Former sports editor Brandon Pride at his desk in the DP office (photo courtesy of Brandon Pride).
While serving as Summer Sports Editor in 2020, Brandon Pride introduced the 15 Questions series at The DP, which allows athletes to share little insights into their lives both inside and outside of sport.
Instead of a traditional senior citizen column, the DP sat down with the former sports editor and asked him 15 questions about his time at The Daily Pennsylvanian, his experiences at Penn and life in general. Here’s what the graduate had to say.
- Introduce yourself.
I’m Brandon Pride, originally studying Finance and Management in San Jose, California. At The DP, I worked in the athletic department for four years, holding various roles.
2. How did you decide to join DPOSTM? [The DP’s Only Section That Matters]?
Well, actually it was pretty easy. There was no newspaper in my high school, and I’ve always been very interested in sports and writing. So when I came to Penn I just saw it as a perfect opportunity and it was a great fit from the start.
3. What is your favorite memory of the DP?
This fall we took a road trip to Dartmouth [for the football Ivy opener]This was the first time the department had traveled there in nearly a decade. The round trip took almost 20 hours but in the end it was a really cool experience to see the school and cover a really exciting game at the start of the season.
And because it was parents weekend in dartmouth and [Hanover’s] With the city already being so limited in terms of accommodation, we had to stay in this shared house in the middle of the woods, about an hour from the school, with no electricity, plumbing, or cellphone signal. Of course, that sounds far from ideal, but it ended up being really funny and memorable, and now it’s kind of ridiculous to look back on.
Photo credit: Anna Vazhaeparambil Brandon Pride interviews football coach Ray Priore on November 19, 2022.
4. What should every Penn student in Philadelphia do before they graduate?
Well Philadelphia is a great city and there are a lot of things to do but I really enjoyed walking the Schuylkill Trail. If you make it to the end, you’ll see tons of cool old statues and scenic views, and it’s a great way to get some exercise that’s a little more fun than just running on a treadmill.
5. What is the most underrated restaurant on campus or in the area?
As for underrating, I don’t think Smokes’ is underrated as a bar, of course, but the food is actually pretty good I’d say. A lot of people don’t even know you can get food there, but I think they probably have the best pizza on campus.
6. What was the best class you took at Penn?
There were a lot of really good ones. “Negotiations” with Professor Taheripour were definitely impressive when I took it; You learn a lot about yourself by taking this course. I also had the opportunity to do it at TA this semester so it made it even more memorable because I was practically able to do it twice.
7. What’s on your TV show Mount Rushmore?
“Breaking Bad” would definitely be number one, and I think “The Sopranos” would have to be included there as well. Nathan for You would definitely be on the list as well. Then I say Black Mirror so I’m really looking forward to next month’s new season.
8th. What do you think is the most versatile thing about you?
So when I start and finish my year at Penn, I usually try to drive across the country back to California or Pennsylvania with my dad, and it’s always been a lot of fun, even though it’s an insanely long trip. You get to know many different parts of the country and get to know all kinds of different things. So this is definitely pretty unusual, but I always recommend it to anyone who gets the chance.
9. What’s at the top of your wish list?
My goal has always been to be able to dunk a basketball. Whether that will ever come to fruition remains to be seen. As for things that are more tangible, I’ve always wanted to travel all 50 states and I’m pretty close. The road trips help with that.
10 What was your favorite moment as a Bay Area sports fan?
The selection is definitely large. I’ve been pretty blessed with sporting achievements at home throughout my life, although my favorite team, the 49ers, has never achieved that achievement in my life. But I’d say probably the San Francisco Giants win at the 2014 World Series where Madison Bumgarner just went nuts and gave us the win in game seven for relief. I will never forget that.
11. Who are your favorite athletes and who are your least favorite athletes?
My favorite athlete is probably Michael Phelps because his eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics really got me into the sport. Then reading his book No Limits inspired me to try to apply his work ethic not only to sports but to other areas of life as well.
My least favorite athlete – I know he’s really good – might be Chris Paul. To be honest I always found him kind of annoying, especially as a Warriors fan.
12. What did you like most and least as a sports editor?
I would say the biggest challenge was always having to be on call for breaking news because you never know when something might happen. And probably the best part was helping new writers get the hang of the basics and watch them learn, and maybe even create the weekly meeting icebreakers.
13. What is your favorite story that you have written here?
I think two come to mind first. I wrote both in 2020. The first was a partner story I wrote with Joey Piatt about why Penn students don’t go to basketball games even though we have a lot of people here who are interested in sports and that just ended up being one really relevant story that is still relevant today. It was talked about quite a bit on campus, so it was cool to make an impact and talk about something that we felt was important.
And the other — I know I’m cheating by giving two — was a profile I did on Ryan Glover, who used to be quarterback here at Penn. Upon doing some research on him, it turned out that his mother had been married to Usher for several years. So I wrote a story looking at Ryan’s background from a sports and life perspective. Of course it’s unique to have an upbringing like that, so it was really cool to just talk to him, his mother and many other people in his life to finally draw a picture of him and show that he’s more than just a man was an athlete.
14 How would you like to be remembered at DPOSTM?
I think first of all I want to be remembered as someone who was really passionate about the department. Even after my tenure as editor ended, I remained committed and wrote stories from the beginning through my senior week at Penn. And then also someone who has always tried to make it a welcoming community for all people who wanted to join the department and advance there.
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In addition, I think it will help us get through COVID[-19] and also attach great importance to road trips. I’ve had the chance to play all eight Ivies games, so I hope this tradition can continue after I graduate.
15 What are your plans after graduation?
I will be starting a financial analyst position at Walmart in August. I did an internship at the Northwest Arkansas headquarters last summer and had a great time. So I’m really looking forward to going back there and getting to work.
