“GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!”
At least I think it’s good news. I’m officially starting a blog and website. Why? Simple, to help promote my career as a sports journalist and to also have fun and hopefully share what I consider insights into sports.
While I do consider myself a sports journalist first and foremost, I do have other interests, including, travel, music, television, and especially video games. I am mostly focused on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn at the present moment and I expect it will stay this way for a while.
What I hope to do with this blog is to share my views and opinions with everyone. I hope those of you who know me learn about me in a new way through my articles on sports and other topics. I feel that I have had a very unique life that I would not trade for anything. I have a very loving and supporting family, a wonderful girlfriend who helped encourage me to take my leap into this career, and many wonderful friends.
I am currently the National President of Phi Boota roota, National Percussion Fraternity. I have performed with the Troy University Percussion Ensemble at PASIC 2012 in Austin, Texas, a moment which I will always enjoy until I leave this earth. As I mentioned I play FFXIV:ARR whenever I get a spare moment. My character name is Reginald Pendy and I play on the Hyperion server. I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves the Final Fantasy series or MMORPGs in general.
When talking about having a unique perspective on life at the early age of 27, I refer to having “lived” so many different lives in my 20s. I went straight to college after high school on a sports scholarship to do public address announcing and statistics for the athletic department of Wallace State Community College. After a short stay there I returned home where I began working as a veterinary technician cleaning animal cages and assisting my employer in various ways. Trust me scooping poop at 6 am will give you a unique perspective on things.
While working there I went on to Calhoun Community College where I would get my general studies out of the way while still figuring out what I was going to do in the future. I changed employment to Lowe’s and worked there for three years. I made many, many friends there and picked up some very unique perspectives from working in a big chain retail store. While there I finished at Calhoun and started at Athens State University where I quickly realized being a history teacher just was not for me. Sorry Carol Patterson if you read this, I really did try!
So while working full time and not going to school I had the experience of living at home in my early 20s wondering what life had in store for me. I decided to get back into music as it had been an uplifting experience for me in high school. I decided to attend Troy University and be a part of the “Sound of the South” marching band.
Now I know for some people, getting up and going to a drum camp four hours from home might not seem like a big ordeal, but when you have never left home for more than a week at time and you will be the same age if not older than almost anyone there, oh and by the way you don’t know a soul in the area you are going, it is a big deal. As a matter of fact that probably changed my life forever. See one reason I left Wallace early on was my fear of leaving home and being away from friends and family. It was more than the leaving home for school anxiety and homesickness. It was paralyzing panic attacks and driving an hour one way to commute because the crippling fear wouldn’t allow you to sleep. It is called agoraphobia, and it was tough to break. But that opportunity led me be able to pursue so much.
That will probably be the subject of another blog post later so keep tuned for that. Alright so I get to Troy and begin my career as a music major. I spent 2008-2013 as a music major and I learned sooooo much about myself, music, education, my dislike for the last word before the previous coma, and it also gave me a unique perspective on life.
Then in late 2013 I made the switch to sports journalism. I mean it made since. If you know me then you will understand that I have been a sports journalist my whole life. Every Madden or NCAA football game I ever played in, I made a newsletter, tournament, podcast, magazine, or some form of publication on it. I grew up delivering papers with my dad, I LIVED off the USA Today sports section. So I started this about 20 years ago and now I make a big first step. The start of Pendy Sports. I’m just going to take what I used to do for fun and do it for a living. Seems logical. So in the words of one of my favorite people ever, Professor Farnsworth, “GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!”
Wally Pendergrass