Reporter Payton Titus to cover Louisville Cardinals, Kentucky Wildcats

Since before I was even born, when Mom and Dad decided to name me Payton after Gary “The Glove” while watching a Seattle SuperSonics game, my life has always revolved around sports.

My dad has strategically saved PTO for the March Madness Tournament every year of his adult life. Growing up, we made drives home from swim meets on fall Saturdays to the passionate cries of Mick Hubert calling Florida football games. (“Oh my!”) On the rare occasion that the Celtics’ tipoff and date night overlap, my boyfriend and I share airpods. (He takes the left while I take the right.)

Being from Florida, the living room in my childhood home was adorned with Gators paraphernalia.

The 2006 Chris Leak commemorative cover of Sports Illustrated, where he held the iconic (and sadly bygone) 8-pound, football-shaped Waterford Crystal championship trophy over his head.

The commemorative basketball cover from the same year honoring Florida’s first national championship in the sport.

Payton's first story for the CJ:U of L fans show up, match Kelsey's enthusiasm for first big game of new era

And, of course, the beautiful “Year of the Gators” edition, celebrating Florida’s three national titles in 366 days. Split down the middle, half orange and half blue, the cover featured Corey Brewer in a painfully 2000s basketball uniform (so baggy) and Leak. The bottom left corner of the cover dubbed Gainesville “The New Title Town.”

Those days are long gone. (Shoutout to UF’s Olympic sports, though. They’re largely killing it.) But the covers stay with me. And surely generations of other Gators fans as well.

That’s because sports are special, man. There’s a reason — well, several reasons — we as a society put so much social, economic and even political stock into this arena.

In a world more divided than ever, sports give us something to rally behind. A team. A community of fans. A common goal of championship pedigree.

Sports give us hope. That with hard work and determination, anything is possible. That every underdog has its day. That people of different creeds and cultures can come together, sacrifice for each other and achieve their wildest dreams.

And sports give us wealth. The intangible, fulfillment kind that comes with being a part of something bigger than ourselves. And, for college and pro sports towns, the financial kind that comes with an enhanced tourism scene and increased investment in the communities around the programs with pull.

All those things sports give us are also why sports journalism is important. To document the history that will hang on the walls in fans’ homes like the aforementioned SI covers. To share the stories of the people behind the athletes with their local community, potentially inspiring the next generation of ballers along the way. To hold those in power accountable and encourage (or force) transparency when it comes to their consequential decisions.

I’ve been able to do a good bit of that throughout my young journalism career. In my previous job covering South Carolina women’s basketball, I documented the Gamecocks' undefeated national championship season for The State Newspaper (that special edition cover hangs on the wall in my new Louisville apartment). I’ve shared the stories of so many athletes’ journeys from young hopefuls to pro-ready superstars. And while attending the University of Florida, I helped women’s soccer players hold those in power accountable by writing about their experience with a toxic head coach.

My new role at The Courier Journal as the sports team’s college enterprise reporter is such an exciting opportunity to do more journalism like that. I’ve had countless friends, family members and industry peers reach out to tell me the gig seems made for me. I can’t wait to get started.

As I do, I’d love to hear from U of L and UK fans in the community! Feel free to email me at [email protected] to share story ideas, food/coffee recommendations or just say hello. I’m also on X (formerly known and still mostly referred to by me as Twitter) @petitus25. My DMs are open!