dad bob rad bob

the full newsletter from ngozi ukazu that dropped today, for anyone who didn't get it! <3

I started reading Check Please in college, not sure how I found it at first, but it was before the first big hiatus. I was a freshman or sophomore (2016 grad, same as Rans and Holster!), and I was IMMERSED. I followed Bitty on twitter, got all the live updates. During a time where my real college life was less than ideal, I channeled a better one through Bittle and the rest of the team. It felt personal and real -- a small fandom, multi-platform comic, characters in my year going through what I was experiencing in real time! At a time when I did not have a support system, the SMHT made up for it a little. My interests moved on after a bit, the hiatus happened, and I completely forgot about the comic for a few years.

I rediscovered Check Please during my senior year, after the first big hiatus, through that Check Please primer post. It vaguely rang a bell and I thought “oh man, how did I forget about this??” And boy, I hopped right back in (this time getting into real hockey, too). The dadbobzimmerman side blog was born. I wrote so much meta. I rekindled IRL friendships through CP and formed new ones. And we celebrated! Everything that happened to Bitty I felt so deeply in my life! I listened to Halo on repeat for a full two days when Jack and Bitty kissed. I got my university to buy a hard copy of the first volume when it was released so it will live in the archives there for ages and ages. Eternal Check Please lmao.

College is not something I think back on with much fondness, but reading this comic about the Samwell Men’s Hockey team makes me remember the good things about it. There’s a special feeling about being on a campus, about buying your textbooks in the fall and sitting on the grass with your friends and tasting that first bit of adult independence. The parties, the stress, the people who pull you through it. The real love that exists and family that forms in a tight-knit group -- for Bitty, Samwell Men’s Hockey team; for me, my dance troupe. Re-reading this comic reminds me of those good moments. I don’t want to forget how hard and awful college was at times, but I also relish the feeling of warmth in your stomach and lightness in your chest that comes with fond nostalgia -- those specific and tender moments of joy. Moments like baking a pumpkin pie from scratch in my dorm kitchen. Celebrating Rans and Holster’s graduation on the same day as my own. Going to the coffee shop down the street to get a maple and pumpkin spice latte to celebrate Jack and Bitty’s first kiss. When I was in it, it was beautiful.

I started reading Check Please in college, not sure how I found it at first, but it was before the first big hiatus. I was a freshman or sophomore (2016 grad, same as Rans and Holster!), and I was IMMERSED. I followed Bitty on twitter, got all the live updates. During a time where my real college life was less than ideal, I channeled a better one through Bittle and the rest of the team. It felt personal and real -- a small fandom, multi-platform comic, characters in my year going through what I was experiencing in real time! At a time when I did not have a support system, the SMHT made up for it a little. My interests moved on after a bit, the hiatus happened, and I completely forgot about the comic for a few years.

I rediscovered Check Please during my senior year, after the first big hiatus, through that Check Please primer post. It vaguely rang a bell and I thought “oh man, how did I forget about this??” And boy, I hopped right back in (this time getting into real hockey, too). The dadbobzimmerman side blog was born. I wrote so much meta. I rekindled IRL friendships through CP and formed new ones. And we celebrated! Everything that happened to Bitty I felt so deeply in my life! I listened to Halo on repeat for a full two days when Jack and Bitty kissed. I got my university to buy a hard copy of the first volume when it was released so it will live in the archives there for ages and ages. Eternal Check Please lmao.

College is not something I think back on with much fondness, but reading this comic about the Samwell Men’s Hockey team makes me remember the good things about it. There’s a special feeling about being on a campus, about buying your textbooks in the fall and sitting on the grass with your friends and tasting that first bit of adult independence. The parties, the stress, the people who pull you through it. The real love that exists and family that forms in a tight-knit group -- for Bitty, Samwell Men’s Hockey team; for me, my dance troupe. Re-reading this comic reminds me of those good moments. I don’t want to forget how hard and awful college was at times, but I also relish the feeling of warmth in your stomach and lightness in your chest that comes with fond nostalgia -- those specific and tender moments of joy. Moments like baking a pumpkin pie from scratch in my dorm kitchen. Celebrating Rans and Holster’s graduation on the same day as my own. Going to the coffee shop down the street to get a maple and pumpkin spice latte to celebrate Jack and Bitty’s first kiss. When I was in it, it was beautiful.

jack zimmermann is a stanley cup champion