To the readers and my colleagues,
After three incredible years covering the Michigan football and basketball programs, I am sad to say that this is my last week at SB Nation’s Maize n Brew.
If you couldn’t tell in my writing, Maize and Blue run in my blood. My father, a Michigan alumnus, passed down one thing to me: root for Michigan, and I never questioned it. I cried tears of happiness when Trey Burke hit the famous shot against Kansas in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. I screamed for an hour straight when Jordan Poole became a Michigan legend in 2018 against Houston. And I fell to my knees in heartbreak when Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was short of the line to gain…but the referees had a different way of viewing it.
When I got into the University of Michigan, it was truly the greatest day of my life, but little did I know working for Maize n Brew would give me more than I could have ever dreamed of.
By the end of my sophomore year, I had been working in sports pretty consistently. I was the baseball beat writer for The Michigan Daily, I was broadcasting regularly on WCBN-FM, Ann Arbor and Big Ten Network Plus, and I had just completed an internship with NBC Sports. After seeing multiple sides to sports media, I realized my true calling was being a writer.
A week before my junior year began, I received a call from the WCBN station manager saying that Von Lozon was in need of a writer. Maize n Brew had lost a writer a week before the football season, and Von needed someone ASAP to fill those shoes before Jim Harbaugh took the podium seven days later.
It felt like fate. I jumped on the opportunity immediately, and a few days later, I found myself in front of Harbaugh for the first time in a room full of career journalists asking him what he thought the ceiling could be for Team 144.
Over the next three years, I got what every journalist dreams of. I covered more highs than I could have ever asked for, sitting in the press box for two national championships (football and men’s basketball) and writing the game recaps as I watched confetti fall on my childhood teams.
I also covered the lows of Michigan Athletics, and there were plenty. As I covered an undefeated football season in my first year, I was forced to ask questions about a cheating scandal that led to Harbaugh getting suspended. Two months after sitting in the NRG Stadium press box, I was one of 10 writers in an empty Crisler Center covering an 8-24 season and watching a Michigan icon in Juwan Howard struggle to keep a smile on his face. And I took it upon myself to be the lead in covering the Sherrone Moore legal matter, untangling and analyzing a unique situation that no athletic department ever hopes to go through.
But what will stick with me the most will be the experiences in between the chaos. I built relationships with players and coaches, found stories no one else was writing about — such as the House v. NCAA Settlement and its impact on Michigan Athletics — asked questions that received national recognition, and had an amazing support network that allowed me to grow as a writer.
I am absolutely indebted to Von for giving me this opportunity three years ago. I have truly grown as a writer and investigative journalist due to his support, his idea-making and the countless lessons I learned by having my boots on the ground.
I want to thank Kellen Voss and Charles Post, my basketball writing partners that have been with me covering the craziest rise a college basketball program has had in recent memory, along with two coaching changes in three seasons.
I am appreciative for Trevor Woods being by my side at the football National Championship, guiding me through a media frenzy, teaching me how to live-tweet an event at that magnitude, and showing me the way to the 50 yard line when the confetti fell.
And a big thank you to the Michigan Athletics SIDs who worked to get me credentials to all the major events over the years. We are truly not able to do what we do without their cooperation and support for our site.
With all that said, I am really excited to announce that my time in sports is not anywhere close to being done. I am starting as a law student in the fall at Arizona State’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where I will be working towards obtaining a concurrent J.D. and Master of Sports Law and Business. The writing experience I will take away from my time at Maize n Brew will be invaluable, so thank you all for your constant support and encouragement.
I love Michigan with my whole heart, and Maize n Brew gave me a chance to get the most out of my time in Ann Arbor. Thank you all!
Jake Singer / @JakeMSinger on X