My career as a full-time journalist ended almost 22 years ago. I last wrote something for a newspaper about 7 years ago. My identity is no longer wrapped up in that profession. I haven’t felt that way for a long time. However, I am immensely grateful especially right now for one of the lessons I learned in the decade where newspapers ruled every aspect of my life.

I have an incredible ability to not give a shit about the minutiae around sports because I had to write about the minutia around sports all the time.

Spending so much time as a full-time sports writer made me gain an incredible appreciation for sports on their own. I didn’t need to argue every finer point or take a position on every drama. I learned that I could just sit back and watch a game to appreciate the skills of the people involved and the chaos that can come from any competition.

In the end, I realize that none of it matters. Maybe a few things do, but they only matter to the people involved. That’s why I ask you sports talk radio or punditry because they really are just exercises in useless conversation.

Fast forward to this week when the college wrestling community, especially on Twitter, lost their collective minds over an injustice that some worry will destroy the sport as we know it for all eternity. The crime that will bring about this ruin? Some wrestlers decided to not compete in the final match of their conference tournament instead of risking injury or an embarrassing loss two weeks before the NCAA championship tournament.

Pretty much all of these guys were guaranteed a spot in the national tournament when they decided to take what is known in the sport as a medical forfeit. The extent of their injuries was not always clear, but the rigors of a collegiate wrestling season catch up to everyone by this time of the year.

That is the worst insult grown-ass men watching on television could ever imagine. I could not believe how people lost their minds. Well, I guess I should because as I sit back in my hobby chair of enjoyment, I have seen lots of idiots going crazy over things that matter very little in the scheme of things. But this was beyond the pale.

One guy even traced back to a match in December when one wrestler decided not to compete in a dual meet against another highly ranked opponent. He said that decision was part of a season-long scheme to game the system in order to have a better road to the finals match at the national tournament. Somehow, this kid and his coach knew how every other match in his weight class would end up back in December so he could enact his master plan in March. Diabolical!

These points often come from people who are sad that they never achieved what they wanted to and need to insult other athletes in order to overcome their weaknesses. One of my problems with the wrestling community, like other niche communities I am part of, is the people involved. They can ruin it with their myopia and selfishness.

But I won’t let that get to me. I intend to sit in front of the television watching all three days of the NCAA tournament and loving every second of it because sports, when it comes down to it, are awesome. I can just do without the fans.