Extra Point: A farewell address
Dan Bates
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Sports
Last Tuesday, the university held the Dick Joyce Sports Symposium - a collaboration of distinguished alumni who came back to campus to conduct workshops on sports writing. During the keynote speech, given by Mark Kriegel, national columnist for FoxSports.com, I sat in the audience, struck by his words.
"How much are you willing to spend and exhaust your energy? How much are you willing to work harder than everyone else? This is what it takes."
Kriegel was speaking of the ways to succeed in the competitive world of sports writing. He is an accomplished national writer with years of quality experience, including two New York Times best-selling books. Kriegel knows what it takes, and this is why I listened.
In no way have I reached my potential as a writer or learned all the lessons necessary to find a niche in the profession. But, I feel at least a foundation was laid.
Sacrificing necessary rest from Wednesday nights into Thursday mornings just to put a newspaper together is the greatest example of the willingness to exhaust energy. The adrenaline of making a deadline or giving the extra effort to interview a coach shows the motivation of getting the best story.
Looking around Friday mornings, watching students with newspapers in hand gives me a smile because I know I attempted to work harder than everybody else. I sacrificed myself for people I don't even know to give them information.
This isn't my last goodbye. My time as a member of The BV is not over quite yet. I will grace these back pages as a writer again, perhaps in this same space. But it won't be the same. It won't be as the sports editor.
There is that one thing, possibly a few things, that you want to be remembered for as editor. This spring, we extensively covered the emergence of our basketball teams including an historic WNIT run by the women's squad. The dedicated work put in for this coverage can never be taken away.
To all the coaches, athletes, professors, students and especially The BV staff past and present, I give a sincere thank you for getting me to this point. I now move on from current sports editor to a fraternity of ones from the past.
I have matured as a student and journalist in more ways than I could imagine just from earning the responsibilities of an editor. For the freshmen out there looking to write a story and be involved, I simply ask to give it a try. It might be the best decision you ever make, too.
"How much are you willing to spend and exhaust your energy? How much are you willing to work harder than everyone else? This is what it takes."
Kriegel was speaking of the ways to succeed in the competitive world of sports writing. He is an accomplished national writer with years of quality experience, including two New York Times best-selling books. Kriegel knows what it takes, and this is why I listened.
In no way have I reached my potential as a writer or learned all the lessons necessary to find a niche in the profession. But, I feel at least a foundation was laid.
Sacrificing necessary rest from Wednesday nights into Thursday mornings just to put a newspaper together is the greatest example of the willingness to exhaust energy. The adrenaline of making a deadline or giving the extra effort to interview a coach shows the motivation of getting the best story.
Looking around Friday mornings, watching students with newspapers in hand gives me a smile because I know I attempted to work harder than everybody else. I sacrificed myself for people I don't even know to give them information.
This isn't my last goodbye. My time as a member of The BV is not over quite yet. I will grace these back pages as a writer again, perhaps in this same space. But it won't be the same. It won't be as the sports editor.
There is that one thing, possibly a few things, that you want to be remembered for as editor. This spring, we extensively covered the emergence of our basketball teams including an historic WNIT run by the women's squad. The dedicated work put in for this coverage can never be taken away.
To all the coaches, athletes, professors, students and especially The BV staff past and present, I give a sincere thank you for getting me to this point. I now move on from current sports editor to a fraternity of ones from the past.
I have matured as a student and journalist in more ways than I could imagine just from earning the responsibilities of an editor. For the freshmen out there looking to write a story and be involved, I simply ask to give it a try. It might be the best decision you ever make, too.
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