7220Sports.com: We Turn 7 Years Old Today

LARAMIE -- This little venture of ours turns 7 years old today.

If you would've asked me back in the spring of 2019, when this website was just a hope and a dream, if we'd still be rolling in 2026, I'm not sure what I'd say. A world-wide pandemic definitely added some uncertainty. So does the ever-changing landscape of the media world.

Yet, here we are.

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That's always been and always will be because of you, the reader.

We launched in the wee hours of June 1, putting the finishing touches on a handful of stories, a number of videos and the site itself. We always knew a feature about Wyoming basketball legend Fennis Dembo would grace the top of the page on Day 1.

Kasey Orr and I traveled to San Antonio to interview arguably the greatest player in program history. Kenny Sailors might have a say in that race. Both of those jersey numbers -- 34 and 4, respectively -- now hang from the rafters inside the Arena-Auditorium, never to be worn again.

I decided, with Dembo's blessing, of course, I needed to write the story I always wanted to read. The "Dazzling Dude," long after his playing days, shot and killed a home invader in April of 2003, a decision that haunts him to this very day.

I needed to hear from the man himself. Per usual, he didn't disappoint. I'll be forever thankful that he trusted a complete unknown with a story that is so personal to him and his family.

You can read that right HERE.

It wasn't all doom and gloom out of the gate.

During the winter of 2018, our site photographer DJ Johnson and I attended a Stallions football game inside Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Who?

Great question.

The Alliance of American Football was short lived. In fact, the league disbanded just days after our trip to Utah. There, we interviewed former Cowboys Ryan Cummings and Mike Purcell. Dennis Erickson, who spent just one season in Laramie before controversially bolting for Washington State in the "dead of night," was also the team's head coach.

On the sideline that night, I bumped into former University of Utah head man Ron McBride. He was always good for a quote, and he relished the opportunity to speak about those annual battles with the Pokes. If you missed it, check that out HERE.

Wanting to make an early impression, we also rolled out another feature shortly after our launch about the sack king of Cowboy football, Mitch Donahue. This was supposed to just serve as a "where are they now" piece on one of the most popular players in team history.

It was so much more.

Donahue, who was in visible pain during the entirety of our chat inside his Billings, Montana living room, laid out a story of dependence and regret. Alcohol had taken its toll. Not only on him, but his son Dylan Donahue, who one year prior crashed his Dodge Charger Hellcat into a private passenger bus while going the wrong way down the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York City.

Four people were hospitalized as a result of the wreck. Dylan, who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence – his second such offense since 2017 – was suspended by the NFL for 14 weeks for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy and was subsequently cut by the Jets.

Both father and son were in the midst of turning their lives around.

You can read that one right HERE.

During our pre-launch trip through Texas, we made a pit stop in El Paso to speak with former Wyoming football coach Dana Dimel.

I'll be honest, the "fan" in me led to this interview. Still upset about Dimel leaving for what I perceived as a lateral move to the University of Houston following the 1999 season, I had one major question -- why?

Why would you leave Laramie after winning at least seven games in all three seasons at the helm? Why Houston? That program played inside a vacant Astrodome each Saturday, its glory years well in the rear-view. Dimel won just eight games in three seasons there before he was eventually fired.

Wyoming, on the other hand, claimed just five victories under Vic Koenning's leadership.

Dimel's answers were blunt -- and completely understandable. Then just 37 years old, he signed a massive contract, at the time, bringing in nearly $700,000, annually. He didn't make close to half that per season at UW. He also always dreamed of coaching in Texas. He recruited the area for years, helping turn around a dormant program at Kansas State thanks to the players he brought from the Lone Star State to Manhattan.

Did you know Dimel's first time calling plays in his coaching career came during the 1993 Copper Bowl? The Wildcats, led by all-world return man and the game's eventual MVP, Andre Coleman, rolled to an easy 52-17 victory that night in the desert.

That also marked Kansas State's first-ever bowl win.

It came against, you guessed it, Wyoming.

Dimel, who was one of the classiest, nicest men I have ever met in the coaching profession, died on Dec. 3, 2024. He was just 62 years old.

The first game he coached at Wyoming came in his hometown against Ohio State. He was known as the guy who almost beat the big boys. The Cowboys gave up just 24 points to the Buckeyes, who were then the No. 9 team in the nation. He then nearly led his team to an upset in Boulder four weeks later. That was an unforgettable 20-19 setback that says it was a "win" in the record books. The NCAA vacated all five of the Buffs' wins for utilizing an ineligible player.

Wyoming also put a scare into No. 12 Georgia between the hedges the following year. In '99, his last on the high plains, the Cowboys knocked off a pair of Top-25 teams: No. 24 Air Force and No. 15 BYU.

You can read the Dimel feature HERE.

I could walk down memory lane all day long. Seriously.

The first game we ever covered as a company was a stunning 37-31 win over Missouri inside a raucous War Memorial Stadium. Craig Bohl's Pokes beat Georgia State in the Arizona Bowl to cap an 8-5 campaign. Texas Tech was on the other end of an upset in 2024, too.

We witnessed Jeff Linder and the Cowboy basketball team punch their ticket to March Madness in 2022 after an impressive 25-9 season. Who would've guessed just two seasons prior that UW would sniff a tournament bid any time soon.

What is our record in football since the coverage started? 40-42. Hey, on the bright side, the Pokes are 5-2 against Border War rival Colorado State. We'll take it.

We've seen it all during these 2,555 days on the job. We have published 7,192 stories in that span, according to my analytics. That's incredible to think about. If all goes to plan, I hope to tack on that number again over the next seven years.

Thank you for allowing me to have my dream job. Sincerely.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players