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In case you haven’t heard, Patrick Brennan and Sean Thornton will be leaving as regular contributors at Royals Review due to time commitments, but my hope is they still make appearances as members of the community. But fear not, we’ll still have terrific coverage of the Royals with the latest addition. Please welcome our newest writer to Royals Review, Jack Johnson. Tell us about yourself, Jack:
From my earliest memories, the Royals have been the focal point of my sports life. Born in 1999, I can’t claim full-ownership to the decades of misery and abysmal seasons that a plethora of the people in this city became accustomed to from the early 90s through 2014. But it goes without saying that you own your team’s full history, good or bad, with your fandom. In fact, the Royals haven’t been all that awful since I have been alive. I was learning to walk the last year Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran, and Jermaine Dye all wore Royals uniforms at the same time. I wasn’t around for any of the 3,154 hits George Brett had, nor do I have any personal memory of watching Dan Quisenberry tilt down and whip it from below his hip during each delivery. But I own other memories.
My first experiences were watching Angel Berroa patrol shortstop and possessing countless “shirseys” of David DeJesus and Mark Teahen in my closet. Zack Greinke, Mark Grudzielanek, Joey Gathright, Joakim Soria (before he was despised), Miguel Olivo, Ross Gload, and Emil Brown sum up my early years when I first truly fell in love with this organization. However, as bad as those early years stunk, it was a relatively short wait until I was able to embrace playoff glory. By then, my favorite player became and remains to be Mike Moustakas, from his first at-bat against Ervin Santana in Anaheim in 2011, through his last at Yankee Stadium against Zach Britton this past season.
As to my brief sports writing resume, I currently work for the University Daily Kansan as a beat reporter for Kansas baseball, football, and basketball (I apologize in advance to the K-State and Mizzou followers!). I spent a summer working at 810 WHB for Kevin Kietzman and Todd Leabo on Between the Lines and hosted a show on 1510 ESPN Kansas City. Along with Royals Review, I recently began as a contributor for Arrowhead Addict and look to be producing content in the near future.
As a longtime fan and follower of Royals Review, it is an honor to contribute to an already successful team. I will cover everything from season predictions, player analysis from low-A ball and up, providing pre and post game stories, and am always open to any suggestions from the public!
A writer and a radio host? We’ll have to get him on Royals Review Radio. You can follow Jack on Twitter at @johnyJ_15.