Back in the Saddle

For the past two weeks I've avoided ESPN and its associated empire like the plague. Even though my beloved Braves are in 1st place and there is a quadrennial world sporting event going on in South Africa, I just could not hear one more word about Lebron James, the Knicks, the Heat or basketball in general.

I really don't like basketball, if you can tell.

You see, torturous decisions like Lebron's or Chris Bosh's rub me a little the wrong way. Aside from being disingenuous, they confuse the layperson on what the real issue is: money versus career aspirations. They know what their job is, to play sports at a high level, but how they want to feed their ego is a much more complex subject. Is it championships like Jordan, is it personal statistics like Kobe, is it being a cultural icon like Shaq? And how much money would it take to give up any or all of these? For Lebron it was about being with his buddies, and that so happened to be with Miami. Plain and simple, no need to discuss it at nauseum.

Mere mortals deal with these existential crises too. As most of you know, I took the opportunity when I left Boston for New York to try something completely different career-wise: nonprofit marketing. It was a bit of a push-pull situation; the world of journalism was starting to scare me and my particular situation was wearing me out, and the idea of working for a nonprofit in education had always tickled my fancy. I tried it and, for a number of reasons specific to the position and to marketing in general, I determined it wasn't for me.

So I came to a crossroads: do I jump ship now and go back to a career that, while mentally exhausting and not the most secure, I could say I was pretty good with or stick it out and try and find the right nonprofit gig for me. Complicating the matter was an offer to go back to reporting for a financial services trade pub-ish website, and the offer came sweetened with a substantial raise and sweet benefits.

I've never written about finance; my background is in technology. And I am a bit insecure about my rusty reporting skills diving into the sharktank of Wall Street execs. Yet the opportunity to go back and give it a shot, even if its something I am not innately fascinated by or comfortable with, was too much to pass up --- and I'll admit the few extra bucks made the decision a bit easier.

So I guess this is a long way of saying I'm diving right back into journalism, and I'm both nervous and excited about the new challenge. I just have to remember if I figured out technology with no engineering background or interest, I can do the same with finance. And if I'm successful, who knows where it might take me.

Oh, and Sportscenter's now allowed to be on my TV again.