On Pipe Dream

Last Thursday, it was late at night, I had a somewhat uneasy feeling in my gut. Something seemed to be missing. It then occurred to me that if it had been about a year and a half ago, I would have been a production night at the office of my college newspaper, Pipe Dream.

So a little background information here:

I came to Pipe Dream with very little writing experience to speak of in the reporting or writing games and ended up eventually becoming Assistant Sports Editor. I went to a general interest meeting on a whim, and ended up falling in love with the entire writing genre. It's something that I've never had any regrets about.

It's strange, I'm not normally the type of person who ever regrets anything. Sure, I've done some questionable things in my time on Earth, but nothing I would deem life altering. But I can safely say that if it had not been for Pipe Dream, I would not be where I am today.

Oh sure, I'm not exactly setting the literary world on fire, but I'm happy with the work that I do here in this blog and in other mediums, and I think that the people who do read those things walk away knowing a little bit more about me. Hell, they might even be slightly entertained. And frankly, that's part of the reason that I do what I do.

I look back on my time in WB03 (the Pipe Dream office) and I don't regret a whole lot. I worked very hard at being a sports writer, putting in a lot of hours and putting my shirt limit of patience to the test. But all in all, I walked away from my two-ish years associated with the publication with more experience and more friends.

The one true regret that I have however, is that I allowed one person to bring me down continually, with little to no reason for doing so. My significant other at the time was a vindictive and angry person who could not stand to see anyone gain any type of acclaim unless it was for her benefit. It led the managing editor of the newspaper to say on more than one occasion "When are you going to dump that bitch?"

Not soon enough K-Dogg, not until after it was too late to take advantage of all of the fun that I ended up missing.

But I digress, this entry is not about regrets. It is about voicing my opinion of the people that I worked with, without mentioning too many names. Suffice to say that if they read this, they'll know who they are.

I won't say too much about my sports staff, they were a good group of guys, and I learned a lot from them.

Our esteemed editor in chief, who now works for MLB.com, was a sports guy at heart. I didn't always agree with his opinion on things, but he knew what he was doing. And I learned a hell of a lot about writing thanks to him.

There also was a core group of a few gals that I always wished that I could be as ballsy as. They said anything that came to mind, generally to the hilarity of the surrounding people. Also, at the time, I may or may not have had a bit of a crush on one or more of them. But I'm sure as hell not naming any names there.

I can also say that in my time with Pipe Dream I met the nicest person that I have ever known. And anyone who worked in that office with me will know exactly who I am referring to.

And then there's my buddy Dave. I mention him by name only because I know that he won't mind. Sir, you might be one of the most underrated humorists that I have ever known.

High praise from a man who doesn't give it easily, no matter what this blog entry might convey.

But that's neither here nor there.

The bottom line is that no matter what, these people have earned my respect, which is not something that I give away easily. Anyone who knows me for any more than five minutes will tell you that if I don't like you in that time, I probably will never like you.

And while we're on the subject, I am fully aware that not everyone likes me. And I'm ok with that. But I can sleep soundly at night in the knowledge that no matter what anyone says, my work ethic in the post of Assistant Sports Editor was never lacking.

So my overall advice, if any can be gleaned from this rant, is that in life, you never know when something great will come along. And if something seems like it's worth taking a chance on, do it.

Only good can come of it. And if it's not good, at least it'll be fun.