50 for 50: 2014

YEAR: 2014

AGE: Turned 44 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue

CUBS' RECORD: 73-89

SONGS I LIKED: "The Walker" by Fitz and the Tantrums; "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift; "Ain't It Fun" by Paramore; "Tacky" by Weird Al Yankovic

TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "The Wil Wheaton Project"; "Gotham"

MOVIES I SAW: "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies"; "How to Train Your Dragon 2"

CONCERT I EXPERIENCED: Steely Dan

Kerry Wood pitched for the Chicago Cubs for many years. In 1998, he famously struck out 20 batters in a game as a rookie. Injuries plagued his career, and he never turned into the Hall of Fame pitcher many thought he would be. The Cubs eventually turned him into a closer, and then he played for a few other teams before returning to Chicago to close out his career.

Wood announced his retirement effective after one last game in 2012. The Cubs brought him into game in relief, he struck out one batter, and was taken out to a standing ovation. As he walked back to the dugout, his son ran out to him for a hug.

I wanted to leave newspapers the same way. In 2014, I was working two nights a week, and filling the rest of my time with plenty of consistent freelancing -- with the possibility of picking up even more work. I began to feel like the time was right to step away from the newspaper. 

Even though I had been just part-time for several years, I still considered myself a grizzled newspaper veteran. Walking away wouldn't be simply quitting a job, but the end of a career.

By 2014, I knew many former coworkers my age whom already moved onto other careers. The industry was flailing, and none regretted the move -- and at least one said I'd be happy to get out. By that time, I knew at least two copy editors who had died young (and at perhaps three more have died since). I was ready to have my weekends completely back and not be worried I'd be missing the boys' events at night.

Typical shifts weren't the same, either. Deadlines were pushed earlier, and we couldn't chase (a newspaper term in which plates are replaced on the press after deadline) -- so if a Jazz game ran late, we were SOL. Our staff was smaller, but the section had also become smaller, to the point that we stopped running baseball box scores and prep roundups. Generally, the major metro daily newspaper workplace experience now felt working at a small-town paper.

Once I began getting more freelance work than I knew what to do with, I began considering making the clean break out of newspapers. When I finally felt confident to proceed, I pulled the sports editor and an assistant sports editor into a meeting room and told them my plans and tried to explain why. Steve, my immediate supervisor who would die within a year, replied, "You don't have to explain. I don't blame anyone for wanting to get out."

I started counting down the shifts before I would be done, listening to Michael Franti's "Long Ride Home" on each return commute to remind me that a new phase was coming. Finally, the last shift arrived, I packed up the rest of my desk, said goodbye to my coworkers, and drove away. 

I didn't wake the boys up when I got home -- so no Kerry Wood moment, even though I felt like I left on my own terms, with accomplishment, success, and fulfillment behind me. My ego allowed myself to believe that I was getting a little standing ovation after nearly 24 years in the business.

A month later, the paper went through another round of layoffs. If I had waited, I might have received a little severance package, though with my luck, I would have been kept on. "Congratulations Joe, you're experienced and cost-efficient, so we're not firing you. Good luck with the smaller staff, crappier deadlines, and morale in the toilet!" I hope me quitting too soon helped save someone else's job.

I didn't quit the newspaper completely cold turkey -- I started stringing, covering high school sports on occasion through the rest of the year. But even that dried up, and the paper pulled way back on covering preps. My freelancing gig turned into a full-time, remote job, which I've held coming up on six years now. This is the new career, and I never looked back.

However, there are days I miss working at the newspaper -- NFL Sundays, Jazz playoff games, and the Olympics, just to name a few. But those days are gone even if I could go back. The industry isn't the same as it was 15 years ago, much less before the internet. 

Last week, Salt Lake City went from two daily newspapers to zero, as both papers announced that during the week, they would be online only. That's tough to accept, but I feel fortunate I was able to work in the industry for as many years as I did, when it was still the industry I began in and romanticized when I was a kid. 

Nearly seven years since walking away, I regret only one thing: I should have awakened the boys for a hug after my last shift.