Casey at the Bat

Writing sports is a two-way street:You have to love writing/reporting just as much as you love sports in order for the marriage to work.

An Akron columnist gave me that advice 12 years ago, back when newspapers weren’t in a state of financial flux.

Then 16, it was hard for me to imagine loving anything – save for family and friends – as much as I loved the one-two punch of sports and writing about sports. So I had already made the commitment.

As an 8-year-old I can remember hand-delivering my homemade sports sections to a subscribing circulation of two: Mom and Dad. I wrote roundups for all of my Little League games and shared them with my teammates. I made season-long scrapbooks for the Cleveland Indians, even for those late 1980s and early 90s teams which were downright awful. I wrote about how much I hated Michael Jordan for making “The Shot,” I wrote about how much I hated John Elway for “The Drive” and how devastated I was after “The Fumble” and the 97 World Series.

I kept writing and watching and watching and writing. Sports journalism was my calling,and I answered. I began working for the local newspaper right out of high school and I haven’t been out of a newsroom since.

But nowadays newsrooms and bunkers are synonymous; it’s a war zone.The Internet has satisfied the demand for the “right here, right now” mantra, and by the time newspapers hit the doorsteps all the news is old news.

Profit margins are down and jobs have been axed. Over the past two and a half years I’ve personally been in the middle of three rounds of layoffs, myself being a casualty once. I’ve seen professionals “forced” into retirement before they should have. I’ve seen young journalists take a 180-degree turn and head back to school with their tail between their legs.

It’s truly a test of will and I wont budge.

It’s all I know. It’s what I love. And sure it’s scary to think one day I could have a job, and the next I could be told we’re closing up shop (ala Rocky Mountain News).

But until then, I think I’ll keep writing and watching and watching and writing.