For the first time in a long time

For one night, I was a fan again.

I've watched sports all my life and for the first 20 years, I lived and died with my teams. Then I worked as a sports reporter where you become inundated with sports. You see the inside of sports and realize how trivial it is. You see the professional athletes as they are; you see and hear parents complain about their children's playing time or not having their name in the paper and want to tell them it's not the end of the world.

I had this revelation a month into my first reporting job working in Reno, Nev. I had just moved there and was away from my girlfriend for a month when 9/11 happened. I realized what sports should be; a diversion from the problems and stress in your life.

I needed a diversion in a bad way. I had just had one of my worst days and a "hangover" day in the office and needed something to make me feel better.

When I arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center Saturday night to watch my alma mater Long Beach State play for the Big West Conference Championship in men's basketball with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line, it gave me the drama and excitement I needed.

While waiting for the game to start, both the LBSU band and the Cal Poly band were taking turns. I had a good feeling about this game when I heard the 49er band play The All-American Rejects' song "It Ends Tonight." The song seemed fitting knowing LBSU was favored to win and remembering the lyrics: "I give the final blow/when darkness turns to light/it ends tonight."

Meaning: Goodbye Cal Poly.

But LBSU couldn't find the basket for a while and at one point trailed by 10 in the first half before getting within five at the end of the first half.

By then the old me came out. But this was a different feeling. I was old enough to see the San Francisco 49ers with four Super Bowls and was excited about each of them. This time, I was a part of Long Beach State since I graduated from there. Naturally, I wanted to see them succeed.

The second half was all Long Beach State as they would go on to win by 11, 94-83. I did rush the court and I have never experienced something like that. It was exciting to be with students and alumni celebrating with the players on the court jumping around in unison. I congratulated the players and got several high fives.

It was hot, it was dangerous, but it was electrifying.

Now, I usually don't spend a lot of money on sporting events. I go to Dodger games when the Giants are in town, but sit somewhere safe but at the same time not that expensive. For the championship game I spent $35 for the ticket, another $9 for parking and $15 more for a conference championship shirt. But being on that court after the game was priceless.

But it was fun to walk out of my journalist clothes and enjoy the game as a spectator. I felt like a child again watching my team. But this time it was in person.

Now, if I can only get a ticket to "The Dance."

Lunch with a Playboy centerfold

Before I get into this story, I have to thank my friend James Melroy for allowing me this once in a lifetime opportunity. The only picture right of that lunch was taken by my cell phone camera, not the greatest quality.

Working at a newspaper, you have a lot of opportunities to do things that the common person can't. I've gotten to ride on the Goodyear Blimp and stand next to Anna Kournikova to name a few. Sometimes the opportunities are presented to you and sometimes you find them.

For James, his love and knowledge of pro wrestling, and mixed martial arts, has earned him the respect of those who work for those companies. So when the WWE recently came to Los Angeles for a Pay-Per-View, James was able to get an interview with wrestler and soon to be March 2007 Playboy centerfold Ashley Massaro.

I was second in line for this chance and was invited when James' first choice was unable to make it. On Saturday, when I had lunch with him, he asked if I was interested and like any adult heterosexual male I said what time should I pick you up for the interview.

We arrive at the Marriott in downtown Los Angeles on Monday and met up with James' contact from the WWE who set up the interview. We met the lovely Ashley at a restaurant inside the hotel and order lunch. James conducts the interview and while I'm trying to act as normal as possible. I can't really do much because James is doing his work so I have to look of into the distance, listening in. I just didn't want to be caught staring at her.

However once the food arrived, I did pass her the peppermill. James likes to point out that, "I gave her something to grind." She is very personable especially for feeling under the weather during the interview.

The WWE picked up the bill for lunch, which was another highlight for me since I can say Vince McMahon bought me lunch.

Goodbye 604 Pine Ave.

On Sunday, December 3, 2006, I helped put together the last newspaper that would ever come out of the Long Beach Press-Telegram building located at 604 Pine Ave., home of the city's newspaper for 81 years.

At the end of the night, there were words about the building and the thousands of people who worked there. I was busy during the day not only putting the sports pages together, but also writing my name everywhere and taking mementos for my friends and me.

The next day, I helped open a new chapter of the Press-Telegram as the offices moved to the 14^th floor of the Arco Center on Ocean Blvd., with a wonderful view of the Queen Mary docked in the Long Beach Harbor. (Of course, the sports department gets a view of the oil refineries on Terminal Island, but on a clear day – we've been told – you could see downtown L.A. and maybe the Hollywood sign.)

While it is great to be in a new place with new furniture, I still think back to the old building. Towards the end, as furniture and items were being packed up, I couldn't help but think about the people that have stood before me in that building. You could almost feel the ghosts of the past as you walked through old hallways and wonder what this place might have looked like in the heyday of the newspaper business. I was imagining a group of people yelling and fighting over space and time towards the end and looking in the non-operative printers and wondering what they would have sounded at full speed.

As I now work in a new office, I wonder. In the future, will someone have those thoughts about what I am doing today?

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

It is a question that is asked every time you apply for any job in print journalism – maybe it is asked in other professions, I wouldn't know.

For those that are driven with goals of becoming a reporter with a star beat especially in sports where you can cover a professional or college team, you know where you want to be.
The first time I was asked that question, I gave an honest answer: "I just want to be happy."

Being the son of immigrant farm workers, I saw my father work in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley from sunrise to beyond sunset for minimum wage and no overtime. If he could have found something else to do with more pay, no doubt he'd do it. Whatever it was, it would beat working in the fields where temperatures can sometimes rise above 110 degrees. It was clear to me that work goals, while they are nice to have and should help you advance your career, should not be the most important focus in life.

I could tell that the sports editor sitting across from me never heard or anticipated ever hearing that answer. He quickly asked me to amplify my answer. "And what would make you happy?"

Again I shocked him when I said just writing about high school teams and filling in elsewhere is what I would be doing as long as I was happy.

I always knew my role. I never had a star personality; I was always a role player trying to make the best of my situation. I show up and do my job with all the little things in between. Fax machine jammed: I'm on it. Someone has questions about the computer program: I'm there. Punch yourself real hard on the side of the head: … maybe I am not that committed. It has been 5 years since I first answered the question. In striving to attain my one goal I have made a lot of friends and have learned a lot of lessons. I have been praised and have been told never to work for another newspaper again when I was fired from my last job.

However, reaching your goals is never a straight line. There will be peaks that will make you think you're about to touch the sky and valleys where it seems light can't escape.

But if survive the voyage you will find what you are looking for.

And five years later, I have never been happier.