program and add perspective on what’s happening around the Big Ten and nationally. I’ll be at home games when it doesn’t interfere with my other duties for GoldandBlack.com and I might show up on the road if the schedule permits. Will you see content every day? Probably not, but hopefully, during the course of a week – depending on when the Boilermakers play – there will be a consistent presence. What the presence looks like will vary from game recaps, power rankings, analysis pieces, Zoom interviews, and Q&As, to deep dives into trends around the Big Ten and Purdue. I’m open to doing a mailbag segment if you have questions about the team and what’s going on.  

IN CLOSING

Part of the inspiration for this comes from Dave Bangert, a former J&C editor/writer/columnist who started his own Substack (Based in Lafayette) after leaving the paper. I would encourage you to subscribe to his work. He’s a one-man show covering Lafayette/West Lafayette and doing it better than those outlets with multiple reporters. His experience and knowledge shine through his writing and it’s worth the price of a subscription to stay informed.

Thanks for your support.