{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The Greg Garno Free Press","provider_url":"http:\/\/ggarno.wordpress.com","author_name":"ggarno","author_url":"http:\/\/ggarno.wordpress.com\/author\/ggarno\/","title":"About","type":"link","html":"
GROWING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT: The\u00a0inconceivable\u00a0rise of Greg Garno ANN ARBOR \u2014 Inside the 420 Maynard building, home of the student publications the tables are filled with papers, books, laptops and a broken hockey stick. There sits a young man, somewhere near the middle, with his head buried in the bright lights from a Macbook air.<\/p>\n Hunched over, a pen resting on his ear, it\u2019s difficult to notice the glow that rises off of the skinny, sophomore writer originally from Adrian, MI. His presence couldn\u2019t be any bigger, though.<\/p>\n Born in the golden age of 1992, the communication studies major has been on the rise in fame ever since his birth. Raised in the home tucked away in the farm land of Lenawee County, Greg worked tirelessly at consuming sports\u00a0television, spending endless hours glued to Sportscenter, or sneaking down to the basement to watch the last half of a unimportant game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a real pain in the ass,\u201d said Greg\u2019s dad and promoter of newspapers, Raymond. \u201cAll I wanted was a kid who would be easy to handle. Instead I was stuck with this angel, who\u2019s greatness was too much.\u201d<\/p>\n Added his mother and the most superior cook, Grace: \u201cIf he was so great, why does it feel like he is still mooching off of us today. I swear if the twerp (the first use of the word since 1987) doesn\u2019t make me money I\u2019m going to punish him with more mindless hours of HGTV.\u201d<\/p>\n Greg\u2019s sports career began with the ass-whoopings delivered to his younger sister, who\u00a0unenthusiastically\u00a0played along at his persistence. From soccer to basketball the possibilities seemed endless \u2014 that is until football, in which Greg had no strength to tackle another 12-year old boy.<\/p>\n Greg developed a love for running near the end of middle school, deciding that distance running actually had some joy to it. The 135 lb. frame of skin and bone soon became successful in the sport, running year round to train for the Olympics.<\/p>\n \u201cI figured the Olympics would take away from sitting on the lake in summer,\u201d Garno said of his\u00a0decision\u00a0to tone down his\u00a0tremendous\u00a0talent. \u201cYou ever been to the lake? It\u2019s not really special or sensational, it just feels good when the temperature is over 100 degrees.\u201d<\/p>\n After finishing his senior year, Garno took his talents and love of athletics to the University of Michigan, choosing not to further his competitive running career. It was in January 2012 when he opted to swing by The Michigan Daily, deciding to write about the sports he read about day after day.<\/p>\n Garno quickly rose in the ranks, where he was chosen as a softball beat member. Greg\u2019s love of Taylor Swift was also a hit at The Daily, one of the few places where tone-deaf men serenade the musician that wrote \u201cI Knew You Were Trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s terrible live, and honestly I still love Carly Rae Jepsen,\u201d Garno said. \u201cActually, I would say the Backstreet Boys are still better, but she\u2019s got catchy stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Greg didn\u2019t slow down, taking an opportunity to write for his hometown paper The Daily Telegram in the sports section during the summer. It was after his summer, trapped writing about high school sports and a NASCAR race, that Greg returned to cover both the volleyball and women\u2019s basketball teams for The Daily.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say he was the hero The Daily needed,\u201d Batman said. \u201cBut he is definitely the one it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe loves cats a lot, which is cool cause I have eight,\u201d said Managing Sports Editor of the Michigan Daily, Zach Helfand. \u201cSometimes I\u2019ll catch him licking his hands and it makes me smile.\u201d<\/p>\n Now a hockey beat writer, sacrificing his weekends to cover a losing team and an assistant sports editor, Greg continues his pursuit of a career in sports journalism where he undoubtedly will not make as much money had he just stuck with the Olympics plan.<\/p>\n"}
\n<\/strong>By Gregory Garno<\/p>\n