What would you not miss?

Very true. The mundane government meetings, school boards, a lousy local concert review, etc., are what I wouldn't miss now. When I was in sports, what tired my butt really quick was having my life revolve around prep games and parents who felt they were entitled to 30-inch stories on 10-point a game Johnny and Jenny, and I happily got away from that and never really went back.

That said, I don't mind a bit being happy for someone who TRULY deserves it and TRULY deserves to be chronicled, and I'm fascinated by people who work their asses off to be a success. If I could just do anything I want, I'd pick out 10 people who have really fascinated me with their rises to success, whether it sports or entertainment, and write their biographies. There was a book I should have written a decade ago about a certain event with a couple of huge names involved because the timing was right with an anniversary of said event, and I had great contacts at that point, and could have done it easily. I let life and other work get in the way and I didn't pursue it. Well, frick that from now on. If that kind of situation drops into my lap again, (and there actually is something way, way, way, way cool beginning to drop into my lap right now because I've got a couple of connections and am working them hard), damn straight I'm gonna drop everything and pursue it.

But for the everyday newspaper chronicling of exploits that don't really mean jack, yes, I wouldn't miss it.

 

Buyouts.

Too many good people have left in the past year, making all of our lives just that much more difficult.

 

Quit whining. Be a professional. And ask for the damn DVD.

 

Well see, the changes you described are the ones I'm referring to when I talk about "being robbed of my passion for sports". In my own experience, when I went to games as a journalist, it was like I wasn't there so much to enjoy the game as I was there to witness and analyze the game. It wasn't "OMG, did you see the move that guy just made?"; it was "Podunk Tech's PG then made a nice move for a basket in the lane." And that mentality carried over even when I watched games outside of my job -- the whole deal about being uncomfortable cheering publicly and watching your team with more detachment. Even when I was in the stands of a game involving my alma mater, I could just feel that my excitement level was a notch or two lower than most of those fans around me. I was still analyzing and witnessing the game rather than just getting lost in the moment and enjoying it. Since I left the biz, I've found that I'm a lot more into the games again, though I still maintain some of that detachment when it comes to critiquing how my team played.

 

After first newspaper job, I had a job working 9-5 M-F and went insane. Couldn't wait to get out of it. Longest month of my life.

 

Yeah, well, I'm already insane so I'm figuring I'm immune.

 

I haven't been in a non-journalism job since high school, so I don't know how much "better" a non-journalism job would be on my psyche.

Here's what I wouldn't miss:
* The window seat I have at my desk, where the floor becomes drenched whenever it rains. Luckily I've made it through about three years without any accidents there.

* The 8 p.m. high school game in which I had to do video and have a written story in by 10:15 p.m.

* Being required to buy the paper to park in the main parking lot before 5 p.m. (although I violate that constantly. It's the principle that matters.)

Here's what I would miss:
* Learning and getting that sense I'm honing a skill I have a true passion for.

* Long, late-night drives from a college basketball game in another state. An iPod or satellite radio can make them go smooth. (although, I haven't had one since college.)

* Having a valid reason to sleep in late when I worked late the night before.

* Talking to kids. There's a few who come to mind that were quiet, gave yes-no answers and other writers would complain about it afterward. After making an effort to talk with those kids routinely, we have great conversations. It was cool for me to talk to a sportswriter, and now it's like I can return the favor.

* The end of a dream. I badly want to cover college basketball again, and if I got out of sports journalism, I fear that dream would die. Maybe it already is dying.

 

The hours would be the No. 1 for me.

We're a PM and basically all preps here, and so for the last three months, I was working four split shifts (7-11, 7-11 if I was lucky) a week. (Thankfully, I live close to the shop.) Anyhow, with the demands on time and lack of sleep, I really let myself go, a condition that I am just now beginning to recover from. I'm just lucky I'm single and live alone (can't say that phrase too often), because my schedule would probably kill a marriage and scar some kids for life.

All-local fronts aren't a problem for me if there's something worth putting on 1B. Hell, during the busy nights (like Friday nights or Wednesday mornings), if we had enough copy, there would simply be basically no wire copy. Want to know how the Pistons did? Well, there's the score in the upper left. Watch the rest on Sportscenter.

I honestly believe more of our readers would like to know if the Red Wings won than some Class D girls' golf meet. With no HS sports here really until the snow melts, we're running some completely unnewsworthy stuff, and it turns my stomach.

Fun idiot reader story: Just for kicks on Tuesday, they decided to run the 1A flag backwards (like in a mirror). Our editor gets a call that afternoon from someone who realizes that we put "April Fools!" right under it WHILE he is leaving a message on the editor's machine. And this guy was the city manager.

 

And they're probably the same guys ...

And, along the lines of our jobs revolving around what other people do ... Standing in an NBA locker post-game room for about the 75th time recently I realized what my job entails: Standing around and watching grown men get dressed.

 

I'm in news now. I don't miss covering prep sports. Sometimes I really felt I was doing the world a disservice by drawing attention to something that many people- I'm talking about adults here- take far too seriously.

 

shitty pizza.