I am a sports beat one trick pony.
Trust me, you can find some news or feature stories that I’ve written in the past on our website. And thank god I never had to write the Eye of the Editors story. That wouldn’t have been pretty.
Even on an unrestricted senior column where pretty much any topic and writing style is viable, I have chosen to cater to my strength. So low and behold, here is a brief sports beat-esque recap of my high school experience that captures the daily sentiments of my life: genuine, extremely troll and most importantly, absolutely cooked.
Stress eating his way through all the obstacles that life could possibly offer, senior sports editor and Editor of the Year Ethan Ro has finished his high school journalism career with a 4-0 overall record.
Entering his freshman year of high school, Ro was met with a challenge that all his fellow peers faced at the time as well. Due to the pandemic, he had a rather unconventional introduction to the next four years of his life, with the multi-acre stair-infested campus of Diamond Bar High School being condensed into a couple Zoom links within a 24-inch wide monitor. Nonetheless, he had his best friend and future 3x varsity swim team MVP Jeremiah Jung by his side, or should he say, on the other end of the Discord call, to kickstart his journalism career with.
Ro’s freshman year classes flew by in a blur, characterized by a sea of foreheads, ceiling fans and a newfound addiction to Call of Duty: Warzone. However, a much more fruitful sophomore year awaited him.
The transition from distance learning to in-person classes provided the opportunity to put foreheads and Zoom usernames to faces. But more importantly, a brotherhood was born.
Superficially, six random dudes just happened to become friends. But the truth of the matter was that the group consisting of himself, Jung, Ryan, Edward, Charles and Nathan, aka SSAACK, would become the pinnacle of Ro’s sophomore and junior years.
But the legacy of SSAACK was rather short lived, as the graduation of the four seniors shattered the group into smithereens, leaving just Jung and Ro himself to thug out the remainder of their high school lives alone.
When all hope seemed lost, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. A supernatural deity descended from the heavens to save Ro’s life: Dave’s Hot Chicken.
One could say Dave’s Hot Chicken was the reason why Ro turned into the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. Others could argue that he was simply munching. Both assumptions are correct, with no option being more right than the other.
Regardless of the number of times Ro got griefed or someone mentioned his historically pathetic stats, he had an amazing high school career. He will soon be taking his eating abilities to DBHS Part 2 (UC Berkeley) in the fall.
Ro was also part of USB.
He also played water polo. He sucked at it though.
He also swam. He was actually pretty good at that.
Wow, I’m cooked.