Are you always "on the job?"

It's absolutely an obsession. 70 hour weeks (atleast). checking emails, following up on stuff, going back in to make sure everything's right and of out of order on off days. There's no other way to do it right, as others have said. I've tried and I've hated it.

I visit home maybe twice a year (home is five hours away) and I've somehow maintained a relationship, though we hang out maybe twice a week tops and haven't progressed too much as far as chemistry in 3 months.

Always on the job. If you're doing it right, you're hardly ever off.

 

Always on... such as it is, anyway.

 

I'm a desker, and this is an area where I often feel bad for the writers -- seems like sports editors expect to be able to get ahold of writers 24/7. And it doesn't help that our sports editor leaves cryptic messages -- "Hey, it's Sports Editor, give me a call" -- so the writers don't know whether it's something pressing or something that could easily be dealt with the next day.

 

Was usually on 24/7 at my previous papers, although at my first one, I'd fight it on occasion. I'd go out of town for fun, and something would break, and my editor would say, "Where the hell were you."

My response would be, "You're not paying me extra to work weekends, so I'm not working them unless it's a huge event that is scheduled in advance, or major breaking news. And there's nothing to do in this town for fun, so I went to see some friends."

Now, in my older years, with a wife and kids and a desk job, it's almost never 24/7. I might watch something nationally if there is going to be a local angle to it, but that's about all.

 

I could never be married to my job. That's one reason why I prefer the desk over being a reporter. With the latter, you're always on, 24/7. You have no life, because your job is your life.

When I'm old, I don't want to look back and realize that all I have to show from my past are memories of coaches who didn't want to be bothered even though it's clear that I'm not Bob Woodward trying to uncover what happened at the hotel.

Nor do I want to look back and see only parents who were borderline abusive in their attempts to get their darling kid publicity, nor players giving the same bland answers with Coach Jerk and Dear Mom looking at my notebook, nor idiotic fans harassing me for not giving their team "equal" publicity as the archrival. Not to mention endless miles driving to and from, back and forth, chasing one story or another.

I want to look back and remember friends, family, a woman who I loved and who loved me back. I want life experiences that have nothing to do with sports. I want to do things that count, that will last, and covering East Central Northern High or West Central A&M will not contribute to that.

There are way too many things outside of the industry that are much more important, period.

 

That's one of the things about being a sports writer. Unlike cops or something, I know I'm never going to get a call at 2 a.m. saying "there's been a football game break out, go cover it."I'm probably "on" more for news side than myself. There have been many times I've been out driving around or riding my bike, seen something happening and called it in. News is always on our photographers about feature photos, so if I see something interesting, I'll give them a call.As far as when I'm on vacation or out of town, no way. I'm the ASE. When either myself or the SE goes out of town, our usual parting words "If you need something, you'd better call me on your cell. If I see an office number come up, I'm not answering."

 

I live within two blocks of my shop. I'm a single guy with no life in a small town, so it's rarely a major inconvenience to me to have to do something, and though I've found that though no good deed goes unpunished, the people I work with tend to appreciate it.

Am I on all the time? Not really. Where I am, there's not much to be on about.

The one thing that tends to grind my gears is how my status as a sportswriter has made my opinion so in demand. I live in the Upper Midwest, and I can't tell you how many times I've been asked on the street, or in church what I think about Brett Favre retiring. I like the Packers. But I don't care anymore.

 

I'm always on duty, much to my wife's chagrin. The last vacation was in Europe, and I worked a couple hours from there ("Hey, honey, you were napping anyway . . . it was just a few pages!"). This year, my wife figured out a vacation where I will be out of cell signal for much of it. Damn her ingenuity!

 

No, no, it's easy to flip a switch and disengage. Whoa, hold on a sec, just got a call from a restricted number. Hmm ...

 

I completely agree with Moddy. There is basically no job I'd rather have, and my busiest times of the year often produce my best work, but I worry I'll eventually hate myself for missing the good stuff in life. I don't want to be a beat guy forever.

I want to get away sometimes, but my competitiveness always prevails. And I hate myself for it, even though I love my job. I can't explain it, but many of you feel the same way, and that's one of the biggest reasons why I love this place.

 

At a recent meeting, it was suggested we go to a four-day work week. I'm not sure how that might work.

 

That's a heck of a generalization there and I can tell you from experience - 15 years on a beat, 12 years married, eight years with kids - it couldn't be more wrong.