Former sports editor reflects on good and bad of The BV

  

There are no words that can possibly do justice to the four years I spent at St. Bonaventure University.

   

It seems pretentious to sum up so many life experiences into a piece that’s fit to run in a student publication, but here goes nothing.

   

As a wide-eyed freshman from Jamestown, N.Y., one of my first experiences as a Bonaventure student was a trip to The BV newsroom during Welcome Days. I remember looking at the then-fairly bare walls at Robinson 111, half-listening as editor-in-chief Charlie Specht talked about writing for the publication.

   

Little did I know at the time my Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays would become my lifeblood, my social life and the place I worked to hone my journalism skills on a weekly basis.

   

Every new assignment as a member of BV Sports was a new adventure, and I put as much work into my early pieces on cross country and golf as I did into my two seasons as women’s basketball beat writer. 

   

When I became sports editor for the fall 2010 semester, I put in 14 hours every Wednesday night (4 p.m. to 6 a.m.) to make sure my department put together the best product we could each week. It was enjoyable to track the progress of my mostly rookie staffers, taking pride in the fact I was helping them improve. 

   

While I feel I never received the proper respect I deserved from my peers, it’s still a thrill to see “Ryan Papaserge, Sports Editor” on the old issues my parents collected for me.

   

There was plenty of social pandering done by “Paps” in the newsroom as well, and I’m still not necessarily proud of it – well, other than the one time I was jacked up on one too many cans of Amp and little sleep, leading me to jump on furniture and claim I was doing parkour. My name’s forever immortalized on the newsroom walls, attributed to quotes I certainly can’t use here.

   

This is probably the umpteenth editorial you’re going to read that says this, but joining The Bona Venture was the best decision I made as a Bonaventure student – even for reasons not directly related to journalism.

   

Whether it was sitting on the back steps of Francis Hall and smoking cigars with Feats until sunrise, inviting everyone who showed up to an ill-advised, alcohol-fueled end-of-semester party to the 3rd Francis lounge for an “afterparty” or tossing a perfect game of beer pong (beat that, Philip Humber), the bonds – however tight they wound up being – with fellow BV editors will be ones I’ll forever cherish.

  

With that in mind, I’d like to thank some great people who helped shape my Bonaventure experience:

   

Thanks, Jake Sonner. Seriously, thanks. Even though you knew how to get under my skin all the time and provoked some short-tempered responses, there’s a special place in my room at home where the caricature of us is there for all to see. 

   

Thanks, Tyler Diedrich, for being the only other NASCAR fan on campus. I apologize to the rest of the BV newsroom for our extended conversations about the sport (which it is). By the way, this finger is mine, and I forgive you for playing that Goo Goo Dolls album five times in a row en route to Atlantic City last month. 

  

Thanks, Sam Wilson, simply for your enjoyment of “The Big Lebowski,” the Cleveland Indians and “Pet Names for Genitalia.” I apologize for not ponying up the $60 for the Nashville tickets sooner.

   

Thanks, Emilee Lindner, for accepting my belated apology a few weeks ago for telling you to “shut the f—k up” at the BV a couple years back. I’m glad we buried the hatchet.

   

Thanks, Bryan Jackson. (Insert Rob Schneider line from “South Park” here.)

   

Thanks, Mary Jane Stevens, for providing me with an appreciation for women’s basketball that carries with me to this day.  It was an absolute pleasure spending the 2009-10 season on press row at the Reilly Center with you.

   

Thanks, Tim Gross, for being a great editor to work under and an even better friend. (On that note, thanks to you, Cameron DeOrdio, Talbot Eckweiler, Becky McKeown and several others who I joined in enduring such cinematic epics as “Cracker Jack’d,” “Zardoz” and “Titanic 2” on occasional weekend nights.) 

   

A huge thanks goes out to everyone else I worked with I didn’t mention here for length’s sake.

   

Last, but certainly not least, a hearty thanks to my best friend, Chris Graham. I’m going to miss watching “Monday Night Raw” with you each week, and I’ll get buried at home for trying to make professional wrestling references. It was great to see you evolve and improve as a writer, going from a “white guy who writes rap reviews” gimmick to the personification of dominant opinion writers at this university.  Thanks for bearing with my fatigue-fueled “pipebombs” over the years. 

   

Actually, I suppose there were 821 words that did some justice to four years at St. Bonaventure University. 

   

What can I say? Journalism is all about word count. 

 

papasejr@bonaventure.edu