How I got out of the business...

I'm sure Mizzou's PM box is filled with notes about this--mine included--but Lugnuts' post sums it up for me.

On this board, you can not know someone just well enough to know this was a big move for someone who really loved the business. (I'm pretty sure that made sense, if only on SJ).

You can disagree with the guy and his tone, and you can even on occasion post pictures of the Great Gazoo until you get in trouble and possibly get suspended unless you knock it off immediately 8) , but you can't argue with the knowledge and insight he's brought to this board. I wish there were more like him here. (Journos, not republicans. I'm all set with republicans.)

Enjoy the new gig and the time with your family.

 

Yeah, I appreciate all of the nice notes... Don't feel bad for me for a second. I was able to do just about everything I wanted in this business and still get out with my sanity before I turned 35. I didn't get to SI, but I had accepted that wasn't going to happen long before I took a buyout.

I know the shit deals others have gotten. I was lucky, period.

I'm not going anywhere. I'm still hearing all of the job gossip and I will still happily pass along what I can on this board.

 

I daresay that given the tenor of some of the job gossip these days, you won't be passing all of it happily.

 

True. There is no good news when it comes to jobs these days.

 

OUTING ALERT: Mizzou is actually Elaine Benes. I told you that coffee table book about coffee tables would be a big hit!

 

Mizzougrad ... man I really respect you. Great story. Thanks for sharing it. It inspired me. Good stuff.

-- The fact you said you rarely miss this should inspire us all. Folks, he rarely misses this stuff we think we can't live without. Very interesting.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'll be telling stories about my 12 years in journalism until the day I die. It's a hell of a lot more exciting than what I'm doing now.

If you asked me three years ago if I'd be doing anything other than sports journalism for the rest of my career I'd have said there was no way in hell.

The business sucks now and it's not ever going to get better. Think you love your job? Spend two years wondering if every call from your boss is "the call" and see how much you like it. Things like that make you resent things that normally don't bother you.

 

I'm going to echo what others have said better than I could: Congratulations on getting out on (more or less) your terms, and enjoy the family time and not having the stress that was hanging over your head for too long.

Thanks for telling your story.

 

good for you, mizzoo. i'm quite a bit older -- 51 -- and recently was faced with a very tempting buyout offer after almost 30 years in the biz. i would've loved to have jumped on it but the problem was no immediate job to slide right over to presented itself.

if i was single, i would've rolled the dice. but with a wife, three teenaged boys, colleges to pay for (at least partially) and a hefty mortgage, etc., i've stayed put. but who knows what lurks around the corner?

for the last three years, though, i've worked from home due to a physical condition. this after 20 years on the road covering the nfl, then two nightmare years commuting 50 miles each way to the office as a copy editor, working 6 p.m.-2 a.m., including weekends.

two years of hell, it was. but the last three have been heaven -- with plenty of agita: no raises, high-anxiety over the biz i love, etc.

the travel i miss not at all. oh, i miss attending and covering events, but such is life. adjusting to a real home life is easy to do.

bravo, mizzoo. well done. but we both know there is a tinge of sadness, 'cause neither of us will ever have a job nearly as cool as the one that has ended up breaking our hearts.

 

The job I left is not the job I once loved.

That's the way it is for most of us. At the combine, I was out with a bunch of friends and all of us were facing the same level of uncertainty.

"Didn't this used to be fun?" One of the guys said.

Yes, and if you're still having fun, you're either far more talented or cocky than I ever was or too young to know better.

 

Congrats, Mizzou. I'm sure your kids will love seeing their father regularly.

And maybe you'll have time to see more movies.

 

Was it just the uncertainty that soured you on the job, or was the work itself getting old?

I know how closely you follow current events. More recently, did you ever think to yourself at that combine (or wherever), "Who gives shit about Jock Jockitch's 40 time?"