Thursday, April 7, 2011

Prerace Jitters

Posted: 06 Apr 2011 07:44 AM PDT

Where Would I Be Without PreRaceJitters

At the end of last season, there were plans of expanding operations, providing more coverage. Then the decision was made to shut down PreRaceJitters.com.

A second child on the way, new career opportunities that pull on the energy, and focus to continue running the online magazine, combined with frustration with the sport’s overall direction were good enough reasons to let it go.

My plate was too full. For the last four years, I’ve written countless columns, published dozens upon dozens of podcasts, and traveled the country interviewing some of elite track and field’s best known and most entertaining figures.

Selfish me. Selfish me.

Call it a Generation Me problem.

But then I began to think back to how it all got started. Four years ago when I first started writing, I lived in Las Vegas with the seemingly impossible idea of bringing a different media perspective on track and field to fans focusing on sprinting and commentary.

The majority of my professional career had been spent in the banking industry.

I started writing and creating the sort of track product that I want to consume. I began learning new things like blogging and social media which allows a person with a minimum investment to run a media platform from their home that ten years ago essentially took thousands if not hundred of thousands to create.

PreRaceJitters will continue operating with a goal to be more social and to give more to the sport- for example, by giving budding writers the unique chance to actually connect, to write, to produce something and send it out to the world. That’s what PreRaceJitters has done for me.

I’d stay up all night plotting the next interview, or meet coverage, or the editing the next PreRaceJitter.com Podcast episode with partner John W. Davis. I’d stay up until 3 or 4 am in the hotel lobby uploading videos at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California.

I can’t let the online track and field website go to the dust. From Los Angeles to Little Rock to Austin Texas, PreRaceJitters has been like a friend, always there, always giving me a chance to write, to share my voice, to connect to others. And for that I’m eternally grateful.

Where would I be without PreRaceJitters?

Without PreRaceJitters, I’d probably not have a full-time career in new media within the broadcast industry. I’d be in the banking industry helping finance other people’s dreams, but not living my own dream.

The Big Ten Network would have never called me to provide commentary on Jesse Owens for the Big Ten Icon series. I’d never have met the countless college coaches and athletes whose relationships are so incredible. I’d never have interviewed Tyson Gay and gone on to write that he would eventually beat Usain Bolt.

I would not have come back to writing.

I would have never moved my wife and son back to Texas and returned to school earning a web design and development degree.

I would never have started a summer camp teaching inner city and rural high school kids about building websites and careers available in technology.

I would not have reconnected a relationship with my best friend.

The process of looking back to the early days of PreRaceJitters has put its impact on my life into perspective. Every friendship, every job, every step in my life since 2006 can be traced back to a point with PreRaceJitters.

And just now, I am like a young man training for a marathon, realizing it’s about the journey, not the final destination, and looking forward at the new, exciting road ahead of endless possibilities.

Thank you so much readers for a great first four years, and I hope you will stick around for 30 more years of covering the sport.

What do you think?

If you have questions or comments…let me know in the comments.

Jay F. Hicks blogs about track and field. You can find him on Twitter.

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Prerace Jitters

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Prerace Jitters

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