The Best of Times and the Beginning of B/R: Remembering Zander Freund

The co-founding of Bleacher Report happened in 2005. At the time, we were all young. B/R was a huge success. The experience was very challenging and it is impossible for anyone to fully understand it. We all made a difference.

Three people spoke at a celebration of the life of a person. At the age of 39, he died of addiction and mental health issues. His life was cut short by the drug, Opioid.

Since he died, I have cried a lot. More than I thought I would for a non- family member. I have been overwhelmed with emotion and grateful as I reflect on the impact he had on my life. There aren't a lot of people outside of my family who mean more to me.

He was a genius in many ways, but he was also kind, caring and charismatic. He was larger than life and had a big heart. Zan probably felt enough joy and pain in his years to match 10 normal lives. He was a huge fan of music, and if you spent time with him you would become a huge fan. He was a huge fan of sports. For someone who grew up during the heyday of the late '80s to mid-'90s 49ers, his knowledge of earlier football history was amazing. No one has supported Otto Graham more than the man himself.

He was able to disarm anyone in minutes and pull them into a long and open discussion. He was able to relate to people who weren't like him. I was scared to start showing my vulnerable feelings to him. It just happened. I am a more compassionate and empathizing person thanks to the help of Zander. He helped me open my eyes and walk in other people's shoes. I hope that I am a better person to my friends and family because of this.

We sent out thousands and thousands of assignments to amateur writers who used our platform to build an audience around their sportswriting when we were in charge of the writer community. It was easy for me. I put together the assignments. We didn't have any money to pay the writers, so we had to work with them.

He worked hard to develop and nurture community leadership across most of the biggest leagues and teams we covered, and his efforts were crucial to helping B/R grow our initial base of a few million readers back when that was a really difficult thing to do. A number of our early writers were able to use their Bleacher Report portfolios to find full-time work in the sports journalism industry, which made Zan very proud.

Our founding team all went to high school with the same guy, and he was the glue guy. Twelve of us were present. We were a group of people. All of the above were present.

Our parents' houses were almost as similar to our homes away from home as we were at Zander's. We were nicknamed the "Zan Clan" because we were obsessed with music, dark humor, and sports and we were always revolving around him.

We were very passionate about sports. We discussed them and played them. The lifestyle is non stop. All of it was intense and passionate. Every time period. We were fascinated by how competition shows greatness. What else would you expect from the guys who started Bleacher Report?

In true B/R fashion, I will leave you with my favorite sports memories that I shared with you. It was a run I will treasure for the rest of my life. I hope you are feeling better.

The Miami Dolphins will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Superbowl.

Bay Area kids caught the tail end of Joe Montana and revered every minute of Steve Young because they were a fan of the quarterback. Joe Montana was the greatest quarterback of all time when we were young. He was the greatest football player of all time. He was a god when it mattered the most.

I made the mistake of telling Zander that Montana was never as good as either Manning or Brady. The players who come after them are always better than the players who came before them. It is what it is, it is just how it works. It was 99% of the time.

As he popped in a VHS of the 1984 Super Bowl, Zander made me sit down on his couch and watch Dan Marino play Joe Montana. He didn't say a lot, but he made me watch.

Marino was absolutely amazing. He was at the height of his powers before he was injured. It was unbelievably quick to let go. The ball zips on it. The second half of that game was conclusive. He was a football artist, a ballet dancer and a magician. He had a skill set and feel for the game that didn't exist in the NFL of 2007. I didn't think the guys I was watching put up huge statistics on Sundays were as good as Joe Cool. Every famous athlete had a relative comparison in his brain that was ready to be discussed at any time. He was able to recall big and subtle details with more accuracy than any other person.

Baseball and tennis court.

We had a lot of fun playing these two games and made them up. I think they're a good choice.

Frispole is a combination of two sports. A frisbee can be thrown off a pole below a basketball hoop if you want to touch it. The best way to play the game is 2-on-2 or 3-on-4. You lose possession if the frisbee lands. The frisbee player loses possession if the frisbee goes somewhere. It's up to you. We would win.

A beer or two is all you need to enjoy Tennis Court Baseball. A kid's plastic bat is usually better than a crappy plastic bat. A pitcher throws a tennis ball from the center of the court to the other side of the net. The catcher is the only one who has to be behind the net. The net is an out if a ball hits it. Baseball rules apply when a ball hits the net. The right side of the net is where the first base is located. The baseline is the second base. The right side of the net is third base. A ball is a home run. Any object that flies into the fence is a double. We had a lot of fun playing this.

The 2006 World Cup was the third one.

Bryan Goldberg's father couldn't use his tickets for the World Cup in Germany. We went over for a week to immerse ourselves in all things World Cup and watch the USMNT play the Czech Republic and Italy.

The World Cup in Europe is one of the best sporting experiences on the planet. There is no second-place in this place. The cultural experience and sports passion are different. We would hang out with a group of girls from different countries. We were singing about Zlatan Ibrahimovic until the early hours of the morning. Germany scored two goals in the last three minutes to beat Poland and we poured out onto the streets. We were part of a wave. At the fish market, we watched the match. You can't win it. The U.S. team is in the World Cup. The energy is fruit. My friend and I had a great experience.

The second horse race.

When I was younger, I was a decent shooter, but I was the only one of our friends who played basketball competitively. He was able to stroke the ball after practicing for years. He was a free throw shooter who would shoot 100 free throws in a row. He would be upset with himself, if he made 97.

He and I had a lot of epic HORSE battles that featured a lot of Jordan/Kobe-inspired jumpers and almost always proved that he had a better range. He had 25 feet of cash on a daily basis. He loved shooting. Klay Thompson was like Klay Thompson before Klay Thompson. Being his rebounder was a role that I and his friends played a lot.

We started and built a bleacher report together.

We were very fond of sports. We had a crazy idea to put our passion to the mat and magically, through some risk and a lot of blood, sweat and tears, it became something much greater than we could have imagined. In that sense, it means the world.

The co-founding of Bleacher Report was done by Dave Finocchio. Turner Broadcasting bought B/R in 2012 The company had a CEO until June of this year.