A PSA from a sports reporter

As the fall sports season draws near, time for this message from the office of your's truly:

It is actually not the job of the local sports editor or the town's beat writer to support your team. Their real job is this: report on what goes on. It's not just the wins and losses they have to write about, but also the coaching firings, the player suspensions, the transfers, etc. To demand for their support is almost the equivalent of asking them to dress up as the mascot or put on the cheerleading skirt, then lead the fan rally. That's actually not their job believe it or not.

They have to write what they see or hear. A lot of writers/reporters would rather be impartial and prevent themselves from becoming homers. Granted, when the team they cover wins, it becomes easy for the writers to track down the team's success. The ones who don't are just plain lazy. But again, nowhere does it say that they're actually required to lead the team rallying cry.

Also, writers are going to write what they see, not what mommy and daddy of the athlete sees, or what the coach, athletic director and the principal sees. Additionally, the real people who have the right to tell them what to write or what not to write are the editor-in-chief and the publishing editor, not the parent, coach or superintendent of the school. The writer is not on your personal payroll, so you can't tell them what to do.

We should all sit back and enjoy the upcoming season, because sports is one of the ultimate get-togethers for any community. As it is, I'm stoked for the football season and want to enjoy every minute of being under the lights and doing more stories.

Gracias.