A Lack of Confidence
I guess I have, since graduating from college, held on to the dream of one day becoming a real sports writer by a lone finger.
Well, last Friday, something came down and crushed my finger.
I still go to my high school's home basketball games. In fact, I'm the public address announcer for the games. It's fun. I like the way and the style of how my high school plays. It's been the same for the last 23 years. Things don't change.
I've been to all the home games save one this year and finally, the Union-Tribune sends a reporter to cover the game.
I noticed the freelancer because of two things: 1) he came to the scorer's table and asked a lot questions and 2) he was wearing a polo with the "Cal" logo on it. I had a conversation with him, and suffice to say, that any hopes of one day holding a job as a newspaper man have been (finally) dashed.
The reporter graduated from Cal in 2001, making him a full seven years older than me. He didn't write for the Daily Cal but was somehow working for the Union-Tribune's San Diego North County arm, Today's Local News. Was is the key word there, because the UT laid off most of the people from the TLN, and was doing freelance work because his editor liked him.
Now, here's this guy, almost 30 (if he's not 30 already) and he's doing freelance work and writing about high school basketball games that no one really cares about.
I told him that I used to write for the Daily Cal but that I was pursuing a career in teaching. He said "Well, it's a good thing that you're not in the business anymore."
I feel sorry for the guy (and for journalists like him). He was a nice guy. Not the best writer, but a nice guy who obviously enjoyed and loved his work.
Now he's doing these two-bit pieces, trying to survive, working two jobs, because the newspaper industry is going down as if it has hit an iceberg somewhere in the frigid waters of the Atlantic.
Is there a way for me to get a foot in the door? Or is it time for me to just shut the door on that career path and focus on what I think will be something reliable and maybe even more fulfilling?
I don't know. But it looks like my chances are getting slimmer and slimmer everyday.
The plight of the American newspaper, how sad it is.
Well, last Friday, something came down and crushed my finger.
I still go to my high school's home basketball games. In fact, I'm the public address announcer for the games. It's fun. I like the way and the style of how my high school plays. It's been the same for the last 23 years. Things don't change.
I've been to all the home games save one this year and finally, the Union-Tribune sends a reporter to cover the game.
I noticed the freelancer because of two things: 1) he came to the scorer's table and asked a lot questions and 2) he was wearing a polo with the "Cal" logo on it. I had a conversation with him, and suffice to say, that any hopes of one day holding a job as a newspaper man have been (finally) dashed.
The reporter graduated from Cal in 2001, making him a full seven years older than me. He didn't write for the Daily Cal but was somehow working for the Union-Tribune's San Diego North County arm, Today's Local News. Was is the key word there, because the UT laid off most of the people from the TLN, and was doing freelance work because his editor liked him.
Now, here's this guy, almost 30 (if he's not 30 already) and he's doing freelance work and writing about high school basketball games that no one really cares about.
I told him that I used to write for the Daily Cal but that I was pursuing a career in teaching. He said "Well, it's a good thing that you're not in the business anymore."
I feel sorry for the guy (and for journalists like him). He was a nice guy. Not the best writer, but a nice guy who obviously enjoyed and loved his work.
Now he's doing these two-bit pieces, trying to survive, working two jobs, because the newspaper industry is going down as if it has hit an iceberg somewhere in the frigid waters of the Atlantic.
Is there a way for me to get a foot in the door? Or is it time for me to just shut the door on that career path and focus on what I think will be something reliable and maybe even more fulfilling?
I don't know. But it looks like my chances are getting slimmer and slimmer everyday.
The plight of the American newspaper, how sad it is.