A home run

Sioux Falls, S.D. -- the hub of athletics and sports in America.

OK, maybe not. But I was incredibly lucky to have colleagues, an editor and a bureau chief who all thought that this wannabe sports journalist should get a shot at covering “real sports.”

So they sent me to Omaha, Neb., to cover the College World Series. Let me say, it was an excellent deal. If that is what sports journalists do, then count me in.

While there, I worked with AP reporters Dennis Waszak (from New York) and Eric Olson (sports editor from Omaha). They filed game stories, and I filed the notebook. It was an eye-opening, rewarding and, if I may editorialize, insanely fun experience.

The game stories are simple concepts; you tell what happened in the game. Dennis and Eric are, of course, more experienced writers than I. I can call it simple; it doesn’t mean that it was.

The notebooks consisted of offbeat little clips. For example, I wrote a blurb about the celebrity spectators in Omaha rooting on their respective teams and about Oregon State’s star closer and how he got his nickname.

I spent almost a week in Omaha, watching games for free and finding excuses to get on the field to meet the players, some of whom will be future major leaguers.

For this budding sports journalist, it was a dream assignment for my first foray into big-time athletics. I can only hope that my career will allow me even more opportunities for such an experience.

-- Eric W. Bolin, Northeastern State University, The Associated Press, Sioux Falls, S.D.