Help

I'm going to the White Sox at Tigers game tomorrow night, and for weeks since he heard I'd be going, my editor back home has demanded I write a column.

In seven years of sports journalism, I have written one column, and it wasn't even for a real publication (a terrible Pete Rose column for my old high school paper). I read a fair amount of them, but not as many as I should.

The editor has had me write something in years past when I've traveled away for spring training practies and games, smiliar to something used by SI and others and often called "postcards."

Since I never write columns, and dread putting my personal words and opinions out to readers without practicing writing them (and not publishing them), I'm pretty nervous about writing one tomorrow night, and quite frankly, don't know what to write about. I've read enough columns to know that the best ones are not forced.

I'm almost temped to write a type of "postcard" of the entire baseball trip, from three games in Toronto to a Single-A game in Indiana and one more MLB in Detroit. But I want to write something people will want to read, and not just say "Oh, another shitty column in the Podunk Press."

Please, ideas? Insight?
Posts and PMs welcome.

 

Thanks for the PMs so far, but I'm still struggling for ideas and I'm six hours away from first pitch.

 

watch the game

when something interesting happens, write about it

file

 

That about sums it up.

Like you wrote, Cradle, you can't force it. Find something that interests you and go with it.

 

Have a take and don't suck.

Or did someone already say that?

 

your request is awfully broad for us to provide you with ideas. you're going to a baseball game. something happens in the game. write about it. preferably take an original view of what you write instead of parotting a dozen other columnists.

if nothing happens in the game you can't make stuff up. maybe make a list of 10 storylines around these teams and see if something strikes you to write about. otherwise, just do your job and write the column. everything you write doesn't have to be BASW-worthy.