Getting that Fix
Last Thursday I get a phone call from an old friend, asking me to do a favor. I thought he was kidding at first, but he was as serious as the mild-mannered, witty kid can be. The favor? Covering the Cal women's basketball team playing at the NCAA tournament in Los Angeles. My response? Of course.
There are a few things that I miss from college and one of them was being a student sports journalist. It is one of the most relaxed jobs in my opinion. i don't know how those who are in the business of sports journalism ever really get too stressed out about their work. Sure, as a journalist, you still strive for the same accuracy and good writing that a science, crime or political reporter, but the gravity of your writing becomes almost inconsequential.
Yes, sports is important in many people's lives (like mine), but it won't kill me to know my favorite player is getting traded. At the end of the day, there are an infinite amount of exponentially more important issues than what happens on a basketball court, football field or soccer pitch.
But at the same time, I sure loved doing it. Talking to athletes and coaches, sitting courtside or in the press box, being under the pressure of deadline to produce a quality story, the free food--all of that is something that I miss greatly.
I have gone through most of my withdrawal symptoms--a failed blog is probably the most notable. But the weekend in Los Angeles, getting to see the bowels of the Galen Center and being able to converse with professional writers (I love covering smaller or non-revenue sports. The writers aren't too douchey. Then again, the writers who cover Cal for the major Bay Area papers are pretty awesome people), all of that has made me yearn for those days again.
I probably won't ever have a career in sports journalism. Print media is dying. Online media is being consolidated. And do you really think that after being a pseudo-sports writer that I will ever really turn to blogging unless it affords me the same perks that I got while as a student journalist?
It was kind of easy to walk away from when I graduated last May. Probably because it was part of the whole getting done with college thing. But as I continue reading sports stories that I think are subpar and after the weekend I just had, it's even harder to give up.
I guess it's like what Conan O'Brien said when he was on Inside the Actor's Studio. When talking about when he decided to become a comedian he said, "When you come to terms with an ability, it’s a religious experience. It changes you. The very minute you come upon that, you are aware of it."
I guess the first time I really discovered this is when i wrote my first really good lead. It was basic, but it worked and it was better than the shit I was turning out in my first month or so at the Daily Cal.
And I guess this is why, months after I first left it, and days after I had to leave it again, I am having this longing for the inch counts, deadlines and interviews.
I miss it.
There are a few things that I miss from college and one of them was being a student sports journalist. It is one of the most relaxed jobs in my opinion. i don't know how those who are in the business of sports journalism ever really get too stressed out about their work. Sure, as a journalist, you still strive for the same accuracy and good writing that a science, crime or political reporter, but the gravity of your writing becomes almost inconsequential.
Yes, sports is important in many people's lives (like mine), but it won't kill me to know my favorite player is getting traded. At the end of the day, there are an infinite amount of exponentially more important issues than what happens on a basketball court, football field or soccer pitch.
But at the same time, I sure loved doing it. Talking to athletes and coaches, sitting courtside or in the press box, being under the pressure of deadline to produce a quality story, the free food--all of that is something that I miss greatly.
I have gone through most of my withdrawal symptoms--a failed blog is probably the most notable. But the weekend in Los Angeles, getting to see the bowels of the Galen Center and being able to converse with professional writers (I love covering smaller or non-revenue sports. The writers aren't too douchey. Then again, the writers who cover Cal for the major Bay Area papers are pretty awesome people), all of that has made me yearn for those days again.
I probably won't ever have a career in sports journalism. Print media is dying. Online media is being consolidated. And do you really think that after being a pseudo-sports writer that I will ever really turn to blogging unless it affords me the same perks that I got while as a student journalist?
It was kind of easy to walk away from when I graduated last May. Probably because it was part of the whole getting done with college thing. But as I continue reading sports stories that I think are subpar and after the weekend I just had, it's even harder to give up.
I guess it's like what Conan O'Brien said when he was on Inside the Actor's Studio. When talking about when he decided to become a comedian he said, "When you come to terms with an ability, it’s a religious experience. It changes you. The very minute you come upon that, you are aware of it."
I guess the first time I really discovered this is when i wrote my first really good lead. It was basic, but it worked and it was better than the shit I was turning out in my first month or so at the Daily Cal.
And I guess this is why, months after I first left it, and days after I had to leave it again, I am having this longing for the inch counts, deadlines and interviews.
I miss it.