About | ed-hooper

About Me

Since a young age I have had a love and passion for sports. From playing them to talking about them, sports were just something that came easy to me. So naturally, when the time came to decide on what I wanted to do with my life -- or at least I thought -- I guided myself in the direction of sports.

Too small and way too slow to play to play past high school, I realized the only way I could stay around sports was by covering them. So I began down the path of sports reporting. By time, I was a junior in college, I had a part-time on-air radio job and I was the lead sports reporter for the college newspaper at Valdosta State University.

Then in Sept. 2011, I was hired by The Valdosta Daily Times to cover Valdosta State athletics full-time, along with the competitive high school sports in the surrounding area. I worked there full-time and maintained my morning part-time radio job.

It didn't take me long to realize, though, that journalism was a changing field, and not in a good way. I often found myself wondering how I was going to be able to make a career out of something that barely paid me enough to eat food.

So, with plans to marry a beautiful woman, I took a job at The Times (Gainesville, Ga.) only to move closer to family while I figured out my next step. A step toward a career that would allow for the life my wife and I wanted -- the ability to buy a house, raise a family, and travel.

After discussing options with my family, I chose the rout of becoming a firefighter. In April 2014, I was hired by the Cobb County (Ga.) Fire Department. Since being hired, I have thoroughly enjoyed my new career and the ability to make a difference in people's lives.

However, even after leaving the world of journalism behind, I find myself still having a desire to write, telling stories and sharing insight. So, insert Sports Talk Now -- a redesign and relaunch of a blog/web series I ran during my sophomore year at Gainesville State College. Here, I hope to be able to fill my desire to write while sharing stories and insight (and sometimes my opinion) with readers.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy.