Live & In-Person.
It still feels like yesterday I was a nervous freshman sitting inside the Good Five Cent Cigar office waiting for sports stories to be pitched, wondering if I made the right decision to join the student newspaper.
I had no intention of getting into sports writing and reporting after spending my senior year as my high school’s sports writer, but for some reason, I felt the urge to give it a second chance. Thankfully, I did.
Fast forward two years later, I’m the one pitching stories and guiding reporters through their interviews every week as the sports editor. I will admit, after three editions of the paper, it still feels surreal that I’m leading the very room that helped me fall in love with journalism and University of Rhode Island athletics.
It’s no secret that the past 18 months have been difficult on everyone in one way or another. Covering sports during a pandemic was definitely not on my college bingo card, but it did help me learn a lot –– how passionate Rhody fans are about their favorite teams, the importance of the work we do and how much of a privilege it was to cover games when many fans were unable to attend due to COVID-19 restrictions.
I am extremely grateful to take on this role with life slowly returning to campus, stadiums and arenas being filled to capacity and students getting to showcase their school spirit. It’s what collegiate athletics are all about.
So far, we have profiled former-Cigar photographer Alex Subers, who now works for the Philadelphia 76ers, and covered the football team’s incredible start to the season, among other exciting headlines.
This year will also bring the return of the annual PC-URI basketball rival game, a Women’s Basketball team that is expected to be one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10 conference and three teams that are trying to start fresh identities with new head coaches.
My biggest goal is to continue recapping games at both the varsity and club level and profile student-athletes and other athletic figures, all while exploring stories that the Cigar hasn’t tapped into before. I also want things to be fun! After all, we get to cover sports while balancing a full course load.
Thank you to Nolan Reilly and Will Pipicelli for being tremendous examples over the past two years. Without your guidance, I wouldn’t be the writer and reporter that I am today. Thank you to the editorial staff for being an awesome help and a wonderful resource during this transition; I’ve learned so much from you all in these last three weeks. And thank you to all the reporters that I’ve had the opportunity to work with in the past and will work with in the future. I hope I can make your Cigar experience as special as mine has been.
Cheers to a new school year and hopefully, a normal year of covering sports. If you have a story that you think should be told, feel free to email me at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter @aniekan_okon_.