Ways to Start a Sports Columnist/Blogging/Reporting Career

This. I did this for awhile at a small, relatively unknown paper. But I wrote my ass off. Two years after I started with the paper, I'd begun landing freelance gigs with national magazines. I'm still freelance, but while freelancing sucks on some levels (not knowing when you'll get paid, if ever; never really knowing what your next job is going to be; wondering what the hell you're doing with your life) it's phenomenal on others (total freedom, work for yourself, flexibility to jet off to a distant land for a week for an assignment).

But you have to start small. And odds are, be small for awhile. Maybe forever. This business is brutal, man. Loving sports doesn't get you there. Being talented doesn't even get you there. Working your ass off just might.