Chico and the Nats

I love sports, especially the sport I cover _ college football _ and baseball. Maybe not as much as I once did, but still more than anything else. On a Saturday night when I'm stuck editing bad stringer copy or sifting through a mountain of NHL games, I can at least take solace in the fact that I'm working in sports.
I like to tell people that even though I come across as well-rounded, it's all facade. I'm pretty much a one trick pony.


That said, I might regain some of the passion I once had for sports if I wasn't in the business anymore. Clearly, it's hard to really enjoy a great game that you're covering _ though I've often found myself after filing a gamer from something like USC-Ohio State thinking, 'You know, my job is pretty cool because that was a great game.'


I don't follow the NFL, NBA, NHL as closely as I used. And there are times I'd like to steer away from talking sports, especially when I'm talking to people who don't follow them, find out what I do for a living and ask me who I think will win the Super Bowl.

But for the most part, I'm a pretty lucky guy because my hobby and my job overlap.

 

I used to be a sports junkie - I thought the only three channels were ESPN, ESPN2 and FSN (in whatever form it was in) and I couldn't get enough of games, highlight shows, replay shows etc., etc.,

Now that I've been in this business for a long time, if given the choice between Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and say, a big regular season basketball or football game, it isn't even close - I'm watching Harold and Kumar.....

 

I've lost some of lust for sports, but it's not completely gone. I'm not nearly as die hard of a fan of my favorite teams, though, because the job has added perspective on why things happen the way they do, or why things are. I do tend to watch sports less in my off time, and I instead choose a movie or something. I still like going to games, even those I don't cover, and I hope sports never grow stale for me to where I dislike them entirely.

I'm in journalism because I'm passionate about sports and the games and the people, not so much because of the actual concept of journalism.

 

I got into the business because I was a sports fanatic and I wanted to have my byline in the big paper.

I still am a huge fan of the NFL (perhaps because I never covered an NFL game?). However, I love college basketball and I covered my alma mater's men's and women's basketball teams for two seasons.

I still struggle to regain my old screaming fan persona when I watch sports nowadays, although watching Maryland beat Duke last week certainly saw me screaming like I did back in the day.

My guess is that some people who have enough passion for a particular team or sport will maintain it or regain it when their time as sportswriters has ended, but the sports that are less important will fall by the wayside, but mileage always varies.

 

Seeing as the topic has veered away from Chico anyway (thanks for the read, Jay), I think a sportswriter's waning passion can't be linked to the job alone. The culture has changed. The Internet, 24/7 news channels and the fantasy explosion (also due to the Internet) have created something different than the sports we watched when we were young.

It used to be that I would enjoy a game more if I immersed myself in the plotlines and backstories. Now, it's more fun if I put the blinders on and watch the game by itself -- in an informational vacuum, per se. I'm only 25, so maybe some of the more experienced gals and gents here can provide some insight.

 

Does anyone else see the thread on their front page and start breaking into Elton John?
"Chico ... Chico ... Chico and the Nats."