The love of the game
Interesting column in Newsweek by a sportswriter who used to cover the Minnesota Timberwolves, but now writes about high school sports. "It's the best job in the business. Many of the athletes and coaches I deal with say something that would shock my colleagues on the pro beats: 'Thank you.'"
Covering high school sports is arguably the toughest job on a sports staff. The season runs 10 months a year, there are dozens of games each week, and the fans are as passionate as any Cameron Crazy. Many sportswriters cover preps only as a form of indentured servitude until they can get a plum college or pro beat, where they report on programs with celebrity coaches and players.
I asked our high school writer, Kellie Dixon, her thoughts. "My reaction is amen. From college, previous internships and here, I've had experience with all of it. Sure, it was a thrill to travel with the UNC women's soccer team, to walk into the Diamondbacks clubhouse, to sit across the table from Bo Jackson in Scottsdale, to shove a recorder in Emmitt Smith's face, and to track Matt Doherty during his impending 'resignation.'
"But I never felt rewarded. By covering high school sports, my work takes on the same significance to my readers that I might feel as a college or professional beat writer, and I'm pleased my work becomes scrapbook material."
Amen, indeed.
