“This shit’s chess—it ain’t checkers.” Denzel’s wise words from “Training Day” perfectly describe my time at Spectator. For those of you who haven’t memorized my biography, I joined Spec sophomore year with one goal in mind: to become a sports columnist. Columnists have it made. We get to write about anything we want in the sports world, and the charming individuals over at the copy desk and in the sports office aren’t permitted to touch a thing (to an extent, of course). If you don’t believe me, read my first column, and you’ll see the f-word pop up twice in the first sentence. Anyway, I walked into the office that first day ready to play some chess and get my own column as quickly as possible.
Long story short, I sprinted through the ranks, becoming a sports associate editor by second semester, sports editor before the third semester, and a columnist halfway through the following summer. That summer, “The Tailgating Tales” was born, and all that was left was to write.
Even before my first column was assigned, I knew I wanted to write about what interested me most, and that was more than just the events of the weekend. I was always concerned with more general issues that can’t be tallied, because sports are more than just a final score and a table full of statistics. Sports are the ultimate socially acceptable form of human competition, and they draw out an incredible amount of passion and emotion from both the competitors and the fans.
Athletes at the college and professional levels spend the majority of their young lives dedicated to defeating the individuals standing across from them. While money is an end goal for a lot of players en route to a professional career, most athletes crave nothing more than to be at the top. In essence, an athletic competition is a clash of wills where whoever is more desperate to win often does. On the other side, sports affect everyday people’s lives in a way that is truly unique. The intense competition draws complete strangers together to root on another group of strangers to alarming degrees of seriousness. There aren’t many events in everyday life that compel average people to stand half-naked in the middle of winter in Chicago or to riot in the streets in celebration.
In my columns, I focused on the human elements that make up a sporting event, from the athletes to the fans. As a result, I found myself writing about a wide variety of topics, from the swag of the basketball team to sportsmanship to the ferocity of our home crowds. While not every column was liked by everyone, I’m proud of every column that ran in the paper with my face next to it. Becoming a columnist was one of the best decisions I made at Columbia.
It may appear as if the rest of my time at Spectator was merely a joyless means to an end. That is not the case. I highly enjoyed the time I spent in the office (which was a ridiculous amount of time), and I developed close friendships and relationships that sculpted my experience at Columbia. With that in mind, it’s time for everyone’s favorite part of senior columns: the shout-outs.
To the lovely ladies and charming gentlemen in design, you made putting together a sports page at midnight an enjoyable experience.
To everyone at the copy desk, thanks for catching my mistakes and giving the sports section something to joke about when you ask if driving the ball to the hole is a real thing.
To Spec Sports, we are the best section in the paper, bar none. For you young sports Speccies, remember that we are the pub of the paper for a reason. Never show up on time to Spec Dinner, be as loud and belligerent as possible, and have fun in the office. Joe Bova!
To Kunal, you’re the man and a great writer. Sports was more fun with you in it, even though you copied my Pix Bowl picks on your way to becoming champ.
To Emily, despite everything, meeting you at Spec was a main reason I look back fondly, and I would never undo that meeting.
To Victoria, you put up with more of my crap than just about anyone else. You’re a great friend and a true Spec Sports writer. Thursday nights wouldn’t have been the same without you.
To the members of brahalla, couldn’t pick a better group of awesome, crazy, stupid, messy, meat-heady, chill, lazy, loyal friends.
To the third Columbia Lopez, Douglas, keep working hard, make it rain, and do the Lopez name proud.
To my family, thanks for all the support. In particular, thanks for reading my columns and thinking they’re the best things since sliced bread.
With that taken care of, the final chapter of “The Tailgating Tales” comes to an end. Thanks for reading.
Bart Lopez is a Columbia College senior majoring in economics-mathematics.
sports@columbiaspectator.com
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