A Writer Says Goodbye To L.A. Sports Hub After Five Years

When I first began writing for this website, it was not called Los Angeles Sports Hub.

It wasn’t even part of the FanSided Network, as my first article for what was then called SoCalSportsHub.com – a recap of the UCLA football team’s loss to Oregon in 2009 – predated the site joining FanSided by two years.

Over the five years that I have been involved with L.A. Sports Hub, not only have I seen this site change its name twice, as it went by the name The 110 Report upon joining FanSided,

Not only did I faithfully cover my beloved alma mater, UCLA, in football, basketball, and other pertinent sports meticulously,

Not only have I written at least a few pieces on every sports team that makes their home in America’s second largest city, from both of L.A.’s Major League Baseball teams to both of L.A.’s NBA teams to the newly crowned Stanley Cup champions to their Duck rivals in Orange County to the main MLS team in town,

I also served as editor of SoCalSportsHub in 2010, and became associate lead editor of The 110 Report in 2011 when the site merged with FanSided.

There was a time when I was the only writer on L.A. Sports Hub, which meant that I posted five and six articles a week.

And I’ve even covered the Bruins’ hated rival, the Trojans of the University of Southern California, reporting on their football and basketball teams this past year and giving complete coverage to ‘SC being given NCAA sanctions in 2010.

However…

In what I am positive is the shock of all shocks, despite the hundreds of articles I have posted on this site it was never my intention to enter the writing profession to become a sports writer or reporter.

My main focus was – and currently is among other things – to write a memoir-style book detailing my experiences and struggles of having Asperger’s Syndrome, the high functioning form of autism which is part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder, in the mainstream world.

Also, as I am rapidly approaching my late forties, I know that I am one of the oldest writers on the FanSided Network, if not the oldest.

Combine that with all the policy changes to the expectations of the writers of this site and FanSided, which as an “Aspie” is too complicated, difficult and traumatic for me to fully and effectively accept and embrace,

Plus the fact that sites like this one are more culturally geared toward the younger Millennial 20-something crowd rather than older middle-aged farts like me, and that I am at the point where I really need my freedom to write whatever I want in whatever style I want without any interference when I write online,

All of that has led to my decision to leave L.A. Sports Hub.com.

Dec 31, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; UCLA Bruins mascot Joe Bruin during the second quarter against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2013 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

In other words, this is my last article for this site.

I have certainly gained some extremely valuable experience in writing in general through L.A. Sports Hub, experience that I truly appreciate and am eternally grateful for.

But as life is short and I need to finish my book – which will be called “My Aspie Life” – as well as pursue freelance writing opportunities that pay and look into starting my own blog, I feel it’s time to move on.

If I truly want to fulfill my potential and reach my destiny as a writer, leaving L.A. Sports Hub is something I have to do.

I would like to thank everyone I have worked with on this site, in all its forms, for the past five years, and all of those who read and supported my posts.

I have received nothing but support here, and I am very much thankful for that.

I suppose there is nothing left to say, except goodbye and God Bless.