I know it’s week six, but I just realized that I never did an introductory blog post to, you know, introduce what the heck I do in the newsroom.
I think “sports editor” is a pretty cool job description, but it actually does a poor job in describing what my job is. My friends are even confused about what I do for five hours, four nights a week.
The way I see it, my first responsibility is to know an absurd amount about Cal Poly athletics. Who leads the women’s soccer team in scoring? How many games does the football team have to win in order to be considered for a playoff spot? Which Cal Poly team has yet to win back-to-back games this season? And much, much more as my unfortunate roommates have found out.
The reason I have to know ridiculous facts about the Mustangs is due to my actual responsibilities for the paper. Each week, I plan out six to eight stories that will print the next week, which involves a lot of planning about what will actually interest our readers in 10 days and what will still be timely.
In an attempt to keep things interesting in the sports section, we supplement traditional game coverage with feature stories on athletes and coaches. I feel that a reader gets more out of a game story if they know the players. Plus, people, no matter if they play a sport or not, are just plain interesting.
Who knew that Stephanie Correia, last year’s starting catcher for the softball team, was told by doctors as a teen that she would never play again? I sure didn’t until I sat down across from her in the University Union last spring.
What runs through the mind of a 220-pound wrestler named Atticus Disney? I didn’t know until we ate Chick-fil-a in The Avenue, and it is entertaining to say the least.
My job is interesting because I can ask questions to the people fans just see on the field, court or pitch and then deliver their answers to you.
Yes, my day-to-day job involves laying out the back page of the paper each night and providing a readable design, but I like to think of my section as an answer device for the Cal Poly sports fan.
In essence, I have to think like a fan, then find answers as a reporter. So if there’s any burning questions you have about Cal Poly athletics, let me know. I’ll be sure to ask.