The writer steps into the stadium and hears the rumble of hundreds of people waiting in anticipation. With pen and paper in hand the writer approaches the stands. The buzz in the air is electric as the game begins.

This is the dream of every sportswriter covering a game. Unfortunately, games like this come along rarely. For the most part, covering games can be stressful and difficult as the writer must keep a sharp eye on the action and not miss a single detail. While paying such close attention, the writer must still understand the bigger picture of the game and how it flows as a complete piece of sport.

The writer cannot let his concentration lapse or falter, even if the game might reach a lull with less action or poor play.

The writer must watch not just the performance, but also attitude, atmosphere, and intensity of the event and the players. All these factors must be included in the final piece to create quality and depth.

Then there is the interviewing process. Asking athletes questions can be intimidating, as they don’t always want to answer questions and probing for information might lead to dead ends.

The writer must be able to take in information from the present game as well as the previous games to form questions and get the answers needed for a complete piece.

All of this difficulty is worth it as the pieces come together. The writer lives for taking the interviews, the stats, and the observations and weaving them together to form a cohesive whole. Even the most taxing event to cover comes out smelling like roses once all the hard work pays off in the form of a well-constructed article.

Stepping into the building may be intimidating. Covering a game may be a pain. However, once the final piece comes out, the hard work pays off as the writer gets to see the final product in black and white on the page.

This kind of success gives the writer the courage to step back into that stadium over and over again in hopes of creating yet another quality piece of work.