I accidentally upvoted you -- sportswriting isn't any more dismal a discipline than general news journalism. If anything, it's better: they have an actively in

I accidentally upvoted you -- sportswriting isn't any more dismal a discipline than general news journalism. If anything, it's better: they have an actively interested critical audience, they have general editorial freedom, a subject that lends itself to experimental writing, and they are expected to have a strong critical voice -- unlike news-journalism, noone wants press-release stenography. I actively dislike professional sports, but sportswriting ain't so bad. It's a lot like a prole version of the Literature Review world (LRB, NYRB, VQR, etc.).