I was at this party, and a girl I didn't know came up to me and said, "Oh my god, I love your columns. I e-mail them to my dad and he reads every single one of them."
I responded: "Funny. My parents don't."
(And that's 100 percent true. My parents don't read all of my sports columns. I guess they're too busy. Whatever.)
Anyway, I tell that story because it illustrates an important point: People recognize me. Strangers come up to me-on the bus, in bars, in class-and tell me they love my columns. Kzyzew's Chefs chanted my name at a basketball game and made me take a picture with them.
I'm a Minor Campus Celebrity. I'm not on the level of Greg Paulus or even Elliott Wolf (or-who am I kidding?-Stephen Miller), but I'm a solid C-lister. I'm Duke's Corey Feldman (minus the drug problems and the failed music career).
When I started out at The Chronicle-my first story was about field hockey, and was probably read only by my parents and my grandparents-it was my dream to be a Minor Campus Celebrity. All I wanted was to have my picture in the paper next to a column that contained my opinion. I thought that would be the coolest thing.
And you know what: It was.
(By the way: Wow. I really like being on the back page. I've been buried on page 9 for way too long.)
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Administrative Services Judith Ruderman once told me she agreed with me that Robertson Scholars should be allowed into the Duke-UNC game.
The guy who stands at the West Campus bus stop and decides who gets to park in front of the Duke Chapel talks to me about my columns.
I got an e-mail from the police officer assigned to the opposing coach during basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, telling me he loves my columns. He told me his friends call him "Ship" and then signed the e-mail "Ship." I've never even met this man, and he considers me a friend.
Two girls made T-shirts about an idea (The Train) that came straight out of my head (via Tony Kornheiser's head). I still think this is the greatest scam I ever perpetrated. I wrote about getting on The Train, and the T-shirts showed up out of nowhere. I have one of those T-shirts. I see people wearing them sometimes on campus.
How cool is that?
So basically, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reads my columns. I don't know what makes (made?) me special enough that people care what I have to say, but it's nice anyway. I do this for you.
(Technically, I guess I'm doing it for me, because having you read my columns makes me happy. It's kind of like altruism. Or something.)
The other day, I wrote a column for the sports section, in which I went through some of the best hate mail I received in two years of being a sports columnist. Someone (posting under the name "Loser Fanaroff") replied to that column: "Yo Fanaroff... your column is BS.. You think your [sic] hot [poop] because people hate you."
Loser Fanaroff, you're absolutely right. I do think I'm hot [poop] because people hate me. I also think I'm hot [poop] because other people like what I write. Basically, I'm hot [poop] because enough people care enough about what I write to make me hot [poop].
So to everyone-whether you've loved me or hated me-thanks for reading, and thanks for caring. I hope I've entertained and enlightened and infuriated you. And I couldn't have been hot [poop] without you.
Alex Fanaroff is a Trinity senior. He is the current co-editor of Towerview magazine and a sports columnist for The Chronicle, as well as the former sports managing editor.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.