For the past four years, Tom Cleary, Keith Connors and myself have committed ourselves to covering Fairfield sports. It hasn’t always been easy, 
juggling classes, internships and other work to give Fairfield athletics the coverage they deserve. We’ve taken flak for not covering certain sports enough or not appreciating how much of a commitment the athletes themselves make. We understand, they want to be acknowledged for their hard work, and some sports, such as field hockey, crew and cross-country, don’t get coverage proportional to their hard work as compared to basketball, soccer and lacrosse. When people ask us why, we tell them: “there are only three of us.”
In addition to being the sports editors, Tom is the editor-in-chief, Keith is the general manager, and I myself am the managing editor, taking away from the time we used to be able to spend on sports. We are also all seniors and need replacements.
All the Bill Simmons wannabees who actually are interested in writing for our sports section seem to only want to cover professional sports without doing any of the work of reporting. Apparently they think that The Mirror is the first place people look for hard-hitting coverage of the World Series or the NFL. That ESPN thing is just a fad. If they do want to cover Fairfield sports, it’s usually because their friend or roommate is on the team. I’m sure those articles wouldn’t be biased at all.
People have complained about The Mirror for years. This “He Said/She Said” controversy is nothing new. Someone always has a problem with our supposed biased reporting or how wrong we are on some subjects. It is always a little disheartening to hear something that we’ve worked on for 30 to 40 hours a week criticized so much. We really do try to get every side of a story and present the complete picture. But the core of The Mirror is graduating this year and we need replacements. So if you want to shape the future of The Mirror, step up and join.
On a related note, there are journalism majors at Fairfield who I’ve never met. I’m not sure how that can happen. The best way to get a job is through experience. No one is going to hire you without some clips or evidence that you can do the job. And trust me, an article in The Mirror is going to look much better than some paper you wrote in your news writing class.
Even if you’re not an English major, businesses want people who can communicate and write. I’m pretty sure that’s the main focus of our paper, to communicate information and entertainment to the students. Keith, despite being a Yankee fan, is one of the smartest guys I know. And he’s a finance major writing for sports. I just hope he remembers me when he’s making millions.
When we say we’re independent, we mean we are independent. You can get experience doing things the way professionals do. The Mirror will give you experience running a business, marketing, selling ads, writing effectively, communicating your ideas and working in an office (with people you may disagree with or not get along with, this skill should not be overlooked, because you’re going to have to do it. That’s life.)
For those of you who want to know or care, the women’s soccer team beat Niagara 2-0 on Friday night and tied Canisius 1-1 on Sunday. The Stags will be the No. 3 seed in the MAAC Tournament and have earned a first-round bye. They will play No. 6 Niagara on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals. The three-seed is pretty good for a team that dealt with injuries to some of their best players and was in the process of restocking talent after losing three of their best players to graduation. They have a good shot at returning to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
I’ll be the first to admit that my coverage of the team has slipped this season. It’s the basic reason why I’m writing this column, because I didn’t have time to talk to coach Jim O’Brien or any of the players. I feel bad because they do deserve more. I know I can speak for all three of us when I say we do feel a connection to the teams we cover as our beats. We only wish we had the time to devote to every team.
I know I’ve been counting down to next semester when I’ll be a second semester senior. I’m assuming I’ll have more time to cover sports, but who knows, maybe I’ll be passed out at the Grape every night. So before it’s too late, and if this column wasn’t too insulting or condescending, join the sports staff so Tom, Keith and I can impart our wisdom. We don’t bite, you can get free food twice a week, and eventually you can even get paid.
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