Thank You To Barstool For Making 2021 The Most Insane Year Of My Life

How can you write about something when words aren't enough? I've tried to write this blog multiple times now. I've tried to word it correctly. I've wanted to get my emotions in check and articulate things in a way that I feel would be best suited for the reader, and I can't, I just can't. There's no way to adequately demonstrate how much things have changed since Spencer Turnbull threw a no-hitter last May. I have met people I never thought I'd meet. I've partied with people I never thought I'd party with. I've done podcasts with people I never thought I would do podcasts with. And life is not perfect. There is never an end, only checkpoints. OCD remains rough. Compulsions and intrusive thoughts are the worst. Few things shatter confidence quite like OCD. It's a daily struggle. I'm still fighting it. I always will be. There are more chapters to my story, chapters I will tell one day. For the time being, I just want to be good. Depression still persists. Through it all is a guiding light, and that guiding light is Barstool. 

I know how this works. This blog is the overly sentimental "thank you" blog that so many people like to write around this time of year. Well, guess what? I'm an overly sentimental, "thank you" kind of person. This is some "dear diary" shit. Fuck it. I was told to write about what I know, and I don't know anyone quite like I know myself. There's a reason I cry all the time (I'm working on fixing that, I really am). There's a reason why I dress up like Spider-Man and when I go to see one of his movies. I'm just different. Those weird quirks became advantages the second I got hired by Barstool. It's been nothing but love. It's love that directly results from some of the kindest coworkers and the most incredible fan base that a person could have. 

When this year started, there was the gas station and the podcasts that I would do on the side, just trying to make a little extra money. I was so close to done. I was ready to move on and find a job somewhere else. Choosing not to change careers was the best decision I ever made. I don't know what kept me going. I chalk it up to the people who saw the strengths in the person that I always believed was a broken toy. There was Anthony, Genna, Josh, and Nic (and I'm leaving out many others). They carried me home, and as I've said before, home is Barstool. The final few days of 2021 will be a perfect encapsulation of what this year has done for me. I will be spending New Year's Eve amongst my friends at the Barstool headquarters. That's different than any New Year's Eve I've ever had. Most years I would spend that night alone. 2021 has not been most years. 

Thank you to Barstool and the stoolies. Thank you so much for being so kind. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this incredible journey and this incredible company. I am still in the infantile stages of my employment. I plan on growing. I plan on entertaining. I owe that to all of you. I will continue to do the best I can to be the best I can be. The worst thing a person can do when they land a job this awesome is lose sight of who they are. I will never forget where I came from. I strive to be the best of myself because being the best of yourself, to me, is the Barstool difference. Thank you.