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Jason Myrtetus: An Open Letter to Begin a New Chapter
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To begin something new, the start is always the hardest part. Whether that’s a New Year’s Resolution to go to the gym and eat better, cleaning out the garage, or anything you have put off for some time. You think, “where do I even start?!?!”
That’s where my head is beginning this new endeavor.
I have never been a “writer.” Fuck, I am not even really a reader. I don’t read books or long articles. I will read the short and sweet stories or posts. Anything too long intimidates me and I know I will lose focus and not finish it. A great example is that War and Peac– length piece on Joel Embiid from ESPN. I was intrigued enough to click on it, but once I saw how obscenely long it was and how it started so slow, I clicked off it as quick as I clicked to open it.
So let’s set some expectations with my first foray into “writing.” My posts WILL NOT be overly long. My use of the English language may be flawed at times. I may gratuitously curse on occasion and I may not make sense sometimes at first glance. I have been a spoken word communicator my entire career, which now spans 3 decades. I know I look way too young to have been in this racket for that long. I first cracked a microphone on the air in 1995 doing Rock Radio in State College at WQWK while still in school at Penn State. I left State College in 1999 and went to 94.1 WYSP when it was Thee Rock Station, where I was an on-air jock, did commercial production and creative station imaging, and more. Best time of my life with great people . Met just about every rockstar I admired, including the members of Metallica, Tony Iommi, Ozzy, Robert Plant, Pantera, AC/DC, and many more. I worked for YSP, WIP, WOGL and WPHT as a voiceover guy simultaneously before heading to WIP full time in management and as an on-air host. It’s where I began doing the Flyers Radio broadcasts as well. I was a boss of Angelo Cataldi, Howard Eskin, and yes, even Mike Missanelli before we linked up years later at the Fanatic. And yet I have never been a writer:
I wanted to start this weekly column a few weeks back, but that was not going to be possible as I was in the middle of 28 radiation and oral chemo treatments. As the treatments built up, so did the cumulative side effects, which had me feeling very rough. I completed those treatments last Monday, July 14th. Since January, I finished 16 weeks of intense chemotherapy, plus the radiation and oral chemo, and it’s taken a toll on me, both physically and mentally. It will be the hardest thing I ever go through in life and it has tested my resolve. I have tried to attack this battle with class and dignity. I made my fight with cancer public to help others that are going through it, have gone through it, or will go through it, to show them they are not alone. Deep down, I also knew that by going public it could help me and it has in a BIG way. The support of the Flyers fans and community, Sports radio and the listeners, media, and many more has helped me more than words can ever describe. I had many times where I wanted to give up. Quit and be done with it. Chemo was like getting a wicked flu, you begin to recover, but then go back in get it again every other week. That beats you up mentally. I have forgotten what it feels like to feel good for an entire day. It has been almost two years since I started feeling sick. I denied the symptoms and thought I have to keep pushing because I didn’t have time to be “sick.” That was until I couldn’t deny it anymore and had to have my wife bring me to the ER in November. Eventually I found out just before Christmas I had colorectal cancer. They would stage me after CT Scans of my Chest and Abdomen and an MRI of my Pelvis at Stage 3B L2 and M zero. The big one was M Zero because that meant I got really lucky. After denying how sick I was for a solid 18 months, the cancer had not spread.
What’s next?
I have new scans and an MRI the first week of October to get an accurate reading on what all of the past seven months of treatments accomplished. They have to let my insides heal after the hellscape we unleashed on the tumor since January. I may have to have surgery, but I will worry about that when I get there. For now, I am not wasting the next 70 days in a state of anxiety and worrying about it. That would be a waste of this time. No matter what, I will keep fighting as best I can to do everything to be around for many more years:
Most of what I will write about will center on the team and sport I am most known for, that being the Flyers and hockey. I will not just “Stick to Hockey” as I have been told for many years. If something, and it will, piques my interest with the Eagles, I will write about it. Same for the Phillies, Sixers, Union, or whatever. If something happens and we get drama in the Sports radio world, I will write my thoughts. Hell, I may even disclose some old Sports radio stories I lived, some of which are very well known. I will make this blog interactive, responding to questions from the readers, and we will keep it real. No dumb, disrespectful hot takes for clicks. There will be no engagement farming. The topics may be serious at times, never political because I don’t go there, and other times the topics may be downright juvenile. I may talk about my ongoing battle with colorectal cancer. Why? Because it is real. It sucks but it is real. I will be writing for the most part a weekly post. It may not come out the same day every week because I don’t want to force feed anyone content because of a deadline per se.
Beginning with next week’s post, I will get into the Flyers offseason and where I think they are going and how long it may take to get there, god willing. We will tackle Eagles training camp as that will be underway and I will likely rip the Jalen Hurts haters and Sports talk radio fools that disrespect him just to make the phone ring.
In the meantime, I want to say that I am looking forward to creating some written content and always welcome emails from readers and people following along. I will try and make this as fun to read and perhaps thought-provoking at times. Thanks to everyone at Crossing Broad, who have been very welcoming, and Kevin Kinkead for making this happen. Shit, Kevin and I will have to do a metal music collaboration now with him on drums and me on guitar. (Kinkead: I’m still open to the “Metal Dads” tribute band concept, the only stipulation is you have to be 40+ to join)
Here is my email so you can fire away:
Cheers,
Jason