GAME IS ON
The Press Box Newsletter — May 5th
An issue packed with drama, new members, editor’s picks, milestones, and tips
Howdy Friends,
As a kid who grew up in India, cricket was the game I felt attracted to, like many other kids. It’s not that we didn’t have basketball courts or soccer fields at school. We did.
But cricket is a phenomenon back home. Every other sport gets overshadowed by its glory. It’s the primary reason you don’t see India doing well on the world stage, like at the Olympics or FIFA World Cup, etc.
It’s not that the talent is not there. Of course, it’s there. We are a country of a billion people. But cricket is like a tornado that sucks everybody into it.
The wind is changing its direction, though. I am hopeful India will be able to find its rightful place on the Olympics medal tally sooner than later.
Editing your stories published at The Press Box allows me to reconnect with the sports I discarded decades ago. Whether I read Keyshawn’s NBA pieces or Michael’s Yankee stories, I feel these guys have the same passion for their sport as I have for cricket.
After all, like movies and music, passion for sports is one of those universal things that knows no borders.
Okay, enough drama for the game night. Let’s get down to business.
New Members of the Community
On behalf of Suite 1984 and the TPB team, I welcome the following writers to our tribe. They might be new to TPB, but they are certainly not new to writing.
Scott-Ryan Abt, Dan Kadlec, Jean Elizabeth Glass, Danny Twoguns, Charlie van Houten, BichoDoMato, Darryl Ventura, Reinaldo Caraballo, Suzanne Pisano, Daniel Eliezer, KL Simmons, Wade Allen, Craig Tyson Adams, Ginger Cook, Amber Jain, Stephanie Wilson, Carl-Henry Cadet, Eric Forseth, Kristine Laco, David Bryson, Tom Egelhoff, David, Michael Alvaro, Barb Dalton 🇺🇦, David McCalley
Please visit their profiles, read their work and help us build a community of sportswriters like never before.
Writing Tournament Updates
Since we announced the first TPB writing tournament last Thursday, we have received a few fabulous entries. You can read them here.
If this is the first time you hear of the tournament, especially those who joined us last week, I am leaving the link to the announcement post below. It has all the details.
Put your thinking caps on, pick up your pens, and submit your entries. The qualifying round ends on May 31st.
Editor’s Pick of the Week
As I said last time, I don’t play favorites. But, sometimes, you come across pieces you want the world to read even if they are not yours. These are some of those stories.
- Craig Tyson Adams lives the experience of a boxing match in his fictional memoir Pug.
- Charlie van Houten raises an important question about inclusivity in sports in Why Are There No Openly Gay Men in Professional Tennis?
- Reinaldo Caraballo reinforces retirement is a player’s call in Retire and Be A Hero or Stay Going Long Enough to See Yourself Become A Villain.
Celebrating Small Milestones
- TPB has grown into a community of 71 writers and followers within three weeks of our launch. We can’t thank you enough for the love and support you have shown us.
- Christian Aviles’ Moving on as a Cubs Fan became the first 1K views piece at TPB. It is still going strong with 3.2K views, and 2.1K reads under its belt. Congrats Christian.
- Sally Prag, one of our TPB “blondies on the sidelines,” became the top writer in sports on Medium. When I started TPB, she told me she doesn’t know anything about sports. Look at her now. You go, girl!
- Talking of girl power Ginger Cook’s piece about how a pair of golfer’s hot buns drew her to the sport is going strength to strength with close to 600 views and 300 reads. You can read it here. Ginger, you rock!
- Christopher Robin and Gerald Sturgill joined the TPB editorial board last week. I am super pumped to have these fantabulous versatile writers on the team. Welcome, Chris and Sturg!
Medium Tip of the Week
As inconvenient as it may seem from a writer’s standpoint, the feature images you choose can boost the viewership of your stories.
We recommended in our submission guidelines to use license-free images from Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels. Wikimedia Commons is the best bet to obtain license-free player or celebrity images.
You can add Unsplash images from Medium directly. It will save you some energy by automatically adding credits in the caption. Place your cursor in the white space where you want to add the picture and click the + sign. The following options will display.
Now, click on the magnifying glass next to the camera icon, and voila! You will get connected to Unsplash. All you have to do now is type your search criteria. Once you have found your perfect photo, click on it, and you are all set.
Let’s Wrap This Baby Up
Our umbrella organization, Suite 1984 Publishing, owned by KiKi Walter is currently undergoing changes. The Press Box is the toddler of this future giant.
If you have any suggestions or feedback to help us serve you better, do not hesitate to let us know. We would be glad to experiment with them on TPB. It will help us further enhance your experience not only with TPB, but with our other publications too.
Thank you for your time. I’ll catch you on the next bounce.
The Press Box Editorial Board
