Not going on the road

And sometimes a 100 nights away from your family. That rules, right?

Oh, and airports are wonderful places to hang out, especially when your flight is delayed and you've run out of battery on your laptop and there's no place to plug it in because airports were built before everybody starting carrying 10 gazillion electric gadgets.

 

people do what they do for various reasons. for some, it's because it's what we're good at. it's what we're great at, in some cases. for some, it's because it's what we know how to do -- and jobs everywhere are scarce right now, anyway. some of us are still sticking it out, hoping against hopes it will all, somehow, get better. but most of us, aside form any practical reason, do this because we're passionate about our work. about our business. we can touch lives. we can make a difference. and while many aspects of the job truly suck donkey balls, when we put together our absolute best and see it in print the next morning, we know we've done what we were made to do. we are this business.

that's what we do what we do.

 

OK, fine.

I never said it wasn't work. Never at all.

 

I never did a baseball beat -- I did the NFL, which isn't the same, I know, at least it wasn't when I did it before free-agency and all that -- but I certainly had my share of family-taxing hours (exacerbated by what generally happened after when you were winding down) and stress and all that.

You do this kind of thing because you love it -- or did, and now you don't know what else to do whether you love it or not.

I got lucky on this web business, and I know that. But if I wasn't here, I'd still be trying to hang on in newspapers. It's what I do.

 

That part about electric gadget is hilarious -- and so true.

I think there is nothing more amusing than watching people scramble to find the one or two power outlets per wing at airports and try to plug in all of their stuff - even if it means sitting in the hallway or sitting on the floor in front of a column or better yet, sitting on the floor in front of the desk where they are trying to check people in.

 

No?

Sheesh, please don't call that work in the presence of someone pulling a 10-hour shift on an assembly line or driving a big rig cross country.

 

I've honestly had this debate, both internally and externally, more times than I can count in the past several months.

The best answer I can come up with is personal pride. There is nothing like the rush of just absolutely nailing a story, whether it's a game story, a feature, breaking news whatever. You can't beat that feeling of going to sleep at night (or, usually, early morning) thinking, "Goddamn, I just knocked that one outta the park."

It happens maybe once a month if you're lucky. But that's what keeps you going.

Thing is, the suits are even trying to take that away from us. Earlier deadlines. Less space. Less travel, meaning less access.

So your question remains. If not for that, than what for?

 

Yeah, I gotcha. So there IS redeeming value, personally, in what you're doing. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing it.

I understand that we all have our days when we'd rather be doing something else. But, most days it's not "Oh, I gotta fly to such-and-such and cover this crappy team again." Those days are the exception rather than the rule. If they become the rule, perhaps its time to do something else (mulling that myself right now).

The sad reality is these polls that show how many people really hate their jobs. They feel held hostage because, for whatever reasons, they CAN'T be doing what they would really love to be doing. But they figure they have a family to support, a mortgage to pay, so they get up and force themselves to go through another day, another week, doing something they hate.

That's what I am trying to say. Not that journalism isn't work, because clearly it is. But that so many on the outside look at us as the fortunate few and would give their right arm to trade places, at least for a little while.

I recall the story of former NBA player Robert Reid, who, after his rookie season gave up pro basketball because he claimed it compromised his religious convictions. He sat out one season (1982) and returned saying (paraphrase) that after making $250 per week as a retail manager, he appreciated how good professional athletes had it.

 

I think I still do it for all the reasons you just said.

 

I honestly don't care if some truck driver thinks our jobs are easy or not work or whatever. I know the truth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I get tired of feeling that I have to apologize for (formerly) "watching sports for a living!"

 

Wall Street Journal article, in which the NY Times says it costs $6,500 a month to keep a writer on the road:

http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/article/SB123906424665995337.html#project%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB123903880643793133%26articleTabs%3Darticle

 

So there it is. That's enough money to pay one full-time reporter or copy editor for the big shops, 1.5 for the medium shops and two for the smaller fries, or thereabouts. Or you can have one person flying around the country providing copy, much of which is available in reasonable fascimile from elsewhere. (Not all, I acknowledge, but much.)