By VIVIAN KOPKA
K.C. Johnson’89, Beloit Alum, former Chicago Tribune sportswriter for the Bulls, and current “Bulls Expert” for the Chicago Sports Network, sat down with The Round Table during winter break.
Johnson, a Creative Writing Major and Journalism Minor, chose Beloit College to continue playing basketball. For him, Beloit’s Division III basketball program gave him the unique opportunity to play collegiate ball. The Journalism minor, Johnson added, was rare for a small school, which is another reason why he chose Beloit.
Besides writing and playing ball, Johnson immersed himself in music and the humanities at Beloit. After he graduated high school, a professional sports writer gave him some advice: broaden his horizons beyond the realm of sports, which helped him choose Beloit. “I was kind of your typical, you know, live, eat, breathe sports kind of guy in high school,” he stated. Beloit College in the mid-80s was the perfect place to broaden one’s horizons. It was possible to pursue all of your interests, for them to be in conversation with each other. “The broader world views you have, the more you can relate to people and, you know, sports are played on a field, but they’re also played by humans. And so a big part of it is just connecting with human beings.”
In his high school yearbook, Johnson said he wrote that his life goals were to “cover the Bulls for the Chicago Tribune,” and he did, “for 29 years!” He started covering the Bulls after their second three-peat–their second time winning three consecutive championships– in 1998, eight years after he started at the Chicago Tribune. He stayed with the Tribune until 2019, when he started with NBC Sports Chicago. “I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do in high school, so there you go,” Johnson says.
Johnson was the Co-Sports Editor of the Round Table back in the day, but he also covered high school sports and other local sporting events with the Beloit Daily News. He even stayed on campus to cover minor league baseball games, taken under the wing of Jim Franz, the Sports Editor of the Beloit Daily News. Johnson partially accredits his career to Franz, for giving him the break and exposure into sports journalism he needed.
Johnson never planned on transitioning from journalism to TV, but he knew times were changing in his concluding years at the Tribune. With deadlines moving up, paper news having large cuts, and the other impacts of technology, he knew the Tribune was “losing some of its luster.” He wasn’t looking for a different job or career, but when NBC Sports Chicago gave him an offer to do multimedia coverage of the Bulls, he couldn’t refuse. He was daunted by the offer at first glance, but he realized that pushing himself out of his comfort zone might be just what he needed. “What 52-year-old males get an opportunity to try to start a TV career, you know?”
When asked about his favorite part of the TV job, dubbed as the “Bulls Expert” position, Johnson responded immediately: relationships. “I develop really strong integrity filled, trustful relationships, or at least I try to with everybody I cover: players, coaches, executives, and I work hardest in my relationships with players. I really feel like players trust me and respect me.”
For young people pursuing a career in journalism and writing, Johnson stresses the importance of reading. “You gotta read, like, all the time,” he says, “My family makes fun of me because I walk around the house reading on my phone all day. I read constantly. Newspaper articles, magazine articles, fiction, nonfiction, newspapers.” The more you read, the more able you are to know how and what you want to write about. “it just subconsciously impacts your writing voice because you’re absorbing so many styles and words, so I’m a huge reader and I always advocate that.”
Johnson’s career is not only a testament to his passion for writing, but to the work behind the passion. Being open to new opportunities, building relationships, and a wide range of interests are just some of the attributes of his success. While the job force in journalism is vastly different from the 1990s, Johnson’s story can teach young, aspiring writers to keep their dreams alive through passion and adaptability, even in today’s digital age.
Featured image: KCJhoop on X
Leave a Reply