Part of the Wall of Fame, where I have collected fan letters and such. The cookies were generally eaten as quickly as possible.
We’re at a crossroads.
Ten days from now a new school sports year officially begins in Coupeville, as the Wolves hold their first football practice. Five days later, tennis, soccer and volleyball lace ’em up as well.
Six days from now I will hit the two-year anniversary of Coupeville Sports. This article is the 2,294th I’ve produced.
For most of that time I was also slaving away at a real job, beatin’ the crud out of my typin’ fingers in the dish pit. It was not an ideal mix, as one made the other harder.
Now, for the past six weeks, I’ve been a free agent, focusing just on Coupeville Sports (which is why I, unlike the newspapers on this Island, have been still pumping out stories on a daily basis).
This is a dry time of the year, but I have continued to publish, day in and day out, with the exception of a four-day period when I was at my nephews.
I would like to continue to deliver like that as we head into the school year.
To be able to hit virtually every home game for every CHS sport this year in person. To continue to cover JV sports as well as varsity. To keep on bringing you features on every kid I can track down, from the stars to the last player on the bench.
They are all bustin’ their tails, and they all deserve a moment in the spotlight.
To do that, though, I need a bit of help.
Many of you have contributed, whether financially, with thank you notes and graduation invitations or with treats (Cookie Wars 2014, a shining achievement in world history!).
If you continue to do so, I can avoid going back to a real job, which would undoubtedly make it tougher to keep Coupeville Sports hummin’.
A new job could very likely make it harder (or impossible) to be at games.
The one benefit of the dish pit was that restaurant’s willingness to work around games 92.7% of the time, but a new job might not be so accommodating.
I think I offer something unique here at Coupeville Sports. Something the News-Times, Examiner and Record can’t, and won’t, deliver.
It’s not a knock on those papers, or the people who work for them. It’s just a reality that their business model doesn’t support the type of super-in-depth coverage of one town that I have been offering.
They have to try and balance their coverage between multiple towns, and Oak Harbor has (presumably) more readers. They don’t cover JV sports. They don’t have access to the sources on the street that I do.
I am not doing Coupeville Sports to get rich.
I’m doing it to get cookies … sweet, sweet cookies.
However, The Man insists I pay a few basic bills (rent/propane/electricity/internet/car insurance). The first three I understand, the fourth is sort of necessary to actually run Coupeville Sports and the fifth is just silly.
Have you seen my car? Why in the world should I be forced to insure it? Against what? Falling apart in mid-drive?
I have been frugal.
I have no cell phone, no cable TV, no Netflix, don’t smoke or drink. My car drives surprisingly well for how it looks. Food-wise, I have stockpiled and am ready for a natural disaster or two.
To keep on paying my basics, though, I either have to go back and get a “real” job or I have to hope you, the readers of Coupeville Sports, value what I’m doing enough to help me keep going without resorting to breaking my fingers.
Unlike the newspapers, I have never, and will never, charge for access to my stories. Information should be free.
So, if you want to read me for free, no worries.
But, if you feel like what I do is worth a fiver (or more), there’s a donation button at the top of Coupeville Sports. If enough of you value what I’ve done over the past two years, my fingers will be eternally grateful.
Coupeville Sports is not going anywhere. But neither is real life.
How we go forward into our third year depends on you, the reader, as much as it does me, the writer.
Coupeville Sports 