Staff writer, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.

Congrats on the new gig - I think you'll find the people at the PE to be great.

(But if you start covering the races at Perris instead of the talented freelancer they have been using, you are dead to me. Dead.)

 

As a personal favor, rmanfredi, I'll remain ignorant of the oldest MX track in all of California for as long as possible.

 

Congrats, Will. It's nice to see a young sports journalist like yourself who is excited about the business. I hope you can maintain it. I'm one of the "veterans," too, and while it's hard to keep soldiering on sometimes, those of us who are left in this business stay because we believe in what we do and enjoy it, despite the challenges. Some of us will have to be dragged out kicking and screaming, bleeding ink as we go.

At the end of the day, we have one of the best jobs available: We get paid to watch sports.

And kudos to Dave for a professionally run job search. It's not often that one can feel good about a rejection. Dave's managed to do that by keeping applicants in the loop and leaving the definite impression that every application got a fair look.

 

Will, let me get you ready for the IE.
Be ready to see lots of 30-something guys with soul patches wearing flat-billed caps while holding a Monster energy drink and driving lifted Ford F-250s, pitbulls at their side.
Make sure you find a home in the 951, not the 909.
And forget Inland Empire, its Inland Area at your new paper.

 

It's not too sensible to basically say that you only seek positive advice, but that's the choice you make. It's also unfair to act like people who say "get out of the business" are "CURMUDGEONS!!!!!" Just like the ones that say "hey! What a neat-O little writer you are!" those you might identify as negative are people who speak from experience.

At this point, all opinions from people who have logged time in the business are worth hearing, even the ones that don't make you feel good.

Best of luck in the new gig.

 

Well, he's right. You get nowhere by listening to people tell you not to chase your dream. All that happens is that you stand still while others who chose not to listen to the naysayers pass you and end up doing the thing you wanted to do while you end up with a life that isn't a love.

So, on the contrary, it's perfectly sensible and fair to say the people who say to get out of the business are curmudgeons, and I'm actually where I'm at today because I chose not to listen to the curmudgeons and followed my heart. While in college, I accepted an internship that everyone on this board told me to avoid. When I got my first job, the reason that pushed me over the top was because the managing editor grew up reading the paper that I interned with against everyone's advice.

As far as this job, I spent two years covering the Big Sky and met the writers for every other school in the league. None of them worked harder or did more with their beat than Will did with Montana State. Riverside landed an excellent reporter who is going to do great things down there.

 

It is fine to chase your dream. We've all done it. Then reality bit.

I'm no curmudgeon, and I wouldn't tell anyone not to do journalism. I sometimes wish I was still doing it. I always wish I hadn't been, basically, run out of it, after what I'd always thought was a very good career that I'd hoped, right up to end, would only get better from there.

But, it doesn't always.

Just be aware of that. And don't call us "mentors." We are not. We can't be if we're being run out in favor of younger, cheaper, less-principled, or whatever.

Know that, these days, everyone is looking out for themselves. They have to, so don't count on "mentors" to be there for you, not when you might really need them, because they won't be.

When push comes to shove, you are on your own. Totally.

That's the voice of my experience.

 

Not always. At my last paper, when my editor, a man in his 50's with three decades of experience on a major-college beat, arrived at our newspaper, the first thing he told me was, "I want to get you your next job". Less than a year later, he had delivered on that, mainly because he focused a lot of time showing me how to improve my writing.

If you don't want to mentor someone, that's your choice, but some older writers are mentors who are glad to help out. Not everyone is only looking out for themselves.

 

I'd be glad to help out, if I were still in the business -- a state of affairs which was/is anything but my choice.

I get a kick out of your relentlessly idealistic posts, but really, you don't have the experience to compare to mine. I'm not saying I wouldn't want to be a mentor. I'd love it. I'm not saying I never had any mentors. I did -- or, at least, I thought I did.

What I'm saying is, don't count on them. Because someday, they may not be there, even if/when you really need them. And the horrible realization that people are not who you thought they were may cancel out just about every idealistic thing you ever thought, felt or did previously in your career.

Obviously, that hasn't happened to you yet. I hope it never does.

And just to get this thread back on track, I wish Will Holden all the best in his new job. He sounds like a good hire and a good guy, and if he's got family in California, it'll probably be a good move for him.

 

To be polite, there's some middle ground.

To say you get nowhere by listening to people who don't follow your dream is not necessarily true. Perhaps you won't live in Podunk, there's a good chance you'll work regular hours, you might even draw a good salary, have time to go meet a future spouse or something else. To say that all these people who don't listen to the naysayers pass you ignores the many people whose careers you wouldn't really want.

But the thing in your post that most drew my attention was this, "I'm actually where I'm at today because I chose not to listen to the curmudgeons and followed my heart." That is unbelievably false. It is mind-numbingly false, and here is why. You had an extremely well-respected, talented journalist come to your shop out of a journalistic bloodbath, and immediately take an interest in making you better and worthy of a better job. That is rare and precious. Beyond that there are breaks. A particular job opening at the right time, being in a certain company, getting the right connections and the right people to speak on your behalf, all things that go way beyond, "Following your heart."

For every person who gets that first big break after going to Podunk there are more than a few who wake up at age 29 never having worked at a paper over 30K, let alone the 50K range you've reached. You are blessed, and have been blessed at points in your career, remember that not all are so fortunate.

Note: I'm not some old curmudgeon, just a young reporter a few years back of yourself. But every day I see people who followed their hearts to varying levels of success. Passion doesn't guarantee everything, or even that much. I hope to someday make the jump like you have, but if I don't get the breaks, or certain situations don't come together, eventually the journalistic lifestyle may become untenable. And that's a reality my living-the-dream, semi-idealistic self can be comfortable with. Also, I know one of your current coworkers and think he's one of the better young journalists around. The kid will be moving on to big things before long.

 

Congrats Will! I always enjoyed reading your stuff in the Chronicle. Good luck in California.