I receive more than 100 e-mails a year from readers, often young ones, who ask me very reasonable questions like, “How did you become a writer?” and the like. I appreciate the interest, but it has become impossible to answer them all personally, so I hope that this page is a good first step.
* What was your path to sports journalism?
I didn’t go the regular route, which I believe has been an asset. I was far
more interested in math as a kid and even through college, when I majored in
mathematics at the University
of Pennsylvania with the plan
of becoming a high school math teacher. But I joined the sports staff of student
newspaper my sophomore year, because sports – specifically baseball – had always
been a passion of mine. I wound up enjoying writing so much that I decided to
give that a whirl after graduating in 1990, and I was hired by The National
Sports Daily, the short-lived daily newspaper. That folded in 1991 but I got a
job at Baseball America
magazine, where I have been just about ever since – while also writing for The
New York Times and other publications as well.
* What courses should I take in college if I want to be to be a journalist?
As I alluded to above, I have always believed that the best preparation for
writing for magazines and newspapers is to have as much knowledge about as many
different topics as possible. Majoring in journalism or writing can be great –
but so can a background in international relations, history, science or even mathematics.
I believe that one’s ability to understand and relate to all sorts of different
topics must come first; the writing can often then take care of itself. So
whatever you major in, be sure to remain as well-rounded as possible.
* How can I submit a story to one of your publications?
I get this question a lot, and it breaks my heart, because I really am not
involved at all in freelance story submissions and consideration. If you have a
fantastic story on your hands, let me know, but otherwise my influence is very
limited.
* How do you come up with column ideas?
Most of the time I
ask myself, “What interests me this week?” – and after considering whether
anyone else might share that interest (you’d be surprised) I decide to pursue
it. It can be a feature on an interesting player, a discussion of some
controversy or even a piece of humor. But you must always clear the hurdle of
whether the reader will care before moving forward. Another piece of advice I
got from my editor in college: “Don’t ever do anything anyone else has done
before.”
