The reasons we write

When I first got into journalism, I never paid much attention to sportswriters. It’s probably because I have more interest in current events, politics and stories about NASA.

Sports and all the talk around sports was not something I ever concerned myself with. I wasn’t interested in learning about the new Redskins’ kicker, and I had a better appreciation for Dennis Rodman’s ability to shock a crowd rather than his rebound performance.

I wasn’t just some pasty little shut-in though – I played basketball, soccer and even two years of baseball despite a complete lack of ability (my stepdad cheered like I hit a home run during batting practice because I finally managed to make contact with the ball, sending it down center field), but people play sports because there’s something that playing a sport does for a person that no writer can capture on paper.

So, why do sports writers do it?

From the perspective of someone who used to play sports regularly, I would say it’s probably a bunch of old folks with bad knees who want to live through their words in some deprived attempt to get a mental taste of the past. It’s true that when you put yourself in the mindset of the athlete you once were – that is, when you think of making the play, the shape of the defense and that feeling you once had of making eye contact with a teammate just long enough to send the signal that you’re going wide open – the tingly smell of freshly cut grass infiltrates your senses, bringing a tear to the cheek if it catches you off guard.

That’s powerful stuff if you place any real value in it, but such an outlook can only account for a small percentage of writers who cover sports.

In other cases, there are the types who want to write, perhaps because it’s the only thing they can see themselves doing but either don’t know what to write about or have no other way of putting food on the table. These are the minds who were given overbearing spells of encouragement by their teachers and parents to do something with their talent but were never given so much as a clue into what they ought to be writing about. Will it be presidential campaigns? Concert reviews? Cockfighting? Sports?

Typically, questions are not something adults like to extend to a developing mind because it exposes the notion that maybe they don’t know everything. So, people either go idle or write sports. In any case, it’s a chance to break into the industry and engage in some belated contemplation in the meantime.

So, can you tell which type I am by now? Did I just fall into the position or is there something deeper behind all this? Sports editor – it’s just a simple title I didn’t ask for but I’ve learned to love it. The nature of the job is very basic; like with any job, there are responsibilities I must tend to. There are some I may neglect, and others I can’t but do anyway. For better or for worse, this will possibly be my leg up so I can move onto the good stuff – cockfighting and bear-trapping. Drive-by shootings and protest rallies. Reporting the figures that anger the gods and beating the competition at their own game.

For all the wrong reasons I’ll do the right thing, writing sports and bringing you box scores.

The most important thing I’ve learned from writing sports for myself is that like anything, if you find a passion to do it, the end result is better. And your results will define the integrity of all the work you did leading up to it. Just like water flows downhill, niche writers will find their places or die trying.

In all likelihood, a career sportswriter writes in his office for the same reason the athletes are out there playing on the field – love of the game (or of the money).