Last fall, my baseball team was in the World Series. I am no sportswriter per se but I've made it pretty clear on my other blog how I feel about this particular team. Fortuitously, a sports blogger friend of mine knew that the website of a major newspaper was looking for a freelancer to write an ode to this baseball team, and I did, and it was much fun. However, those of you hoping to get into the world of sports opinion/commentary might want to take a more proactive approach to breaking in. So I spoke with some of the dudes who have been there about what they'd recommend for you.

Even though you would prefer adding your own interpretations and witticisms to your sports writing, a good way to break in can be by doing the grunt work of straight sports reporting to get some clips. "I started when I was 14, for the now-defunct Carmel (Ind.) Tribune (I'm now 36)," says Bob Cook, whose sports bylines often appear on MSNBC.com. "I was sports editor of two different college papers (the Indiana Daily Student and the IUPUI Sagamore). I also did some sports reporting while at UPI, covered sports business while at Crain's Cleveland Business, and did stringing work for the likes of Agence France-Presse and the Indianapolis Star. I was fortunate to cover big-time events in pro, college and amateur sports, even while in college. So I've done a lot of reporting, which I would highly recommend. In fact, for most people, their initial 'in' might be as a stringer or reporter. If nothing else, what doing that work teaches you is the ins and outs of how sports work, and how to hit a deadline. Often MSNBC tosses me something and gives me, say, two or three hours to turn around a well-researched opinion piece. Dibs to work often goes to those who can do the work fastest and best, so just one or the other isn't going to cut it. Even in opinion pieces I have to report, even if it's mostly research rather than chatting with folks. I still have to check facts and be up-to-date on what's going on. A lot of people have the opinion that sports opinion writers merely blow things out of their rear end, which some may do. But if you want to sound knowledgeable, get knowledge. Also, having the skills to report opens up more possibilities. If you're pitching a sports-related piece to say, a city magazine, you're going to be reporting, not doing an opinion piece. If you're freelancing a game for a newspaper that doesn't want to send someone on the road, but wants a 'locally written' story, you're going to be reporting, not doing an opinion piece. Having reporting skills will never let you down. The opinion voice, you can always build up as you gain more experience."

Having a real voice is what can set you apart. I spoke with Andy Behrens, whose writing appears on Page Two of ESPN.com, for his advice: "I've found that American sportswriters are, for the most part, a big silly herd. Like this is surprising. They all write about the same subjects, they say the same things, they share a set of normative opinions. It's not difficult to distinguish oneself. Just go find a story. Tens of millions of Americans participate in sports, but only a few dozen of them get regular coverage from the national press. For example, one of the more enjoyable sports stories I've worked on was a piece for the Chicago Reader on women's pro football."

On that note, local alt weeklies might be a great place to break in. "I began by submitting unsolicited pieces to the Reader," says Behrens. "They were fair, responsive, and willing to work with me. I really owe them a lot. Most importantly they (and Flak Mag [an online zine that Andy, Bob, Will Leitch and I have all contributed to]) edited my stuff, providing actual
feedback -- not all of it positive. It's no small thing to have your work seriously edited by smart people for the first time. Every aspiring writer should try it; not everyone will like it."

A little chutzpah and exploration can help you as much as real life experience can. "I looked around for email addresses of editors who might handle sports for various large web sites (Yahoo, CBS Sportsline, MSNBC -- not ESPN, because I figure it gets a million pitches), and Denny DeFreitas of MSNBC.com, the managing editor who handles sports and business, happened to be the one who email back," says Bob. "He wondered about me doing business stuff, because I've been a business reporter and editor for more than a decade. But he passed around my Flak stuff to some of the other sports editors,
who liked it, so that's how it started. Many times, I'm now doing three or four pieces a week."

But the best way to break in might just be to have your own initiative and toil way unpaid for a little while on the Internet. "I tell people to start a blog," says Will Leitch, editor of Deadspin. "Breaking into sports is nearly impossible. The only way they notice anyone is by taking people from blogs and hiring them. CBS Sportsline's SPIN section is taking pitches, as does Page 2 occasionally ... but it's not easy."

"There have some recent webdork-to-mainstream advances, such as Kyle Whelliston (midmajority.com to ESPN.com), Ken Pomeroy (RPI geek on ESPN.com), Aaron Schatz and the Footballoutsiders.com staff (to Foxsports.com), and announcements that Yahoo and others are expanding sports coverage," adds Bob. "In a way, three years writing a once-a-week column for free was a good amount of time to get my voice
and to make sure I was ready when I got called up to the bigs. Blogging or doing a web-based column about sports actually is quite a help, anything to build a portfolio that shows you can write well, and write regularly. If you want to focus on breaking in, a focus might be making your own opportunities through your own blog or column, particularly if you have a niche in which you have a great interest. Now is a great time to try this, because of the greater interest from big web sites."

And Andy Behrens has some parting shots. "Keep writing. A lot. Find good stories, then find unique angles. Don't worry about getting paid -- no one pays well. Worry about getting people to read your stuff. Write for free. Blog. Send links to writers and editors. If you're talented, people will notice. If you're not so talented, be really bold. Don't fight with your editors, ever. Good writers who aren't total pains-in-the-ass are surprisingly rare. Try to be one of them."