the men, women and sports thread, reborn

The original "men, women and sports" thread from May 2003 can no longer be found on these pages. One of the Official Crashes of SportsJournalists.com took it out, I'm sure. The PMs have survived, though ... and while I'm not going to copy and paste such things (trust me, I know better...), they've been a periodic reminder of past comments and beliefs.

Back in the day of the thread, I was a hardcore believer in work/career/my job above all else. Since then, a combination of many things (one of them being the state of the industry) has led to a much-less concrete stance on the issue...

And since I don't remember the origin of the thread, I'd just like to open up the topic ...

If there's no one else you need to consider, why not do whatever you want/need for a job? But is it worth living and breathing your job to be alone for your entire life?

Perhaps it was a thread with alma and an "annie" about being "successful" that spurred the debate? How do you define success? Is it getting the job of your dreams, or the family of your dreams? Can you have both?

And if any of the old timers distinctly remember the thread, please feel free to help direct the flow of this topic. I'd love to have the thread -- in an updated form -- revived.

 

What I know about having a standalone worthwhile life could fill G.I. Joe's condom, but I DO know everything older than 18-24 months old has been vaporized due to server space, and the 2003 thread probably go blowed up during a board implosion.

 

I was not here for the original thread, so I have no comments there. As a woman that loves sports, I will answer one question that you put out there.

NO. Absolutely not. I firmly believe there is no job worth that.

 

I'd trade all the Super Nintendo games in the world to not be alone, living, seemingly, only for my work.


Well, except for Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. I'm not getting rid of Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball.

 

Atlanta and clean-up hitter D. Crime agree!

 

If you're miserable outside of work, then nothing you do on the clock will make up for it.

 

This is my biggest problem right now, but I think a lot of those miseries are caused by work and my retarded schedule. What keeps me hanging in there is the hope that someone will retire and I can move up and into a more suitable life.

 

I love to work, but I love my wife, and spending time with her more. At one point, several years ago now, my schedule working in sports for a daily did not match well at all. Much as I loved the grind of beating the various deadlines each night or cranking out a column for a big game, it got to the point where I was seeing her four hours a week because of the locations and schedules of our respective jobs.

It reached a point where it wasn't worth it. She has always been fully supportive of any decision I've made, but it didn't feel right that I knew more about my co-worker's week than I did about hers.

There were certainly goals I had personally in the field that have likely been shelved forever, but by no means do I regret the career decisions I have made. It's not the same for everyone, but for me, my wife and family trump all else.

My current job pays better and has much better hours. Do I love it like I did my previous stops. No. But I do enjoy it enough, and the benefit of a much more fulfilling home life makes it an even better situation. Bottom line, I don't think any job is worth sacrificing family or friendships, if those things are most important to you.

 

My current stop was made, in part, to have better hours with Mrs. Editude. It lacks the urgency (inflated though that might have been at the time) of the past couple of gigs but keeps the lights on and lets us spend time together outside the weekends.

 

Answer is no for me. But the true question for Mikey is, would you give up sitcoms forever? Or would you rather be alone?

 

I almost choked on a Crunchberry. Amazing work. I just beat them twice in a short season. Atlanta, Montreal, Texas and the White Sox's offense are scary, with Seattle, obviously, Detroit and St. Louis not far behind.

 

That means I'd have to pretty much give up television entirely. I fall asleep to my favorite shows; I guess I could go back to Kevin Smith movies -- I need something I don't have to watch, just hear.

I think I would. If it meant me being happier than I am now -- and I've never been happier than with a woman I love in my company -- than I'd give up watching sitcoms.

Of course, what'd probably end up, in real life, being the compromise is quoting and referencing them. My best friend's wife gives him a limit on his Seinfeld references because she's "wants to have a real conversation." I see that happening with me some day. I don't know if I could do that, in all honesty. I like to laugh too much, and that stuff always gets me laughing to myself, even during conversations to other people, and then I've got to explain what seems so funny to me to anyone who's around.

She'll just have to understand that if she wants me, she gets the whole mess that is Mike, too.