Once upon a time — a long time ago as man measures time — I was in the sports reporting ‘bidness.’

First, as sports editor of the Washington Daily News, an afternoon paper then. My workweek was Monday through Saturday and included evenings when there were games to cover, which was several times a week, usually.

We had a sports staff of one — me — and I followed in the path of John Morgan, a much-respected, capable, hard-working journalist.

My take-home pay was $40 a week. I loved the job.

Then, a couple of years later, thinking I was getting out of teaching for good, I accepted a position with WITN-TV as sports director. Whoop-de-doo.

Well, now. Talk about long hours. My day began by 9 a.m. and ended at 11:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Saturdays were a bit better, as usually I was through after the 6-6:30 p.m. news block. Not always, though.

The reporting and sports newsgathering in the field was alright, although I seldom could remain to cover an entire event. Having to prepare for two on-camera segments necessitated having to be back in the newsroom in order to prepare for the next “show time.”

I did enjoy shooting sports and news film, and writing the accompanying copy. That’s right. Doing only sports related work was not how it was done then, as our entire news staff included just a news director; a news announcer/reporter; a sports announcer/reporter (moi); a photographer (the widely known and respected Gordie Edwards), and one weatherman. That’s right, one weather reporter. (And that is a whole ‘nother story.)

The average workday for the news announcer and me was around 12 hours, more or (rarely) less. A lot of home life we didn’t have. But hey, if having your face on the tube twice a day stoked your fire, then let it be. The pay was alright, but not commensurate with/ for the hours.

Well. I decided not to let it be. Had the work hours the TV folks have today been the norm back then, who knows.

Being a teacher, coach, then mid-level administrator was probably what I was meant to do, anyway. That’s how it ended up for me, eventually.

As for today’s sports scribes, TV and radio announcers and reporters, I have respect for their work ethic and seeming zeal for the world of sports. The technology, and their ability to use it, is far different than in my experience. Far different.

That some — and not just those in the sports realm — struggle with punctuation and word spelling and usage is lamentable.  The old days on a newspaper, with proof readers and copy editors who functioned as keepers of the flame of good grammar and expression, are long gone. More’s the pity.

One final word. Opinion, really. Our local gazette is fortunate, indeed, to have a young man with the interest, skills and commitment to doing a really outstanding job, as does our current sports editor-reporter-photographer-factotum Dave.

And he’s a really nice fellow, too.

I hope his take-home pay is more than 40 bucks a week.