Exactly How Fun Is It To Be a Sports Journalist?

I don't think anyone is forgetting about the desk. Everyone knows what that entails. I think people here are just comparing reporting jobs to "real world" jobs.

But you're severely underestimating the night/weekend work of a typical sportswriter. Anyone on a pro or college beat is going to be working a good share of nights, as well as every weekend for months at a time. Throw in travel and breaking news, and it's a pretty big hassle.

 

Three of the four are true for me, but I am not a journalist anymore. Nowhere close to the industry.

All careers have their drawbacks.

 

I'm less underestimating it and more disrespecting it because I've worked with way too many who do exactly what I described.

 

Altering the first sentence to, "It's fun to be a sports copy editor," here's the perspective from this long-time desk person's point of view:

1. I know of nobody in this business who's gotten more than a 1 or 2 percent annual raise in the past six years unless he/she has been promoted. Also, quite a few people who were laid off/bought out and have been fortunate enough to resurface with newspapers are working for considerably less money than they used to. This also has happened in the workplace as a whole, of course. (If you're on a desk and HAVE been getting raises of 3 percent or more, let me know -- I'll send a resume!)

2. Excessive meetings aren't a problem for us, but there's a lot of "input" from upper management on headlines and design elements. Much of this is driven by what marketing consultants have said readers supposedly want.

3. Obviously an apples-oranges comparison between what's expected of reporters and copy editors, but our desk is taking on more digital responsibilities (as staffing has decreased) and it's becoming increasingly difficult to limit shifts to eight hours. Overtime is not banned, but not encouraged.

4. There's been stupidity every place I've worked, in good times and bad, starting with my first part-time summer job with the local park district at age 16. Don't see that changing.

 

It's been worth every second of the 22+ years I've put into it. A lot of work, a lot of stress, a lot of great times, a lot of difficult times but nothing beats the rush of making deadline and absolutely nailing the story.

I believe you get out of your job what you put into it, no matter what kind of job it is. You'll love it if you work hard to be the best you can be at it.

At the same time, when this ship sails on me, I won't miss it.

Instead, I'll be enjoying my next adventure. Hopefully, that will put me on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean.

Always remember, it's still just a job. It's not your life, it's your job. It does not define you as a person.

 

Here's hoping you land there in the Caribbean, Doc.

 

Sportswriting involves being at work when other people aren't. How it could be otherwise? The sports themselves depend on people watching to make money, so they take at maximum leisure times. I didn't really mind it so much when I was in the business, because in compensation, you're often off when everyone is working, which has its pleasures. I missed a lot of family dinners, but on the other hand, was there to take to and pick up my kids from school, etc.
What caused the most stress for me and my family wasn't that, but the fact you so often don't have a schedule, and are at the mercy of breaking news.

 

Amen to that.
I work to pay for fun. That is all the transaction means to me anymore.

 

A long time ago, my dad told me a job is what you do so you can afford to do what you want the rest of the time.

 

This has been a great thread.

There's probably a sociology paper in there somewhere.

I was in the business, and loving it, for almost 20 years, got convinced to become a teacher and loved it for 16 years.

Spent some time unemployed (11 months) after a move. then did some 9-to-5 stuff.

Worked very hard to get back to newspapers, and I still love it.

It's all about attitude and how you approach it.

I do look back knowing if I had stayed in certain newspaper jobs or taken others that might have come along, I would have been laid off once, twice or more at this point.

I did get laid off from the 9-to-5. I was working for the Unemployment Office.

 

Honestly, I think my next job will be in teaching.

I've always wanted to teach history and/or social studies. Figure as soon as this dumpster fire burns up, I'll turn my sails that direction.

Don't get me wrong, newspapers have been awesome fun to work for. But I'll go a different direction next. And I won't look back.

 

Almost every possible angle has already been brought up in this thread (as well as the many similar threads that come along like this every so often). But at one point our OP clarified to say "I just want to do a career in sports"

So I'll ask. If you want a career in sports, is it because you just love sports?
A lot of people want to work in sports because they love sports. But then many find they love watching sports, playing sports, but working in sports isn't as fun.
I used to tell young wannabe sports journalists, you can't make it in this biz if you just have a passion for sports. Your passion has to be for the art or prose. Anyone can watch a game and tell you who won.
Sports journalism can break you of your love for sports. Many have described situations in here where they went to an NFL/NBA whatever game and knew there was some place else they'd rather be. Some have also mentioned that as they walk in that pressbox and look around at the paying customer there's no place they'd rather be.
Most, if they are honest with themselves, will tell you at some point in their career, they become both of those people.
Every so often I buy a ticket to a game and go sit in the stands just to remember the fan experience. I'm in Texas, and my passion is high school sports. Last Saturday I had off (rare in sports), so I went to a high school game and tried to remember what it was like to cheer. There's no full way to understand this until you've been in the biz and done this.

Take to heart those that tell you about the woes of covering bad teams, or even good teams (sometimes good teams can actually be worse to work with). You'll want to be covering anything else, want to be anywhere else, but your beat is this pathetic team.

And if you love sports, sometimes covering a sporting event isn't where you want to be. I covered a college fb game today that we pretty much knew was going to be a blowout, and it was. Here's a brief rundown of the day: Arrive at stadium an hour til kickoff. Glance at pregame notes just to make sure there's nothing new or exciting. Spent a few minutes socializing with other journalists as we grabbed a meal and a drink. Back at desk, computer up notepad running. Watch boring game, constantly looking for angles, storylines while jotting down items and update twitter/blog/whatever is needed, take notes. This pattern continues. 5 minutes left in game, walk with other writers to interview room. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Coach, players come in, listen to coach give opening statement, followed by first moronic question by tv guy wanting his lone soundbite. About 30 minutes worth of interview time later, go back up to pressbox, look at final stats package, write story, file story. Leave
final time from leaving my house to getting back to my house: 9.5 hours.
That's a little longer than some games.
Now if you love sports, this is where the kicker is...as you cover this boring game, you aren't watching the other 20 good games happening across the nation at that moment. I still don't know who won a few games yet.

Now 9.5 hours may be extreme, but that's just from my end. Say you decide you want to be a sports information director, media contact, etc..., they are there hours before you arrive, and they typically don't leave until the last journalist is out the door. You may love sports, but for that day that is the only game in town.
So if you really think you want a career in sports just because you love sports....you stay in love more if you are at home Saturday with the remote.

That isn't to say it's a bad career. But a lot of people fail in this line of work because they fail to realize it is a JOB, not just a passion.