About Us - Golden Bay Times

Greetings!

Welcome to the new Golden Bay Times website. I am beyond thrilled that you have taken the time to visit and browse through its virtual pages. This surely has been a labor of love and I hope I have provided a top-notch entertainment and informational website for you.

The concept for Golden Bay was born way back in 2001. I had just turned 29 and finally accepted the fact that I was never going to be a major-league baseball player. A dream, like many, that I had begun chasing from the age of 8. However, after officially retiring from the game I found myself completely lost having never considered a backup plan. After a few months of complete darkness and depression, I figured that taking the road a lot of ex-athletes progress to, which is sports journalism was the way to go. I loved sports, I was a decent writer, and it seemed like the right move. I took some courses and applied at various newspapers, magazines, radio, and tv stations, and all I was offered was entry-level runner jobs in mail rooms...with the chance to possibly advance. At my age (and ego), I didn't want to begin at the bottom, so I decided that if this was going to be done, I had to do it all myself.

Golden Bay Magazine became the chosen name, and its first version was a simple 10-page seasonal mini-mag that I designed and printed on my home printer. I would make 1500 copies four times a year and distribute them at the San Francisco Airport International terminal's tourism kiosk. It featured a sports and live theatre calendar along with articles pertinent to events happening during the season. I had a few ads, but they barely covered the printing costs. Though beyond simplistic, I received letters from people (some as far as Asia and Australia) telling me how the little magazine helped them during their stay in the city. I figured I was on to something, but needed to expand. Eventually, I got my foot into some theatre doors and got the opportunity to do show reviews. In 2003 I got credentialed to cover the San Jose Earthquakes which was my big break into sports. The mini-mag continued through to 2010 during which time I learned graphic design and website development, leading to Golden Bay Magazine becoming exclusively virtual by 2012.

The progress was steady but slow. In hindsight, taking the job in the mailroom all those years prior would have probably gotten me farther faster, but I never would have gained the knowledge or appreciation that I have otherwise. In 2014 I found myself standing on the field at the Oakland Coliseum watching the Oakland A's taking batting practice. I was talking to players, even Rickey Henderson, my childhood baseball hero. I had made it to the show. True, not as a player, but I guess that's what they mean by "God works in mysterious ways". In 17 years there had been 6 different printed designs and 5 different website designs of Golden Bay Magazine, then came covid.

With everything shut down that I covered, sports, entertainment, and travel, Golden Bay took a short vacation. Late last year I decided to change the name to Golden Bay Times and redesigned the entire website from scratch. It's still a work in progress and it probably will continue to be since I'm always adding to it, redesigning things, and changing content. Yes, aside from a few people who contribute their writing and photography skills, this is a one-man show. It's more work than I've ever done, more daily hours than I've ever imagined I would put in at any job, but I truly wouldn't change it for anything. I hope it shows.