Cubs of the world unite!

I'm Brandon.

I am the second of a 2 1/2-man sports team at a 6-day PM with a circulation around 12.5K in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. My boss is a local legend of sorts and I'm 5 1/2 months out of college. I see lots of posts about covering the SEC Media Day and interviewing John Force, but wanted to start a dialogue with those of us that are still figuring out the best lead into a small-school high school girls' golf meet or a story on a fish disease (anyone heard of viral hemorrhagic septicemia?) when not spinning all sorts of other plates (like layout, photograpy, photo editing, wire editing, etc.).

I know I've got a lot to learn, but I also know several times a week, even when my copy is below-average or my layout is boring, I smile and remember I write about sports every day and get paid for it.

And if you stumbled upon this from somewhere much bigger (and aren't hiring ;D ), let me know: is there a way to make sure I can keep that feeling I get when I work a good high school basketball game, in the future when I am at the Olympics and the World Series?

 

???

 

I like you, kid. Now fetch me a beer.

 

Chip, been doing this since I was 18. I'm still learning. It's a lifelong process. My writing has improved 10,000-fold since my first gamer, when I forgot to put the score in the lede. I like my photo and Quarking skills.

But the happiness of which you speak is where you find it. I mentioned this yesterday, that I interviewed the new varsity football coach and his wife yesterday at their home for an hour or more, and the hour was one of my most enjoyable in recent memory for so many reasons. This job is a killer, and you'll get to know exactly how much of a killer it is when those moments present themselves.

Try not to lose the feeling you have right now. Some days it's not there, the same way a baseball player shows up and produces a Golden Sombrero. But don't let the sportswriter's equivalent of that kind of crappy day stop you from stepping up to the plate the next day, as you swing for the fences.

 

As always Xan, well put. One other thing ... when you start having those bad days on a regular basis (like everyday), that's your cue that you need to move on -- whether it be a new job or a new profession. This business isn't for everybody, and life is too short to be unhappy. Don't ever forget, writing (and the assortment of other tasks) is what we do. Sports are what we cover. Make sure you keep those two lined up. Best of luck.

P.S. Miller Lite please.

 

Stick with us kid, if you want to live.

 

LOVE THE PASSION BABY!!!! NICE!!! Keep it going...

 

Truth is. That "feeling" everyone is telling you not to lose...
Well, you're going to. You're going to lose it several times a week. Many times a month. Key is, when you wake up the next morning, it's there again.

 

Amen, FW, amen...

 

[blue]I'm interested in the 1/2 man part of the sports department. What half is he? Right or left? Is he just an upper or lower torso? How does he type with half a body? Kid I need answers.[/blue]

 

So true.

An old boss told me recently, "Don't let other people define you, define yourself." And I have lived that, although I always thought it was my idea. Now it's one more thing I guess I learned from him when I was getting started.

All kinds of crap will happen. Some of it will be beyond your control. You will make your own mistakes. Philistines will run the newsroom. The whole goddamn business will go nuts, en masse, at once, or so it will seem. So it is more than not letting other people define you, you must not let them define what matters to you in how you do your job.

There are lots of stupid people in the world, but progressively fewer of them will care enough to read newspapers, leaving us with the people who care very much. And if you remember that in essense they are who you really work for, you will never lose your way.