#77: Walking Bucket Wrapped

A not so serious look back at 2025

Earlier this year, I needed an outlet. It's weird to say since I was working as a Director of Marketing at a software firm, was working on the huge project for The Athletic for March Madness, writing about fantasy baseball, and covering the WNBA for Winsidr.

But I needed something that was mine. So I decided that I was going to create a newsletter where I could write about what I want, when I want.

I had an idea of what it would look like, but I knew that I would figure it out as I went.

The goal was to write two newsletters per week. I started in February, and this is the 77th one that I have written. I missed a week for vacation and life, but there were a few three-newsletter weeks that made up for it.

But, again, this is my own thing, so the moment I start to fret about deadlines is the moment that this becomes another job instead of a release.

"But wait, I thought that your favorite basketball player is Marine Johannès?"

You DO care after all! Thanks for remembering.

She is my favorite, and she'll always be my favorite to watch. But that's like me saying Anna Kendrick is my 1 and 2 on my hall pass list.

We all know this.

I've loved Gabby Williams game since she was at UConn, and I have a fun office backdrop piece arriving in the mail soon of hers. She's one of the best defenders in the league, and she's a wing who can make a case for Defensive Player of the Year even though it's harder to get the recognition for it.

Naz Hillmon is a blast. Last year, I wrote a piece about her being a difference maker for the Dream in the playoffs. Then this year came, and we all saw what she was capable of as the Sixth Player of the Year. She's a gem of a player, and a gem of a human. Cleveland's own!

The last three are obvious, aren't they?

OK, so why these teams?

Well, I covered the Dream, so there's about 50 games right there with preseason, regular season, and playoffs. That's a given.

The Liberty are my favorite team, so I would watch nearly all of their games live or on replay. And I just happened to watch a ton of Sparks games. They were later start times, so I would flow from one game to the next. Plus, they have such a fun roster of players that it's hard not to be excited about them.

Then I'm a Blue Jays fan and a Grizzlies fan. It's not always easy work, but this was a great year to be a Blue Jays fan.

Again, I'm a Naz Hillmon fan. I wrote this feature on her this year. I interview her for Rewind the Tape. I pinged her when I was writing about Cleveland getting a WNBA team. Meghan Hall and I have a hand gesture that we flash each other during the game when Naz hits a three.

It's just Naz' world, man.

I'm going to leave room here just in case someone else did the same. But I did the leg work and watched the film, dammit. I still want to talk to Skylar about this next season. Assuming there is a next season, of course.

It's obvious, right?

I'm still not over it. The Blue Jays had the World Series sitting there on a platter to take. I had my phone away from me, sitting on the chaise just to enjoy the moment.

And then, the Dodgers came back to win. The Will Smith home run. The play at the plate that was centimeters away from ending it.

The roar of the Skydome (will always be that, sorry) falling to a dead silence.

I'm happy that the offseason is here. I need the months to regroup for another year of baseball.

Fuck those losers. Fuck them right in their stupid fucking faces.

Mom, pick me up. I'm scared.

I was excited to chat with Courtney Williams. I've never interacted with her before, but she was exactly as she seems.

She greeted me by saying "what's up, big dog?"

Gabby, in turn, was one of the kindest players I've chatted to. It took her a second to get our of her comfort zone, but then she started cheesing and laughing away.

I did an interview for Walking Bucket with New York Times Bestselling Author Rachel Harrison ahead of the release of her latest book, "Play Nice." Rachel was as kind as I hoped she would be, and it was a very insightful conversation.

You can read it here.

The same goes for singer Marielle Kraft. It was a big year for her, and I was happy that she took about 20 minutes to chat with me for my newsletter.

There are a ton of other interviews. A ton. But one that stands out is the interview that I had with Natasha Cloud.

It was a fantastic interview, and at the end, she told me "thanks for reminding me why I play this game" and gave me a big hug.

I never met her before that.

The issue is – the audio didn't record. Nothing. Complete silence, so the piece will never see the light of day.

I'm going to try again next year.

Thanks for subscribing to my stupid little newsletter. This thing is fun, and I'm looking forward to having more fun next year.