fshorr's blog

You never know when you’ll be called on to cover a big story whether you’re covering a team day to day, working in a television newsroom or even doing feature writing….What might start out simple enough can easily break wide open….Just ask Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe and George Smith of ESPN, who recently were part of a sports journalism seminar at Boston University…

Hohler was one of a number of baseball reporters, editors and managers at the Globe who met one day to dive more deeply into the Red Sox collapse of 2011…A veteran reporter with investigative skills, Hohler had heard rumors and began to dig….Unless you’ve been under a rock these last two months, the resulting column of October 12th was the bombshell of the year until the Penn State and Syracuse sexual abuse stories came to light…”Some of it was very eye opening said Hohler, very disturbing for me because I didn’t want to confront him (Terry Francona) with this stuff but that’s part of the job…We wouldn’t have gone with this stuff unless we had really solid reputable sources, more than one, more than two”

But doing investigative research on a story, over time, a reporter is bound to cover bits of information never heard before…

For Smith it was different…He found himself on the hot seat just days after going to work at the Worldwide Leader…”The first story I ever did at ESPN, well i had just moved to Chicago and I was in my apartment, they call me up, get to Wrigley, Sammy Sosa, corked bat…I had no idea what they were talking about…Thirty minutes after I get there I was interviewing Sammy Sosa live on the field…You formulate your questions you think you need to ask, try not to look stupid while you;re doing it and just think of all the questions anyone would ask if they were put in a similar situation.”

One thing both reporters have in common might be best characterized as the “after effect”…Smith, as someone who is dropped into a story, might not see his original interview subject again or months…Hohler, while now a reporter who does longer form pieces, covered the Red Sox on a daily basis a while back…But both know they are likely to hear about whatever it is they write or say, the next time they meet face to face…” I told everybody,  I pretty much burned my bridges over there.  Josh Beckett isn’t going to be talking to me, John Lester either”

But regardless, whether the story slaps you in the face or leaks slowly after days and weeks of hard work, these are the stories you earn your reputation on(for)…  You never know when they will present themselves…Be hopeful it’s more often than not…

Jeff Twiss, Nate Greenberg, Dick Bresciani, Moose Hoffman...Legendary members of the Boston pro sports teams for decades...Never heard of them?...Well, they probably like it fine just that way.....That's because they are the Media Relations gurus who can make a reporter's life easy or make it miserable....And make no mistake about it, you need to have these people on your side...

Just like reporters,  job descriptions for the Media Relations people have changed as well in this internet age...It's no longer just handing out credentials and game notes and making sure stories don't leak...Eric Lindquist is currently working for the American Hockey League's Worcester Sharks...His ultimate goal might be play by play somewhere but he knows game day can be hectic..."We have The Worcester Sharks feed, the A-H-L feed, Facebook and I'm always e-mailing during the games...It's almost triple the work the last few years"...But like many aspiring athletes who discovered they couldn't hit the curve ball or the eighteen foot jumper,  Lindquist found out it can be an amazingly rewarding challenge...

Brian Olive started his front office  journey in college...Majoring in sports management, Olive hooked on with the Boston Celtics right out of school and now is one of three full time media relations workers...He deals with a lot of blossoming reporters and offers a word of advice to those walking into the room for the first time:  "As fun as it is to be in the locker room, take the fan portion out of it and just realize you're there to do a job."...

But lest you think they are there just to serve, be advised they too have an agenda...The reporting field has swelled with bloggers and website reporters and people like Olive and Lindquist have to pick and choose who gets in....Lindquist was particularly candid when he stated,  "The whole idea of me giving you a pass is to help us expand what's going on here...Give us some love once in a while...I read their(bloggers) stuff every day and if they're grilling my coach I'll grab em the next day and say "what are you doing, help me out here"...The Media Relations people have bosses too and nobody likes negative publicity...

Coaches coach, players play, the Media Relations people know all the information...At the end of the day, reporters will find their jobs a lot easier if they have a friend in the front office...And look at it this way, as a rising Media Relations person, working your way up to the "bigs", just might get a chance to wear one of those cool mascot uniforms!...what could be bad....

When it comes to play by play announcing there are two issues to consider..who's your audience and more importantly, how seriously do you want to be considered?...The worst label an announcer can get tagged with is being known as a "homer", someone who never criticizes the home team, someone who doesn't "tell it like it is",  to quote the legendary Howard Cosell...It's not always easy considering your paycheck may come from that very team you are holding accountable but being objective is always the goal...

Play by play on television and radio differ greatly, especially when it comes to being honest about what's going on...One might think that a radio call of an event might sometimes be tempered by the very fact listeners cannot see what's going on but at a recent Sports Journalism Seminar at Boston University's series, Nick Gagalis, who calls the radio games for the Worcester Tornadoes of the Can Am baseball league and the also the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins disagreed...said Gagalis, "Sometimes it sounds more biting when it's on the radio because my style is to describe things and go back and show you exactly how it happened...That helps me, someone especially who hasn't played the game as much, to understand myself why it happened, let alone the viewers...If I was on TV, it would be easier because I  would say less and be more careful about what i said..."

Listening to a game and watching a game may be very different experiences but draw the same visceral reaction(s)...why else would Awful Announcing have been born?

Current NBA analyst for ESPN Doris Burke joined Gagalis that night at Boston University and passed along some good advice she got from former Providence College  basketball coach and later Big East Commissioner Dave Gavitt...."No one turns the game on to hear the announcer, Gavitt told Burke , just make sure they don't turn it off because of you..."

It's a lesson Burke has remembered for more than twenty years now...A good place to start....

"Who gets to watch the watchers?"...indeed George (Cain), who?....Is that the lone reason sports media critics exist?...so that someone can watch (and comment) on those who cover the games?...I'm not sure....Why, as sports fans, do we need to read(listen to) someone tells us what we just saw?...we have our own opinion(s)...isn't that good enough?

Boston has a long history of critics reporting on the sports media scene...Jack Craig of The  Boston Globe invented the position with a regular column and a national voice in The Sporting News...He was followed by Jim Baker of The Boston Herald and over the years a host of others that have now jumped online...Bruce Allen, Dave Scott and most recently Cain and Ryan Hadfield have taken up the mantel of those who dissect the sports landscape...But why?...As a visitor to the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar series, Cain, who regularly contributes to Boston Sports Media Watch went on to say "It's good to know this person is more trusted, this one is right down the middle, you're getting the facts"....

Reasonable enough methinks...but can't we just change the channel, turn the page, switch the dial if we don't like (agree with) whatever is being put out there?....it's no secret sports fans love to argue, love to voice an opinion...I wonder if those who "watch the watchers" need an expertise of their own..."I was just like you guys, recounted Hadfield, I used to do yard work on Saturdays with my dad, I was like eleven years old and listen to sports talk radio and yeah I wanted to voice my own displeasure or pleasure with whatever was going on in the media at that time."...Is that all it takes?....apparently...that and a platform...

I'll be honest...as someone who was regularly roasted and toasted by the sports media critics i may be too close to the issue...or maybe i'm just trying to get even!.... but just stick to the cardinal rule - tell me something i don't already know...

And finally, on a totally unrelated subject, if you will remember, two weeks ago i talked (in class)  about one of the keys to being successful in whatever endeavor you choose, be it a journalist or not, was to find the one thing you do better than anyone else....I repeat, you may not know what that is but there is something inside you that you just do instinctively better....let me offer for your perusal, the case of Stephen Wiltshire...i think this makes my point....

"Radio in general is not doing well, but talk radio is doing well"...a simple statement but in the Boston market,  an explanation why two full time all sports talk radio stations are thriving and a third operates on ESPN Boston Radio.com...Fans feel more connected sharing their opinions...Whether it's agreeing  or disagreeing with the host(s) or just reliving the events of the game, sports fans need to "feed the beast" till the next game rolls around...

If you're a sports talk host, however,  you'd better know your stuff...there's no place to hide..."You can tell if they don't know what they're talking about," says Adam Jones of ESPN Boston Radio.com. That's why you get a passionate audience."... Co-host Drew Brooks added, "Four hours is a long time, there's no place to hide"...The sports talk landscape in Boston has been littered with talk show hosts who love to hear themselves talk but just haven't connected with the listeners..."not a fan", "too mean" and sorry ladies "what does she know about sports"...take your pick, it's totally subjective...But that's exactly what a sports opinion oughta be...

Interestingly enough, sports talk radio has benefited from the Twitter phenomenon when it comes to informing its listeners...But that too comes with a caveat..."Twitter is a nice way of managing a breaking news story", said Jones at a recent Sports Journalism Seminar at Boston University... "it's one streamlined place where there's a lot of information. You have to be careful, you don't want to see some thing real quick and run with it."...Just because it gets tweated doesn't make it so (remember when ESPN tweated the NFL lockout was back on?) ...Bill Simmons admits he made a mistake when he mentioned Randy Moss and the Vikings in a tweat last year only to get lucky sixteen hours later when the trade was announced....The  fact remains, reporters still need to check their sources...

You can listen live on the traditional dial, you can stream it on your computer, you can even download the podcast for later in the day but there no mistaking Sports Talk Radio is growing in popularity...Did we mention it's about to expand it's coverage through a partnership with a regional cable outfit?....we'll deal with that next time...