To anyone who’s ever walked past Eshleman Hall, it’s pretty much impossible to miss “The Daily Californian” spelled out in monolithic letters across the sixth floor windows. But the only letters that really matter are “LIF.” Why? Because that’s where the sports desk hunkers down.
I’m not an expert when it comes to sports. I’m a huge fan, and I know the basics, but I grasp for straws whenever the other guys discuss March Madness games from 2002. Odds are I was still playing Barbies with my sister after school in those days.
I’ve officially been working at the sports section for one year now. For whatever reason (I know it’s not my habit of missing deadlines), they’re still letting me stick around. And I wouldn’t give this gig up for the world.
To cover Cal sports draws from every end of the spectrum. Some seasons you’re dealt the volleyball team — a firing squad that refuses to fall into complacency, even while holding down the nation’s top ranking. If you’re starting out, you get to experience the baptism-by-fire experience of covering a smaller sport you know absolutely nothing about. If you’re a veteran, you tackle the top of the pyramid: football, men’s basketball or baseball.
And if you’re me, you’re lucky, because you soak up each new experience before casually playing it off. Yeah, I interviewed gold medalist Nathan Adrian last winter for a swim preview, no big deal. Yeah, I probably broke a few rules forcing my way into Spieker Aquatics Center for my first water polo story, but that’s just a day in the life.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m crazy for actively pursuing this, for oftentimes placing a job that doesn’t pay me ahead of my mountainous course load. What keeps up this drive? What keeps me coming back when I’m stressed out and missing quotes and reworking ledes up there on the sixth floor?
It’s gotta be love.
It’s hard to love something as transient as sports. I mean, scores and rankings change. Plays are made or broken. Athletes get injured or say ridiculous things or face criminal charges. Coaches give inspiring speeches, then dodge tough post-loss questions. It’s the same formula repeated every week, every season. It’s rare that something like The Play accumulates mythic staying power; even this past weekend’s OT win against Colorado will fall to the wayside in a few months.
And yet I love it, transiency and all. I love that there is always something new and exciting to watch and say. I love the spins we create within the confines of a few columns. I even love stalking the players. As Earl Warren once said, the sports section records man’s triumphs. It bears witness to the drama of human existence boiled down to a single game through which everyone else vicariously lives. Few things have the power to unite an entire nation like the World Cup or the Super Bowl. Few things are as mesmerizing or heart-pounding.
But to me, those few things are everything.
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