Joe Eachus signs off as WTBU Sports Co-Director

By Joe Eachus

I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.

Sure, that’s a cheesy quote from a cheesier sitcom, but I think that about sums it up.

From the highs, to the lows, there’s so many great experiences I’ve had the privilege to be a part of and so many people to acknowledge as I leave my post as co-director of WTBU Sports. 

It’s truly been one heck of a journey and one hell of a ride over the past four-and-change years. And frankly, it’s a little bit of a shock to be leaving after what seems like an eternity as student media and graduating, literally, to the real world.

There are a stupid amount of people and moments to tell, so I’ll keep it brief-ish.

First off, Stevie Potter and Charlie DeMatteo, my partners in crime during my time as co-director, have constantly gone above and beyond to make WTBU Sports the best it can possibly be. I know that Stevie will continue to be a rising star, and Charlie will do a phenomenal job taking over for me in the spring. I’m proud to call them colleagues, and more importantly friends.

Ethan Fuller, a former co-director himself and present New England basketball maestro, was the one who gave me my very first assignment ever. “We’d love to get you on the women’s lacrosse beat,” he wrote in March 2021, and little did I know that I was the women’s lacrosse beat.

In a Covid-crazed season (beat writers notwithstanding, oops!) that featured, among other things, an emergency backup goalie getting several starts in the cage and ultimately a playoff berth, it was truly diving into the deep end head-first.

A special shoutout to Coach Lauren Morton, and SIDs Meg Kelly, Connor Giblin, and Ashley Jackson for the incredible access with the team during my years covering them.

My work with lacrosse continued, but I also had the privilege to cover both men’s and women’s basketball as a sophomore. Hannah Yoshinaga, also a previous co-director, was a fantastic editor and colleague as I continued to learn the ropes and improve tremendously as a writer and photographer. Coaches Joe Jones and Melissa Graves were also tremendously patient and insightful in media scrums postgame, regardless of the game outcome. 

One of the highlights of my career in student media came in Spring 2022, when I got to single-handedly cover Men’s Lacrosse’s first-ever Patriot League title. I like to say that one of my hobbies became covering championships after that game in particular. Watching Coach Polley and his players transform an essentially newborn program (they only became varsity in 2014) into a team constantly in the national polls was and is simply incredible. 

For the latter half of my time at BU, it was unreal to see men’s and women’s hockey both be competitive at all times on the ice. Back-to-back Frozen Four trips was the cherry on top, as were Beanpot success and Hockey East battles with blue-bloods of the sport. As was getting to brush elbows with NHL-level talent such as Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson, Drew Commesso, and Alex Vlasic, who were some of the nicest guys around whether after massive wins or gutting losses.

Jay Pandolfo and Tara Watchorn are two of the best coaches in all of hockey. The accessibility we have as student media at BU has to be among the best in the country, and I genuinely believe that no one does it better than us. Bless Kevin Edelson, Brian Kelley, and Ashley Jackson for having to put up with us and being some of the best SIDs around.

Talented reporters like Devora Slonim, Alexa Podalsky, Claire Smieszny, and Miranda Lemus made my life easy as an editor. As did the other incredible writers we’ve had on staff the past two years. Jacob Ireland was a rock for our photo coverage for two years, and Holly Gustavsen has been just as good in his stead.

I prided myself in WTBU Sports having the best coverage of the Terriers, and I think we did a great job of that.

 I called my first-ever game with Stevie, as well as having her by my side as I hopped on play-by-play for the first time (for the NCAA national championship, no less), and I couldn’t have asked for anyone else to show me the ropes and take me out of my comfort zone.

Trips to Burlington and Orono, as well as Tampa and Minneapolis, are highlights of my college experience in general. Tampa in particular, thanks to the invite from co-directors Joe Pohoryles and Owen Gund (some of the best talents we’ve produced) and really paved the way for their belief in me to take the reins once they graduated.

There are probably about a million other people I haven’t explicitly mentioned that I owe an abundance of thanks. So, if you’re one of them, thank you for everything.

It’s been the honor of a lifetime to lead WTBU Sports, but the work never ends. I look forward to seeing our coverage set the standard for years to come.

For WTBU Sports, this is Joe Eachus, signing off.