Just another homer...Doh!

One of the first things I learned in sports reporting 101 was not to be a homer. The professor who taught me this – one Michael Downs – took this so seriously that even when he would attend a game with his wife, on his own time and not as a reporter, he would sit there quietly and not cheer or clap, just observe. This man taught me more about journalism than any one person. I’d say 99 percent of what he taught me I try to apply to my reporting today. Not being a homer...eh, not so much.

The idea behind not being a fan of any one team while on the clock makes sense on the surface. It is a reporter’s duty to remain objective and report only facts of a given sporting event. Being a fan of a particular team leads to biased writing and reporting and in the end cheats the reader.

When Prof. Downs gifted me this nugget of knowledge, I imagine he had visions of me reporting sports at some big, daily paper where professional sports were the topic and holding high-paid professional athletes accountable for their play, good or nay, was the goal.

That was never for me. I never wanted to cover the major professional sports. My dream job was to work at a community newspaper and report on high school sports. That may sound silly to some, but that was as high up the journalistic ladder as I ever wanted to climb...besides, the view from up here is pretty nice.

In 10+ years of sports reporting I have had the honor of covering four Montana State Championship football games in which the team I covered all season made it to the final week of play. Because I am a homer, I’ve felt thrill of victory twice, but the agony of defeat as many times. It’s hard not to become emotional when you follow a group of young men or women from the first day of practice all the way up to the final game of the season, win or lose. They aren’t playing the game for money, but rather pride of their hometown and a love of the game.

Now I’m not saying that you will see me doing cartwheels each time a Phillips County sports team scores a touchdown or lands a perfect serve (and that has nothing to do with the fact that the last time I attempted a cartwheel my body bent like an accordion and my left foot ended up in my right pants pocket.) What is does mean is that win or lose, the story which recounts an event will highlight achievements and effort and never criticize or second guess players and coaching staffs.

At the end of the day, Pierre and I want all of the teams we cover to win each and every game because we are fans of the young adults, their coaches and their respective communities. I feel zero shame when the two of us recount the highlights of a contest in our office the next morning and are excited when “we” win and upset when “we” lose.

We will save the objective reporting for the other areas of this newspaper. When it comes to our high school sports, we are, for good or not, homers and we are proud of that fact.