I looked at my then two-and-a-half year-old daughter, wondering “What do I do now? What does the future look like?”
Fifteen minutes earlier my phone had rang, I looked at the caller ID and held my breath.
I answered it and on the other end was the owner of my former employer.
“We’re going to have to cut sports and let you guys go,” he said.
The decision came after a major advertiser cut ties with the company. I later found out this came as a result of negligence by ownership, an infuriating fact to uncover.
Still, that decision felt inevitable.
The company laid off nearly half its workforce two months prior in December of 2024, freelancers reported their payments were months late and the aforementioned owner found himself embroiled in a family controversy.
I hoped the sports department, the boots on the ground, would be able to survive any cuts. We were the faces in the community that took the company from a startup to a regional force. But it wasn’t enough to save our livelihoods.
I asked if there was anyway to save our jobs. I was told there wasn’t.
My wife was three months pregnant with our second child and sports writer jobs in West Virginia aren’t exactly plentiful. I didn’t want to leave the profession I studied to be a part of.
After my wife got home from work and settled in, I told her the news.
What would I do next?
What any person who had just been laid off would do – travel to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
***
The week before I was laid off my wife brought up the possibility of sending me to the Super Bowl. A die-hard Eagles and pro football fan, going to a Super Bowl had long been on the bucket list.
The timing felt right.
It was the last time the game would be played on this side of the country until 2028 and the Eagles were in it. I’ve long been a fan of the game. Aside from the cultural phenomenon it is, some of the greatest moments in football history have occurred in the game and Super Bowl LIX would be no different. Either I would see the team I have had an unhealthy relationship with since early childhood win a Super Bowl against one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game or I’d witness the first three-peat in NFL history at the expense of said Eagles.
All of this would happen in the city that’s hosted more Super Bowls than any other.
With our second child on the way, my wife insisted if there was ever a time for me to go that was it. So I bought a ticket and reserved a hotel room for the weekend. But the day before I was supposed to leave I suddenly found myself jobless.
We discussed abandoning the trip but at that point we’d be selling what we bought for 30 cents on the dollar. It didn’t make sense so the morning after getting laid off I packed up and drove to New Orleans, making yesterday’s problems next week’s problems.
Along the way a couple people texted, inquiring about what had happened. Most showed remorse. What we had built in our four years there was unlike anything the area had seen. It changed the way sports were covered and the content that could be produced to accommodate the coverage. No longer was the reader siloed into paying for a subscription and getting three or four photos.
I chose publicly to ignore the demise of the sports department and enjoy my weekend, but one message stood out. Shady Spring basketball coach Ronnie Olson wasn’t on the loss. He wanted to know what was next and how he could help.
I’ve met many people who don’t like Olson but he’s always been in my corner and supportive of the work I’ve done. Does his program stand to benefit from it? Of course, but so do many others but he was the one pushing forward. I told him I’d get back with him on the drove back from New Orleans.
***
If you’re ever in a life crisis and can swing it, I highly recommend a bucket list trip. New Orleans was perfect. The weather was 72 degrees and the entire weekend was a celebration of the Super Bowl. The city was made to be walked and I took advantage, eating beignets, sightseeing, enjoying Bourbon Street and traversing the French Quarter.
It all culminated in one of the greatest nights of my life with the Eagles – the longest-running constant in my life – crushing the Kansas City Chiefs. Not even my job predicament could’ve thrown a wet blanket on that euphoria.
Afterwards I walked down to the lower levels where one of the event security officers gladly filled my cup with on-field confetti, capping the night. It made the 12 hour drive back the next day more of a bliss, listening to numerous podcasts try to explain what had happened the night before.
About eight hours in I called Ronnie and the idea for Play Sheet Sports began to solidify. I could’ve waited around on some of the other statewide outlets I reached out to but the reality was we were in the midst of basketball season and in southern West Virginia basketball is king.
Ronnie suggested starting an LLC and venturing on my own. Truthfully I didn’t love the idea at first. I just wanted to deal with the content side. I didn’t want to sell advertising and handle to paperwork required. But I also knew I couldn’t afford to wait and lose any momentum. I had a gracious offer from another former editor to start freelancing at the Beckley newspaper, where I started my career. It was a chance to stay in the scene with an some income while I figured out the next move but I knew if I was going to make this work I had to commit to it fully
I talked with my wife and she largely agreed. She brought up buying a large stake in my former employer but it wasn’t something I was interested in. From a journalistic standpoint there was a level of shame in being associated with a company that used grabby headlines for aggregated police reports or national stories. After my exit many readers expressed that same sentiment which felt encouraging. I didn’t want that baggage.
Ultimately I settled on establishing Play Sheet Sports. I felt like sports built my former employer’s platform and if I could do it once, I could do it again. So a week after I was laid off, I officially launched the website. I told my wife the goal was to have an advertiser or two by the end of May. If I didn’t, I’d focus on a career pivot after the summer. If the endeavor proved unsustainable in a year, I’d abandon it entirely.
By May I was able to pay myself a full salary and the goal is to continue growing.
In the launch post for Play Sheet Sports I broadly explained what was happening, that I was venturing on my own but I’d need the support of loyal readers and advertisers alike. By the end of the day three different advertisers reached out and gave me belief that this thing could work.
Fast forward one year and Play Sheet Sports is thriving. The list of people who have made this work is endless.
I can’t begin to express the gratitude I have for my wife, Dustin White, Ryan Davidson, Ronnie Olson, Jason Belcher, Elizabeth Albin, Kristi Atha-Rader, Lisa Redden, Kyle Muscari, Bill Isaly, Mike Hines, Noah Kapp, Mike Green, Karen Akers, Greg Rogers, Wayne Ryan, Chris Rose, Ashley Honaker, Karen Bowling, Cassandra Stalzer, Trish Williams, Doss Howell and Michael Laxton.
Many of those people put their support and/or financial backing behind Play Sheet Sports before it was able to pull its weight and in turn we’ve grown to the point of making good on that investment, generating over 70 million views in our first year. I can’t begin to fathom how quickly we’ve grown and that’s a product of your support as the reader.
Your support has allowed me to monetize several social media accounts, increasing revenue streams.
I owe a special thank you to Heather Belcher, Greg Barnett and Tina Laney, all of whom allowed me to use their photos as I built the site out.
Doing this on my own has taught me a lot. I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. I’ve learned that one person can’t get to everything and sometimes you have to be okay with that. It’s taught me the value of what’s mine. My videos, photos, graphics, stories, etc. I value and protect it all because I’ve built something like this before for somebody and know the value of it. It’s why I’m protective of and at times combative over my intellectual property. I’m not building something again for somebody to take advantage of.
***
In this specific capacity you often hear the compliment, “Thank you for everything you do for the kids.” While you form relationships that transcend the business and enjoy seeing the people you work with succeed, the truth is the kids I do it for are my own.
A year after looking my daughter in the eyes, full of uncertainty I get to look both of my children in the eyes with a much different feeling.
One of gratitude.
About the Author
