Goodbye

Thank you!

Sincerely, if you have ever picked up the newspaper and read even one story I ever wrote, thank you.

Thank you so much for letting me into your homes and lives for the past 12 and a half years. You might not think it’s a sports writers’ dream to cover local sports in a small county, but I can’t imagine having spent the most recent third of my life doing anything else. For that, I thank you.

This is my final column for the Greenfield Recorder. After 4,556 days of working in this sports department, I have decided to pursue another passion, recently accepting a position to teach physical education at Newton Street Elementary School in Greenfield. Friday will be my final day as a full-time employee at the newspaper. 

Teaching is a profession I had nearly pursued after graduating from UMass in 2005 with a degree in journalism. I was contemplating going back to school to get a master’s degree in education, but the night of Dec. 7, 2006 (the date I’m nearly certain of) changed those plans.

A week or two prior to that date, I had seen a job listing in the Town Crier (remember when that still existed?) for a sports reporter job at the Brattleboro Reformer. I applied, and on Dec. 7, I drove up for an interview. I had to cover a hockey game that day and write a story along with one or two other candidates, who seemed just as anxiety-filled as I was.

The game ended and we went back to the office and began writing our stories. I remember one candidate asking the sports editor what icing was, and I knew that one wasn’t going to be a threat. We each filed our stories and had interviews with editors. I had never written for any publication before so when it came time to pull out clips, I had to embarrassingly hand them college papers.

As I walked out of the office that night cursing for not applying myself more in college to do an internship, my phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize. Still, I answered, and on the other end was Gary Sanderson, who explained that he was the Sports Editor at the Recorder and was looking to fill a vacancy. He had gotten my phone number from colleague Mark Durant, who I knew through — what else — playing poker. 

Sanderson was in the middle of his month-long vacation that coincided with the deer hunting season, and asked if I knew where Old Tavern Farm in Greenfield was located, which was his home. Having grown up only a mile down the road on my family’s farm, and having ridden past his house hundreds of times both on the school bus and on bikes as a kid, I told him I did.

He invited me over, asked if I had time that night. I told him I was in Brattleboro, but would be there in 30 minutes. When I arrived, he offered me a beer and we sat in the den of his beautiful home sharing a drink. The interview consisted of us chatting about my family farm, his sons whom I went to high school with, people we both knew, and other stories about the area. After an hour or so, he offered me the job. He never asked to see any clips, never asked for me to cover a game and write a story for him. He just offered me the job and asked how soon I could start. Last June, when the man who mentored me and who I now call a friend, was preparing to retire, I asked him about that night. Asked him why he never looked at any clips or had me write for him. He told me that he could train me to write. What he couldn’t train was the knowledge that came with being native to the county. I am forever grateful, as I spent the next decade continuing to learn from one of the greatest writers I have ever met, helping to mold me into the writer I am today. He rarely told me what to cover. Instead, he told me to do my job, trusting that I would always be there to cover the important games and events. I’d like to think I rarely let him down. 

I began writing for the newspaper on Dec. 10, four days after my interview. I showed up that Sunday night wearing a suit. What else was I supposed to wear? I walked in and people stared at me. Durant was likely in shorts and a windbreaker. I was given my desk and computer, where I would stay for nearly 12 years until taking over as Sports Editor for Sanderson — where I’m spent the past 12 month in the catbird seat leading the department.

I wrote the Bulletin Board that night, but the article only said “Recorder Staff” on it, so I received no real credit as far as the readers were concerned. Regardless, I was so proud, and still showed my family and friends everything I had written the next day, something I continued to do so for weeks and months.

Those are a distant memory now, replaced by hundreds of more prominent ones I’ve made during my time here. I’ve been in the room as teams have celebrated western Mass. and state championships, interviewed my fair share of athletes with tears in their eyes following an agonizing loss, and everything in between. I’ve made many friends, and have my fair share of enemies. It’s all part of the job. 

My first real assignment came on Jan. 19, 2007 when I traveled to Turners Falls to cover a young lady from Franklin County Technical School named Alex Eaton, who was 10 points away from 1,000 in her high school basketball career. Not only did she easily surpass the mark that night, she also set the school’s single-game record with a 38-point performance in a 63-53 victory over Pathfinder. She hit 1,000 on a 3-pointer, and also converted 21-of-24 free throws in the game.

I covered my first WMass championship game in the spring of 2007 when I witnessed an epic game between the Turners Falls and Pioneer softball teams that saw the Powertown edge the Panthers, 8-7. That win led to my first state championship game, as one week later I traveled to Rockwood Field at Worcester State to cover Turners Falls’ game against North Reading. Unfortunately for the Powertown, North Reading slugger Stephanie Mayne ruined their bid to repeat, as she slugged a grand slam off pitcher Dani Sullivan en route to a 7-0 Hornets’ victory. 

In the summer of 2007, Sanderson urged me to stretch my legs a bit and begin a weekly column. It was a chance for me to add a more personal touch to the paper, and engage readers with stories outside my usual high school and youth coverage. On Aug. 28, 2007, the very first “Jaywalking” appeared in the newspaper. I remember sitting around the office pitching ideas for the title of my column. Growing up, I always loved watching “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, who had a recurring skit on his show by the same name, in which he would walk the streets and ask seemingly easy questions to people, who would give off-the-wall answers. I thought it was the perfect name to a column that was going to consist of weekly features or opinion pieces, as though I was walking around Franklin County and finding stories that might otherwise go missed. My original photo (which appears along with this column) featured a much-younger version of myself sporting a backward hat.

My first column was entitled “Hopeful Season” and included me going to several preseason practices to chat with players and coaches. Frontier volleyball player Alyssa Stankowski, Greenfield field hockey coach Erin Thayer, and Pioneer boys soccer coach C.J. Holt were among those I talked to. I read the column the other day and blushed a bit at just how far I’ve come, as it was far from the best thing I’ve ever written, but the weekly piece seemed well-received by the community for the past dozen years.

The column also afforded me room to root for my favorite professional teams, specifically the New York Football Giants. For the first couple years, I included weekly predictions pertaining to my G-Men. That first year just happened to coincide with the Giants upsetting the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I still chat with area Giants’ fans all the time. It’s among my favorite things that came out of the weekly space.

Though a small-town kid writing for a small-town newspaper, it was always quite a thrill to be recognized out in public as “that guy from the newspaper.” I can even remember being out on a date with a young lady back in 2009 and getting recognized from the paper. I pointed out how lucky she was to be dating a local celebrity, and now 10 years later, Heather and I are married and have two beautiful girls, Charlotte (age 3½) and Quinn (age 1). How my life has changed from the single guy in his mid-20s when I started. It’s largely because of my family that I decided to leave my post here. Working nights, and the unpredictability of my schedule makes it difficult on the ones I love. Heather has endured me chatting with random people whenever we are at the grocery store or out to dinner for a decade, never complaining, even when I would forget to introduce her. But as I continued to miss time with my daughters as they grew up, I realized I needed to find something with hours more suited to a father. My desire to teach seemed like a perfect fit and Newton School has given me the opportunity to get into the profession.

I’ve been asked about my fondest memories while working here and the list is too long to count. I’ve seen athletes grow up, and others pass away. I’ve seen fields and facilities built, and others burn down. I’ve seen many great people honored, and could come up with a list of many more who should be. I’ve written about history, and what was to come.

But the greatest thing I have from the past 13 years is the relationships. Those men and women, boys and girls, who I have bonded with on fields, courts and rinks throughout Franklin County. I’ve always tried to be me when I answer the phone with a “Sports, Jay,” and have enjoyed thousands of laughs with a wide-variety of folks.

Many coaches and players have become more than just acquaintances. Some of the warmest memories are the ones that came around the time my first daughter Charlotte was born. I was covering my last football game in November of 2015 down in Ludlow where Greenfield was facing the Lions. As I walked off the field with Green Wave coach Mike Kuchieski and his staff, I told them I’d be gone a few weeks to celebrate the birth of my first child. I’ll never forget how kind they were to me that night. And the outpouring of support from the community after I wrote a column about becoming a first-time father was overwhelming. I even had a mother of one area coach tell me months later that she cried reading my column, which made me tear up later that night while recalling the conversation with my wife. 

Many former players have also caught up with me over the years, which is just about the coolest thing. Seeing these players grow up is something special. Many have spouses and children. Reliving past games or moments with players is always special, because those days were some of the best of their lives. 

I’m not done writing for the paper. Not by a long shot. I still plan to cover games during the tournament this spring, and hope to be out on the football fields on Friday nights come September. 

As for the department, I leave it in great hands. When I first arrived at the newspaper in late 2006, I took over for a college kid from UMass, who had tried to be a full-time writer and full-time student. After the fall semester, he realized it was just too much. No shame in that. Most college kids don’t also have full-time jobs. You may recognize his name from the current sports pages: Jeff Lajoie.

The two of us became close friends over the years. When Durant left a little more than two years ago, I convinced Jeff to move back to the area from a newspaper he was working at up in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Now, it all comes full circle, as Lajoie, who is originally from Holyoke but knows Franklin County as well as anyone in the newsroom, takes over for me as head of the department. He will hire a new sports reporter, and what I believe is excellent coverage of area teams will continue.

Over the past month, I have tried to recall as many of the teams and athletes who I have witnessed during my tenure with the newspaper. The list is too long to print, the memories seemingly endless. Suffice it to say, it has been a blast.

Thank you for sharing it with me.

Jason Butynski is a Greenfield native and soon-to-be former Recorder Sports Editor. His email address is jbutynski@recorder.com.