The Beatless Beat Writer: The Encouraging Words of a Friend

“There’s a lot that goes through your mind as all of this unfolds.”

The words of my friend emanated from my phone's speaker. With no one else in the house, my friend's deep voice resounded around the barren living room like a lone cello in an empty concert hall.

In times like these, we more often find ourselves turning to our friends and family for support. Today, I pursued that option.

Since the outbreak in the United States, communicating with friends face-to-face has become obsolete. As we all remain confined in the safety of our homes, we turn to various outlets to remain in-touch with our loved ones. Those methods can be through social media, calling or texting, or even methods that I had rarely used before such as FaceTime or other video chat methods.

Throughout the majority of my time at the University of Alabama, I have developed many good friends through classes as well as working in the media. Being a sports media student, several of my close friends cross over into both of these fields.

One of those friends is Jacob Harrison.

Harrison, 26, is one of my best friends in Tuscaloosa. We met in a news production class during our shared second semester, and due to the both of us being older and simultaneously sharing a similar passion for sports, we hit it off right away.

Local sports fans in the Tuscaloosa area might recognize his name if they listen to Tide 100.9 FM, as Jacob Harrison served as a board operator and producer for The Game with Ryan Fowler.

Due to the coronavirus, Harrison was unfortunately let go along with all other part-time employees of Townsquare Media. This is a similar situation for many employees across the nation, especially in media.

“I actually didn’t think that I would lose my job at all,” Harrison said. “The Monday I walked in I didn’t know what to think. Pretty much both of my bosses come in and one of them is practically crying and the other one doesn’t even want to hardly look at us and gives us that news and it was just complete and total shock.”

Harrison explained that heading into the meeting he felt that local media would be one of the fields that would not be affected by the coronavirus.

“I thought that if anything was essential right now, it was local media,” Harrison said. “I felt that everyone at Tide 100.9 and Townsquare Media as a whole was doing — and they are still doing — an incredible job of handling this and getting the information out to the public and also giving them a forum to talk about this and how it’s impacting them and their love of sports.”

After being explained why he was being let go, Harrison realized that it was a situation that he should have seen coming. Local media outlets keep the lights on by being funded with advertisements from local businesses. Unfortunately, when funds become tight, those small businesses cut ads from their budget in order to stay open. This forms a trickle-down effect that ultimately costs employees like Harrison their livelihood.

It’s perfectly understandable, but it is still a situation that many in the media are currently facing.

I didn't say anything yesterday because I didn't know what to say or feel.

I was layed off from Tide 100.9 yesterday as a result of COVID-19.

I just wanna say, I love everyone at @Tide1009fm, the fans of @TheGAMEon1009, & the rest of the station family. I'll be back when I can. pic.twitter.com/zKzABVgwFi
— Jacob Harrison (@JacobHarrison_3) March 31, 2020

When the outbreak of the coronavirus was first settling into the United States, Harrison and I were both in class when the news broke that the SEC would be cancelling the men’s basketball tournament. While we both understood the circumstances, it was at that point that the situation that our nation and the world was facing was starting to feel very real.

Like myself, Harrison is having to adjust to completing classes solely online for his last semester at Alabama. While I am fortunate to have only four classes this semester, Harrison is registered for six.

“I needed to take six classes to graduate this semester, and I took all of those classes in a classroom because throughout my college career and even still in my two years at Alabama online classes have always been difficult for me to manage,” Harrison said. “I lose track of due dates and those sorts of thing because I’m not going to and interacting with a professor or with classmates or whoever.”

In addition to adjusting to online classes, both Harrison, myself and the entire senior class will not be having a graduation on the original date scheduled due to its cancellation. While University of Alabama President Stuart R. Bell has announced that spring graduates can walk with summer students graduating, the certainty that the ceremony will be held is still up in the air.

Harrison likens the situation of Alabama seniors to those of student-athletes.

“I kinda relate with our given situation with how the graduation ceremony being handled the way it’s being handled,” Harrison said. “We’re heartbroken about that, and we’re not athletes who have poured our lives into playing at the Division I level and then having a championship opportunity ripped away from us, our senior seasons ripped away from us.”

On top of his studies and the absence of work, Harrison also has to balance the world of fatherhood. Harrison and his wife, Day Harrison, 26, have three children under the age of five: Jay, 4, Coraline, 3, and Jensen, 3 months.

With the coronavirus, Harrison said that they have had to do a lot of adjusting in order to conform with the new lifestyle that society is currently going through.

“Before, we had a very set routine,” Jacob Harrison said. “I had class scheduled around work so I was pretty much busy throughout the day every day. My oldest son went to school, my wife ran us all around and my mother-in-law would help us watch the other two [children]. Now that’s all kind of been thrown into disarray.”

With all of the free time, Harrison now gets his sports fix by hosting a Pittsburgh Steelers podcast on The Brawl Network. In addition to his obsession with the Steelers and the NFL, Harrison also plays sports-related video games like NBA 2K to pass the time.

Drums V. Flats 🐔

No seriously, this week the guys discuss:
-Jalen Hurts at 49?
-Rd 3 of our Greatest Steeler Tourney
- And settle once and for all which is better: Drums or Flats.

Like Share & Subscribe! #HereWeGo #Steelers #BrawlNetwork https://t.co/m2TWyK7IX0
— Steelers Brawl ™️ (@SteelersBrawl) April 15, 2020

“Everything I can find to supplement the absence of live sports has been my go-to,” Harrison chuckled.

While times are stressful, Harrison does see light at the end of the long, dark tunnel that he and his family are currently travelling through. With the potential for him to return to his former job at the radio station, Harrison is optimistic about the future for him and his family.

“I think that once we get back to the next new normal I’ll get to go back there and do what I love to do,” Harrison said. “Hopefully around that time we’ll have at least an idea of when sports will be back.”

Harrison defines the position that many members of society from all walks of life are currently facing. With the outset of the coronavirus, things might seem dreary. At times, they might seem hopeless. Yet in the end, hope endures.

As I spoke to my good friend on the phone, I was motivated by the feelings of positivity that emanated from his baritone voice. The words of my friend called out to me and pulled me out of the rut that I was in. In a way, I found myself reinvigorated.

If people like Jacob Harrison can have hope even in the darkest of times, then we can all have hope for the future. As the old saying goes, the night is darkest just before dawn. It might be later than we all want, but the sun will rise once again.

Trust me. Dawn is coming, and friends like Jacob Harrison will help us along the way.

The Beatless Beat Writer is a series of stories by BamaCentral's own Joey Blackwell. The series is meant to reflect on and discuss Alabama athletics and its fans in Tuscaloosa during the current pandemic.