Trust me when I tell you this: There’s no way to predict all that a new year will bring. I ought to know.
Not only did this past year bring me new knees, but it also brought a change of jobs – both of them blessings, neither of which I was expecting when the clock struck 2014.
Clearly, many of you weren’t expecting it, either. I can’t tell you how many times across the past 12 months that people have asked, “What happened?”
And that was before I underwent two knee-replacement surgeries last summer.
Many were friends. Some were acquaintances. Others knew me only through my mugshot in the newspaper.
All of them, though, wanted to know why I left the Press Journal, how I ended up at Vero Beach 32963 and whether I missed writing about sports after more than 30 years in what too many in my profession consider the “toy department” of the newsroom.
So, as the calendar turns to 2015, allow me to answer those questions one final time …
At this time a year ago, I had no clue my days as the sports columnist for the Stuart-based Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, which include the Press Journal, were coming to a close and that I was only weeks from joining the largest newsgathering team in Indian River County.
How would I?
I had worked for the regional Scripps operation for nearly 12 years, winning numerous awards, covering multiple Super Bowls, World Series and Olympics, and establishing myself as the newspapers’ most read and recognized columnist.
Why would I think that merely offering an opinion on the papers’ daily barrage of stories on the Indian River Lagoon would undo all the good I had done as a journalist, teammate and ambassador?
But it did.
And it didn’t matter that I was asked for my thoughts at a staff meeting I was required to attend – in Stuart, of course – or that I expressed my dissenting view respectfully, sharing my interaction with readers who kept telling me they were growing weary of the often-redundant lagoon coverage and felt too many other local news stories were being shortchanged.
It didn’t matter that, minutes after that fateful meeting, I was strongly urged by my direct boss to apologize to the editor for my opinion, which I did.
In writing.
Even though I had done nothing to apologize for.
The damage was done and, inexplicably, was beyond repair. My previously amicable relationship with the editor immediately went so cold, in fact, that he barely acknowledged me.
Weeks later, when I returned from my Christmas-week vacation, I was told that, as of the following Monday, my job was being moved from Vero Beach to Stuart.
There was no good reason given, even though, only three years earlier, I had been gladly granted permission to move back to Vero, where the Scripps suits were so worried about the growing competition from Vero Beach 32963 that they began publishing their own weekly newspaper.
There was no consideration for how much time and money the daily, two-hour commute would cost me.
And, oh, by the way, I was the only Vero-based writer or editor who began the 2014 work year with orders to work full-time in Stuart, where I was strategically assigned the first cubicle outside the editor’s office.
Clearly, I was being singled out, punished and, effectively, pushed to leave – which, ultimately, is exactly what the Scripps brass wanted as it carried out its wrongheaded plan to reduce the Vero office to nothing more than a bureau of the Stuart News.
So I quit.
After exploring my options locally, including job possibilities outside the newspaper business, I decided to retire from Scripps, where my work was no longer appreciated and my presence was no longer desired.
Lucky for me, there was another newspaper in town. There was Vero Beach 32963, a better newspaper created in 2008 by an accomplished newspaperman who saw a gaping void in the local news coverage offered by a Press Journal that had become more concerned with the region than our community.
I had first met Milton Benjamin for lunch a couple of years earlier to discuss his newspaper and whether I might have a future writing for it. We enjoyed a robust conversation, shook hands and agreed that we would talk again someday. The timing wasn’t yet right, but I couldn’t help but be impressed with the man.
Unlike many of my naysaying coworkers at the Press Journal, I liked what Benjamin was doing with Vero Beach 32963, which I believed was the perfect publication for the more affluent and educated barrier island audience – which made it the perfect publication for advertisers seeking to reach that market.
The journalism was solid. The writing was lively and compelling. The design and format of the newspaper, which offered an appealing mix of local news, social happenings, outstanding photography and in-depth national stories on subjects of interest to many island residents, was a can’t-miss recipe for success.
The more I read it, as the weeks and months passed, the more I could see myself walking away from an increasingly hostile work environment at Scripps and taking my talents across the bridge. It was merely a matter of when, not if.
Just days into 2014, the Scripps editor finally pushed hard enough to get what he wanted and, in so doing, gave me the opening I needed.
Benjamin and I met for lunch again, and when we parted this time, I had a new job.
I joined the Vero Beach 32963 staff in late January, and the transition from writing sports columns to news columns has been exhilarating.
This past year has allowed me to opine on everything from the impending All Aboard Florida boondoggle to the tragic crash on the 17th Street Bridge to the unusual rash of murders in our community.
I’ve shared the stories of some of our more-interesting neighbors: the writings of former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent; the landscape photography of realtor Dale Sorensen; the rags-to-riches rise of McDonald’s franchisee Joe Conrado; the tennis addiction of King Van Nostrand; the eagerness of Norris Olson to serve his country during World War II; and the courage of Rose Culumber, the Seaside Grill co-owner who battled epilepsy for years before finally being cured through brain surgery.
I’ve allowed Jarrod Owen to tell you what it’s like to be the twin brother of a home-grown country music star. I convinced Mardy Fish to explain how a haunting anxiety disorder took him off the tennis court.
I questioned Bill Motta’s willingness to support the efforts of his son, Zeke, to try to come back from a broken neck suffered while playing for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
I also took you through my two knee-replacement surgeries last summer, from the lead-up to the decision to undergo the operations through the challenging rehab process.
For those who care: I’ve made it back to the tennis court, where I’m still getting used to playing without pain.
I’ve even written about the Press Journal, saying it saddened me that the good people of Indian River County no longer had a hometown daily newspaper – a column that, according to several of my former co-workers, struck a nerve in the Stuart newsroom.
That’s OK.
To this day, the editor there still hasn’t thanked me for my contributions to the company, wished me luck in my future endeavors or even said goodbye.
Classy, huh? But not surprising.
Anyway, that was last year, which, despite my summer of surgery, turned out to be far better than I could’ve predicted.
Vero Beach 32963 added a sister publication, Vero News, and we’ve revamped our other mainland weekly, the Sebastian River News. Veronews.com has become the go-to website for online local news.
More and more, people all over this county are talking about our stories.
I can hardly wait to see what 2015 brings.
