"The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg

So, you’re probably wondering what I mean with the headline.

First off, I’m not leaving The Daily Press. They’re going to need a wrecking ball to get me out of here. The show goes on.

The two words of ‘so long’ are actually my mantra for 2025.

See, some people have New Year’s resolutions. Some want a slimmer number on the scale and a fatter number in their bank accounts. Some want to buy a shiny new car or close on their first house.

I tackle this tradition differently than others. And to fully understand why, we need to have a chat.

So, as I wrote this on Dec. 31, 2024, who’s ready for story time with Big Dog?

Let me take you back to Dec. 31, 2021. I want you to try and remember where you were on that day. Go ahead, take a minute and reflect back.

To me, that day for me was a roller coaster of emotions.

See, I was finishing my time with Central Michigan Life, the prestigious student-ran media outlet on the campus of Central Michigan University. My final assignment with CM Life was to cover CMU football’s bowl game. It was the 2021 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl in scenic Tucson, Arizona scheduled for Dec. 31, 2021.

I was amped. My last hoorah with CM Life was taking me across the country, an opportunity I was waiting for my entire life after growing up in a town of 700 people and 200 cows.

Four days before the game, however, I received the news. CMU’s opponent, Boise State, was forced to back out due to COVID-19 issues running through the program.

For four hours I didn’t know whether to choose violence, breakdown emotionally or do something totally out of character.

Fortunately CMU secured an opponent for its bowl game in Washington State. But there was a catch: the game wasn’t set for Tucson, it was set to be played as part of the 2021 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to schedule a trip around this time of year. If you have, you know first hand how expensive trying to pivot plans at the last minute can be, especially for a school paper like CM Life.

So, myself and our incredible photo editor Aurora made a choice. We kept everything planned for the trip to Tucson, but made the drive to El Paso on the day of the game.

At 3:40 a.m. we left Tucson, tripping 5 1/2 across three different states and a time zone jump. By 9 a.m. we arrived in El Paso. And how can I describe the Sun Bowl?

Picture two people walking on the U.S. side of the U.S./Mexico border in the 1930s. One person decided that this particular chunk of mountain range needed a 60,000 seat football stadium. Eventually they blew a crater in the mountains and boom, you have one of the most historic college football venues in the country, and man was it beautiful.

CMU won 24-21. My final assignment for CM Life was completed.

On the drive back, this time in legit daylight, I gazed at the mountains in southern New Mexico. As I was taking in miles and miles of scenic views an inconvenient truth smacked me in the face harder than a chop to the chest from Ric Flair (woo).

Eventually I was flying back to Mount Pleasant. I was flying back with no job lined up. I was flying back to uncertainty, doubt and every reason to panic.

I passed on setting a resolution for the year. Instead, I opted for a mantra.

In 2022, my mantra was ‘be the me that I’m meant to be.’

Less than six weeks after flying back to Mount Pleasant I secured my first job with the Manistee News Advocate. I moved to Manistee in a snowstorm and knew of only a handful of people in the surrounding area.

I took the job with no confidence in myself as a journalist and a human being. I felt like I was going to crash and burn like I had before.

But I was dead set on being the me I’m meant to be. And I did just that.

My best track and field photos from the 2022 season earned first place in the Michigan Press Association’s better Newspaper Contest. My story on the Northern Michigan Dragway earned first place in the sports writing category.

Only one journalist has won first place in both the photo story and sports writing categories in the same year. Only one journalist has won first place in both the photo story and sports writing categories ever.

Me. And I accomplished both historic feats when I thought I was absolutely terrible at both photography and writing.

In 2022, I became the me I’m meant to be.

So how did I follow that up? In 2023 my mantra was one simple word.

‘Grow.’

And holy smokes did I do just that.

I left Manistee for Escanaba. I was tasked with rebuilding our sports department nine months after the tragic and unexpected death of my predecessor Justin St. Ours. I moved to a new apartment for the fourth time in two years, knowing nobody while still grieving the death of my grandma, who was also my emotional rock.

As overwhelming as the process was, I still found a way to keep my confidence in tact. More awards rolled in. My first column for The Daily Press even won an award, which I didn’t think was going to happen.

My enterprise reporting on the High School referee shortage finished second in the Better Newspaper Contest for 2023. The only entry that beat mine was co-authored by Tess Ware.

Not only was her desk cornered to mine at CM Life, but like me she is a community college transfer who became an editor 18 months after leaving CMU. No shame, but it speaks wonders as to how strong our group really was.

In 2023, I grew.

So what was last year’s mantra you may ask? That was also one word.

‘Conquer.’

If you’ve followed my work you’re well aware that I’ve struggled with my mental health. In March 2024 I received an official diagnosis of severe anxiety and a slight case of ADHD.

I spent the last seven months in therapy learning how to cope with this new information. I dug in and discovered the root causes of my anxiety. The good, the bad, and the incredibly ugly.

Yet, simultaneously I can say that I’ve done the best work of my career. I traveled thousands of miles, launched the ‘Press Breakers’ podcast, available now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music. I’ve also become a storyteller and historian for the U.P., which in all honesty is one of the biggest honors of my life.

I’ve also completed my therapy, and I can confidently say that I’ve mentally come out on the other side successfully.

So why is ‘so long’ my mantra for 2025?

Because I can’t simply say goodbye to my past. No matter how hard I try my past is a part of me, and it led me to become the multi-time award-winning sports writer and photographer I am today.

But I can say ‘so long’ to any doubt I possess as a journalist and a human being. I can say ‘so long’ to the years of self sabotage. I can say ‘so long’ to feeling like an imposter, because that’s 100% not true.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell made a remark in his introductory press conference about when the Lions get knocked down they’ll get back up and bite off a kneecap in the process. It was weird at the time, but today it’s embraced.

I’ve adopted something similar.

When adversity knocks me down I also get back up, but I’m not going for a kneecap. I push adversity back to the ground, and one life lands on its back I stomp on its throat repeatedly until its cold, lifeless stops making sounds.

I’ve embraced that mentality for the last three years. My journey and body of work backs it up.

In 2025, I will say ‘so long’ to a lot of things. And I will continue to be the me I’m meant to be, continue to grow and continue to conquer in the process.

And for that, I am grateful.

“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg is a multi-time award-winning sports writer and photographer who serves as sports editor for The Daily Press. He can be reached at mvosburg@dailypress.net.