Every time you write anything, at least half your readers are going to disagree with you. A big part of sports writing is how you respond to that tension.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In all Games, there is always a tendency, particularly in the lead up to the Games when there isn't much sport to talk about, to write about things that are not sport.
I'm not a sportswriter.
I think of sports writers as mediating between two worlds. Athletes probably think of sports writers as not macho enough. And people in high culture probably think of sports writers as jocks or something. They are in an interestingly complex position in which they have to mediate the world of body and the world of words.
'Course the world of sports takes itself way too serious. Sports writers are all high and mighty.
When you write about sports, you're allowed to engage in mischief. Nothing is at stake.
When you're representing a sport, people are more likely to judge and comment as, unlike other fields, sport permits every viewer to participate to a certain level.
Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it.
A sportswriter's life means never sitting with your wife or family at the games. Still working after everyone has gone to the party... Digging beneath a coach's lies, not to forget those of athletic directors and general managers and owners of pro teams. Keeping a confidence. Risking it.
I'm glad that in this sport you can write your own stories, and you don't have to worry about what other people expect out of you.
Writing is not a competitive sport. Everyone that writes has his or her own voice.