Meet Linda Surovich from Amazin’ Avenue

We have dozens of women covering pro and college sports for our team brands here at SB Nation. Meet one of those talented writers, Linda Surovich, who writes for our Mets blog, Amazin’ Avenue.

My dad and uncle had season tickets in the orange seats (behind home) at Shea Stadium when I was a kid. I don’t remember much about the games; I just vividly remember sitting in my seat with this huge field in front of me. As I got older we didn’t go to as many games, but you had to walk down a hallway to get to your seats at Shea. As you did, all of a sudden the stadium opened up in front of you. It was cool feeling and one I miss at Citi Field. My Dad was a Mets fan and he passed that down to his kids. The rest of my Dad’s side of the family are mostly Yankee fans, and my mom is from Philly, so the other side of the family are all Phillies fans. My Mets fandom has survived a lot.

Honestly, the people I work with are all amazing people who really know their stuff. Their knowledge blows me away. We have a great following of people who are all so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the game that I have learned so much from and they have inspired me to want to learn more.

Some challenges are balancing writing with life and my job, but probably the biggest challenge has been not throwing my computer out the window while watching some of the games this year. Words matter, and when I’m mad after yet another brutal loss I can’t write a recap full of angry emojis. I try to just let the facts speak for themselves most of the time, but it’s hard when writing about a team you love. The emotion always creeps in.

Writing is something I have always loved to do. Journalism was my concentration in college, and creative writing was my minor, and looking back on my work from that time I realized any opportunity I got to write about baseball I jumped on it. The problem was I was a writer who absolutely refused to let anybody read my work besides my professor. Fast forward to 2015 and the Mets were fun again! I had recently discovered Amazin’ Avenue and absolutely fell in love with the community. I was a lurker and never commented, but after every Mets win or loss they were my go-to for some sanity. The day the Mets lost the World Series that year I was also out of a job. I unexpectedly got laid off after 14 years, and the Mets had been my distraction, but then suddenly everything was gone. I still had a part-time job and the people there were great, but then one day I saw Amazin’ Avenue was looking for writers. I figured I had nothing to lose and applied. I had already suffered a blow and survived, so it was time to pull myself back up. Much to my surprise they accepted me. I was at work when the email came through and was so tempted to do a happy dance right then and there. I am also now full time at my other job and it’s been nice to find two new places to belong again after getting the carpet ripped out from under me.

Growing up, I thought Linda Cohn was the coolest. She was a Mets and Rangers fan like me, her name was Linda, and when I would watch SportsCenter she would be one of the few women on there. Now I would say Lindsey Adler who writes for The Athletic. What a welcome breath of fresh air she has been to the Mets beat. She pulls no punches and really knows her stuff. I love that. As a Rangers fan, I also read Blueshirt Banter, and Shayna Goldman who writes for them seriously knows hockey inside and out. Her knowledge seems limitless and it was no surprise when she joined The Athletic.