All sports fans have an opinion, and Kyle Myers is no different.
If you get the fourth-year Media, Information & Technoculture /English student going on anything sports related – in particular Detroit sports – then prepare for the long haul. Now, Myers has taken his love of sports and writing to the masses, joining Sportsnet’s new website feature Fan Fuel – blogs for fans, written by fans.
“It’s just something I’m passionate about,” said Myers, a Kingsville, Ont., native. “You can talk to your friends about sports all you want, but you only get to talk to the same four of five guys. This gives you such a wider audience.”
It was after taking lecturer Mark Kearney’s sports-writing class last semester Myers was told of this “cool opportunity.” With the blog just launching this past October, he took advantage of the World Series about to get underway and submitted his first article.
“I think it was about the Tigers and the playoffs,” said the 21-year-old. “They emailed me back and said they liked it and that it would be up in the next day or so. It was pretty surreal to see it online. It was a cool moment.”
Since, Myers has penned 25 or so opinion pieces on everything from Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts, Jose Valverde of the Tigers and, of course, the rough season of his beloved Detroit Lions.
“This is kind of the first step in getting my work out there,” said Myers, who has rearranged his job schedule this semester in hopes of doing sports writing for the student Gazette newspaper. He also just applied to Toronto’s Centennial College for its one-year program in sports journalism, which includes an internship.
“It’s more than just a hobby. I never really thought of it as a legitimate career opportunity until this year,” he said. “I was kind of thinking about teaching, but have since decided to jump in with both feet and have enjoyed it so far. It’s something I’m definitely interested in. It’s a great way to get a little name recognition going for me.”
Myers likes the fact he can write whenever an idea strikes him, but admits he doesn’t want to “stretch myself too far on something I don’t know much about.” That’s why his work has a strong focus on Detroit sports.
Feedback is always something Myers looks forward to with his work, but admits the new site is still building up an audience, so he hasn’t noticed anything too bad yet.
“Nothing worse than the marks I get from professors,” he joked. “As long as I’m not too busy with school and work, I want to keep plugging away.”