March Madness affects more than just the teams and fans that are in the tournaments.

Sports journalists must travel thousands of miles and cover multiple games per day. One of the leading sports journalists in the country is University alumnus Mark Schlabach, who now works for ESPN.

Schlabach received a degree in journalism from the University in 1996. While in school, he worked for both The Red & Black and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I remember living in the Sigma Nu fraternity house and covering Georgia football for the AJC,” Schlabach said.

After graduation, he worked at the AJC for over eight years. His duties included covering the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and being the Georgia football writer from 1997-2004.

While working for the AJC, Schlabach got his big break. The Washington Post, an elite national newspaper, gave Schlabach a spot on the staff.

“Working for the Post was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Schlabach said.

It didn’t take long for Schlabach to make an impact at his new job. On his first day, July 7, 2004 he made the front page of the sports section.

He would follow that up nearly a month and a half later with a front page story entitled “Varsity Athletes Get Class Credit,” an investigative article on athletes at major universities receiving class credit for participating in their respective sports.

“I spent a lot of time working on that piece,” Schlabach said of the story. “It didn’t have quite the impact I expected, but it did cause some major schools to change their policies.”

While the Washington Post was a dream job, the newspaper market became unstable and Schlabach’s family returned to the South and now make their home in Madison, Ga.

In July 2006, Schlabach joined the staff of ESPN.com.

Since then, Schlabach has gained national recognition as one of the top sports journalists in the country.

Specializing in collegiate sports, Schlabach has thousands of loyal readers.

“Moving online gave me all-new exposure,” Schlabach said. “Ten million people around the world are reading my stuff now.”

Currently, Schlabach is in the middle of an eight-week road trip during which he will have the opportunity to see and cover some of the best collegiate athletes in the country.

His cross-country trip began almost a month ago in Knoxville, Tenn., when Tennessee’s men’s basketball team upset Florida, and will end in Morgantown, W. Va., for West Virginia’s football team’s spring game on April 21.

Part of his road trip includes covering the Final Four in Atlanta, which begins on Saturday.

All the stops and games are time consuming, but Schlabach said, “It’s the best time of the year.”