Monday, June 05, 2006
Journalistic Gratification
I must be doing something right if going to work can give me this much of a sense of contentment.
I was having a semi-shitty day till I sat down to interview the assistant coach of the women's tennis team for a story that I'm working on for Wednesday. I walked out of that interview feeling just excited, and all ready to go write the story.
Then I called the head coach and was talking to him. We talked about the story, and then he thanked me and said I'd done a great job this season, and wanted to know if I'd be back on the beat next season. He was rather disappointed when I told him that I'd gotten on staff and so would be moving on to cover stuff like soccer and basketball. He said it was too bad. That they would have liked to have me back because it's nice to have someone who really cares about the program covering it.
I told him I'd talk to Luke, my editor, and see what he thought.
It's the small things like these that tell you you've done justice to the job and to yourself. It's the small things like these that make all those hours I spent watching the team play and tracking down interviews this year absolutely worth it.
I'm hoping things will go as well next year. I don't think I'll have any problems with soccer in the fall, but I'm going to have to read up on basketball and some track to make those work for me. Still, ultimately I believe that knowing the technical side of sports is only half of the complete picture. The bigger challenge is to get to know the athletes as people. And that's something that no manual could ever teach you.
I just think it's too bad that I won't get to cover tennis next year. Those girls had an amazing season, and next year's going to be their breakout year. There's so much that I would give to be a part of that.... I want it almost badly enough to half-regret that I'm not a freelancer anymore. Because that's a freelance beat. Goddammit.
I was having a semi-shitty day till I sat down to interview the assistant coach of the women's tennis team for a story that I'm working on for Wednesday. I walked out of that interview feeling just excited, and all ready to go write the story.
Then I called the head coach and was talking to him. We talked about the story, and then he thanked me and said I'd done a great job this season, and wanted to know if I'd be back on the beat next season. He was rather disappointed when I told him that I'd gotten on staff and so would be moving on to cover stuff like soccer and basketball. He said it was too bad. That they would have liked to have me back because it's nice to have someone who really cares about the program covering it.
I told him I'd talk to Luke, my editor, and see what he thought.
It's the small things like these that tell you you've done justice to the job and to yourself. It's the small things like these that make all those hours I spent watching the team play and tracking down interviews this year absolutely worth it.
I'm hoping things will go as well next year. I don't think I'll have any problems with soccer in the fall, but I'm going to have to read up on basketball and some track to make those work for me. Still, ultimately I believe that knowing the technical side of sports is only half of the complete picture. The bigger challenge is to get to know the athletes as people. And that's something that no manual could ever teach you.
I just think it's too bad that I won't get to cover tennis next year. Those girls had an amazing season, and next year's going to be their breakout year. There's so much that I would give to be a part of that.... I want it almost badly enough to half-regret that I'm not a freelancer anymore. Because that's a freelance beat. Goddammit.
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