Just beat it

By: Gabe Gilson

Before this summer, I had no clue whatsoever what a beat writer was. After watching countless hours of ESPN, surprisingly, you seem to learn a thing or two about real life as well as sports.

Beat writers do not only talk sports from day to day but also news, traffic, government and other things as well according to the Harrower text. Writers assigned to the sports beat often cover a single team. This would make for a fun season.

The Chicago Tribune has a particular writer that every day writes about the Cubs. This is his or her job. Steve Rhodes who today writes for his own online publication, The Beachwood Reporter, used to have this dream job. Every day, Rhodes would go to the game, talk to the players, and write what he saw.

How cool would this be? Every day you are going to the ballpark, watching the game, talking to the stars of the team and writing 500 words on a pitcher with a bum elbow, or about the 14 inning marathon game. On top of all this, you get paid! What a deal.

It is not like I am about to jump ship now and become a beat writer. It is more this being a great option for a career that was unfamiliar to me before a few months ago. The only thing is, as a fan of the team one would be covering, staying objective would be difficult.