30

I felt the exact same way. It's a big reason why I got out. Sports had been one of my biggest passions in life. It's a big reason I got into the biz to begin with. I loved sports and I could write. But 10 years in the biz and my passion for sports was all but gone. I just didn't care anymore.

Seven months out of the biz and that passion is beginning to return. I don't expect to ever be the rabid fanboi I was in college, but it's nice to care again.

 

Same here. I now watch a lot more of the teams and sports I actually care about, and a lot less of everything else.

 

I'm not 30 yet, but this always perplexes me to hear y'all say that about your passion for sports. I guess it's different for everyone. I haven't lost it, and I really don't know if I will -- maybe when I reach that age, I dunno ... but I don't think so. It's still fun to me. I still feel like a kid about it, and I like that feeling. It helps.

The thing is, there are a lot of other things I like to do that don't involve sports -- things that make me feel "naturally mature," to borrow fish's phrase. That I'm spending my time on important priorities rather than "leisurely" ones. And I will admit to having lost something in the way of passion -- I don't get quite as hyped up about random games as maybe I might have when I was younger.

Seems some of you have seen a little bit of the enjoyment return as you've gotten out of the sports business. So I wonder if it's more burnout than anything else. I know that feeling, too. I digress.

Anyway, it's just something that I've always wondered about. I'm afraid I'm rather glad I don't know that feeling yet. You've got to have something that makes you feel like a kid again. It's good to stay young at heart, even though your body tells you otherwise. Sports does that for me, and always has.

 

You still are a kid, Buckdub.

 

I was waiting for 40 is the new 30 or something like that. And it might be that 30 is the new 40 in journalism, the time when seasoned pros would take good PR jobs or become lifers.
It's a fun job, no doubt, but it's also become a job that takes more than it gives.

 

I have gotten to the point where I don't pay as much attention to sports as I used to. I first hear about breaking news on this site! But I don't obsess the way I used to, except for maybe the Mets. But I don't watch the big college football or basketball games any more. I use to love NBA All-Star weekend, and the NBA in general, but haven't watched a full game this season. I still watch the NFL on Sundays, but didn't watch a bowl game this season.

There were times I refused to be social because I wanted to stay home and watch the big game. Marriage changed that, but I was starting to get that way a couple of years ago. Even when the Giants won the Super Bowl, I was disappointed that I wasn't more excited about it. It's sad, but I've come to the point in my life where sports isn't the only thing. I'm laughing at myself as I write this because I remember when I was a teen, leaving my girlfriend at 6:30 every night so I could get home in time to watch the Mets. I was in front of that TV every day. The night before my father's funeral, I sat in front of the TV to watch the Mets as usual while people came in and out of my apartment building to console my grandmother. I guess in that situation it was a way to get my mind off of what was going on, but what did I really know at 12 years old.

I'm still a jock at heart, but not obsessed like I used to be.

 

My interest in sports is 1/100th what it was 10 years ago. That leaves me ahead of most sports fans, but I don't know who the Devil Rays' AA catcher is or which D-linemen are likely to be on the board in round 4.

 

I do.

 

it took having a kid or two of my own to impact me, buck.

i was supposed to cover the no. 1 fb team in the country the day the first heartbreaker was born. she arrived at about 6 a.m., and i believe the game started late that day because it was on national tv.

knowing i had plenty of time to make it to the stadium, mrs. petty attempted to talk me into going to the game because she knew i was kinda stoked about being there. but after heartbreaker no. 1 was born, i didn't care to go. it just didn't matter. and the thing is, mrs. petty wouldn't have thought any less of me if i would have gone. but nobody on this earth could have forced me to be anywhere else in that moment in time.

we watched the news that night and saw the highlights of the game. (if i mentioned what happened at the stadium that day, you'd know the exact game i'm "talking" about.) as soon as the highlights were finished, mrs. petty looked up at me and asked "i bet you wish you'd have gone now, right?"

the funny thing is i didn't give two shits then, and i still don't care i wasn't at that game. for my money, 22 college-aged punks chasing a piece of leather around a big hunk of lawn was insignificant.

my interest in sports has slowly eroded ever since that day, the day my perspective changed.



EDIT: i did call my boss and someone else sat in for me.