It doesn’t make sense.
It’s so hard to comprehend why everyone doesn’t want to do this — be sports reporters.
Too bad for you all, really.
A shame you all won’t get a chance to chat with Kourtney Shreve, the back-up point guard on the women’s basketball team.
Yeah, she’s the relative wisp of a player from just up the road in Albany. The one with the frenetic energy on the floor and a bright-eyed ohmigod-college-basketball-is-so-cool, ohmigod-college basketball-is-so-hard disposition off court.
One of those players who wouldn’t know it but leaves an impression. So that the next time someone questions the validity of college athletics, she comes to mind. ‘Cause Kourtney’s accepted a great challenge with an obvious investment of effort and good attitude.
Also a shame not all of you had the opportunity to eke out some space between the local TV guys with their annoyingly big, clunky cameras and Reuben Droughns while everyone around him grinned in spite of themselves. Because Oregon’s warrior was lying his ass off, telling you he considers himself “a decent ‘back.” Nothing more than Reuben’s usual, admirable — if ridiculous — attempt at humility.
Too bad not all of you had a chance to chat with Carlos Navarro, formerly the captain of the Oregon men’s tennis team. An appropriate representative of Oregon’s improving tennis programs: classy, charismatic, positive, multi-lingual.
Talkin’ about “Vamanos los patos!”
Unfortunate not all of you had access to Marion Jones, the world’s fastest woman, who makes eye contact with reporters who ask like they care and always carefully crafts her answers because she can’t help watching, right before her eyes, each and every one of her words turn into print somewhere in the world.
Too bad you all couldn’t sit back and listen to Jack Bushnell and Elmo Frye, two of the little town of Powers’ elder statesmen, as they told you about the time Elmo took a tractor out on a test drive, used it to level the entire high school football field, and then promptly brought the damn thing back.
Because, as Elmo said, those contraptions are expensive, you know?
Sorry you all can’t work with Geoff Thurner and Andrew Longeteig.
Uhh …who?
Geoff is Oregon’s quintessential track and field media contact. Andrew is his dependable women’s basketball counterpart. Not so many people who are on top of their stuff like those dudes.
Shame y’all can’t hear out Shaquala.
Because, yes, she is (seemingly) as confident as she seems: “There’s a lot of people who probably think that I don’t deserve that [Pac-10 Player of the Year] award and a lot of people are still saying that Maylana [Martin] was the best player and da da da. So for me, I want to win [the award] convincingly next year, I don’t want anyone to say, ‘Well this person or that person …’
“Why? ‘Cause I always feel that I have something to prove. I don’t feel that I have everybody’s attention and respect yet.
“I don’t know, I guess that’s just that dog in me. I’m never satisfied. It’s just the ‘Me against-the-world mentality’ where it’s like no matter what I do I always think there’s people out there who aren’t happy with it, so I always feel like I have more to prove until I get out on the court and nobody can touch me… “
She’ll get hers.
Even if it’s not sportswriting.
Are you all sure that you’d really rather build bridges, make important financial decisions, find cures or report on elections? Really?
Well, to each his own.
Right on.
I’ma write about sports people.
Peace.
Mirjam Swanson is the sports editor for the Emerald. She can be reached at [email protected]