The Crow's Nest

Greg Lindberg
Sports Editor

“Cheering is prohibited and you will be removed from the press box,” a voice said over the loudspeaker.

When my brain finally processed those words, I Immediately knew this was going to be an unusual experience.

At the Sept. 25 USF home football game against Western Kentucky, I received the special opportunity to observe the action from the press box high above the field at Raymond James Stadium. WKU was certainly considered an inferior opponent. But they made it a game early on before ultimately falling 24-12 for the Bulls’ second win of the season.

Aside from the expected victory, attending a football game as a journalist is so much different than going as a fan. If only I had known, maybe I would’ve taken some extra time to turn off the fandom in my brain and turn on the journalism side. You can’t sit with your friends in the stands. You can’t high-five your buddies when the Bulls score a touchdown. You can’t even wear those funky bullhorns on your head because you are not supposed to show any loyalties to the teams playing on the field.

I also got an odd feeling not being in the atmosphere of the college football environment. I was sitting in an air-conditioned room surrounded by glass and could hardly hear the typical cheering, chants and Herd of Thunder band that pervade an event like this.

At this game, stadium officials actually used the cannons—usually reserved for Bucs games—when USF scored, and even those were not totally audible in the press box.

As a journalist, you are in your own little world, segregated from the tens of thousands of fans below you. This definitely works in your favor if you are busy writing, and need some peace and quiet to concentrate. But it must take time to get used to this practice.

This experience really got me thinking about whether the idea of going into sports journalism is as exciting as it may seem on the surface. Yes, you get to write about sports every day. You get to go to sporting events—for free. You might be fed some tasty grub to keep your mind fresh for following the game and writing a story about it. You’ll probably get copies of some cool media guides and stat sheets to help make your job easier as well.

However, there is a lot to get used to when going to a sporting event as a reporter rather than a fan.

I admit it was a neat experience and a definite eye-opener to sit in the press box at an NFL stadium—the same place all the big-time media members congregate for Super Bowls. However, I might think twice now about submitting my resume for a job that involves daily coverage of sporting events after
learning more about what sports reporting actually entails. For now, at least I can still go to Bulls games as a fan.

But I got free food (hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, brownies), air conditioning, and a much more comfortable plush chair with wheels, compared to stadium seating.