Sam Donnellon is a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and an alumnus of Wayne Valley High School. Donnellon always wanted to major in English as he loved writing and was a Spelling Bee champion in grade school. However, he would get C’s and D’s in Ms. Cohen’s English class. This was a wake up call for Donnellon–he knew he had to work harder in his class and improve his Grammar. This work ethic helped him become the person he is today.
Although Donnellon had many memories in high school, there was one memory that stood out to him the most. Donnellon recalls in his junior year, “When I was in school one day, I got a haircut because my mother forced me to cut my hair. In the 70’s, if you got short hair you were picked on, so that’s what happened one day, so I got into a brawl in the IPS class with a kid named Craig Lombardo. Towards the end of junior year, we became really good friends and even got laughs out of it after we graduated, he passed away recently unfortunately. But when I think about high school that is what I think about, everyone finding their place and being a kid.” Although this memory of a brawl is negative, Donnellon was able to turn it around into a positive. He was able to get along with a good amount of people during his time at Valley, but explains how he wishes he was more involved with sports and extracurricular activities.
“When I was at Valley, I should have gotten more involved but I did not, I played soccer and was a floater, someone who could hang out with different groups of people,” said Donnellon. “When I got cut in college for hockey, the PR asked me to be the sports information aid, so I ended up doing hockey first and then the basketball kid quit so I ended up doing both teams, it allowed me to meet a lot of people in the industry and make connections,” Donnellon continued to explain. Donnellon worked at a small paper in Maine after he graduated from Merrimack College. He got hired by writing a story at home about a famous horse race that almost showed up in Maine but ended up in Indianapolis.
On his first day at his new job, he was forced to type on typewriters. The only problem was that Donnellon never took a typing class in school, so he was awfully new to typing. He claims he is still not a good typer and does not type correctly. Donnellon mentioned in one of his stories that he would be fired by lunch because of his inexperience at the time. He had doubts about the path he was taking and overcame those doubts with his confidence in his abilities. Donnellon knew he had what it took to be successful in his career, and did not let those doubts stop him or take advantage of him.
“I always had the suggestion that I had more talent than most people in the industry. That kept me going even though people were making more money than I was, however, I was having fun. My job was to go to a game and write a column about whatever I was told or whatever I felt. I had an office upstairs, and I did not even have to go to the office which made me feel good,” Donnellon said. Donnellon claimed that there were times when he was not motivated. When he worked as a freelancer, the products he produced as a freelancer gained a lot of attention and did very well, giving him the motivation to keep going.
Donnellon was able to hang out with very famous people. He even interviewed two presidents and hung out in Mike Tyson’s hotel room for two weeks in Tokyo prior to one of his events. Donnellon claimed, “It’s an amazing job based on access and interest, and every day is so different. You can be on the side of a road in a broken down bus, how will you get the story to your paper? There are challenges that you constantly have to face, but that’s what it’s about.” He always found something to look at but wondered how another person with better knowledge was able to handle the situation.
When Donnellon was at school in Boston, there was a guy named Leigh Montville who, according to him, was his Babe Ruth. Montville is an American writer and former newspaper columnist who worked for The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated. Donnellon would use his knowledge to see how he would craft his stuff, and why he did things the way he did. Donnellon asked a lot of questions and paid attention to other people so he could learn and get better every single day.
With Donnellon constantly learning new things and working hard every single day, he was able to witness many big events and make memories. “I was sent to Tokyo to cover a boxing match between Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas. I was given access to Mike Tyson for 2 weeks, and I was in his hotel room during that time. It was a big deal because Tyson got knocked out and I was one of the very few people who were sent over to Tokyo to cover that match. It was one of the best things when it comes to writing because it only took me 15 minutes to write and talk about the whole match,” Donnellon explained with passion and excitement in his voice. He was also able to witness a ground ball go between Bill Buckner’s legs in the World Series that allowed the Mets to beat the Red Sox in the World Series. All of the learning experiences came through hard work and dedication, this all comes back to his time at Wayne Valley High School.
“If I had to give my high school self a piece of advice, I would tell him to not to be foolish and break up with your future wife. I went to high school prom with her but I screwed that up for about ten years. But I would say to pay more attention in Spanish class and learn how to type since it would help my career further and make me more successful in my career,” Donnellon said. Donnellon also pointed out that if his high school self saw the person he was today, he would be mind-blown. He mentioned that sports journalism and the career he took changed his life for the better, and if his path were different, he would not be able to be who he was. Donnellon claimed that if he was given another chance, he would market himself better. All of the work that Donnellon put in has paid off, and it all comes from the work he put in at Wayne Valley High School. From Wayne Valley High School to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Donnellon always remembers where he came from and the work it took him to get to where he is today.
