A Reflection on Working in Sports

I will never be one to complain about my job because at the end of the day I get to watch sports everyday and then tell people about it. That's my job. It has it's obvious perks, but at the same time my job sometimes effects the kind of fan that I am. I think most of my sports information friends would agree that when you watch games for a living it changes your view on sports.


First and foremost you find that when working in athletics that mobile updates and DVR become absolute musts. If it is a good time for your favorite professional or other NCAA team there is a good chance it is a good time for your school to be hosting an event. Without DVR and updates sent to my phone I would have missed a multitude of games by my favorite teams. Rarely do you get to see a whole game live  no matter how hard you try.

Hockey has very quickly become my favorite sport to watch and one of the main reasons is my work hasn't ruined it for me. Watching baseball, basketball and football has been forever changed by the work that I do. When I go to a baseball game I feel compelled to do a scorecard because that it what I do. I find myself trying to figure out who forced a fumble and how far it was returned and when it comes to basketball the assist becomes almost as important as the basket. These aren't necessarily bad things but they definitely aren't how I used to watch games.

I complain about officiating like any other fan and any fan that says they don't is lying. The difference is I now have a real basis for comparison watching Division II and Division III officials in all sports. Anyone that thinks NFL, NBA, or MLB game is poorly officiated go out to your nearest DII or DIII school and watch a game it might put it into perspective.

The other thing I've found working in athletics is every time you think you have seen the wackiest and weirdest the world of sports has to offer something else happens that tops them all. Each time you think you have a handle on a stat program or a game scoring something happens that forces you to dust off the stat manual and go digging for the answer.

This job is also takes you away from writing in your blog when you get busy with all the things going on. I plan on making more regular posts through the summer months and now that I'm settled in with my duties and responsibilities expect more from the man cave.