As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a sports reporter.That’s the main reason why my fandom — at least when it came to individual teams — was stunted as a child. I was doing all I could to abide by that sacred rule to not cheer for what you (eventually) cover.Apart from a few odd jobs as a teenager, the only gigs I have ever worked are in sports journalism. I went to the University of North Carolina solely for the journalism program, majored in it, and earned a bachelor’s with not one credit to spare.This is the only thing I know how to do. I am passionate about journalism. Proper, capital “J” journalism in sports. And that is why I am joining The Athletic.Here we have the largest independent network of sports journalists in the country. That means something. There is a responsibility there, and that excites me.No operation is flawless, but the journalism model here works. The proof is in how quickly this group grows in the face of what is happening across the media at large.We all see the creep. We are experiencing the erosion of truth in our everyday lives — why wouldn’t it impact sports media too?There are the manufactured takes and faux outrage over otherwise banal daily sports topics. There’s the fact that some networks seem to be contractually mandated to cover only a handful of teams. And aren’t you tired of hearing athletes explain on podcasts how tens of millions of dollars isn’t really that much money as it goes unchallenged by a host who is an amateur interviewer?