Sports Writer, Fort Collins, Colorado

the paper used to be good. it's gone downhill in recent years. they've lost some very talented people, the latest the biggest hit by far. it used to win section apse awards and some of the writers have still won in recent years.

the town, i will say again, is as good as it gets. homer might be the first person i've ever heard say a discouraging word. it's constantly named among the best cities in the country to live, raise a family or retire.

the loveland-fort collins area is still growing, too, as is greeley. it almost seems like all of northern colorado connects and it all but connects to the northern suburbs of denver.

 

A 27,000-circ. paper has a volleyball and women's hoops beat writer? Even if that person is also pitching in on preps, it seems like an odd point of emphasis.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

I've been there to cover a game once and didn't notice a smell.

I didn't get to see too much of town, but it seemed like a nice area. There is lots of good shopping around and Denver is close by. Seems like a great location.

 

Both my parents went to school at Colorado State and they loved it. I am going to apply for this job.

 

It comes from the fact that pretty much all they cover is CSU and preps (and when I was around the parts, a lot of youth stuff as well). So at CSU you have football, men's and women's basketball and volleyball. The volleyball team is in the top 20 pretty consistantly and the women's basketball team used to be very good -- where the coverage came about -- but stinks now.

And don't be surprised if you get much more than your fair share of desk work, too.

 

FC is great. The Crown Pub on College Ave. is one of the best bars I've ever been to.

If you're the guy or girl to get this job, it comes with a caveat. Chances are, you may have to live with roommates.

The ASE will be missed. Probably one of the classiest and funniest guys I've ever met in the business. Cheers to him.

 

I will give the Crown Pub a thumbs up.

 

Fort Fun is growing like crazy, like al of the Front Range.

Windsor area (south) is booming, Niwot (north) is hot, and area south of Harmony is now subdivision city. Traffic is brutal on the main drag through town (College?) as there is no bypass from 287 to I-25, and Colorado 14 and College Drive get stacked up something fierce.

All in all, it would be a pretty decent place to live. The paper is definitely not as good as it used to be.

 

I think a decent number of their subscribers also get the Denver Post or the Rocky Mountain News so they focus on CSU and preps

 

If you take this gig what is the chances you will be able to move on to the Post or RMN? Also how expensive is it to live in FC?

 

It's not expensive to live in Fort Collins. Not as expensive as Boulder, but that's because Boulder is better. Seriously, Fort Collins is a fun place to be. It's real close to the mountains, and I've had a lot of fun nights there, and remember only a few. Their SID is a very, very good guy to work with, as well. The reporters at the paper are good people. I do know some people left awfully quickly from there in the past because they couldn't take it. It's still a bit of a cow college, but most of the schools in the state are.