Crim: Embracing new adventure back where it all began

We’re back to where it all began, in the toy department of life, writing about sports.

The late, great New York City sportswriter Jimmy Cannon first coined that phrase many decades ago to describe the sports section in newspapers. Sports was then considered just a game, like a child playing with a toy, meant to be an escape from real life, not an integral part of it.

Those who considered themselves “serious” journalists would often look down on sportswriters, who, they joked, were being paid to go to sporting events and only wore neckties and sports jackets for special occasions, like weddings and funerals.

When I attended journalism school in the wake of Watergate in the 1970s, many of my Mizzou classmates dreamed of being the next Woodward or Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who brought down a presidency.

Those of us in sports, meanwhile, set our sights on emulating the likes of Bob Verdi, Jim Murray or a host of sportswriters we had read every week since childhood in The Sporting News.

I spent time in both sports and news, as a writer and an editor, during my nearly 40 years in the newspaper business, working alongside talented journalists who proudly did great work daily across all departments.

Still, the most fun I had professionally was the 17 years spent writing about high school and college sports in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri.

(Being paid to hang out at Augusta National for a week covering the Masters a couple of times or working a World Series or three were pretty good gigs, too.)

Stick around long enough and sportswriters forge enduring relationships with people they meet – players, coaches, fans, scorekeepers, referees, ticket-takers, members of the Friday night football chain gang. 

When, in retirement, I took a job as a paraeducator at a Quincy elementary school, a first-grade teacher approached me one day on the playground.

She said upon learning I was working in a classroom in the same pod, her husband, a Quincy High baseball player in the early 1980s, pulled out his scrapbook and had her read stories I had written.

“All of them,” she said.

At that moment, I wasn’t sure if her smile indicated she enjoyed them or was perturbed at having to spend her free time taking a stroll down memory lane because of the new guy at school.

It didn’t really matter, though. It was a nice reminder that people remember what you do in this business.

Which brings us to today.

It has been 25 years, four months and two days since I wrote my farewell newspaper sports column. I was almost 40, the kids were growing up fast, and I was offered the job as news editor. The promotion meant more structured hours, no nights or weekends, and a greater opportunity to advance with the company.

It was a challenging and rewarding move that allowed me to retire four years ago this month, although as I eventually rose to executive editor, I found that many of my nights and weekends were again spent working — just without a pep band pounding out the school fight song in the background.

Laptops and cellphones can be both a blessing and a curse.

I was asked to contribute as a writer when Muddy River News was launched last April, and again when Muddy River Sports was born a few months later. I put off that decision but agreed to help on a limited basis behind the scenes — editing some stories and pitching ideas for others, offering feedback when asked.

Essentially, I retired to focus on golf and grandkids, so there was a reluctance to take on another job that might interfere with either.

A couple of things changed my mind.

First, the day before Thanksgiving, I received a letter informing me that I had been selected for induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a sportswriter, an honor I long ago concluded would elude me.

The congratulatory notes and comments from former players, coaches, parents, readers, and past print and electronic colleagues reminded me why the job was so enjoyable.

Then, I agreed to participate in Muddy River Sports’ 50 After 50 series, ranking the top 50 small-school teams in West-Central Illinois since the Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year.

Poring through stories to research teams brought back fond memories. Reliving games and seasons with former players who achieved acclaim on the court and have gone on to become stars in life brought another rush of adrenaline.

So, beginning today, I am back alongside Matt Schuckman, writing a weekly column for Muddy River Sports. Only this time he’s the boss.

As the curtain rises for the latest act, the goal remains to deliver interesting stories and commentary you will want to read each week.

Like Adam Wainwright late in his career, I may need to adjust my repertoire to successfully appeal to a generation of readers who likely have never heard of me, but that’s OK.

I was an unknown decades ago when entering this business with a natural ‘fro that would have made Darnell Hillman proud, so proving myself is nothing new. (Younger readers may need to Google Darnell Hillman afro.)

It just feels good to be back in the toy department, where memories were made and new ones await. Come along for the ride.