Many of us that write here probably have at one point or another in our lives wanted to be a beat writer for our favorite sports team. The job gives the opportunity to meet and talk with our favorite players and get paid to watch our favorite team. What many of us don’t realize is the strain that being on the road for six months out of the year will take on a person, or how demanding it is to cover a sports team. The Silicon Valley Pulse did a expose on David Pollack, the Sharks beat writer for the San Jose Mercury News. It goes into how brutal life on the road can be and the relationship that he has with the team he covers.
The Life Of An NHL Beat Writer
↵↵In addition to taking road trips and writing about them, Pollak also books his own travel. He strings together six-city itineraries, complete with plane tickets, hotels and rental cars. He often finds himself making these reservations at 2:30 in the morning - his “free time.” He doesn’t mind too much, though, he says.
↵“Just like the players, I have such an adrenaline rush after the games. I can’t go right to bed when I get in.”
↵When he’s on the road, he leaves behind his wife Marsha, his college sweetheart who is now a librarian at the Sunnyvale Public Library.
↵“The travel is a hardship for her,” Pollak said. “But she’s known me long enough to know that this is a job I love.”
↵↵While life on the road is definitely not the most glamorous, it is good to see the beat writers get their time in the sun as well.
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