When Colin Bane told us his writing career started in seventh or eighth grade, I honestly believed him right away. Sharing his long career covering snowboarding, skateboarding, esports, BMX, climbing, and even two Olympic Games.

Bane being the guest speaker for our graduate journalism masterclass this week, and from the moment he started talking, the room felt like a conversation instead of a lecture. A lot of what he said felt like advice I needed to hear, even if it sounded simple. For example, he kept telling us to take advantage of every opportunity on campus.

“Radio, podcasts, newspapers—you can’t overthink it,” he said. “Every rep helps.” It was not crazy advice, but it stuck. He also told us not to fear the small roles. “Don’t be afraid to start at the bottom,” he said. “Some of the best journalists I know were interns running coffee. Being dependable is how your name gets around.” I needed to hear that, especially those of us who feel impatient about “doing real work.” Just thinking one will rise to the top is a pipe dream. 

He opened up Bane showing us Reflections, a short piece on Jamie Anderson. Before this class, I didn’t know she had been the youngest competitor in her early days or the winningest woman in X Games history. He talked about Anna Gasser and some of the records she broke, and he explained the influence of the Kelly Clark Foundation.

“Chloe Kim was a kid the foundation helped,” he said. “And then she grew up and tied Kelly Clark’s records. That’s the kind of story that makes the sport bigger than the tricks.” I noticed the chat got really quiet when he said that. It was one of those moments where everyone was thinking about the person behind the stats. One of the most interesting parts of the class was hearing how much prep Bane does. In basketball most prepare note but he realize placed emphasis on connecting with the athlete. “ I call every athlete I might cover,” he told us. All of them.

He mentioned calls usually last, “Anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. You never want to be the one who knows the least about the person you’re covering.”He also talked about how he keeps huge databases of stats. Not just snowboarding but across tons of sports. He cross-checks everything. “Stats are only useful if they’re part of the story,” he said. “Otherwise, they’re just noise.” A word he received from a colleague 

It was also cool seeing the Dr.Matthews and him talk like old friends. Especially hearing they met through roller derby years ago. Someone raised a thoughtful question and asked Bane what the hardest part was when he first started covering skateboarding and snowboarding. His answer surprised me. “Honestly? Getting people to understand these athletes are real athletes,” he said. “Back then, a lot of people did not take it seriously. You had to explain the sport without sounding corny. “He said ESPN helped legitimize things by committing to stats and treating action sports like they treat traditional sports. But what really changed things was the Olympics. “When skateboarding got added to Tokyo 2020–21, everything shifted,” he said. “That put action sports in front of people who never would’ve watched otherwise.” By the end of the hour, what stuck with me the most was not the stats or the tricks or the Olympic stories. It was something Bane said toward the end: It was a reminder that journalism, no matter the beat comes down to paying attention to people. Bane made action sports feel legitimate, important, and human, and he made the path to becoming a journalist feel less overwhelming.

His final piece of advice summed up the whole class perfectly: “Be reliable”