Sports Sports sports!!! – The Daily Evergreen

This year has been pretty chic. Kudos to Brandon, Alex and Anna for making the Last Dance fun!

Hayden Stinchfield

A little over three years ago, I was in a random class whose name I can't remember. Honestly, I remember almost nothing, but what I do remember will stay with me forever.

The book for the class was a little expensive, so the class group discussion agreed that one guy buy it for all of us and we all sell it. In my joy at this development, I created a few memes about our hero. Really mundane stuff, like him playing the wolf with all the arrows or the soldier blocking all the kid's grenades. You got the idea.

The memes were good, but they weren't the reason I remembered the class. Someone responded to my meme dump with something like This guy must have a meme page, and I did, so I provided it. A group of my classmates followed me there.

The following school year, I found myself at a party with a marching band group. Someone came up to me and introduced himself, and I realized he was one of the classmates who had followed me the year before. I called him through his Instagram account and he called me through mine. I thought it was a crazy coincidence at the time. Now I realize it must have been fate.

A year later, I needed a job. I had just changed my major from political science to criminal justice and quit my job at the Northside Cafe. So I was looking for a new place to work on Handshake. When I saw that the Daily Evergreen was recruiting, I applied. Journalism has always interested me and I love sports, so a sports journalist role seemed perfect.

We scheduled an interview over Zoom, and when I got there, I was surprised to see an oddly familiar face. It was the same guy from the party, from the class whose name I forgot. His name is Sam Taylor and he was the sports editor of the Daily Evergreen.

It was two years ago. Now Sam and I run the sports section together as co-editors. It's been a winding road for both of us, but there is no one I would have rather steered this ship with for my final semester at Evergreen and WSU.

During my time here, I've had the chance to cover two incredible basketball seasons, the second of which saw the Cougs return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over a decade. I have edited for many great writers who will one day do great things in the field.

Thanks also to Brandon Willman, I guess, for hiring me as sports editor. It was the best decision he ever made.

This article made me realize that writing is a dream I want to pursue, and for that I will always be grateful. It's real.

Go Cougs!

Hayden

Sam Taylor

My freshman year, I took a political science class that required a textbook. A fairly average college experience.

A member of the class discussion group suggested purchasing the textbook for the class and putting it in a shared Google Doc. We thanked the epic soul and one of my classmates created a series of pretty good memes. I followed this meme page and read its basketball articles for next year.

My sophomore year, I was at a marching band night that a bunch of other people showed up to. At the party, there was none other than the meme lord of my class. I introduced myself and we chatted briefly.

This guy was Hayden Stinchfield. We stayed mutual, watching each other through Instagram stories full of sports shots.

My freshman year, I had just become a sports editor. I was one of three writers when I started. I hired Trevor Junt (Congratulations to Trevor Junt), then responded to an email from this same Hayden Stinchfield. I loved interviewing new writers because I felt like I could keep it casual and talk about sports. A week or two later, I hired someone named Brandon Willman.

I'm not ready to say goodbye. So rather than say goodbye, I want to thank a group of people who made my Daily Evergreen, Murrow College, and Daily Evergreen experience amazing.

It starts with the boys in the basement. You know who you are. My fellow editors and reporters spent countless hours in the Daily Evergreen newsroom every Wednesday writing, editing and designing the next day's paper.

It's a tireless process that I sometimes hated doing, but always loved seeing the end result. Plus, the opportunity to spend time with you was always entertaining.

Through Evergreen, I had the chance to develop my journalism skills through interviewing, reporting and writing. I had the opportunity to cover WSU women's basketball for two years, including their 2023 Pac-12 Tournament championship and run to the WBIT Final Four. I saw two of WSU's best, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Bella Murekatete at the top of their game.

I also covered baseball, men's basketball, tennis, volleyball and virtually every other WSU sport. Many thanks to the WSU Athletics communications staff who ensured student media had incredible access.

I'm going to miss Evergreen. So much so that I'm happy to report that I'm not quite finished. Check out some more things coming from Samtaylor in the coming weeks.

After that, it's onward and upward. Thanks Evergang! You are all the best!!

Go Cougs!

Sat