Reporting football is so fun, I chose to do it again

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I remember walking into a McDonald’s in the Saginaw area last December to see a former coworker of mine – it was in the early afternoon and he was just finishing up his work.

“Well, look who it is! Long time no see! How’ve you been?”

“I’m doing great,” I responded. “Just thought I’d stop in before I go to work.”

“Where do you work?” he asked.

A smile sprung up on my face before I could begin to speak.

“I’m heading to Detroit – covering the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field.”

His jaw dropped.

It’s moments like those that make me realize just how great of an opportunity it is to cover a Division I college football team, especially a bowl team. There certainly are plenty of perks – the best seat in the house (the press box), the free food, the access and the chance to meet some great football minds, just to name a few.

Really, though, entering my second season as a senior football writer, it all consists of the same sorts of ups and downs the team goes through week by week.

Imagine driving 13 hours to Clemson, S.C., just to watch a 70-14 Tigers blowout and drive 13 hours back. It’s not fun as it might sound (Although seeing Memorial Stadium and meeting coach Tommy Bowden was pretty cool).

Neither is a six-hour drive to Kent, Ohio, to watch CMU beat the Golden Flashes in front of just a few thousand fans. I’ve seen junior varsity crowds with more excitement.

And, honestly, the work does get exhausting. There is a lot to cover.

But with those downer weeks comes plenty of excitement. The best was the Tuesday Central-Western game in Kalamazoo last year.

CM Life was working on deadline that day. Midway through the fourth quarter, I had half my game story written and darted from the press box to the sidelines to catch some color for it.

But that was when the real game started, from CMU’s game-winning quarterback sneak to Western’s lateral-laden effort on the final play. I was one of a dozen people who ran onto the field, thinking the game was over when it wasn’t.

It was tough containing my excitement, trying to write everything down around me and starting a new story from scratch. I returned to the press box at 11:55 p.m. with my deadline at midnight to get everything to our print edition.

It sounds like a lot of pressure, but that is the reason why I work in journalism. It was a rush. I wrote everything I could about the 48-point fourth quarter that just took place and sent it over.

Covering the Motor City Bowl was a similar experience, from Central’s 28-point third quarter right down to Purdue’s game-winning field goal. I tried to make the most of the opportunity, trying not to miss anything.

Once I was done with all of it, all I could think about was getting another shot at writing football again next year – and better, at that.

Therefore, here I am once again – and on the agenda this year is a 14-hour trip to Georgia, another trip to Purdue and big homes games against Western Michigan and Ball State.

And if things go well, I’ll get to see another bowl game, too.

Brian Manzullo is one of two reporters covering the CMU football team for Central Michigan Life. Check out his blog at cmlife-football.blogspot.com or e-mail him at

bmanzullo@cm-life.com.