This week I am heading to the land of milk and Peyton for work. As a Patriots fan I find no joy in heading to the city but last summer when Catfish and I headed to Ohio it turned out to be a great time with many memories. However this is for work, this is my first actual business trip ever. I ponder the two extremes; burning through the company card on expensive wine, shrimp cocktail, and primetime hookers or being locked into boring meeting after meeting while pining for the trip home. I think attitude plays a big part in it so I am putting my best foot forward and hoping for some exciting adventures but I will not be bringing back any Colts gear but maybe a Hansbrough jersey for Cat, they can't be that expensive can they? I do know they have Steak N' Shake. Anyway I won't be posting for the rest of the week so you will have to find 2 minutes of internet distraction elsewhere. Maybe Catfish will take a break from solving the Bobcats offseason problems to pitch in. See you in the funny papers.
Monday, May 17
On The Road To Indianapolis
Tuesday, March 9
The State of Sports In The Newspaper Business
It is becoming a common occurrence. Newspaper writer lashes out at other sources of media in response to his own dying medium. There are sports journalists from the old school that refuse to hold new forms of media on the same ground. They believe they hold a greater position in sports than any of their contemporaries. What they fail to realize or accept is that in this day and age, everyone who cares to know has the access to game scores, stats, and breaking news that they thought only they were privileged to attain. Their "inside the locker room" analysis can now be trumped by more truthful banter from a player or coach's twitter account.
When I thought about this situation one metaphor came into my head, the Rite of Spring from Fantasia. Granted I did not know the name was Rite of Spring or that Igor Stravinsky was the composer, but I remember the piece from Fantasia. The parallel I draw is to the last movement of the piece, where the Earth has changed and the dinosaurs are slowly going extinct. They struggling to find nourishment, get stuck in tar pits, and eventually collapse onto the sand as the hot sun beats down on them. The last we see of these beings who once ruled the world are them marching in procession into a distant and cold future. Once they are gone only the memory of their bones remain as the world begins to change ever more violently and becomes more cold and remote.
The same way that these old writers have been left with a dwindling sports section, stuck in the tar pits of newspapers refusing to recognize the relevance of online reporting and blogs(even if they write online). Their only refuge is to lash out harshly against this new world in which they cannot survive and deem it a turn for the worse when in reality it is simply the way of the world, the flow of time that has ended their era.
Thursday, May 28
Just Living The Dream
That's what I say to myself every time my low-paying internship grates on my nerves. This is what I signed up for after all. I went back to school a few years ago, paid the graduate tuition out of a loan in my name which I'm certain will take me a over a decade to pay off, and knew it would be an uphill climb. But it is what I signed up for. When I interviewed for my present position they told me that sometimes you have to do the mundane, the minuscule, the minutia and without hesitation I told them I was their man. "Whatever it takes to get the job done" I said, head held high, confident chin, firm handshake and all that. This was an important stepping stone I believed; my 3rd internship in three years and fresh off of getting my master's degree I just knew that with the sheepskin and the work experience finally a rewarding, full-time job in the sports field would be waiting for me when I completed my year here.
That was last July and as I began my job with as much zeal and energy as a young, single man could I thought I was making a good impression and building solid relationships. In truth I was and still am, but the problem has been the economy. Working in college sports I have seen blow after blow that the current situation has dealt to athletic departments and conferences. The big names have not been left unscathed but it has been the smaller entities that have really felt the crunch and inevitable crush from the downturn. Teams have been cut left and right, a few athletic programs for an entire school hang in the balance. This was not the job market I was looking to enter once my current internship was finished.
The best I can do now is, as Bob Dylan said, "...keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew," and that has to be your attitude in times like these. Wallowing in woe is me thinking will not get you any closer to your goal. Even when this internship had me cursing the fates and shaking my fist angrily at unknown forces that put me in this position, in the end I was still thankful to at least be somewhere, mostly because I have been nowhere, and it is not too fun. Sports are one of the main forms of entertainment we have in this country so many assume they career in sports will be just as radiant when they enroll in Sports Management programs. I had no illusions but I love sports more than just about anything on this Earth so I felt I had no choice.
Below is a New York Times article by Ken Belson highlighting the current situation for recent graduates who are hitting the job searches just as I am this summer. I wax poetic more on my situation but I have to go run errands for my bosses and print and stuff nametag clips. Just living the dream my friends, just living the dream.
In Sports Business, Too Many Hopefuls for Too Few Positions [New York Times]
