Five years later, Indy Sports Legends means much more than stories
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Founder
OKLAHOMA CITY — Five years ago, just after I was laid off from my job as a sports writer for The Associated Press in Indianapolis, I set off on an adventure to start a website called Indy Sports Legends. I had no idea how it would impact my life, or the lives of those around me.
My neighbor, a computer guy named Joe Heller, believed I could do it. I thank him for getting me started on one of the great journeys of my life. This is the five-year anniversary of the start of that journey, and I want to capture some of these memories and thank people before I start to forget.
I remember calling Jim Johnson back then about the name of the site as I was driving to a gas station. I was all fired up when I said, “Jim! Listen to this!” Then I said it slowly. “Indy … Sports … Legends! How does that sound?” He said, “I think that’s got a nice ring to it!” And it was done.
At first, it was just a blog to help give me skills I thought I would need to remain a viable candidate for other jobs down the road. I also thought I could find a niche with Purdue coverage, which turned out to be very true.
I learned quickly ISL could be much more. My very first post, on May 16, 2012, was the story behind a popular tweet about Robbie Hummel, a Twitpic that got thousands of views in a very short timeframe. As the only story on the site, it got roughly 4,000 views in its first two days. Though we have had many successes, that story remains the most read post ever on the site.
Word got out, and people started coming to me. First, it was photographer Ben Fahrbach. Then, a young, talented Butler graduate named Chris Goff came along. More on him later. Then Doug Griffiths, a former Gold and Black editor, jumped in and gave us immense credibility. He was a key voice for our biggest and most memorable project, a countdown of Purdue’s top 10 all-time receivers. Ryan Naylor came along and created our logo and did tons of work behind the scenes, including fighting off Russian hackers. No lie.
The site served many purposes. It was a landing spot for many journalists who were between jobs (Griffiths, Paul Siegfried). It was a place for young aspiring journalists to test their skills (Goff, Ross Weber, Josh Chapman, Collin O’Connor). It was a place for people who always wondered if they could do this to tip their feet into the pool with limited risk. (Naylor, Craig Dragash). It was a place for good writers without formal experience to get better (Tyler Smith, Keith Carrell). It was a place for old friends from journalism classes at Omaha North High to get published again (Chuck Samples, J.W. Calinger). It was a place for experienced journalists to try new things. (Johnson, Justin Whitaker, myself). It also was a place for the computer guys, Heller and Naylor, to troubleshoot and sharpen their skills for their day jobs.
I never recruited a single one of those people — they all came to me because they believed in what we were doing. It became about helping others, and once that became clear, it became much more special to me and those who worked with me. This is now a lifelong bond.
We covered so much, even with limited resources and no advertising budget. We have had writers credentialed for a Final Four, the Indianapolis 500, two NCAA regionals, Notre Dame football, Butler basketball, Pacers basketball and Purdue football. I was credentialed for Colts games.
We were serious about high school sports, too. Dragash was a respected voice during his run with ISL as prep sports editor. He’s a great friend and a coach who had no writing experience but wanted to help me out and see what he could do. He turned out to be a pretty good writer. Those were fun times, my brother!
One of my proudest moments for us was when Terry McLaurin, Sr., whose son, Terry is now a receiver for Ohio State, called me out of the blue to thank us for our coverage. McLaurin was Mr. Football that year, and we covered most of Cathedral’s games in some capacity.
People called us back. Former Pacers assistant GM David Morway talked to me for half an hour after he was let go. Hummel, Gene Keady, Joe Tiller, Tamika Catchings, David Teague, Chris Kramer and others returned calls to give us legitimacy.
The numbers were solid for the time – not eye popping, but enough that people knew who we were and what we were trying to do.
Meanwhile, the people affiliated with the site began to grow. Fahrbach began getting paid photo opportunities, and soon, I became a middle man for much of the sports stringer work in the state. I made deals with other news organizations such as Sports XChange and VYPE and pooled resources. I soon found myself speaking to classes at IUPUI about how the site got started. It happened fast, and it was surreal.
Perhaps our proudest moment came later, when Goff was hired directly from this site to cover Indiana basketball for the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. He also now covers Notre Dame football. He’s an AP basketball voter and has a Heisman vote. I knew him back when.
Starting the site helped me get re-hired by the AP in 2014, and it has served me well since. I was a blog editor at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and I couldn’t help but think about this week in 2012 while I was there.
Many who know me I am somewhat risk averse. Trying this was a major leap of faith. I consider Indy Sports Legends one of the things I am proudest of in life. Smith has done an excellent job carrying on our tradition as the current editor. He is a legit voice on the Pacers scene, as evidenced by his 6,000 Twitter followers.
Thank you to all who have been involved. And thank you to the readers!
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.
Follow Tyler Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TylerSmith_ISL
