Sports Tracks

I contacted the previous Sports Editor last summer with a request to write for the section atUVU Review. I heard back from him the same day, and two days later I was sitting next to him covering an Orem Owlz game. I was thrown into everything so fast, and it was exciting. This was my first time at an Owlz game and my first attempt to cover a sporting event.

He showed me how he took notes while teaching me some baseball jargon. I did my best to soak it all in as I was going to be the one writing the recap that night to be published onuvureview.com.

Everything went extremely smooth until the post-game interviews with head coach Tom Kotchman and the players. I had written down a question that I was ready to ask C.J Crone. I was going to ask him something along the lines of how it felt to be on base again that night after not scoring any hits the two nights previous. I eventually asked my question, only to the wrong player.

I felt so out of place after asking the question to the wrong player that I just went silent and didn’t ask anything else the rest of the night. I had a hard time going to the next game, but I knew that if I wanted my sports writing to go anywhere I was going to have to suck it up and learn from my mistakes.

I have made many mistakes since that day and will undoubtedly make more. At the UVUReview we are constantly covering great stories in an honest and truthful manner while keeping a professional atmosphere. At the same time, I encourage each of my writers that if they are going to make a mistake to learn from, do it here.

What benefit would our news program be if we didn’t learn as much, if not more, in the newsroom as we do in our classrooms? If this behavior wasn’t encouraged, I believe students would shy away from gaining the experiences needed to enter the professional field.

Jim Rome, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, they all started somewhere asking dumb questions or writing with incorrect style. They made themselves vulnerable and took a chance to make mistakes before starting a career.

I will always remember that first Owlz game, but the player who got asked the wrong question from me will most likely never recall it happening. The only person I want remembering my mistakes is me.