Let’s talk about phones. I spent my first few years in the media answering them on Friday nights for the Chicago Sun-Times. 

Starting around 9:45 p.m, they rang and rang. And then they rang some more. 

When high school football scores came in, I became part of the busiest corner in the newsroom.

It was chaos. 

The preppers, as we were called, worked on a tight deadline. Coaches called with their scores and highlights, while a fax machine shot out paper with even more. Calls came in from stringers filing their stories, while others dictated their 150 to 300 words over the phone.

And then there were calls from the Sun-Times’ own writers, informing us that their own game stories were filed and to call them with questions. Some coaches called back to correct their stats and players’ names.

After a 45-minute flurry, it ended. Deadlines were met, while multiple pages of the Sun-Times were filled, including an agate page that listed every single score in the Chicago area.

This is where my sportswriting career began – in the chaos.

And I loved it.

While friends went out in Chicago and enjoyed their early 20s, I worked Friday and Saturday nights at the Sun-Times. I learned how to work on deadline. I learned how to handle the commotion. I learned how to compete as my roles and responsibilities expanded. 

And I learned how truly special Chicago is when it comes to its sports – from the passion that people had for their different high schools to their undying love of the Bears, Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks. Chicago sports is its own world; its own universe. 

And I wanted a place in it. 

In the summer of 2005, I walked into the Sun-Times offices for my first job in the Chicago media and started answering phones. Twenty years later, I’m starting another one with the same ambitious goals in mind. CHGO is a Chicago place that felt right for this native Chicagoan.

I know what these teams mean to the people here and to their fans around the world. I lived it. 

I was that kid who played basketball in his living room pretending to be Scottie Pippen on a Nerf hoop while watching the ’90s Bulls on TV. In high school, I took the Blue Line and the Addison bus to Wrigley Field, bought $8 bleacher tickets and sat behind Sammy Sosa several times as he hit 66 home runs in 1998. I rooted for Tom Waddle, Curtis Conway and Neal Anderson. 

Looking back now, being a prepper was a special time. I had my first job in Chicago sports. A young journalist could learn and dream. Steps away from where I sat was Jay Mariotti’s studio for “Around the Horn.” Rick Telander, one of my favorite columnists who went from mentor to friend, would occasionally stop in and buy “the desk” pizzas for the night. 

I went from covering high school sports to the Blackhawks – including their Stanley Cup runs in 2010 and 2013 – to the Bears. In between, there were assignments that took me from Wrigley to Comiskey to Bulls games. I covered Super Bowls in New Orleans, New York and Arizona (minus the Bears, of course). 

Sportswriting in this town is a serious business full of different personalities and industry giants. I got to work with Telander, Rick “The Viper” Morrissey, Mark Potash and, of course, our good friend, Patrick Finley. The Sun-Times was known for its sports coverage. It felt great to be a part of that, just like it is now with CHGO.

When I joined The Athletic in 2019, the company still had city-specific websites. I believed in being on the same team as Jon Greenberg, Lauren Comitor, Dan Pompei, Scott Powers, Mark Lazerus, Patrick Mooney, Sahadev Sharma, James Fegan, and, of course, Kevin Fishbain. 

The success of The Athletic in Chicago helped transform the company into the authority that it is today for all sports. Later, my team came to include NFL writers from across the country. Working closely with Fishbain, Pompei, Dianna Russini, Mike Sando and others made me better at my job. It’s the people who make this business – and change it.

And now, I’m joining a new team. It’s time for new goals and new teammates. That starts with Adam Hoge, but it also includes Mark Carman, Greg Braggs Jr., Patrick Norton and Stephen Nicholas. Being the Bears Insider and more for CHGO and the ALLCITY Network is what’s next for me. 

It’s time to build something again. I’m ready for it. And I hope you are, too. 

I promise to deliver the same behind-the-scenes stories I did for The Athletic and the Sun-Times. The exclusive features, analysis and criticism you received from me in the past will now be on CHGO’s website. I want to make our website part of your daily routine because of our great coverage.

The biggest difference might be what’s next for Hoge & Jahns. But here’s our motto: same show, new home. After years of working at separate places, we’re finally working under the same umbrella. This will only make the podcast better for you. 

Hoge’s number is still saved in my phone with a Score tagline. He was a producer for the radio station when I covered the Hawks. He once asked me to wake up at 5 am to join their morning show for a hit from Dallas. I politely said no. He said I could go back to bed after doing the hit. I told him he was crazy. It went something like that. He doesn’t remember it. But I do. 

It’s funny how things work out. We went from that interaction to recording the “Intentional Grounding” podcast in his basement to all of this.

Sports is a business built on relationships. General managers, coaches, players, agents and reporters will always tell you that. But I’ve always viewed my readers and listeners as a part of that relationship, too. Hoge and I want to take our podcast to the next level for all of you, while I do my best to deliver the type of stories and columns that you’ll remember and value. 

At CHGO, I’m onto new things. 

But it’s still the Bears. It’s still Chicago. 

And I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay.

READ: ALLCITY press release on Hoge and Jahns joining CHGO

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