And so it begins…

David Morrison/Opelika-Auburn News

Published: January 26, 2009

Hello Internet!

I’m David Morrison and I’m your new Opelika-Auburn News prep sports writer. There will be a story about me on the front of tomorrow’s sports section, but in case you don’t read it, I thought I’d introduce myself cybernetically…if that’s a word…even if it’s not.

I graduated from reigning Alamo Bowl runner-up Northwestern in June and I served a five-month internship at the Birmingham News from August through the beginning of January. I have also been an intern at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice. But neither of those sports scenes could measure up to what I’ve seen in my months in Alabama. Especially on the preps side.

That’s why I’m really excited to start this job. I got to see in Birmingham just how important high school sports are to not only the athletes, but the whole community. I know I probably won’t get a Pulitzer for the work I do here, but I still think it’s a kind of noble calling to give some exposure to what these student-athletes are doing.

Give me a sec…I’ve got to get off this high horse…

OK, some background. I was born in Orlando and spent my first 18 years there. Well, I did spend one year in a suburb of Houston called Kingwood. I collected about 18.5 gajillion sports cards as a kid and they’re all in my mom’s attic somewhere, I think. As a byproduct of all these cards, I have a categorical knowledge of the scrubs of the 1990s in the big three professional sports. The guys that made up the end of the bench as well as filling out the 700s and 800s of the Topps complete team sets. Just ask me about Greg Kite, Yatil Green or Mike Mordecai someday.

I have been a sports junkie all of my life, and one of my earliest memories is watching the Reds beat the A’s in the 1990 World Series. I was 4. My favorite sports moment of all time is Josh Beckett fielding a dribbler to the mound and tagging out Jorge Posada for the final out of the 2003 World Series. Yeah, my baseball team won two championships in its first 11 years of existence. Take that, Gribble.

I’m a man who unashamedly judges others by the choices they make in books, television, music and movies, so I will be transparent in my tastes. The last album I bought was “Get Guilty” by A.C. Newman. The last show I went to was The National, Modest Mouse and R.E.M. at the United Center in June. The last movie I saw was Slumdog Millionaire (so, so good). My favorite TV show was (sniffle) Arrested Development. I am currently reading “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen.

OK, time to wrap up this novel. I’ll do it by saying that I want to hear from my readers as much as possible. I want to hear from you through comments on my blog, my work phone (737-2568) or my E-mail inbox ( ). If you like something I’m doing, let me know. If you don’t like something I’m doing, let me know. If you think I should be covering something, let me know. If you see something at your local high school that would make for an interesting story, let me know. I want to do everything I can to be as thorough in covering your high schools as I can be. And I want to get up to speed as soon as possible.

So if you see me at a game looking a little lost, it’s probably because I am. At least for the first few weeks. Just point me in the right direction.