Do we still like sports

Although I will add that I haven't lost touch with "sports as a lifestyle" - when I get together with friends it's often over a game, I'd still rather go to a live game than a movie or museum or whatever, I still talk sports with my dad as a father-daughter thing, I still read SI while waiting in line at the post office, and I feel a little lost if I'm not playing on a beer league team of some kind.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Sometimes I wonder if I do. Now and then something wows or moves me. Darren Clarke Sunday for one. But that's now and then. Felt it more often when I was younger.

I do not like Big Sports much anymore. Part of it is that I hate working that type of thing. I just don't even bother with press conferences and I'm barely interested in scrums.

YHS, etc

 

I still love sports, but I have a much different admiration for sports than I did before I entered the biz. I love the stories behind sports, not necessarily the talent.

The story about the autistic basketball manager was one of my favorites no matter how many times ESPN tried to exploit it. Three or four times a year, Gary Smith makes me care about people I've never met and places I've never visited. There are several times a year I find myself breaking the ethical mold and pulling for good kids to come through in big situations (on the inside only, it never appears in my writing). I'm not ashamed to admit that.

I still follow my favorite teams, but some of the luster is gone, especially for the ones I've covered or at least seen how the other half lives. I don't get mad while watching sports anymore, because what's the point? I do, however, still cheer. It still gives me a rush, especially when I'm there in person and forget that I'm a journalist and don't try to think about what lede I'd formulate or what questions I would ask. I'm not the wide-eyed kid I used to be, but I still managed to get lost in the moment now and then.

So I guess you can say I still like sports. I hope I never stop liking sports, because it means I'll have to find a new line of work.

Which brings me to another question. If you hate sports, why do you still do this? Seriously. Why? If you really hate it, why don't you get out and go do public relations or work at Sears? I'm just curious, because I think most of the journalists that say they hate sports are either bitter they aren't at a bigger paper or they hate sports because it's what all the cool kids do. Maybe I'm way off base here. If so, I'm sorry that you have a job dealing with something you hate.

 

My mind isn't as much of a vacuum sucking up every sports fact as it was when I was a kid. I could tell you more about the 1971-71 Blues than I could about the 2005-06 edition. But a lot of that surely comes from having increased responsibilities in life. I do still like watching sports, and for certain teams (Missouri football in particular), I will certainly cheer if I'm watching.

 

Riddick,

Like you, as time went on and after 17 years of writing, rewriting and editing prep crap, of reading the same gamers and features year in and year out where only the names changed, and of having to endure one more mock draft of anything (they should be outlawed), I knew what I needed to do.

I left sports and went over the dark side ... news.

It's only been a month, but so far, so good. And I'm starting to see why.

I work 4:30 p.m.-11:30/midnight (depending no how busy we are). I get an hour dinner from 6-7 p.m. where I can actually leave the building (no more stuffing my face at my desk!). There is no chasing for West Coast results or late local gamers to update with cliche quotes. And the work isn't terrible ... learning a lot about business and actual editing of hard news, and of how to write more precise headlines instead of the same hyperbole day in and day out.

And the best part of all? With so many former sports people on the news staff, we have games on the TV (not CNN) and talk sports! We're actually more boisterous than the toy, er, sports department.

Get this ... the editor in chief if a former sports editor. The Night News Chief is a former sports editor. The Copy Chief has a background in sports. Seven others on the desk all weened in sports editing and sports page design. And I'm beginning to understand why they are now doing news. The stress level is vastly reduced.

I may never go back to sports. Life is so much better.

So I hope that helps.

 

I'm bummed nobody seemed to get my American Psycho reference before so I'll give a serious answer now.

I still love sports and if I were to quit writing tomorrow and go to work as a truck driver or something I would probably go right back to watching as many games as possible and being a normal fan. But while working a beat I have no time to keep up with the sports world at large if I want to be anything close to a well-rounded human being. Saturday I left the press box at a college football game at about 1:30 a.m. The next day I didn't turn on a single minute of NFL.

I'm still very passionate about college sports, even if I don't really have that much of a rooting interest, but most pro sports have fallen off my priority list.

 

i'm fine with sports... it's sports fans i hate

i'm not sure sports fans like sports as much as they once did. remember when sports were a diversion and fun? now everyone seems to get upset about sports and it creates problems. they get all mad and angsty? i thought they were supposed to be fun. instead, it's about coverage, respect and angst. that makes me dislike the business of sport

 

Yeah. I would agree with that.

 

I love sports as much as I ever did, but because of the hours involved I find I don't watch it much anymore.

Generally anything I want to see is on while I'm out covering games, and since I generally already know the final scores, there's no point in taping things.

 

Proving, I suppose, that whatever a newb may think of saying has probably been said already by a veteran, and better.

Though I'll add that my own waning interest has also been expediated by 90% of the reactions I get when I tell people I'm a sports writer.

And the damn sign shop in this town is late in shipping my sandwich board that reads "No one cares about your kid, I don't care why you think coach Gooblobber should be fired from Big State U, and if you care that much about winning your fantasy league, use the winnings to purchase a prostitute. Thanks."

 

I'm on board with Hoops on this one. I still like sports as much as always -- it's a lot of non-sports things that bug me about sports.

 

Sports are still OK with me but since I entered this business 2 years ago, I've quit being a fan. Actually, I quit being a fan several years ago though I still maintained some allegiances. Now I mostly cover high school and Div. II sports and find that endeavor to be far more interesting than following pro teams at home.

And I've never gotten the whole fantasy sports thing. I've always loved stats but the energy required to play that game is like betting on games without getting paid. Even the leagues with a payoff are chump change compared to my average bets a dozen or so years ago. After going through that, fantasy sports seem like a waste of time.

I still love the competitive environment of sports on any level. I like the personalities that give sports their color. They might just be a game but they are what many of us turn to for our daily dose of drama. And I'll never get tired of that.