Early last week, the Canadian Football League sent out a news release concerning its ridiculous playoff format for 2027.
Eight of nine teams qualify for the postseason?
Top two seeds in each division guaranteed two games?
You’re kidding me, right?
Just a few months ago, I’d have hammered out a thousand words on the subject and misspelled the CFL commissioner’s name at least once (it’s Stewart Johnston, not Stewart Johnson). My missive would’ve been posted within hours of the news.
Instead, what I just wrote is all I’ll write about it.
Why?
Because truthfully, I no longer have anything interesting to say about sports.
After 333 alternative football pieces, 152 history stories, 85 soccer reports, 72 basketball articles and hundreds of other columns ranging from OmegaBall to the Premier Lacrosse League, the clock has hit double zeroes. Whether or not I was in the victory formation when the game ended is for other people to decide.
When I started adamsonmedia.com, I had just wrapped up a 30-year career as a newspaper sports editor/writer. Since I was no longer getting paid to pontificate, I figured my site was a place where I’d write what I wanted when I wanted.
It’s great fun.
Originally, I wanted to concentrate mostly on soccer, my favorite sport, but soon discovered that there were approximately 857,634 soccer bloggers. I was not needed in that area and quickly called an audible.
Thus, I shifted most of my focus to alternative football, and that was a hoot for several years. However, my interest in tackle football in general has waned considerably over the last couple of years, and I don’t even watch minor league spring football anymore. I’m glad it exists, but I’ll leave it for others to cuss and discuss.
Of course there was always sports history, and I love research. That became my favorite brand of sports writing by far, and I spent hours going down rabbit holes in search of quirky tales that were long forgotten. It was fascinating.
Then, I finally ran out of material – at least material that interested me. I mean, I milked all I could from the World Football League and World Hockey Association. As weird as it sounds, I know as much about the WFL and WHA as I care to.
It’s crazy … I never imagined there’d come a time when I lost interest in sportswriting, but that time is here – and I’m absolutely fine with it. I’m content to be a casual fan.
* That said, I won’t completely rule out ever writing sports again. If, say, the NFL folded or FIFA passed a rule banning players from using their feet in association football, I’d be compelled weigh in.
My new writing passion is flash fiction.
To date, I’ve done 111 short stories for adamsonmedia.com, and that will be my primary focus going forward. I love creating characters and, once I do, watching them evolve as they come to life in my head and on my computer screen. Fiction was something I always wanted to write, but it scared me because it takes me out of my comfort zone.
It’s still scary but man, it brings me the most joy I’ve ever had as a writer.
I’ve even written a young adult novel titled Red Mountain Phantoms. It still hasn’t been published – that’ll probably be something I have to do on my own dime – but I’m proud of it. Authoring a non-fiction book (The Home Team: My Bromance With Off-Brand Football) was great, but the YA project is even more rewarding.
I might even do some humor columns from time to time. There are 98 currently posted, and it’d be a shame if I didn’t hit 100 sooner or later.
And – in a strange plot twist – I’ve become obsessed with painting. I’m trying my hand at everything from landscapes to abstracts, and it’s addictive.
I’ve done more than 50 on stretched canvasses, ranging from “Eh, I guess that’s not too bad” to “Scott spilled a bunch of paint.”
None are or will ever be museum-worthy, yet I rarely go a day without at least playing around in my makeshift studio.
So, for my next act, I’m going to concentrate on writing about the world of make believe and believing in a world where I’m also a painter.
Wish me luck …
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Scott,
I am sorry to hear that you were hanging up your sports writing. I have always enjoyed your take, particularly on alternative football. I still go back and read sections of “The Home Team” whenever I am feeling nostalgic for my youth and days at Legion field with my dad.
I also enjoy your non-fiction, and I’m glad to see that will continue to keep rolling out. Take care, and I look forward to your next piece.
Perhaps AJ McCarron will do something so monumentally stupid with the Birmingham Stallions you’ll come out of your sports retirement to give us one last piece.
Much appreciated, my friend.
Two quick takes from this article. I’ve never been an avid reader but sometimes, something will grab me. I read all the Left Behind books until the prequels lost me. Spider Robinson’s short sci-fi stories got ahold of me and I read all of his Callahan books. Some of your stories actually reminded me of his writing. Otherwise, it’s in spurts.
The other is a question of sorts. I’ve loved Bulls Hockey since 1976 (I was 6 years old) and the “prequel” of that franchise I know loosely. I could probably get into all the team’s moves throughout the WHA’s existence but I’ve always wondered about the specifics of the Bulls from Ottawa to the brief period as the Ontario Nationals (just playoffs apparently) and the bumpy ride through coexistence with the Maple Leafs. My delve into those details is usually met with dead ends and/or “few results” from Google. Any insight into readings about that would be appreciated.
Try “The Life and Teams of Johnny F. Bassett.” It covers his entire career as a sports owner, so it would touch on the Nationals/Toros/Bulls.
As a fan of your writing style from the beginning of your career, it truly saddened me to read this column. Your ability to get straight to the point, with a type of humor that I get, is very rare. But I do understand. When my wife and I moved to Northern Colorado a few years so, I was so excited to finally have local major league sports teams to follow. I had gone 58 years lusting after fans that had it all. But, now that I’ve been here awhile it is almost… too much? Here, it is sports 24-7-365 and it comes at you in every way possible. I do love it, but it is almost too much to digest, like being given a birthday cake and eating it all in two days… after that you don’t want any more for a while. Do I need a pro women’s rugby team? No, but I have it in my back pocket in case I get hungry for cake again. Thank you for educating, enlightening, and entertaining us all through the years, my friend.
Thank you so much, Gene. It was a fun ride, but I finally ran out of gas.