The story behind Pete Martini's AP Top 25 ballot

Just like everything in sports, there's a story behind the numbers. Pete Martini's is one of perseverance.

Pete Martini of the Salem Statesman Journal was feeling grateful the night before the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll dropped.

The 2023 football season marks Martini’s fourth as an AP voter, and as one of those sportswriters who grew up devouring box scores from the paper in the library before school started, Martini still holds the institution of…