fshorr's blog

It’s almost impossible to pick up the paper, listen to the radio or scroll through your twitter feed without seeing  something about an athlete running afoul of the law…Never mind who’s suing who or who’s being suspended…So it’s important for those who work in the sports journalism world to at least have a working knowledge of the laws that help regulate contracts, broadcast rights and the morass that is the NCAA, for example…

Who better to help us wade through all this at the semester’s finale of the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series than Michael McCann, the Associate Dean of the University of New Hampshire Law School and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and SI.Com…McCann was joined by long time media columnist Chad Finn of the Boston Globe, a great pairing….

Athletes acting badly is not anything new…It’s more a case of people finding out about it…The immediacy of uploading a pic or a video is all too commonplace (see Michael Phelps) …Tweeting out news, good or bad, has made us a lot more aware but also a lot of people very wealthy…The appetite for this kind of news seems over the top but as we talked about in a previous seminar this semester, Sports and Society, athletes as a whole aren’t that different from any other segment of the population…”The data doesn’t show that, said MCann, look at the NFL, maybe one percent, if that, make headlines.  They’re the same as other groups (in society).”

McCann has written and followed some of the highest profile cases lately…We couldn’t go a day without reading about Deflategate here in New England…He turned that into a semester long course at UNH…McCann has taken on the NCAA a number of times and is now writing about the “pay for play” issue and is about to embark on a case of a family suing for injuries due to CTE …”It’s not enough to write about and fight for an issue from just the legal point of view,  the moral point of view, what’s right, is just as important”, stated MCann…

Finn finds himself thrown into this world almost every time he writes…While much of what he does centers around the local sports media scene, he bristles at the term “critic”…”I don’t like that term, said Finn, I’m not just commenting, I’m writing content pieces as well.”…  Don’t tell that to the boys at the sports talk radio stations in town….They excoriate Finn for his opinions on a regular basis…As Finn told us, “controversy resonates”, a not so subtle reference to the “fellowship of the miserable” Rick Pitino talked about more than twenty five years ago…The STR guys just don’t like it when Finn points out how low they stoop…He does offer this however, “I try to keep my personal bias out of the pieces (I write). I was taught to sometimes agree with both sides of an issue, I have to be detached”…In a very recent piece about something as innocuous as ratings, Finn made a case for both sides winning yet took heat from virtually every show on the dial for simply stating the facts…

Journalism students are usually required to take a course in Media Law and Ethics…Sports Journalism Students should probably take a Sports Law class as well (or perhaps petition to replace)…Here’s a suggestion, when someone asks what you want for graduation, how about suggesting                                      The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law ?…Not exactly light summer beach reading but you might learn a thing or two along the way (and strengthen those arms as well!)…

Play by play is a really subjective thing...And what's so interesting is that if you were to ask sports fans who their favorite announcers are they'd eventually get to "and ya know who i can't stand?"...

By and large you are inviting these people(the announcers) into your home and they understand that...But very often, you come to the game with an opinion already formed, about them and the team you're watching or listening to...Sports talk radio (and all that "negativity") has already shaped their thinking..."You have to be cognizant that an old school "homer" broadcast doesn't fly anymore",          Sean Grande of the Celtics told our audience just recently at the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series, "you sound outdated, you sound like you're not connected to what's really happening"

It doesn't take much to "unconnect" yourself from the audience...Monday Night Football fans will remember Howard Cosell who made a living annoying people...But one night in 1983 Cosell took his descriptions a little too far saying of Alvin Garrett of the Washington Redskins "that little monkey gets loose doesn't he?"...Such was the outrage that the network phones lit up and Cosell took to the air later in the game to explain...Play by play announcer Brian Davis of the Oklahoma City Thunder was suspended for one game after he said Russell Westbrook was "out of his cotton pickin mind" referring to Westbrook's performance that night compiling a triple double...It's not easy as it sounds...

Kevin Harlan took a lot of heat earlier in this NBA season , game one in fact, for his call on Gordon Haywood's injury...Should Harlan have speculated on the extent of the injury?...Probably not but announcers are fans too and sometimes they react just like you do when you see something...

Tyler Murray joined Grande at our series...Like Grande, Murray is a Boston University graduate and remembers the early days, "That (first) job with the Daytona Cubs was unpaid, we only got money for cleaning up the stadium every night for fifty bucks, that's how we paid rent.  You go home smelling of garbage at one thirty (AM) and then you're back at it at 9AM but it's still one of the best summers I've had"...

Budding announcers often struggle with the mechanics of the job, all too often imitating national people they hear or grew up with...Developing your own style can be the key..."Do it over and over", Grande told the group, "it's not unlike your own personality, you become your own person and you become your own announcer."

Even Presidents have tried their hand at play by play...Before he became a actor and politician, Ronald Reagan worked on radio doing college football, major league baseball and track and field...His account of the day track great Jesse Owens competed at the Drake Relays is a classic...A United Press International report is included here...

The same goes for college professors...My very first hockey game way back when found me perched at the old Lynn Arena doing Everett and Malden High Schools...I had done my homework, so I thought, but wasn't quite ready when the Crimson's first line took the ice...Mike Abbatinozzi, Pete Cittadini and Lou Uliano...Try keeping those straight on the rush up ice!

So what makes a good play by play call?...For Murray it's the all about the "excitement but don't overdo it."

For the aforementioned Cosell, 1973 was an eventful year...Famous for his boxing play by play, Cosell's three sharp words during the Joe Frazier/George Foreman title fight still resonate as a standard for any sport...Al Michaels might want to challenge for the top spot on any list of calls....Michaels' description of the final seconds of the 1980 United States hockey victory over the Soviets was superb....As much for its language but as much for what Michaels did not say ...After uttering his famous "Do you believe in miracles, yes!" line Michaels does not talk for a full minute...He understood the moment perfectly...

Now it's your turn...Include your favorite play by play call in your comment...And tell us why... Jack Buck once voiced "I can't believe what i just saw!"...Who sparks that emotion in you?

As is often the case, anticipated guests at the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series have last minute commitments and despite being scheduled for months, I'm sometimes left scrambling for a replacement...So, when Chelsi McDonald of WHDH-TV called two days before her appearance and said she had to interview Charlie McAvoy on the date she was to appear, I went into producer mode...Who could I get to take her place?...Well, despite being the number 10 market in the country, Boston has a number of newcomers, many more than I was expecting to find....

I called Lucy Burdge of WEEI...I had heard her on the radio a number of times and liked her perspective...She said she'd love to come over but had a show to produce that night...I left a Facebook message on Ryan Hannable's page...Did the same for Ty Anderson....Hannable got back to me and said he was up for it...Booked...As it turns out Anderson was also available but I told him Hannable had already beaten him to it...We had a good laugh...Then, as luck would have it, just hours before "showtime", McDonald emailed to say her assignment went well, was over and she could make it after all, if I still wanted/needed her...I did my best Johnny Olsen impression and said "Come on Down!"...And so, we went from having just one guest to three...Adam Pellerin of NESN filling out the group...

Off we went...

It's been a while since the students in the class were "newcomers", freshmen just arriving in Boston for school but fours later, as they get ready to hit the pavement, it's important to have some basics to rely on...You're going to be the new kid on the block and no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you're the outsider, at first anyway... It doesn't have to stay that way, however...

"Find a niche, find something that you're better at than anyone else in the market", Hannable told the students, "find a way to distinguish yourself"...McDonald added "Your first couple of markets, that's where you're able to take risks, invest yourself in the community"...

Be patient...Don't expect to light the town on fire from the start...Do your research, learn the players, on and off the field...I still owe a huge debt of gratitude to Paul Leahy of the Malden Evening News, Paul Harbor of the Medford Mercury and Joe Hrubi of the Somerville Journal for taking this grad school rookie into their confidences when I started out..."Be a sponge" said Hannable...

Hannable worked countless jobs for free, McDonald switched to news to move up in the marketplace...Pellerin remembers his news days, "Versatility is important and (coincidentally) having that background helps expand your job search."...

In smaller markets you might be the lone reporter...In other perhaps a handful...In Boston it's dozens... While competition can be challenging, it can serve a positive purpose for you..."It's important to learn from other members of the media", stated Pellerin, "I always watch the way other people cover a story, you're always in competition."..."I have a DVR", McDonald told the class, "I'm always watching how they do things."...Hannable was quick to add, "It keeps you on your toes"...

Being a newcomer can be exhausting, exciting and discouraging all at the same time...But rewarding and satisfying at the same time...Look at it this way, it's a start...The beginning of your dream...It might not be in your "comfort zone" as McDonald remembered her own experiences, but it has to start somewhere...

With apologies to Donna Summer, you can find just about anything on the radio, including some outrageous sports talk...

"Oh, I was so surprised and shocked, and I wondered too
If by chance you heard it for yourself..."

You can find shockjock Howard Stern on Sirius radio, "Just shut up and dribble" Laura Ingraham is syndicated nationally and until just recently Mike Francesa ruled New York's WFAN...In Boston you can find the unfiltered Kirk Minihane...

"I hear voices in my head", the WEEI morning drive host told the students at the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series recently...No one laughed...Minihane shoots first and asks questions later...Something he has paid the price for in multiple suspensions....Minihane co-hosts his show with self-proclaimed ultra conservative Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald...Their show is many times very little about sports, something the Minihane readily admits works when it comes to ratings but not so much with listeners who want to talk nut and bolts...Not his favorite thing to do...

Also attending the seminar was CBS Radio's Amy Lawrence...a veteran of both local and national talk shows, Lawrence has "fought and scratched" to get to her position, which includes a four hour overnight stint heard here in Boston on 98.5TheSportsHub...Like Minihane, Lawrence has her detractors...You just don't hear them on the radio...But troll social media and it won't take long to find them...Many openly challenge her sports knowledge, what could she possible know as a woman?...Tune in for more than ten minutes and you'll quickly find out...

But Lawrence, it says here, has found the right formula...Sculpt the show to your advantage, don't rely on inane call ins and certainly don't put yourself in a position, much like a good lawyer, to not know the answer  to a question before it's asked...(This is where a good producer comes in)...Lawrence did her show from Boston the night she visited, usually doing it from New York City, and told the students "play to your strengths"...In fact, the just completed show focused largely on pizza!...Hey, if it's two in the morning who can't use a good slice?...

Which is not, in the slightest, to say Lawrence is a lightweight...She challenged Minihane on his treatment of Erin Andrews and wasn't afraid to question his motivation and approach...

In both cases, Minihane and Lawrence have hit on a brand....A brand that works for them and a brand that works for their stations...How many times have we heard this semester, "you can write the best story, break the big news, but if no one is listening(reading) you're spinning your wheels?"...Yes, in the case of Minihane, some of it is objectionable...But there's a simple solution if you don't agree...

Change the channel...

It can't all be like Beyonce sings it, "I think I'm in love with my radio
'Cause it never lets me down"...

As strange as it might sound, being the reporter in the world of journalism might be the easiest job of all...  Never mind you get to be the star of the story but just as often as not, a producer or assignment editor hands you your story, complete with scheduled interviews and if you're really lucky, a photographer/editor...

Such is not the case with the people behind the scenes...

As the Executive Sports Producer for a major affiliate here in Boston,  I was on call twenty four hours a day...It was my responsibility to make sure we had the story first, had it right and didn't get beat... Calls in the middle of the night were regular occurrences...That midnight phone call on the night in October, 1982 when Bruins forward Normand Leveille suffered a brain aneurysm during a game in Vancouver was par for the course...As was the six A.M. call from Assignment Editor Howie Levings, telling me our Washington DC affiliate was reporting that Celtics number one draft pick Lenny Bias had overdosed on cocaine...Both called for immediate action, putting the pieces in place...

So, it was particularly telling when, at the most recent Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar, I asked New England Patriots Media Director Stacey James if he felt like a "fireman" some times...James smiled and immediately understood the reference..."You're always putting out a flame"...That includes making sure Coach Bill Belichick's message gets out there loud and clear: "We're always trying to eliminate the distractions, (stressing) what's important for the football team."  Longevity in any job sometimes speaks volumes.... James predates owner Robert Kraft and coach Belichick, so he must be doing something right...

The media relations people can be your best friends and sometimes your most important link to the players and information.  The basics, credentials, access, practice times are second nature but confirming information and damage control play equal roles...Matt Johnson handles media relations for the Manchester Monarchs East Coast Hockey League team...He's the Vice President of Brand and Marketing officially and the gatekeeper when it comes to what you, as a reporter, need to do...You've never been in a professional locker room and can't imagine what that means...But as Johnson told us, it's a two way street; "It's an interesting dance (trying to gain access), Generally you'll hear people say I'm with so and so organization and once that is established, that it's something they're trying to do for a job versus just coming in to get access, then you can go from there."...

Johnson and James are constantly being pushed and pulled, trying to satisfy their bosses, their players and coaches and their fans who want more and more information...You don't make any friends when you stand up in front of assembled reporters and say "Last question"...

For those wanting to work in media relations, Johnson and James had words of warning...Johnson relayed how he had to wear the Springfield (MA) Falcons mascot suit on a 95 degree day at a water park one time...James's caution was a bit more personal; "The hardest part of my job is explaining to my wife why I'm two hours later that I said I would be"...But let's be honest here, James also has five Super Bowl rings...It all goes with the territory.....

It's been quite a couple of week for James and the Patriots...A Super Bowl loss, a sports talk radio host insulting Tom Brady's daughter, Ron Borges's Boston Herald story and most lately, former Patriot tight end Christian Fauria's degrading imitation of Don Yee...I would say James has earned his stripes (or whatever they give out in the station house)...Johnson has mixed feeling about all that...Certainly he wants to keep his team in the news but not so much in that same way....The Monarchs currently lead their division and Johnson is happy to fly under the radar......

There's an old saying - "be careful what you wish for"...James and Johnson might be at different ends of the spectrum right now but they are great examples for students to learn from...

The media people are your conduit...Build the bridge, don't burn it...