On the end of my run at DLLS, sports media today, and why I still love this field

What happened behind the scenes, what I’ve learned, and where I’m going from here and why I'm still excited about it all.

Last week was my final week at DLLS.

I’ve known this was coming for a month now, and for the sake of doing my best work till the end of the contract, neither I nor the rest of the members of the DLLS Stars show said anything about it publicly, in fact we intentionally kept it under wraps on our final show last Thursday. While this may be a public-facing surprise, it’s something both I and my now ex-colleagues have had time to prepare for.

And for me, for both self preservation and maintaining trust with my readers, I’d like to give you a bit of an idea of what happened.

Eighteen months into the adventure at All City I was informed they’d be cutting my contract, part of my deal required 30-day notice on either side to end the contract so they reached out and delivered the news at the end of February.

This wasn’t my decision nor was it the decision of anyone within the actual DLLS offices, rather it was an edict from All City higher ups that in order to help with the overall profitability of the company, and future growth, they had to cut contracts that were expendable.

It’s frustrating and I’m going to miss doing the show, especially since it was the first time I was able to truly work side-by-side with my good friend Owen Newkirk in a formal capacity and I think our off-air friendship translated extremely well to the on-air product.

Even after All City made the decision they would be cutting me, Owen fought to try and find a way to keep me. DLLS general manager Ben Rebstock also did his best to find any remaining budget to keep me around, but in the end All City’s decision and resource allocation wasn’t enough to create something that could keep me on board. There is hope that in the future they’ll bring me back in a smaller role if budgets allow, and that’s a potential conversation I’m looking forward to in the future.

Before I get into some other things, I want to say some nice things about people who deserve it.

I had the opportunity to work with two excellent producers on a regular basis in John Andersen and Ryan Vawters, who helped navigate and tackle the challenges of running a show with one of the regular participants being remote. John set an incredibly high bar for production with the show, it’s why he now runs the desk for the Cowboys show — the big-money product for any DFW media company. Ryan somehow filled those shoes and I can’t say enough for his humanity and personality behind the scenes, how when I was recently dealing with something away from work that was particularly difficult, he reached out as a friend.

I’d known Craig Ludwig for years, in fact he was one of the first interviews I did for my first book, but this was the first chance to work closely with him on a regular basis. Craig played in the NHL and sometimes those ex-NHLers who end up in the media have an air of importance, especially on a personal level, that they lord over the rest of us. That was never the case for me with Craig, he pushed me and we had some disagreements on hockey, but we always respected each other in how we viewed the game.

Again, I’d known Sam Nestler a little bit before DLLS, he even volunteered to help on a newsletter project I worked on that never really saw the light of day beyond the beta phase. He’s a good person, authentic and while it was fun to needle him for his health-related attendance issues, you can’t deny how much he cares about covering the Stars.

And then there’s Owen, who I alluded to before. Owen is one of my best friends I’ve made through media, we’ve known each other since he worked for the Texas Stars and I covered the team. We would play FIFA in the press box at the Cedar Park Center, I crashed in his guest room for a couple months when I started working for NHL.com, and we would drive to games together when I lived in Dallas, launching the organic and beloved #CarCast.

When I got the news I was done at DLLS I was frustrated, but honestly what hurt the most was the idea of losing the twice-weekly excuse Owen and I had to chat on the phone for close to an hour under the guise of show prep. We will still talk frequently, I’m sure, but there’s something awesome about being able to work with your friends and people you care about.

I’m not sure if I’ve told him that enough, but it really meant so much to me to have this opportunity with Owen.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I’m used to being on the business end of decisions by media companies. Once it happens the first time you become pretty numb to it, and while there are certain decisions that have cut deeper than others, I’ve grown a pretty thick skin for this stuff.

It’s also why Shap Shots exists, when I lost my last full-time job I made the decision to control my own fate in sports media. While I haven’t completely ruled out one full-time role at some point, for my own sanity and the financial support of my family I’m a hired gun and hockey media vigilante by choice. I intentionally work with companies, like Elite Prospects, that have been pretty open to those symbiotic relationships, where when I get a call, like the one from DLLS, it’s a minor setback and not going to financially ruin my ability to support my kids.

It’s sadly one of the realities of sports media, this industry is incredibly fun and exciting, we get to live some of the daily opportunities that others would pay big money to do. I never forget that and it’s why I get mildly annoyed when I see sports media members complaining about some of the drawbacks of this field. In my view you don’t get into sports media or journalism and last if you haven’t accepted the reality of the chaotic schedule and public judgement of your value.

It’s also a field that gets redefined seemingly daily, which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It’s never been easier for someone to gain a platform and it’s never been harder to get paid for it, and for young people entering the field I wish I had better advice than “work your ass off and figure it out.”

Actually, check that, I think my best advice would be “there are no failures,” in this business. There have been projects of mine that have flopped and I’ve lost jobs, but I don’t think I’ve ever left an opportunity having not learned something about myself and the field. It’s amazing what random skills will translate to a future project, and there are some DLLS-learned skills that I’m going to apply to a new project that I’ll be telling you more about tomorrow.

In the meantime, I would be remiss if I didn’t use this as an opportunity to suggest you subscribe to this site as either a paid or free subscriber. It might feel like pandering, and maybe it is, but I’m about to gain a good chunk of time that went to DLLS and I’m looking forward to pumping into making Shap Shots better than before.

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them in the comments. All City’s decision shouldn’t stop you from watching the DLLS show if you are a Stars fan, in fact in a weird way I hope they continue to grow so they can maybe bring me back for paid cameos in the future.

But most importantly, if you are reading this, thank you. Having this space to write and create, to share stories and ideas, to cover things I want and connect with an audience has been my favorite part of the job.