Starting my own sports site

I recently graduated from Carleton University's Journalism school in Ottawa, Canada. The program had no emphasis on sports journalism and as such, provided almost no opportunities for internships at some of the major sports outlets (ie. TSN, Sportsnet, etc.).

Rather than start out at a local paper covering the high school beat (which is not nearly as exciting as it is in the U.S.), I am contemplating the idea of starting sports news/analysis web site.

Does this sound like a viable option?

 

Honestly, I'd say no, it doesn't sound viable. The problem is you'd have to convince us that we should care what you think. Plus, how would you get your news? By reading ESPN.com, the same way the rest of us do? You wouldn't be able to "break" any news because you wouldn't ever have the time to go be the person on the ground, and you couldn't afford to hire a staff to do that.

I understand what you're saying, and why you'd want to do it that way and why it would seem like something worth trying, but honestly, I think you'd be best served starting at the bottom and working your way up. People watch PTI because those guys have earned respect and have good opinions, not because it's the only thing on (... ok, you get my point though). People read deadspin.com because its pretty funny, and there is sometimes breaking news (or breaking not-news, like the Pujols thing.) My point is that those sites and shows work because they have hooks -- reasons for people to tune in or log on. You would need to develop such a hook if you were to make it, I think it would be very, very very hard for someone straight out of school to do.

You may have all the talent in the world, but you need to polish it. Everyone does. If you're good, chances will come. If you're good, you won't spend long at the lowest rung. But you still need to start there. I know it feels like you know everything now (we've all been there) but trust me when I say you have a whole, whole lot to learn.

 

This reminded me of my favorite message board thread of all time. It's from a poker forum. I don't even read it, but somehow tripped onto this, and it was fantastic.

Not saying you're like this Bills, just that it reminded me:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2212095&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

 

Pilot - I just spent 30 minutes reading that poker thread, and it's high-comedy. Thanks for the link.

Bills - It won't be profitable immediately, and it will be difficult. Stop by our site and then drop us an email.

 

No.

 

i was reading that thread. some classic stuf...
my favorite:

You will need $40,000 to get this off the ground. $40,012 if you want to buy a Harry Potter DVD to play on your flat-screens in the "casino".

 

"You can save money by having your dad as dealer and your mom serving drinks..."
"Your sister and her friends can give lap dances..."

 

You haven't seen anything until:

Please let us know how this turns out. You have given me the strength and courage that I needed to finally go ahead with my own dream. I am going to open a bank in my basement. I have really been struggling, trying to decide if I should make it a state bank or a full-on "NATIONAL" one. I think I'm going National. There's more money in that. Thank you tworooks for finally getting me off the fence and in action mode. If you ever need an unsecured loan, contact me.

 

Good stuff.

 

Starting a full-on site is probably biting off more than you can chew and fraught with problems, however, I think starting a blog IN ADDITION TO writing for the local paper might be an idea.

Blog about something completely different than your job so there is no conflict. Make it something you have a passion about. Don't say anything embarrassing.

 

My personal favorite post, which was just the eighth one in, was this:

 

If for some reason you read to page 12 on that thread you discover this: