So long and thank you from So Much Sports
Five years ago So Much Sports Baltimore began as the first spin-off site of my project So Much Sports. While writing plenty of sports articles and focusing on a national level, I couldn’t help but notice that sports in my home city were not being covered like I would have wanted them to. To me, college athletics were glossed over too much by other media outlets that focused on the pro sports or the one big school in the state, but none of the ones that are in Baltimore.
Baltimore is a very interesting and rare city actually, with seven Division I colleges in the state and five within close proximity of each other in the Greater Baltimore area. Also in that greater Baltimore mix are three Division III schools.
After graduating from UMBC I decided that I would give it a shot to cover all the local colleges, and not just football and basketball, but soccer, and volleyball and lacrosse and women’s sports too just as much as the men’s sports. While at first I would joke around that I just didn’t want to start paying to go to sporting events yet and was just wanted to get media credentials so I could get into games for free, I quickly realized that there was something to be built with So Much Sports Baltimore.
After starting my first year covering games at UMBC, Towson, and Loyola, over time I continued to expand, getting credentialed to cover games at Stevenson, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Navy, Goucher, Morgan State, Coppin State…if there was a team to be covered, I was covering them. And with the rapid expansion I was no longer able to be a one-man show. That was how I started So Much Sports’ internship program. I was not sure how it could happen, but after speaking with several school administrators from various colleges, it happened. So Much Sports Baltimore was going to be a place where college students looking for experience in media could get valuable first-hand experience covering games live from press row, attend press conferences and actively participate in interviews and I was going to share my industry knowledge gained over the years to my writers to help them improve.
I’m not exactly sure how many interns I’ve had over the years, but I can certainly tell you the most rewarding part of So Much Sports Baltimore was seeing the growth of young, passionate writers under my guidance. Many have graduated and gone on to land quite impressive jobs in the media industry.
It was a tremendous five years with So Much Sports Baltimore, with a great family of writers, great relationships with players and coaches all with the goal to share the athletic stories that probably weren’t told enough before. One moment I’ll never forget was when Stevenson’s volleyball team won their fifth straight championship and one of the girls on the team was in more shock that a reporter wanted to talk to her about the victory. Let’s be honest, Division III volleyball players aren’t exactly athletes with lines of reporters waiting to talk to, but I was there to tell the story of that special moment. And I was there covering teams going to NCAA Tournaments or winning big games over rivals. Telling stories of both the teams and individual players who stood out and worked their tails off for the game they loved to play.
That is why it is so upsetting and heartbreaking to announce So Much Sports Baltimore has come to its end. There are many reasons why this is happening, but instead of being upset about the future without So Much Sports Baltimore, it’s probably better to go back to remember and recognize everybody who was a part of it — from the writers who represented So Much Sports Baltimore, to the coaches and players who we got to meet and talk to, to the unrecognized Athletic Communications Directors at all of the schools or gave So Much Sports Baltimore the opportunity to cover their games, to the great and dedicated readers of this website. To you all, I say thank you for being a part of So Much Sports Baltimore.
Corey Johns
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