Why I Want to Write About Sports

If you've known me for more than a couple years then you know that I used to hate sports. I bowled and I golfed and that was it. I played one year of tee-ball and gym was my least favourite class at school. That's all changed though, and for the better. I could have been an excellent athlete, just like my dad; he played baseball and basketball and was awesome at both. This was the days before universities handed out full rides, but from what I gathered, he was the kind of athlete universities today desperately seek. Despite my stature, I'm very quick and agile. I probably would have made a good first baseman, if only I could catch. If I would have tried and actually care, I probably could have been one of those kids who is good at any sport he tries. Maybe I'm exaggerating though; I don't know. It's too late now to find out. I wish I would have tried—maybe played baseball and soccer in the spring and fall respectively and bowling in the winter.

Sports, especially baseball, and being in shape have become increasingly important to me. I work out almost every day and follow all the latest MLB news. I can tell you more about the latest off-season happenings than I could about any contemporary political bouts. This fondness of sports is certainly nothing I ever saw coming. But I guess, as they say, people change. With a growing interest in sports, it seemed almost inevitable that it would collide with my passion and penchant for writing. This is especially true when you think about two of my favourite authors: Hunter S. Thompson and Nick Hornby. HST both started and ended his career as a sports writer, working with ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Rolling Stone (they do more than just music!). Sports were a big part of his life and one of his favourite things about which to write, along with his immense hatred of Richard Nixon. Some of Hunter's most famous works chronicle his adventures as a sports writer: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the Rum Diary, for instance. Likewise, much of Nick Hornby's works hold sports as a prominent detail. Hornby's first book, actually, was a memoir called Fever Pitch (loosely adapted into the America film of the same name starring Jimmy Fallon) detailing his obsession with the English soccer (football) club, Arsenal. Hornby still continues to blog and write the occasional article about sports, mostly soccer.

I spent much of my college career researching Woodstock—the massive music festival in '69. That was pretty awesome and I did a lot of original research. I intend to take all of my work and turn it into a book; it will tell a story that hasn't been told before, combining elements from the stories of many to find the true story of what happened. It will be ground breaking. Even though I know this will be huge when I finally complete it, I wish I might have added something else to me repertoire. I really want to write a history of Cleveland sports and eventually an anthology of Ohio sports in general. But I don't know were to start. Cleveland is a good place to start because it is rich in history and is home to three different professional sports teams. Cleveland actually makes for a great case study because of its history and its sports: there is such a huge connection between the two. A case study of Cleveland would also cross many disciplines: history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, etc. Cleveland fans are die-hard and like no other; they're desperate for a championship of any kind in any of their three sports. They've also had to deal with the departure of not one, but two major players in the last ten years leave their bad-luck-stricken city for more zeros on their checks: Jim Thome in 2002 and Lebron James in 2010. Both players could have led their respective teams (Indians and Cavaliers) to national championships, but they left before doing so, which, in Lebron's case at least, broke a promise to the city. Thome recently came back to Cleveland last season on a last-minute trade and surprisingly, he was welcomed back with open arms, despite so many angry fans when he left. If Lebron ever comes back, though, I imagine he'll be met with torches and pitchforks.

After watching Moneyball, I was immediately inspired to write a story about baseball. What came out was a short story called “You Can't Help But Be Romantic (About Baseball)” about a one-club player who recently left his loyal fanbase for another team with a bigger contract. For those of you who know your Cleveland history can probably see the similarities to slugger Jim Thome. It didn't take long before I felt the desire to turn those few pages into a few hundred and I starting writing a novel based on the same premise. Rather than being purely about the baseball or some sappy story like 90% of sports movies, this one is about how a player struggles with the hardships of being famous and having fans following (and judging) his every move and how he copes with the rejection he receives from those fans when they feel as though they have been betrayed. It is probably my favourite project to date. It is going to be the next great American novel, joining the ranks of Huck Finn and The Great Gatsby. Call me cocky, but I'm just confident.