Sports writing is about the people, not the games

  Pauline Vu Vu apologizes for not
thanking those who so deserve to be thanked ““ Jackie, Nadia,
Katie, Mia and Tawny ““ but you guys just didn’t fit in
the article. Oh well.

Sit back, relax, and let me tell you about a girl who
doesn’t know a thing about sports but became a sports editor
anyway.

It’s simpler than it looks. You just don’t write
about sports. You write about people instead. You write about who
they are and what they do, on and off the court.

I could tell you, play by play, about the kills in the
men’s volleyball team’s win over Long Beach State in
the league semifinals this year, but I’d rather tell you
about how the Bruins hate the Beach, and how going into that match
they pumped themselves up by reminding each other, “We could
end the 49er seniors’ careers without one championship
ring.”

I could tell you, stroke by stroke, about how the men’s
golf team placed third at U.S. Intercollegiates, but I’d
rather tell you about how they got lost on the way to the hotel,
and they blamed another coach because they thought he gave them bad
directions, and then used that anger to propel them to third.

I could tell you, shot by shot, about the goals in the UCSD-UCLA
men’s water polo NCAA championship game, but I’d rather
tell you about how it truly amazing it was that the lil’
Division II Tritons upset the mighty Trojans in the NCAA semifinals
to even earn that finals spot. You do have to know a little about
sports to write about it, but more importantly, you have to know
about who people are and what happens to make some of them great
athletes. That philosophy is partly why I wanted to be sports
editor.

The job hasn’t been easy, but it has definitely been worth
it; it’s been a huge part of my college education. I’ve
learned that, to be a sports editor, you don’t have to know
about sports as long as you’re willing to listen to the
people who do. I’ve learned that even though your instinct is
to do everything yourself, you still have to have faith that your
assistants and writers will do their jobs well, because
you’ll go crazy if you try to take it all on yourself.

I’ve learned that when you’re the editor,
you’re really, by God, the one in charge, and people actually
listen to you. And I’ve learned that sometimes you have to
cut off a limb to save your life, to let go of the people who
refuse to listen, even if you’re so scared of doing it you
start shaking like a leaf.

I’ll miss all this. I’ll miss interviewing the
men’s golfers, who talk about everything from the grass on
the course to gettin’ some (the question, “So did
anything interesting happen at the tournament?” will never be
the same). I’ll miss Rich from Sports Info, the volleyball
and golf Sports Information Director, who lucked out the day I
walked into his office three years ago and said, “Hi,
I’m the new golf writer.” I’ll miss the Photo and
Design departments because people like Keith had to pull
last-minute photos and people like Sean had to re-design a whole
back page at my whim. I’ll miss my assistants, Dylan,
Christina and Amanda, because you guys made the department one
“ongoing party,” complete with Dylan’s
bumpin’ MP3s (bless those new computers).

Last of all, I want to remind my writers, especially the young
ones, a few things: take the hero worship out of your features,
guys. It’s too much when I have to read about someone
who’s “not only a great athlete, but a great citizen
too.” Don’t use sports cliches, and take out the
standard athletes’ quotes (i.e. “We like to play
‘SC because they’re our crosstown rival”).
“Literally” means it really happened, so if the Bruin
defense was literally on fire, I better smell smoke.

Write like you talk. Laugh in your articles. Really, really care
about what you’re doing. Find what makes every game and
athlete different. And don’t forget, if your article
doesn’t end itself, you can always go back to the beginning
and find your ending there.

Above all, find the story in whatever you write. Sports
isn’t about great plays, stats or records so much as
it’s about the people who play them.

And even the people who write them.