Jess Root

Regional Sports Editor

A born-and-raised Arizonan from the East Valley, I have been passionate about Arizona sports (loving the Suns, Cardinals, D'Backs, Sun Devils, while hating Wildcats) for as long as I was aware that there were sports in Arizona. Unfortunately, due to the fact that my wonderful parents have never been big sports fans, I was about 12 when that happened, so I started late. I took a circuitous route to get to SB Nation. I started my university studies as a broadcasting major, but two years of living in Argentina as an LDS missionary and several other factors led me to secondary education. After nearly a decade of teaching Spanish to high school and college students, I was inspired to start blogging about sports at the start of 2010, starting with a little Blogger page before contributing to numerous sites. I found SB Nation and began writing for SB Nation Arizona in August 2010 and became lead blogger for Revenge of the Birds in February 2011. As an Arizona sports fan, I have suffered the bitter disappointments (many) and have enjoyed the highs (not so many). I get frustrated and upset, but I rarely lose hope. That may make me sound like a homer sometimes, but I don't want to lose my "fan perspective" just for the sake of being negative. Be realistic, but be optimistic -- that's how I see the world of sports fandom. Otherwise, why cheer at all?