Jim Wilson: Assistant Sports Editor of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette

     Last week I had the opportunity to talk with Jim Wilson, the Assistant Sports Editor of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette during one of my classes. An all-around good guy, one specific word still resonates in my mind that he told the class: Passion. I absolutely love what he told the class, saying "If you want to be a sports writer, you have to love it. Enjoy what you write, and everything is worth the sacrifice. You have to earn it."
     His words could not be any more true. There is no great opportunity in the business. A writer has to work all hours of the day, grind out everyday, just to get up four hours later and do it all again. Oh, and it doesn't pay well either.
     But there is something that makes people want to do it and take on the insane workload: passion. I am willing to say that I love sports more than anybody else I know, and I don't love them just because I played them, I love them for the experience. I love the stories, the analysis, the ups and downs of when you team wins and loses, and I love complaining about every decision my team makes, good or bad. I love the atmosphere, the stress during games when a team is two points down with 30 seconds to go. There is just something about sports that has me like a third grader staring at her hollywood crush. I see this same thing in Mr. Wilson.
     Mr. Wilson also told us a story about him and growing up with sports. As a child, he would play neighborhood pickup baseball games. When they concluded, he would go home and write down all the statistics of the kids. He always read the sports page growing up, and he would write his own game recaps. I found myself doing the same things as a child, and even to this day I track the vital statistics of baseball players in notebooks that fill the closets of my room.
     He also shared with the class that he loves to cover stories that have resonance. He wants to write a story that people will remember, not just last night's game's recap. He shared one of his first stories with us that was about the basketball coach at WPI who said the referees where racist. He loved the aspect that this story would catch fire and everybody would talk about it. Just hearing the story brought goosebumps to my skin.
     Overall, I enjoyed his time not just because he talked about sports, but he showed me why I want to be in sports. I still struggle to this day whether it is right for me or not, but I know for a fact that I don't want to do anything else but devote my life to sports.

Welcome to Revis Island!

*Breaking News*

Martha’s Vineyard will be renamed to Revis Island for the time being.

If you have been living under a rock while NFL free agency has been occurring, you would have missed the Patriots signing of Darrelle Revis. The signing has Patriots fans acting like this

Now I love the signing of Revis (if you haven’t noticed already) and I can’t wait to see him in uniform. But before we give 100% support in the move, I would like to examine the situation.

The Patriots refused to give Talib a contract, whether it was long term or not, because of his injury history. Bad hips are a reason to be careful when giving a player a six year deal, but Revis has a more pressing issue in his knee. Revis missed time due to his injury when Talib had not. So if it was about injury, why does it make sense to give more money to a player who has a more pressing issue, especially when Revis has not been the same since his surgery? I do give the Patriots the fact that Revis is a far better player than Talib, which does pacify the money because I would rather Revis on the field than Talib.

I would also like to pose the question of did the Patriots make the move in order to trump the Broncos from signing away Talib from them. The Broncos made it known that they did not need him, rather they signed him because they didn’t want to Patriots to have him. Granted Talib is a step up from what they had, but did this possibly force the Patriots to sign Revis? The Patriots are all about working the cap in their favor, which forced Wilfork into wanting a release, and their reluctance to sign a top wide receiver. I think it’s an interesting question, and we will never know the answer.

Darrelle Revis is far better than any other defensive back in the game when healthy. But every signing comes with some backfiring. We wouldn’t be called sports fans if we didn’t gripe about every signing. Revis will definitely help the Patriots, and I even though I am skeptical about the deal, I still think Revis will excel as a Patriot.

Ian Kinsler Wants Rangers to go "0-162"

                Earlier today, Detroit Tiger’s second baseman Ian Kinsler made the comment “I hope they go 0-162,” about his previous team the Texas Rangers. Kinsler had been traded this offseason in a blockbuster deal that sent fellow all-star Prince Fielder to Texas.

                The comments rattled Texas slightly, as many players commented on the comments. Names were fired in both directions, where Kinsler called Ranger’s general manager a “sleazeball” according to ESPN.com. Kinsler has shown a clear dislike for the Ranger’s organization after a bitter feeling following the trade. However, Kinsler has every right to be.

                Kinsler quotes being asked to take on a leadership role within the organization. However, the team wanted to move him to a completely new position in first base because another prospect currently plays the same position. So the team traded him, informing him about it in the worst possible way. According to ESPN.com, the organization left him a voice mail regarding the trade while he was on a flight to Tucson.

                Kinsler deserves better treatment than what the Ranger’s organization showed him. A team should not ask a player to take on a leadership role within the organization, but also ask him to change to a foreign position when he has proven himself to be an all-star player at second base. This is not the only time something like this has happened. All-star outfielder Josh Hamilton also left the organization on a sour note, saying the town was not for baseball. This is a reoccurring thing from the organization.

                The Texas Rangers need to treat their all-star players better. They shouldn’t be taken off guard from Kinsler’s statement when they treated him so poorly. Kinsler needs to cut his losses with the organization and start new with the Detroit Tigers, a place that actually wants him.