People like to differentiate the terms “job” and “passion.” According to dictionary.com, the top definition of the former is “a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price.” According to the same website, the latter definition is described as “any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.”
For 18 years, I had the privilege of having both. I was a full-time sports reporter with 13 of those years being for Napa Valley Publishing. Over half of my work was published in the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan. My work was also frequently published in the Napa Valley Register and to a lesser extent the American Canyon Eagle.
Due to the declining state of the newspaper industry, I felt the need to prepare to get out of the industry. The theories of “why” the industry is in peril are many. The reasons include but are not limited to newspapers being read online to lack of advertising revenue. Think about it, are you going to sell your car and pay hundreds of dollars for a classified ad in the paper or do it for free on Craigslist? From an editorial standpoint, in my opinion, the emphasis on social media has dumbed down journalism. Really? 150, characters to tell a story? That’s an insult to even call it journalism. You simply can’t tell a story in 150 characters. Doing the math, that’s about 1/200th of the story, which is worse than no story.
Nice going, newspaper publishers. Thanks for dumbing your audience to a preschool level that allows “only” 150 characters. I know, the 20-somethings are saying to me, “get with the times, old man.” Sorry, your times suck. I’ll tweet the score at the end of the quarter and that’s all you get.
OK, given my disgust with the industry, I wanted to exit. To that end, I had to ask myself, “what skill could I acquire that would not die because of archaic technology?” So I decided to get my Class B driver’s license. There will always be a demand for bus drivers, truck drivers, etc. To that end, I gained experience by driving for the Springs of Napa and Beau Wine Tours. The latter was like driving the “Golden Girls” around town. The former involved driving tourists around a region that many aspire to visit.
I have since changed full-time professions and am now a route sales representative for Alhambra Water. I count my blessings everyday that I’m in a profession that won’t get outsourced because of archaic technology.
If there is one thing I want to make clear is that professionally, my career at Alhambra Water is the top priority but blogging occasionally and covering Friday Night Lights in the Napa Valley, I have my fill of covering sports. If there is one sport I miss covering, it is football. I love all three sports among the big three but football remains my favorite. Since there are so few games (10 in the regular season), every game means so much. Plus, high school football still has that slice of Americana feel to it.
See you on the road and later on the sidelines.
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