Travelin' Man

When Todd Adams first graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in history he didn’t exactly envision being a sports editor for a paper with a daily circulation of over 200,000 people in one of the world’s largest sports markets.

            Years later, however, that’s exactly where Adams finds himself. Now a sports editor at the UT San Diego, Adams started his career in sports media after leaping into an editorial position after college. And he says he couldn’t be any happier.

            “The good journalists have something in them that keeps them going and keeps them running hard after the first story,” Adams said in a phone interview from San Diego. “I think I’ve gotten a little bit of that, and to be honest with you, I can’t imagine doing something else. I think I’m a very good example of somebody who really found the correct profession for them and really enjoyed every step of it.”

             After starting at a small shop in Windsor, NY, he made his way across the country. From stops in New York, Illinois, North Carolina and Florida, he has finally landed in San Diego where he says he has found a unique combination that he has never had before—although he says he still misses his stop in Chicago the most.

“I lived in Chicago for a few years while I was working in the suburbs and I loved Chicago—I think Chicago is the greatest city in the world. So, this—not saying that I wouldn’t like to get back to Chicago— is a pretty darn good place to be,” he said. “But my favorite part is this is the first place where I have found a place where I really enjoyed living and a paper that I really enjoyed working at.”

            

Transcript of the interview with UT San Diego Sports Editor, Todd Adams

BB: Well, Todd, I’m looking at your bio and it says you’re from Illinois; you went to Southern Illinois University. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about where you’re from and your experiences in college and some of your stops before you got to UT San Diego.

TA: I’ve been kind of all around the place. I grew up in a very small town in central Illinois, called Lexington, Illinois—which is near Bloomington. Kind of close to Champaign—couple hours outside of Chicago. I went down to SIU basically because it was as far away from home and still be in the same state. I actually was not a journalism major, I got a history degree from SIU and I kind of leapt into my first job. My first job was in Windsor, New York, as a sports editor of a small paper out there.

I’ve kind of bounced around to different place including Mt. Vernon, Illinois, which is down near SIU and a couple of jobs in the Chicago suburbs and I was a sports editor in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and I was a college sports editor in Orlando before coming up here to San Diego.

BB: What was the motivation to moving up to San Diego?

TA: Well, one of my really good friends was named executive sports editor and offered to bring me out here as sports editor and it was a pretty big raise, money-wise, from Orlando. So it was bump up in job title and also a bump up in salary.

BB: Obviously, you’ve been at some really good shops, especially in Florida, what do you think has been your favorite part so far since you’ve gotten to go all over the place?

TA: What’s been my favorite past as far as living or my favorite part of the jobs?

BB: We can talk about both. Where do you think your favorite stop is? We’ll start with that.

TA: Well my favorite paper that I worked at—I’ve been pretty lucky for my stops. Since I was at Mt. Vernon I’ve kind of doubled up in circulation as every stop but I have kind of always done it with an eye at where I was going to a place where I would be allowed to succeed. So I have a couple of stops that I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed being in (inaudible) where I was the assistant sports editor and that was just a really good staff for a really small paper. We really accomplished a lot while I was there. It was just a really good team. I feel like I was a really small part of that, but that was a really important stop for me to kind of understand that you can do really cool stuff at newspapers that don’t have to be the regular grind-it-out feature stories. You can do some enterprise stories that really popped out and really made a difference that people would remember.

And I really enjoyed my time in Fayetteville. As far as the newspaper, I didn’t like living in Fayetteville. But the Fayetteville newspaper was family-owned and it was a place where they let me do big work because I got the space I needed and the staff I needed and they would support them with that kind of space and manpower. I think the things that stuck out for me at the places I really enjoyed being was the quality of the staffs that I’ve worked with and Fayetteville was another place where I just had some really good people around me.

BB: Speaking of kind of bouncing around, was this a product of you just kind of moving up and forcing you to go to place to place or were these situations where the business—as we know has kind of been declining—were these situations that forced you out?

TA: No, I’ve never been laid off. It’s always been me consciously going after jobs. My situation is a little bit weird because I guess I left Mt. Vernon which was an 8,000 circulation paper in 2005 and so I went to one that was 16,000 and went to Aurora, Illinois which was 30,000 and I went to Fayetteville which was about 60,000 and to Orlando which was about 150 or something. So I’ve kind of doubled circulation at every stop. So every stop for me was kind of a promotion. As far as bouncing around the country, which was a product of me being willing to go where I needed to go to kind of move up the ladder but also seeking out places that I could tell were good shops where I could be allowed to do good work.

BB: Overall, do you think you’re happy with how this has turned out? Because it seems like even though you’ve bounced around a bit you’ve enjoyed a lot of the shops you were at.

TA: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don’t know if it’s for everybody and I know a lot of good people that couldn’t do it because of family and being stuck in certain areas, but that wasn’t the situation for me. For the last ten years or so it’s been very important to me and I think I’ve made some smart moves and have been able to move up because of that I’ve enjoyed the places I’ve been at. I’ve enjoyed the people—seeing different parts of the country and kind of getting to know what’s the difference between different areas.

BB: What do you think is your favorite part about UT San Diego so far?

TA: Well, San Diego is a great sports town. It’s kind of tucked down here in the corner by itself but the people here are very passionate—about their sports. But I think my favorite part—first of all, living in San Diego is amazing and I love living here—but this the first place where I have found a place where I really enjoyed living and a paper that I really enjoyed working at. The main thing is that the UT San Diego—when I came here they already had a really good sports staff and we were able to add more jobs to it and that combination has been really incredible, working with some old pros who know what they’re doing and are at the top of their game, and bringing in some new people in and helping bring them along.

BB: How do you feel about being able to go from a small place—now this isn’t the largest newspaper—but you’re still in a pretty big market and there are a few professional teams around?

TA: Well, I like, even though I’m from a small town, living in the city. I lived in Chicago for a few years while I was working in the suburbs and I loved Chicago—I think Chicago is the greatest city in the world. Being able to get back to a bigger city is really great, although San Diego doesn’t’ have a lot of the hassles that the bigger cities have, like L.A.—it’s got traffic but it doesn’t have Chicago/L.A.-type traffic. So, this—not saying that I wouldn’t like to get back to Chicago—but this is a pretty darn good place to be.

BB: Overall, how do you feel about your career choice?

TA: I think that the people that stay in it for a long time—I think what you said is exactly right. Not just being in sports journalism, but being in journalism in general, is a professional that the people that are good about it have—it’s almost like the story you hear about police officers or firefighters, the people that have jobs like that—it’s not just a job to a lot of us. It’s part of who we are. The good journalists have something in them that keep them going and keeps them running hard after the first story. And so, I think that I’ve gotten a little bit of that and to be honest with you, I can’t imagine doing something else. I think I’m a very good example of somebody who really found the correct profession for them and really enjoyed every step of it.

BB: To try and benefit myself a little bit here, with all the experience you’ve gotten in all different places you’ve gone and all the different things you’ve gotten to do, what do you think is the biggest piece of advice for a student like myself?

TA: Well first of all, I’d want to know more about you. What are your career goals?

BB: (Answering that question: I’d like to get into editing)

TA: Well, I think the advice that I would give people is dare to think big because in this profession it’s easy to get dragged down into the day-to-day and no matter what happens today you have a paper to put out tomorrow, and it’s really easy to forget about the big stuff that makes the difference for people. I’d say for a young person who has dreams of being a sports editor, you have to understand that the stuff that people are going to remember is the stuff that’s going to get you hired at your next spot and that’s the really outstanding stuff that you do. The great stories that you help your writers or the great packages that you help designers put together around those stories and the stuff. And the stuff at the end of the year that for people that’s the stuff they bring up. That’s the first thing that people will be talking about and the people at your next job are going to look at. Be creative, think outside the box and try to come up with good packages. My secondary advice would be don’t be afraid to be connected. I’ve been very involved with APSE and I credit APSE for getting me to where I’m at because I’ve been able to meet the people that you need to know in this industry to keep moving up and I think that the connections are the secondary thing that helps catapult you up the ladder. The first thing, though, is being really good. You have to work hard, you have to work harder than the next guy whose going to be looking for those same jobs and you have to be good at what you do. If you team that with the connections in the industry then that’s a formula that will get you to the top pretty quick.

BB: Well, all right. As an APSE student member, I’d like to say I really appreciate your time. It was very enlightening and I look forward to working with you sometime down the line.

TA: Well sure, I’m glad I helped.