Sports have shaped Rob Sadler a junior Multimedia Journalism majors so much so that he wants to make a career out of it. Sadler declared the sports analytics track to tailor his major to his specific career goals -- having his own sports talk show. 

 

“I was originally in Communication Studies, but at Orientation they said they were adding  sports media,” Sadler said. “I watch a lot of sports shows and talk shows. They’re entertaining and I can relate to a lot of their opinions or I can argue with them. I wanted to get into it because sports are my life.” 

 

Sadler became interested in sports because he would watch Sports Center every morning before school starting in elementary school. From there, sports worked their magic and made Sadler who he is today.

 

Studies show that coaches serve as role models, which contributes to the moral development sports provide. Sadler can vouch for sport’s impact on moral development because his involvement in football and baseball shaped his moral compass. 

 

“Sports taught me that anything can happen. It might be going bad at one point, but you never know how it can turn around,” Sadler said. “[Sports also taught me] the value of friendship, teamwork and everyone helping each other. If one person does one thing wrong, that person’s not going to be to blame. The whole team is going to suffer or succeed based on how everyone does.” 

 

Being involved in sports has also had a positive impact on Sadler's social life. 

 

“In football, you have so many people on the team. You meet new people and it helps you create friendships that you might not have if you didn’t play the sport,” Sadler said.

 

To advance his career goals, Sadler understands that his Twitter presence is key to achieving his goals.

 

Not only is Sadler applying what he is learning in his sports analytics classes to advancing his career goals, he is also applying what he learned through his time playing sports. 

 

“Sports shaped my work ethic. You have to do everything at your highest effort. You can’t give up because it’s impacting other people,” Sadler said. “I take that outside sports and know I have to give my best effort on everything if I want the best outcome to happen.”

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