Sports Journalism and losing your fanhood

all due respect....

BULLSHIT.


i've been blessed to have both my job/career (journalism) passion and my leisure-time passion (sports) make beautiful music together. again, sorry to those of you who have found one or the other weakened but y'all can only speak for yourselves, as i can only speak for myself.

in this area, i have found that you can indeed have it all.

 

One thing that's nice is that you start to get a larger sense of the world of sports, beyond just your local pro teams.

You might want to keep tabs on a kid you used to cover who went on to play at a major college, you might know a coach who moves on to some other area. It broadens your interests.

 

I'm a veteran, with 25 years in sports writing, and I think a lot depends on the setting.

If I'm at home, or in the office, I can be a fan, though not as rabid as when I was young. That tends to work itself out of you the longer you're in the business. I still like to see my favorite teams win, and will cheer when they do, but I don't wear fan-colored glasses the way the hard-cores do, and I tend to be more analytical in my fandom, which comes from experience as a sports writer.

However, and this is very important, you can't be a fan when you're out on assignment. Cheering, whether it's in the press box or on the sidelines, is a big no-no, and rightly so. You can't objectively report on a team if you're cheering, plus you have to be able to report on the bad as well as the good.

As for making sports writing a career choice, use your own judgment. There is a lot of cynicism being bandied about on this thread, a lot of people who are pretty bitter about the way the industry is going. These are indeed hard times for newspapers, and the future doesn't look good. But if you have a passion for writing sports, by all means, go for it. Just don't have any illusions when you do.

 

I love sports. Always having or I wouldn't have done this. But what I've seen in the 23 years I've been doing it is that sports has just naturally taken a lesser role in my life -- even though I've never stopped covering it. Marriage brought a new dimension to my life and a child another. At some point, it sinks in that Team A winning the national title, while pleasing, just isn't something that impacts your life in a personal way.

 

Find a regular job and just blog like every other asshole out there.

 

I absolutely agree with I digress. You definitely can have your cake and eat it, too, when it comes to being a fan and a sports writer. The reasons for worrying about getting into the biz should be what the other people are complaining about, not about keeping your fanhood. Stay objective in the press box and on the sidelines, and you'll be fine.

I also found the same thing I Digress did. Once I got married and had kids, other things seemed more important. I haven't lost my fanhood—I still cheer rabidly for my alma mater or my pro teams when I am in my own home. I just realized that it can't consume my whole day or my whole week, because I've got a wife and kids to care about, and they come first.

 

Hopefully you're not the guy who wore a BYU shirt while covering a college game and one of the coaches called the editor to complain about it.

 

This just aches with truth.

In my niche, I'm a better than decent writer. Many peers respect what I do,
and I appreciate it more than I can say. But make no mistake -- it's a helluva lot
of work, and I can't just rip off 600 well-chosen words in 20-25 minutes in a satisfactory way.


It's one of the curses of the profession, but it's one of 'em I wholeheartedly embrace.
Because if I didn't, it wouldn't work.

 

I have managed to keep some of my fanhood, but I have, indeed, become dull to sports a bit. This job does give you a different perspective on sports, be it for better or worse. But, as some have said already, there's no reason you can't still be a diehard Packers fan, as long as you aren't the club's beat writer or don't cover them in any other aspect to where it could compromise your journalistic integrity.

 

Hey, I resemble that remark!

 

Like I always remind myself, the worst day as a sports journalist is better than the best day digging ditches. Well, usually.

 

Being a sports writer has made me lose all respect for common fans, message board geeks and anyone who thinks I care about their fantasy football team.

It made me learn that most people are not knowledgeable about sports and only know what Sportscenter has told them.