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Covering a team you have/had an emotional investment in ... is it different?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Hey Diaz!, Mar 9, 2013.

  1. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Been there. I found I often rooted for teams to lose early in the playoffs because it reduced my workload. When you have a team that goes deep in the playoffs, it can be fun but it also increases the workload and can be really tough if you have a small staff and the seasons overlap.

    I think most reporters probably were fans before they became journalists, although our emotional attachment may vary as time and circumstances change. I knew my days were numbered when I found myself sitting in a press box thinking "I really don't give a rats tail about any of this stuff" and wishing I were somewhere else.
     
  2. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    This is why I'm a big hockey fan. It's the one sport I don't cover. I can actually be a total fanboi without any work obligations getting in the way.
     
  3. Knighthawk

    Knighthawk Member

    The closest I've ever come was covering a game between my alma mater and Big Powerhouse State School (BPSS). Alma mater won and I wrote a story that I think captured the moment pretty well without any bias -- I'm actually regularly accused of being biased toward BPSS since that's my beat.

    As a journalist, it wasn't at all a problem. I did my job just like I always do. That said, I do have fond memories of the night. The school had been D-II when I had attended it back in the Stone Age, and it was fun to see the students experience something that would have been utterly impossible back in my day.
     
  4. CharBroiled

    CharBroiled New Member

    I cover some teams I have vested interests in, but the coaching staffs understand I'm going to call it just like I see it. The coaching staffs also know I will ask tough questions when needed. Fortunately, I'm lucky enough to have such coaches to deal with which understand I have a job to do as well, and I won't shy away from calling out when one of the teams suffers the worst loss in school history (which just happened) or things of that nature.

    Call me idiotic, but I still enjoy covering games for this reason.
     
  5. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    you've never covered a major college or pro team. ever.
     
  6. boxingnut4324

    boxingnut4324 Member

    I've covered men's basketball and football at a D1 school for my four years as a student. After a fanboy incident at my third hoops game as a freshman I got a stern talking to from the press corps and buckled my ass down. Every game I go to I hope to hell they win, but when the football team scores less than 120 points over an 11-game season, which it did this year, there was no pulling punches.

    I think we all have our teams that we want to win, but I agree with the gist of this thread that it's mostly about the players and people.
     
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