Edit(ors) of the Year Ethan Lee ’26 and Sam Weitzman-Kurker ’26 Talk Argus Sports, Fondest Stories, and Legacy at 45 Broad St.

Ethan Lee ’26 and Sam Weitzman-Kurker ’26 are sports editors for The Wesleyan Argus. They have spent their entire time at the University writing for the sports section, in which both have spent seven semesters on masthead and six as head sports editors. The two of them, plus last year’s Editor of the Year Erin Byerly ’25, have anchored Sports as one of the most consistent sections in all of The Argus. Lee’s 91 articles and Weitzman-Kurker’s 98 put them in rarified air among reporters for the storied paper, and they will be sorely missed as members of the sports section and at 45 Broad St. In honor of their final production, Lee and Weitzman-Kurker sat down with The Argus (as they typically do every Monday and Thursday) to talk about their four years at the paper—this time on the other side of the recorder. The two discussed their favorite sports and articles, as well as the future of University athletics.

A: What is your earliest sports memory?

Ethan Lee ’26: I didn’t really get into pro sports until I was like 10, but playing soccer during recess and getting really invested in it very early is the earliest one for me.

Sam Weitzman-Kurker ’26: I was a huge Celtics fan, and I had this little play area when I was a kid with a mini basketball hoop. So, I’d watch the Celtics games and then recreate the shots that they just hit on my hoop. So, if Paul Pierce hits a fade away, I’m taking that same fade away and drilling it.

A: How did you first get involved with The Argus?

EL:  It was early freshman year, and I pitched an article idea of writing about every NBA team, and I just remember it was really the first sports writing I’d ever done. Compared to the other homework I had to do, it was so much fun to write, so I really loved doing it.

SWK: I came to the open house initially. I didn’t know about it, but Teddy [Benchley ’26], my roommate with whom I’ve written a bunch of articles [Sam and Teddy’s Takes], he was like, ‘Oh, this newspaper meeting. Let’s go check it out.’ I came here [and] signed up. I think I only wrote a couple articles for my freshman fall.

A: What was your first article?

EL: Mine was 30 words or less about all 30 NBA teams, and it was called “The Changing of the Guard.” I don’t really know why. The 2022–23 NBA season was the changing of the guard, I guess. 

SWK: I think mine was something about the college football playoff. [Editor’s Note: This was actually Sam’s third article.]

A: Were any sports more fun to cover than you initially expected?

SWK: Yes, this has been my favorite part about this, how much I’ve gotten into new sports. I’d say field hockey and volleyball are #1 and #2 for me. It helps that Wesleyan has been very good in those, especially the last two years with field hockey. But they are very fun sports with very fun energy. I had very little knowledge of them before coming here.

EL: Yeah, definitely volleyball for me as well, and also [I’ve enjoyed] learning all the stats. That’s really what gets me into a sport. So, learning about kills, learning about blocks and digs, really solidified that for me.

A: Do you have a favorite article you’ve written for the paper, either Wes sports or professional?

SWK: Mine would be football winning the title last year. They just had three insane games down the stretch that had miraculous twists and turns. It was really a program-defining moment, so that was a cool one.

EL: Yeah, in the same vein, the basketball season wrap from last year. Getting to interview Nicky [Johnson ’25] and Shane [Regan ’25] over a period of three years felt very full circle and very nostalgic in a way, and what a year for them to end in as well.

A: What’s the most difficult part of managing the student-journalist lifestyle?

EL: I would say not putting off potentially more important work to write an article that you enjoy writing. 

SWK: Similar to the tension [Ethan] described earlier, where you go from writing an article that’s fun and then you have to write an essay. You’ve tasted bliss.

A: OK. Rapid fire questions. Favorite athlete, go!

EL: Aaron Judge.

SWK: Jordan Spieth.

A: Say something nice about your least favorite sports team.

EL: The [Boston] Red Sox have a cool stadium. 

SWK: Pro or Wesleyan?

A: Pro. We don’t want to start drama on your way out.

SWK: Oh, ok. The [New York Yankees] pinstripes are cool. 

A: What’s the worst take you’ve written for The Argus?

SWK: I famously have terrible takes predicting people who are gonna be good. I have a good hate watch: When I think someone’s gonna be shitty, I’m pretty accurate. I always miss on people that I think are gonna be good. I think in the 2023 draft class, I ranked the quarterbacks Anthony Richardson, Bryce Young, Will Levis, C.J. Stroud. That’s a pretty rough one. 

EL: Just three weeks ago, I said ABS was not really gonna affect the game at all. That’s a quick one. Yeah, I think it’s having some effect.

A: For both of you, but especially for Sam as you are finishing up your piece on the state of the athletics department, what do you hope for the future of Wes athletics?

EL: I’m interested to learn a little bit more about that from Sam’s article, but I would hope that they find a balance between domination [in athletics] and keeping the student-athlete experience that people choose this school for. But winning is great, too.

SWK: I think the biggest tension I’ve explored is not anything like academics falling off, but [instead] the campus vibe. What makes Wesleyan special is that people don’t stay in their lane, and there’s overlap, and you do so many different things. But, as the recruits get better and as there becomes a more athlete/non-athlete divide, you have people spending more time in their sport because the hours and more expectations are higher, and thus it feels like the campus isn’t as integrated. So, I hope that doesn’t continue.

A: What do you hope for the future of The Argus and the sports section?

EL: The one thing I wish it would get that I don’t know if we had is innovating a little bit more. I think we were excellent at doing our job and covering what we cover. I think some brainstorming sessions and finding different ways of writing beat articles, all kinds of things like that could be really cool in the future and continue consistent coverage that we did very well.

SWK: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more: different types of pieces on Wesleyan athletics. We have good diversity on pro sports articles. We come from different angles with prediction pieces and cultural investigations. But when it comes to Wesleyan athletics, we go pretty robotic, formulaic. As you said, brainstorming, finding new angles to approach them with. 

A: Any last shoutouts or plugs you want to include for the article?

EL: Shoutout Erin Byerly ’25. 

SWK:  Yeah, for the Features article today, I was asked to give three words to describe my experience here, and I said “Erin, Ethan, and Max.” The four of us have done a lot, have spent a lot of time together, and made each other better writers. The experience is with you guys. 

Thank you Ethan and Sam for all that you’ve done for the paper, and welcoming me and the next generation of sports editors into this incredible section. You will certainly be missed. -Max

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.