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Abstract

class="link-block"> <a href="https://thecauldron.si.com/in-appreciation-of-women-in-sports-media-876cebeb85fb"> <div> <div> <h2>In Appreciation of 20 Outstanding Women in Sports Media</h2> <div><h3>Recognizing the work of 20 of the many amazing women who work in sports television media </h3></div> <div><p>thecauldron.si.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*i4GW82gxleUaC44CfGINhA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="3fc4">June — August</h1><p id="da13">I found some more consulting opportunities over the summer months. Late in the summer I was back at Indiana Wesleyan again, working with the team on a semester-long project. I also got to start working with Generis, the top church consulting firm in the country. One of my first projects was working on a support letter for a church and school on a huge campaign, so I had to learn about building a good case.</p><p id="7c7b">Around the same time, Muhammad Ali passed away. I’m not much of a boxing fan, and I’m not old enough to have seen Ali spar anyway. The Muhammad Ali I knew was the retired guy walking slowly, proudly with a shaking arm to light the flame at the ‘96 Atlanta Olympics. That’s because he fought a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease, something my Grandma Lou has fought for decades. His death and my work on case-building with Generis led me to put together a piece about Muhammad Ali, my grandmother, and Parkinson’s disease:</p><div id="5a59" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/my-grandmother-and-muhammad-ali-e33de90c9eac"> <div> <div> <h2>My Grandmother and Muhammad Ali</h2> <div><h3>How Parkinson’s disease took one of our greatest champions and how it is slowly taking one of my champions too…</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*x44APcEKXbQZrhXUE-pJVg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="8471">The summer was filled with traveling, reading, and lots of sports. I attended some Cubs games and a USA soccer game here in Chicago, then made it to a Coldplay concert in Indianapolis in July. I also found a few new writing opportunities, a pop culture <i>Suicide Squad</i> piece for <a href="undefined">Cycle</a> and a cool historical opportunity with Hoop <a href="undefined">NBA</a>.</p><p id="7034">August brought one of my favorite sporting events, the Summer Olympics. I ate up every second of the Olympics and wrote about everything. I loved the U.S. dominance in the pools, the majestic Usain Bolt runs, and the incredible Final Five gymnastics team.</p><p id="98ef">I also got to write about a fun hypothetical, one of my most well-read pieces ever. I wondered what would happen if each country could send just one man or woman that had to compete in every single event. Who would we send, and how would the U.S. do?</p><div id="3ec5" class="link-block"> <a href="https://thecauldron.si.com/what-if-each-country-could-only-send-one-olympian-8181e3dceb6b"> <div> <div> <h2>What If Every Country Could Only Send One Olympian?</h2> <div><h3>Who would Team USA send, and how would we fare?</h3></div> <div><p>thecauldron.si.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*6W1hNFu23nmNwpobSnWN1Q.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="908f">September</h1><p id="10e8">I write mostly about sports, with some television and pop culture mixed in along the way. It’s usually light and fun and filled with nerdery and puns. Now and then I get thinking about something more important and, now that I’m a writer, my instinct is to write about it.</p><p id="6c22">September 11th was a traumatic time for so many. I was a freshman at Wheaton College far from home in the most difficult year of my life, and the heroic act of one Wheaton alum made a huge impact on me that fall and stuck with me ever since. I wrote about his unusual courage 15 years later:</p><div id="d98e" class="link-block"> <a href="https://extranewsfeed.com/remembering-9-11-the-unusual-courage-of-todd-beamer-4ec925ae5cdb"> <div> <div> <h2>Remembering 9/11 — The Unusual Courage of Todd Beamer</h2> <div><h3>Why an ordinary man on United Flight 93 became an extraordinary hero to so many with two simple words and a courageous final act…</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*6UnNyduaqerbjG39aumvsQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="cfd8">October</h1><p id="2286">October is a glorious sports month with NFL full speed ahead and NBA starting up, and my Vikings got off to an awesome 5–0 start despite losing our QB and RB for the season. Any Vikings fan knows a perfect season will never last and has developed some coping mechanism for the inevitable heartbreak to come. Mine is sarcasm and that allowed me to do some work with a sports satire site called <a href="undefined">SportsPickle</a> that I’ve read for years at ESPN and elsewhere. I’ll be doing more work with them again soon.</p><p id="ea87">The Vikings were 5–0 when I wrote this piece warning bandwagon fans to stay away. We lost eight of our next ten games and missed the playoffs completely. I tried to warn people:</p><div id="56d5" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-minnesota-vikings-fan-why-c84ed05bd85"> <div> <div> <h2>So You Want to Be a Minnesota Vikings Fan… Why??</h2>

Options

    <div><h3>Everything you need to know before hopping on the Purple Train to glory land (or death, whichever comes first)</h3></div>
            <div><p></p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*5u1GiNOtVBfDAj53nEKsrQ.jpeg)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><p id="259d">Thankfully, I was not too distraught about the Vikings collapse because another team had captured my heart: the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had our best season in forever and were the favorite to win the World Series for the first time in 108 years. And I watched every second of that miraculous ride.</p><p id="d7db">That included spending a lot of time in Wrigleyville in October and November. I was at Game 1 of the NLCS when Miguel Montero hit a grand slam that sent Wrigley Field into a several-minute earthquake, and then I was on the streets with friends five games later when we clinched our World Series berth. I was back again for Game 5 of the World Series, an all-time bucket list item, and saw my Cubbies win a home WS game for the first time in 71 years. Then I returned one last time for Game 7 at a local Wrigley bar with a few old friends and tens of thousands of new ones for the most incredible sports moment of my life as the Cubs overcame a 3–1 deficit and a rain delay to win it all.</p><p id="3395">It was magical, and it was extra special for me because of one important Cubs fan who didn’t get to watch us win — my brother:</p><div id="f03e" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://thecauldron.si.com/waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop-f271fe74ca15">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop — A Cubs Life</h2>
            <div><h3>On the Cubs and Vikings and brokenheartedness and hope…</h3></div>
            <div><p>thecauldron.si.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*ZDyxN7SjqdQoyoC-UbDolg.jpeg)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><h1 id="4b35">November — December</h1><p id="d2bc">The joy of the Cubs victory and the 5 million person victory parade were offset somewhat by the shock and confusion many of my friends and I felt with the election a week later. I did a lot of listening in those weeks, a lot of learning.</p><p id="6dfc">I also finished up my big consulting project with Indiana Wesleyan and moved into a time of family and friends during the holiday season. I landed my first interview, with Gotham Chopra about his show <i>Religion of Sports</i>. I helped launch a new NBA website called <a href="undefined">16 Wins A Ring</a> as a staff writer and lead strategist and have since helped to launch a Cubs site called <a href="undefined">Wrigley Rapport</a>. I finally hit 1,000 followers on Twitter, and I was named a top writer on Medium in Sports, NBA, NFL, Television, Humor, and Culture.</p><p id="033d">I also wrote my 30th article for Cauldron as the NBA season hit full stride, looking back at the tragic story of former #1 draft pick Greg Oden, whose career never really got started thanks to a series of leg injuries. It’s one of my favorite stories I’ve told as I found a new, happier ending for Oden:</p><div id="9c81" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://thecauldron.si.com/the-curious-case-of-gregory-oden-d7086eef3a1e">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>The Curious Case of Gregory Oden</h2>
            <div><h3>The injury-cursed big man’s NBA career didn’t work out as expected, but he can still write a new, happier ending…</h3></div>
            <div><p>thecauldron.si.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*fRHks6Sa9NP7-14j7_9E3w.jpeg)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><p id="e761">2017 has begun with more of the same as I continue to find new writing and consulting opportunities. The freelance world is freeing but suffocating at times. Writing can feel lonely, like I’m shouting into the internet abyss wondering if anyone is reading, always looking for the next opportunity.</p><p id="e99a">Some of you have asked how you can support me in my work. Leads are always good — either for writing or for consulting, and I’ve now consulted with fundraising, churches, brand management, and online marketing. If you know someone that may need work and/or writing done and think I can help, please connect us. My biggest struggle is still getting that first connection.</p><p id="152a">But honestly, it helps a lot just knowing that people are reading and enjoying what I write. It’s a big emotional lift every time someone clicks the little heart below or shares an article, and both of those things help a lot by getting my work in front of more eyes. Social media likes and comments help too. It seems silly but in the writing world, that’s the game. It’s great to get feedback, positive or negative. If you read something, say so. Tell me what you liked or didn’t like. Ask me if I’ve ever thought of writing about this or that. I’m always looking for new ideas. I write a lot about sports but also about TV and movies, pop culture, humor, and more. You probably won’t be interested in everything I write, but I think there’s something for everyone.</p><p id="3e4c">Thanks again for reading, and thank you for your support. It’s been a pretty incredible last year and a half, and I’ve probably learned more about myself and grown more in this period than the previous five years combined. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of 2017 has in store!</p><p id="99d9"><i>Don’t forget to click the </i>❤<i> below so my heart smiles and so others are encouraged to read too. Please follow me here on Medium and subscribe to my newsletter below. Here’s a link to the rest of my <a href="https://readmedium.com/brandon-anderson-writing-archives-6b3ee1a29301#.6cteu050v">writing archives</a> from the past year.</i></p></article></body>

Brandon Anderson: 2016 Year in Review

Highlights from a year full of firsts, writing and otherwise

After 15 years beginning life at Wheaton College, 2016 had something entirely different in store. It was a year with a lot of firsts and a ton of personal growth. This is my look back at some personal highlights from the last year in addition to my 10 favorite things I wrote along the way.

I tried to pick diverse stories, some from various sports and a few from pop culture and life beyond too, so there should be something for everyone. At the bottom there’s a couple ways you can help support my work and a way to subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thanks for reading!

January — March

The year started out with my first consulting job at Indiana Wesleyan, where I worked with their Annual Giving team and gave an assessment of the program. That whetted my appetite for consulting and showed me it was a good fit for my skills, and it opened the door for other future opportunities.

I also decided to start writing on Medium. I had a lot of fun putting together a ton of crazy stats about the epic Golden State Warriors season. Some Medium Staff editors stumbled upon it and featured it on the homepage, and not long after that my story was requested to run at The Cauldron, a (then) Sports Illustrated website I visited frequently! Suddenly there was my piece at the top of The Cauldron, right next to an article by NBA star Derek Fisher. It was a cool shock to my system and really kick started this whole writing thing:

10 New Reasons To Love The 73–9 Golden State Warriors

Looking for more reasons to celebrate the greatest team in NBA history? You’re in luck!

thecauldron.si.com

April

This ended up being the perfect year for me to dive into sports writing with the big Vikings start and collapse, a Cubs run of a lifetime, and my guy Carson Wentz getting drafted #2 in the entire NFL draft. Wentz is from North Dakota State and someone I’ve followed for years, so it was pretty cool seeing all the NDSU and Wentz coverage at the draft here in Chicago. It also brought me my second Cauldron piece:

The Truth about Carson Wentz from a North Dakota Insider

All eyes are on the Philadelphia Eagles’ No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick

thecauldron.si.com

May

I branched out in May with some soccer coverage, inspired by the coolest underdog run I’ve ever seen in my 33 years watching sports. It was a soccer team called Leicester City in England, a squad of nobodies that came together despite 5000-to-1 odds and won the entire English Premier League. It’s kinda like if you took the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks and they won their way up to the majors, then won the World Series in the next five years with a team of local kids and cast-offs. I loved the stories of the key players and manager:

Leicester City: The Greatest Cinderella Story Ever Told

From 5000–1 to champions… How did Leicester get here?

I also spent a long time in May putting together my first paid article for Cauldron, a piece appreciating 20 of my favorite women in sports media. I spent forever listening to their podcasts, watching their shows, and reading their work, and I got a lot of input from friends making sure I was getting the wording right and being equitable to the women I admire so much.

I had no idea how much this article would shape my year. It got a ton of attention, both good and bad, and it led to a lot of great networking opportunities for me. A number of the women I wrote about thanked or followed me on social media, while others pushed back on why this person or those people were left out. It was a real learning experience for me on a lot of levels, one I’m still learning from. What started as an innocent attempt to appreciate a few women has turned me into something of a sports feminist. I could write the same piece again now about 100 amazing women in sports media without blinking, and I continue to work hard to support women and other minorities brushed aside in sports media. I’m hardly some hero, but this has helped me see the importance of doing my part daily:

In Appreciation of 20 Outstanding Women in Sports Media

Recognizing the work of 20 of the many amazing women who work in sports television media

thecauldron.si.com

June — August

I found some more consulting opportunities over the summer months. Late in the summer I was back at Indiana Wesleyan again, working with the team on a semester-long project. I also got to start working with Generis, the top church consulting firm in the country. One of my first projects was working on a support letter for a church and school on a huge campaign, so I had to learn about building a good case.

Around the same time, Muhammad Ali passed away. I’m not much of a boxing fan, and I’m not old enough to have seen Ali spar anyway. The Muhammad Ali I knew was the retired guy walking slowly, proudly with a shaking arm to light the flame at the ‘96 Atlanta Olympics. That’s because he fought a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease, something my Grandma Lou has fought for decades. His death and my work on case-building with Generis led me to put together a piece about Muhammad Ali, my grandmother, and Parkinson’s disease:

My Grandmother and Muhammad Ali

How Parkinson’s disease took one of our greatest champions and how it is slowly taking one of my champions too…

The summer was filled with traveling, reading, and lots of sports. I attended some Cubs games and a USA soccer game here in Chicago, then made it to a Coldplay concert in Indianapolis in July. I also found a few new writing opportunities, a pop culture Suicide Squad piece for Cycle and a cool historical opportunity with Hoop NBA.

August brought one of my favorite sporting events, the Summer Olympics. I ate up every second of the Olympics and wrote about everything. I loved the U.S. dominance in the pools, the majestic Usain Bolt runs, and the incredible Final Five gymnastics team.

I also got to write about a fun hypothetical, one of my most well-read pieces ever. I wondered what would happen if each country could send just one man or woman that had to compete in every single event. Who would we send, and how would the U.S. do?

What If Every Country Could Only Send One Olympian?

Who would Team USA send, and how would we fare?

thecauldron.si.com

September

I write mostly about sports, with some television and pop culture mixed in along the way. It’s usually light and fun and filled with nerdery and puns. Now and then I get thinking about something more important and, now that I’m a writer, my instinct is to write about it.

September 11th was a traumatic time for so many. I was a freshman at Wheaton College far from home in the most difficult year of my life, and the heroic act of one Wheaton alum made a huge impact on me that fall and stuck with me ever since. I wrote about his unusual courage 15 years later:

Remembering 9/11 — The Unusual Courage of Todd Beamer

Why an ordinary man on United Flight 93 became an extraordinary hero to so many with two simple words and a courageous final act…

October

October is a glorious sports month with NFL full speed ahead and NBA starting up, and my Vikings got off to an awesome 5–0 start despite losing our QB and RB for the season. Any Vikings fan knows a perfect season will never last and has developed some coping mechanism for the inevitable heartbreak to come. Mine is sarcasm and that allowed me to do some work with a sports satire site called SportsPickle that I’ve read for years at ESPN and elsewhere. I’ll be doing more work with them again soon.

The Vikings were 5–0 when I wrote this piece warning bandwagon fans to stay away. We lost eight of our next ten games and missed the playoffs completely. I tried to warn people:

So You Want to Be a Minnesota Vikings Fan… Why??

Everything you need to know before hopping on the Purple Train to glory land (or death, whichever comes first)

Thankfully, I was not too distraught about the Vikings collapse because another team had captured my heart: the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had our best season in forever and were the favorite to win the World Series for the first time in 108 years. And I watched every second of that miraculous ride.

That included spending a lot of time in Wrigleyville in October and November. I was at Game 1 of the NLCS when Miguel Montero hit a grand slam that sent Wrigley Field into a several-minute earthquake, and then I was on the streets with friends five games later when we clinched our World Series berth. I was back again for Game 5 of the World Series, an all-time bucket list item, and saw my Cubbies win a home WS game for the first time in 71 years. Then I returned one last time for Game 7 at a local Wrigley bar with a few old friends and tens of thousands of new ones for the most incredible sports moment of my life as the Cubs overcame a 3–1 deficit and a rain delay to win it all.

It was magical, and it was extra special for me because of one important Cubs fan who didn’t get to watch us win — my brother:

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop — A Cubs Life

On the Cubs and Vikings and brokenheartedness and hope…

thecauldron.si.com

November — December

The joy of the Cubs victory and the 5 million person victory parade were offset somewhat by the shock and confusion many of my friends and I felt with the election a week later. I did a lot of listening in those weeks, a lot of learning.

I also finished up my big consulting project with Indiana Wesleyan and moved into a time of family and friends during the holiday season. I landed my first interview, with Gotham Chopra about his show Religion of Sports. I helped launch a new NBA website called 16 Wins A Ring as a staff writer and lead strategist and have since helped to launch a Cubs site called Wrigley Rapport. I finally hit 1,000 followers on Twitter, and I was named a top writer on Medium in Sports, NBA, NFL, Television, Humor, and Culture.

I also wrote my 30th article for Cauldron as the NBA season hit full stride, looking back at the tragic story of former #1 draft pick Greg Oden, whose career never really got started thanks to a series of leg injuries. It’s one of my favorite stories I’ve told as I found a new, happier ending for Oden:

The Curious Case of Gregory Oden

The injury-cursed big man’s NBA career didn’t work out as expected, but he can still write a new, happier ending…

thecauldron.si.com

2017 has begun with more of the same as I continue to find new writing and consulting opportunities. The freelance world is freeing but suffocating at times. Writing can feel lonely, like I’m shouting into the internet abyss wondering if anyone is reading, always looking for the next opportunity.

Some of you have asked how you can support me in my work. Leads are always good — either for writing or for consulting, and I’ve now consulted with fundraising, churches, brand management, and online marketing. If you know someone that may need work and/or writing done and think I can help, please connect us. My biggest struggle is still getting that first connection.

But honestly, it helps a lot just knowing that people are reading and enjoying what I write. It’s a big emotional lift every time someone clicks the little heart below or shares an article, and both of those things help a lot by getting my work in front of more eyes. Social media likes and comments help too. It seems silly but in the writing world, that’s the game. It’s great to get feedback, positive or negative. If you read something, say so. Tell me what you liked or didn’t like. Ask me if I’ve ever thought of writing about this or that. I’m always looking for new ideas. I write a lot about sports but also about TV and movies, pop culture, humor, and more. You probably won’t be interested in everything I write, but I think there’s something for everyone.

Thanks again for reading, and thank you for your support. It’s been a pretty incredible last year and a half, and I’ve probably learned more about myself and grown more in this period than the previous five years combined. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of 2017 has in store!

Don’t forget to click the ❤ below so my heart smiles and so others are encouraged to read too. Please follow me here on Medium and subscribe to my newsletter below. Here’s a link to the rest of my writing archives from the past year.