When I Grow Up

When I was 14 years old, I listened to a pair of AM sports talk shows every morning. Since I was homeschooled, it was easy for me to sit at the dinning room table and do my work while the radio was on. 1360 Homer The Sports Animal (now ESPN 1530) was my station. And you can bet every day at 7am my radio was tuned in to hear "The Two Angry Guys" give their take on sports around Cincinnati, and the rest of the country as well.

But my favorite show came on afterward. At 9am, Gregg Doyle and Mo Egger graced the airwaves with their show... I don't think it had a name... but it was really good. It was during these formative years that I began to really enjoy and appreciate the radio business, especially the sports talk side of it. I called in once or twice, but as a 14 year-old it was a very nerve-racking experience.

As my interest in the overall field of sports journalism grew, I decided I wanted to to learn more about it, so I began emailing both Gregg and Mo, asking advice and gaining insight to their chosen fields. Then, Gregg mentioned the idea of having me on the show as a scheduled guest to talk about the NFL Draft, which was what I enjoyed most at the time. Long story short (wow, that's a journalistic cop out if I've ever written one), I appeared on the station a while later as a guest, pegged "The 16 year-old draft expert."

I was still 15.

Part of me loved the title. I mean, really? What red-blooded American man doesn't want to be called an expert at anything, let alone sports? And to my 15 year-old self it was just that much more special. But a big part of me didn't care for the title at all. Partially because I knew I didn't deserve the term "expert" (and my mock drafts proved it) and partially because I sensed a hint of sarcasm in my newfound nickname.

But that's exactly why I was on the show in the first place, because it was a cute little gimmick. Nobody would have cared about a 30 year-old living with his parents, talking incessantly about sports, enough people fit that bill already. But I was different, I wasn't even old enough to drive. That's the reason I got noticed. That's the reason writers like Jason Whitlock responded to my emails. That's why I got the attention that I did.

But I'm not "cute" anymore. There's nothing too unique about a freshman in college working for his school newspaper and aspiring to be a sports writer one day. I've lost that special aspect to my writing. I tried to hold on to it for as long as I could (maybe a little too long), but as the years passed, I realized I had to give it up and try a new approach. So now I'm growing up. I'm stepping up my game.

I'm letting my writing speak for itself.