Stephen Bobo catches a fist bump from head coach Chase Jones as he rounds third in the bottom of the first inning against Columbia after crushing a no-doubt, three-run homer. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
William Bobo slides home safely and scores the first run of the game against Forrest. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
Taylar Wessner slides safely into second base and avoids the tag by Lady Champion short stop Momo Bilbro. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
I’ve been doing working sports beats for about 15 years now and come September of this year, will mark my 14th year living in Tennessee.
I think it’s safe to say, I’ve seen everything the industry can throw at a work force and seen just about everything on the court or field.
This is a trying job, given the changes the industry has faced over the past 20 years.
It’s hard to really pinpoint why the industry has seen such an erosion over the years and my only realization has come to the fact there are AI-driven game-recaps through just about every sport out there and there’s an exponentially more amount of cameras taking photos.
Certainly more people capturing images isn’t a bad thing and for a non-professional reference, an AI recap of a game really isn’t, either.
But there’s something about what we do covering local sports that goes beyond all that.
Jayden Hathcock untouchable on the bump for the Champs, no-hitting visiting Grundy County in five innings and recording five strikeouts in the process. (Photo by Chris Siers)
There’s a level of pride I can take in taking a photo of a player sliding safely across home plate and celebrating with his brother on the team, or a coach giving a fist bump to a player as he rounds third after smashing a home run, or talking to a coach after a game and getting the emotions of a win against your backyard rival.
I’m not going to lie, between balancing a full-time job, covering Bedford County schools and Marshall County schools for two separate newspapers—it’s been a lot.
But what keeps me going is at the end of the day, I live for the emotions.
I want to capture the raw emotions of a great play or a celebration. That’s what we do.
And ironically, doing all that and covering so many teams and players at once is really what makes me feel alive on the beat.
Back during the Spring Fling, I think I covered what was arguably the busiest day I’ve ever had on a sports be
Doubles partners Henry Stone and Tucker Johnson celebrate after scoring a point in their match against Lincoln County. (Post Photo by Chris Siers)
at.
I picked up my media credential at the SportsCom first thing in the morning, rushed to my apartment to get my camera, made a 30 minute trek to Stewarts Creek for baseball, left there and made another 30 minute trek to the Starplex softball fields to cover two different softball games at once, left there and made a 15 minute trek to the Adams Tennis Complex to cover a player in the state individual tournament, left there and went home to work on those stories, only to leave a few hours later and make a return trip back to Stewarts Creek for more baseball before finally closing the day at the Siegel Soccer Complex for a state championship soccer match.
When I say I was tired—y’all, I was tired.
But as gassed as I was in that moment once I got home, it gave me the rush of what makes this job fun.
When I sat down to write this column, I went back and revisited some of the best images we captured this spring and wanted to connect them all in one spot.
I’m sure as time marches on, we’ll only see more challenges and hurdles in the industry, but one thing is for certain, I’ll be out there ready to meet them head on.
For now, it’s time to take a step back, catch our breath and focus on the creative side of covering sports.
We’re always on the lookout for feature stories and I’ve got a great list of local features we’ll be pursuing in the coming weeks.
Chris Siers is sports editor of the Bedford County Post. Email him at csiers@bedfordcountypost.com.
