Is anybody else finding it hard to tear away from the biz?

Peer at a previous metro stop (which I enjoyed but left for personal and professional reasons) says he's riding this thing out until the end, fully aware of how the boat is taking on a whole lot of water. When I look back, I'm a touch sad that I won't recall the fun and fulfillment of reaching a high level in my chosen field but will think about the deflation and desperation as it plays out. I enjoy what this gig used to mean to me and to our readers; I don't enjoy the toll its descent is taking on those around me.

 

anyone who has truly LOVED this biz and what it has given them can't help but feel torn. it's not unlike the players and coaches we cover who almost to a one admit NOTHING can ever replace their active days. some of them find success and happiness in their next career but i dare say they are few and far between.

speaking only for myself, it will be crushing when my days are fcan i rule out finding something nearly as enjoyable and rewarding, even with the lousy hours and crappy pay? i hope not but i highly doubt it.

how can anyone who feels similarly not have such mixed emotions? ??? ??? ???

it's why i am very patient and understanding with someone like favre.

 

There's been a lot of good things said on this thread so far, but this one hits closest to home. At some point, my career of being a sports writer turned into a job where I mass produce copy and pages.

I'm still in the business, and I too miss the business.

I miss coming in on a Friday night after a prep game and seeing a dozen or so guys with their eyes affixed on a computer screen and a phone in their ear taking a high school boxscore.

I miss that "all hands on deck" usually meant the boss was going to spring for pizza at some point during the night.

I miss those lively debates about whether Pete Rose belonged in the Hall or if Barry Sanders was better than Emmitt Smith.

I miss all of those things because our newspaper is just a mere skeleton of what it once was. That hustling and bustling newsroom is a street in Tombstone circa 1881. Our sports staff has dwindled from seven full-timers and a half-dozen part-timers just five years ago to four full-timers and one (soon to be ex) part-timer.

And all for what? So the publisher can get another company ring? So the CEO can pocket another $750K bonus? So the corporate big-wigs can continue to stay at the Ritz-Carlton and rent luxury limousines when attending "conventions"?

 

The one and only. Good afternoon, everybody!

 

the minkman delivers!! ;D ;D ;D

 

this is John Minko 20-20 Sports

 

I remember when Mike Breen was the regular guy and Warner Wolf would fill in.

 

If you are making similar money and working 9-5, M-F, I'd trade places with any of you in a second. Don't care what you do, not even a little.

Looking back to college, I worked eight hours a day in a factory and enjoyed it more than I like my job now. At least I got to see my friends and family and my 20s weren't wasting away sitting in front of a fucking computer at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. I want to see my kids grow up, and this business can go to hell.

That said, I KNOW how lucky I am to have survived the cuts here. The only reasons I'm having trouble tearing away from the business are the market and the sneaking suspicion that I'm not qualified to do anything else in the entire world -- no matter how good I am at what I do now.

 

The good old days. I have sweaters older than both.

 

Funny you say this... I'm in my 20s... all my friends are 800 miles away due to the job... I'm wasting away on SportsJournalists.com (in front of a computer) aaaand.... it's 9:30 on a Friday night.

 

Apologies for the negativity in general. My wife is sitting at home alone watching TV and I'm here waiting on baseball boxes pretending to give a shit about whether it's Super Regional or super regional.

I want to be at home drinking wine and getting laid, not sitting here feeling like I dropped the wrong major after my first semester of college.

By the GODS what I could be doing with a chemistry degree right now.

 

Been away 3 years.

Don't miss the day-to-day grind at all.

I do miss the feeling of researching, reporting and writing a good story and knowing you nailed it.