I have had an absolute blast this year as Sports Editor. Truly. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to write, let alone write sports — my absolute passion. My biggest goal coming in this year was to write diverse, engaging stories about the Varsity Blues, and our illustrious but often overlooked history. I think I’ve done a good job telling U of T, Varsity Blues, and Toronto stories in this volume. 

One of the biggest challenges of being a Sports Editor is figuring out ways to describe wins and losses. I’m not sure how many grabbing, clinching, securing, winning, taking home, and nabbing I’ve written this year, but I hope I was able to write grab, clinch, secure, win, take home, and nab your interest in sports. Thank you, sports readers and contributors, for taking your time to read sports. I hope you became a Blues fan. 

I came in expecting to write about myself and the section in this letter, but it wouldn’t be true to what the sports section actually is — a collaborative, collective project. Please allow my Adrien Brody moment. 

I would like to thank Caroline, my brilliant associate editor, who has been with me since my first day at The Varsity. Not only a track and field star, an academic weapon, and a volunteer violin teacher, but also my prime time social media superstar. You will always be my favorite Blue. 

Thank you, Taimoore, for your incredible game reports and endless Toronto sports knowledge. Thank you, Lauren, for your first-reads and fact-checks. I would be lost without my brilliant associate editors and their support throughout the year. 

Thank you to the copy team, led by the ever-steady but hilarious duo of Ozair and Isabella. The copy team checks every single word you read on The Varsity, three times over, always with a smile, at any hour (usually in the early AM). Thank you for your first reads (checked), the banter (checked), and youthful energy (PROBLEM). What would sports be without our Peabody and Sherman. My GOATs.

Thank you to the design team, led by Aksaamai and Nicolas, who gave me endless laughs and fresh, hip vocabulary during my routine design room visits. You are absolute joys to work with and legends for mapping out the report cards. Thank you to the visual team of Zeynep and Vicky for always accommodating my late visual requests and kooky illustration ideas. Y’all make me look good.

Thank you to the management team led by Eleanor, Ajeetha, and Kaisa. Always professional and full of wisdom. To Vol. 145, masthead and all my co-workers, thank you for all the laughter and jokes throughout the year. I’m constantly in awe of the talent, dedication, and integrity of the team here. Dealing with unimaginable stress, tight turnarounds, and a U of T workload, on top of life, really — the passion of The Varsity staff is unmatched. 

Last but not least, thank you, Varsity Blues. Without you, there is no sports section. Without you, I would not have found so many compelling stories to tell. You have a fan for life. Go watch the Blues!

— Jake Takeuchi, Sports Editor, Volume CXLV