Rant: This business is not that tough

This rant is inspired by the "Managing Generation Y" thread.

I'm getting a little fatigued of reading all these posts about what a cutthroat, savage business this is, like it takes a special breed to be able to handle it, like we need to weed out the people not cut out for this ruthless business.

[First, let me be clear. This business is in bad shape with layoffs and buyouts and such. That's not what I'm talking about. Also, I'm not talking about desk work.]

I'm talking about the everyday function of being a sportswriter. Monday through Thursday or Friday, the hours aren't bad at all. The summers are easier on you than almost any career this side of teaching, and sports writers have a level of autonomy that's extremely rare for this kind of payscale. I don't know about the rest of you, I guess, but I've been doing this for five years, and I've never felt like I had editors breathing down my neck looking for a chance to rip me.

Yes, the pay is horrible, the work is occasionally demeaning and most of your feedback is negative. If you want to bitch about the pay, by all means. I'm right there with you. If you don't think you can work for less than $30,000 a year, then you are not cut out for this. As for the rest of the stuff, give me a fucking break. If you think the people you encounter in this business are assholes, go work in retail or serve burgers and chicken strips for six months.

You don't have to be tough to be a sportswriter. In fact, most of the sportswriters I know are a little on the whiny side. You just have to be able to not take yourself so freaking seriously.

Rant over. Thanks for reading.

 

I didn't even bother reading this.

Way too long. ;D

 

Someone has a case of the Mondays.

 

You've obviously never covered a beat. You've obviously never had to travel for one.

 

You get killed for saying some shit like that

 

I sort of get what the guy is saying, maybe a little ... but you're spot on here.

I can remember being on like the 10th night of a 12-night road trip last season, stuck somewhere in the middle of Canada (which, for a Texas boy, feels like a completely foreign country) ... and just wanting to shoot myself.

Yeah, August isn't very hard. But February had me contemplating suicide.

 

Canada actually is a foreign country, BTW.

 

Really? Well, I'll be damned.

Next thing you'll tell me El Paso is actually part of the United States

 

Apparently TheMethod doesn't realize some beats actually go through the summer. Your easy summer is my busiest time of year.

That means he does preps or colleges. I'm going to guess preps, since college guys are still somewhat busy in the summer.

If he's been in the business 5 years and has never had a boss breathe down his neck, he needs to realize he's the exception and not the rule.

 

nah. it's in texas. still different country.

 

agate clerk?

(try working to fill a small, 'hyper-local' paper over the summer and get back to me on the ease of the warmer months.)

 

Down here, we're pretty convinced El Paso is part of Mexico. Or, at least, New Mexico. It's in a different time zone than the rest of the state, fer crissakes.