But every time I read an article from our sports staff, I think about how much I appreciate them for what they do.
The job of a sports journalist is to have the audience to better understand the game, team and players. Readers follow The Post’s sports coverage to stay up-to-date on the Bobcats whether they have just missed a game once or they have left Athens and OU.
The audience wants to read The Post sports articles to get a deeper analysis of a game from players and coaches or to learn more about the team outside of the game they play.
I am a terrible Ohio sports fan. I have sadly only gone to a few football and hockey games during my time at OU, and I have not been to a basketball game. My extent of knowledge about basketball includes Troy Bolton from High School Musical, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the one time I coached a recreation basketball team in high school. I know the basics, but ask me to explain anything more, and I will definitely do it wrong.
I know there are others like me who are completely lost when it comes to anything sports-related. However, The Post’s basketball reporters know how to break it down, no matter the extent of your knowledge of sports.
Over the past few years, I have learned a lot more about sports journalism than I thought I would. It’s more challenging to do than people think.
Sports journalism is more than just the game. People who saw the game or the score know what happened. It’s about getting people interested enough to read a story about it after. Our basketball reporters make it easy and interesting for anyone to understand the game. Sport journalism is a difficult craft to master, and they challenge themselves with it every day.
Our reporters give up weekday nights and weekends to attend the games both at Ohio and other universities. They are quick to give turnarounds on stories with game results and a deeper analysis of the game for our audience to have right away.
I am always excited to hear about the pitches and read our stories about the OU basketball teams. Our reporters that work on men’s and women’s basketball stories always seem to find the most interesting angles beyond what happens on the court.
So even though I may not be rooting for our Ohio teams in the stands, I am rooting through them through our reporters and our publication.
Ellen Wagner is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Ellen at ew047615@ohio.edu or tweet her @ewagner19.