I love sports. I always have. I played just about everything growing up — football, basketball, baseball, tennis and golf. I also ran cross country and track.

My dad was a high-school basketball coach, but baseball was the sport I excelled at most.
Let me tell you, there is no better feeling than standing on a mound 60 feet, six inches away from a guy in a state finals game knowing he can’t touch me. Or rounding third after hitting a home run to put your team in the lead. Or making a diving catch over a tarp and landing inthe stands to end the game.

Those things all happened to me, which seems to be decades ago.

When two shoulder surgeries ended my baseball career, I turned to writing — sports writing to be specific. It still brightens my day to interview a student-athlete right after he or she has had a great performance. It puts a smile on my face to listen to someone’s story that I’d never heard before. And I still get a sense of adrenaline when I watch a close game, match or race.

What I’ve learned since I started covering sports for professional publications in 2009 is you have to have to have thick skin. I used to when I worked in larger markets, but I was also a small fish in a big pond. No one knew who I was, so I didn’t really care. Plus I was part of larger staffs that I could joke with when we got a call from an angry subscriber or viewer. I don’t have that anymore, and I take negative comments a little more personallly in Evanston. I once left the business at the first small-market paper I worked at because of that. Granted, I also wanted to make more than 23 grand, working 60 hours a week. The public can be complete (jerks) in this business, and I sometimes still wonder why I do what I do.

But it’s for the reasons I stated above. I love sports, and I love to write. And I have to remind myself daily that I can’t let one (jerk) who makes a negative comment, or is disrespectful, ruin my day. But oftentimes it does, and that is an issue I am currently working on.

Of course, the good outweighs the bad 95-5. I have met a lot of great people in Uinta and Rich counties. It means the world to me when someone approaches me, shakes my hand and tells me to keep up the good work.

Recently, Virginia Wabbe sent me a text message which read: “Hi Josh. This is Virginia. We just got back from Austin, (Tx), from an extended Thanksgiving with our three sons. We picked up our mail and love, love, love the article and picture that was on the cover of the sports section on 11/28/17. Thank you so much. You did a fabulous job capturing our personality and the facts. It was also wonderful getting to know you. Thanks for being a greataddition to Evanston. Virginia Wabbe & Patrick Rooney.”

It is without a doubt the nicest text I've ever received. I can’t tell you how many wonderful things people have said to me in the last few months. It’s incredibly humbling.

The coaches have been great, too. I haven’t met one that I haven’t cared for.

I have a great deal to be thankful for, but my personal life is anything but perfect. Whose is?
I’m almost 29, single, and live in a small one-bedroom apartment. I drink too much out of loneliness, and I hang out with the few friends I have no more than twice a month.

I’m going to be completely honest. Living in Evanston these last few months has not been easy. I’ve lived in four different cities since I graduated from college in 2011 and southwest Wyoming might be the hardest place to make friends. And it definitely has the smallest dating pool out there, or at least from what I’ve experience.

But again. I have a lot to be thankful for. I could be sleeping under a bridge.

I have the most supportive parents in the world. Even when I have made bad decisions, they have stood by my side. I have guys that I’ve known since middle school, now living in various parts of the country, that would go to bat for me any day. I also have my health, shelter and a steady income.

While I don’t have a significant other, or a great deal of friends in Evanston, it has really started to grow on me.

When I accepted the job at the Uinta County Herald in September, I wanted to put forth my best effort to make this the most quality local newspaper in the state. I know some Wyoming fans won’t agree, but I believe it is up there. To them I still say, subscribe to the Casper Star Tribune or turn on a computer.

It was pretty cool when my college baseball coach saw an edition of the sports section of the Uinta County Herald last week and commented, “I miss that coverage in (Springfield, Mo.). Your readers are very fortunate that their paper is committed to the community.”
He went on to say, “This is how it used to be. How I wish the News-Leader would actually bethe leader in Sports coverage.”

The man who said these words is Mark Stratton. He is a member of the Missouri Sports and Drury University Sports Hall of Fame. And if you don’t know, Springfield’s city population is 150,000. The coverage area is much larger, but I don’t have exact figures on that.
I’m not writing this piece to brag. It is simply my vow to you to keep working hard and making the Uinta County Herald a paper the people deserve to read.