The Bryant Blog: Life, Wrestling, Pop Culture

For the past 14 years, I’ve considered myself a journalist, a broadcaster, a webmaster, and a pretty good dart player.

Martin Floreani thinks I’m only out for my own self interests.

I started covering wrestling before I ever stepped on the mat – the sport became addictive – so much so I ended up making an effort to start into the sport my junior and senior years of high school. I’ve explained my career was about as short as a message on a Post-It note.

My high school wrestling coach, Billy Ruff, once said to me, “You’ll do more for this sport doing what you’re doing now than what you’ll ever do for me on a wrestling mat.”

Years later, those words weren’t meant to hurt, but they were very prophetic. It started in 1997 when I took my limited internet knowledge and started a web site covering Virginia high school wrestling out of my dorm room at Old Dominion University.

I spent more time updating Mat Talk On-Line than I did going to class. I also held on to a part-time job working at a daily newspaper in Newport News. I started working at the Daily Press before my senior year in high school was even underway.

I get longwinded … and this is a VERY long post, so if you’ve got some time to kill and want to know the REAL story …

(This is all truthful and factual and cannot be considered slanderous or libelous by definition).

Read the rest of this entry »