Separating the fanboy from the journalist (or, "we" vs. "they")

not what i was saying. after working in sports for nine years and experiencing all those douche bags in person, i have no want ever to become a bottle of stinky water, vinegar and whatever anytime soon.

 

If you played for a team at the school, but not the "team" that you are cheering for, do you get the privilege, outside of the press box obviously? Or does it only extend if you were a member of THAT team.

Edit: Why does it always seem that my posts land at the beginning of a second page of a thread?

 

And the point of this is not to deny regular joe the right to go apeshit every week.

It's about people in this business not acting like fanbois.

 

As others have said, you give up the right to root for your alma mater if your publication/outlet covers them (even if you're not the beat guy).

If your team is in another conference or in another time zone, who really cares?

 

I wasn't responding to you, TP. More Broth than anything.

 

sorry.

 

I actually wonder this too. I did play rugby at Oklahoma. However, it was a club sport but we still represented the University. We were still the Oklahoma Sooners when we played and our jerseys were still OU jerseys.

 

Humor me if you would, BYH (or anyone else who might care to comment):

What makes Woj's column the exception? The way the piece is constructed -- deliberately switching from "they" to "us" near the end, mirroring his decision to leave press row and cheer from the stands late in the game?

The column obviously impressed me enough to keep a copy of it on the hard drive all these years. (For the record, the SBU-UK game took place in 2000.) Looking back at it now, I wonder if that had more to do with the writing itself than the content.

 

Just say we, as long as you're not covering the school. The rest is splitting hairs.

 

As long as I'm paying student loans to alma maters, I'm saying we.

In all likelihood, it's probably being used to buy a middle linebacker from Buttfuck Springs, Arkansas.

 

I thought the woj column was a piece of fanboy crap when I first read it 7 years ago and I believe the same thing now.
He was there as a professional journalist, not a St Bonnies fanboy alum.
If he wanted to sit in the Bonnies cheering section with his friends, he should have bought a ticket, not abused his press credential.

 

I think it follows the line of "you have to know the rules before you can break the rules." He's deliberately breaking the rule in this column, but there's a purpose to it and he understands why he's doing it. It's also an extra-ordinary circumstance, extraordinary in the sense that an SBU fan/grad has few opportunities to play David against the UK Goliath.

Breaking the rule just to break it, or because you don't like it/you don't care, isn't quite the same. It shows a lack of respect for the profession (and, one could argue, a lack of professionalism.) Woj, while breaking the rule, didn't disrespect the spirit of the rule ... although Billy Martin might say that's only good for wiping your ass.

Anyway, my $0.02.