One of the toughest things as the sports editor here at the Pilot, is all the notoriety that I get. No matter where I go, people know me. They want a minute of my time – asking for autographs, quotes to hang on their walls, my armband or headband after a game ... wait, no that was the dream I had about being a world famous basketball player.

Sorry. 

One of the toughest things about being the sports editor here at the Pilot is maintaining that specific amount of non-partisan behavior required by all professional journalists. 

I’m supposed to be just an observer, cataloguer, reporter and historian all rolled into one – the type of historian who writes history, not studies it.

I struggle with that. I think that maybe I, and you, would be better served if I knew less about sports. 

If I knew less, I wouldn’t know that the call the ref made was foul. If I knew less, I wouldn’t understand that the goal that was almost made, would have gone in if the shooter had turned their foot, just a hair, to the left or right. If I knew less, I wouldn’t have to keep from exclaiming in joy when a team I’m covering wins a very close game.

Perhaps it isn’t a matter of knowing less, but just caring less.

If I didn’t care, it wouldn’t matter if the Bruins won or lost; I’d just report the facts.

But I do care, and I do know more than the average fan does. I’m not a sports history nut; I couldn’t tell you who won the Super Bowl last year, let alone the last 10 years. (Actually, the Green Bay Packers won last year but I only know that because it was on ESPN this morning.)

I’m not able to talk about the best pitcher or wide receiver or forward in the history of the game because my vote always goes to my favorites. Nolan Ryan, Steve Largent and Jordan would be my choices simply because I’m a fan of theirs. Of course, Ryan and Jordan might not be arguable anyway.

So, I’m supposed to be impartial, and maybe, if there was more than one high school in Brookings, I would be. But I’m not. 

I love the teams I cover. I’m not only a fan of the teams themselves, but the athletes who make up those teams.

When they lose, it is tough to write up coverage. When they lose badly, it is tough to not cringe at the beating they took.

But when they win, it is just as difficult to not cheer out loud at the amazing save, or the miraculous buzzer-beating three-point shot.

I continuously have to scold myself to keep shooting photos when the action happens. For instance, I’ll take pictures of the cross pass to the middle of the soccer field, but then I get so excited about the prospect of the header going into the goal that I forget to take pictures.

I find that when I’m most focused, I get those amazing photos, and I’m a little more detached from my emotions.

Regardless of the action, I’m continually trying to improve my game by searching for angles that haven’t been explored, switching lenses to give a different perspective and trying to find that award-winning shot.

Someday it will happen, and when it does, you’ll be the first to know. Well, maybe the second or third or 6,541st.