Those who follow me on Twitter know I predict the outcomes for the Reed, Spanish Springs and
Sparks football teams every week.
I send out the tweets late Friday morning. In the past I would get a comment or two about my picks but that’s typically where the excitement surrounding my predictions ended. But things have changed this year. People are getting fired up.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m now in my third year covering local high school sports or if people have just become overwhelmingly sensitive. A couple keyboard warriors have attacked my character over a handful of predictions and I certainly heard it from the Reed faithful after the Raiders bested Oak Ridge Friday night. I picked Reed to lose.
I don’t mind the banter. I actually find it enjoyable. I’ve embarrassed myself by laughing at my phone as I read the tweets sent my direction and going back and forth with players, coaches and fans (in person) over my picks is certainly humorous in nature.
However, I fear that some are becoming legitimately upset when I pick their team to fall short. My job is to give an honest evaluation and share the logical prognostication I’ve reached. It’s nothing personal. I’m a 24-year-old who enjoys Family Guy reruns just as much as the next guy so I’m not going to lose any sleep over a given high school football team winning or losing on fall Friday nights .
That’s not to say I don’t care about my predictions. It’s always more fun to be right but if I’m wrong, so be it, despite common belief I’m not flawless (that’s sarcasm people).
How fun would it be if I picked your team to win every week anyway?
So as I go forward with my predictions and you decide you are unhappy with my thoughts, because I’m sure it will happen, let me know. Tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. Tell me I’m a homer.
I will undoubtedly respond with something sarcastic but know that I appreciate your passion for local athletics. It’s what makes attending the events and being a part of this community so special.
If you want to see these weekly predictions, you can follow me on Twitter @Trib_Shoup or (shameless plug time) you can tune into my weekly radio show ‘The Shoup Show’ every Friday night at 6 p.m. aired on 1060 AM where I preview and predict the outcomes for all the games involving DI North squads.
If you don’t want to see these predictions, there’s a blue little button that can fix that problem. It says ‘unfollow.’
I’ll tweet to you Friday.
Leave a Reply