Getting out ... just to get out

Just curious . . . how many businesses DO love you back?

 

Doc, I miss it and wish I could do it again, but rational thinking tells me that is no longer a viable career option. The last few years, I felt like I was just waiting for the axe to fall the enitre time. When it finally did (for the second time, actually), there was just no way I could ever go back.

In short, I love the business and would love to keep doing it -- but the newspaper business is crumbling at a rapid and ever-increasing rate, and that makes it impossible to go back.

Hypocritical? I don't think so.

 

Doc Holliday is the guy who stole your dinner from the newsroom refrigerator.

 

I hate that guy!

 

Now, I tend to agree with the good Doctor on this one, but that dinner from the fridge crack was pretty funny. Next, you'll be accusing Doc Holliday of being the guy who cooks fish in the microwave.

 

Today was officially my last day as a sports writer (I'm writing this 80 minutes before midnight here, so I hope that still means I'm OK to use this site).

I've really enjoyed the job. I love sports. I love writing. Hell, I even learned to love page design and photography. But I had to make the choice that was right for my family.

I have two (about to be three) young children and I was getting real tired of living in poverty, even though my wife also works.

I start my new gig in the morning, and while I doubt the work will be as fulfilling, I'm excited to get into something new. But more than anything, I'm excited to know that I will make enough to where my wife can go back to school, we don't have to constantly be worried about bills and I will be able to spend time with my kids. My wife has complained to me "Even when you are home, you are not really home," which is true. I am constantly scribbling down things when I get an idea for a story or a good lead, I get phone calls on my cell from coaches and people at the office on a daily basis and I'm always rushing whatever we are doing so I can get back to the office.

I once wrote a well-researched piece about athletes coping with life after sports. Even when they couldn't walk without a limp, they still thought of themselves as great athletes. I think the same will be true for me and self perception as a sports writer. I imagine I will always think of myself as a sports scribe, to and extent. But I am very, very ready to get out of a sports writer's lifestyle.

 

Sorry, I've been too busy typing swimming agate and fielding eight-year old junior olympic volleyball calls.

Where were we?

 

You were telling people to fuck themselves.

 

You were being an asshole to everyone. And I'm sure you'll carry on.

 

WE were happily out of the business, and enjoying life.

YOU were getting amusingly angry about it.

 

Which seems to suggest Doc and Dog aren't that happy being in the biz.

 

Why do I still come here?

Because I like the people here. I've been coming here since pretty much the day the site started and I get a lot out of it, even if it's more about movie and TV recommendations than about journalism jobs.

One of the things I've enjoyed most about this site since I've been out of journalism are the PMs that I get from people looking for advice about getting out of the business. If anything I had to offer helped a single person even one time, that would please me to no end.

Even if we are not all still sports journalists, we are still very like-minded people.