fshorr's blog

It wouldn’t be too far off to say it has sports journalists all a-Twitter…that is, some embrace it, like Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald and Chris Gasper of the Boston Globe while others, mostly veterans, are afraid…Afraid they’d never figure it out, afraid they wouldn’t be very good at it…Well, guess what?…The readers love it!

They love being an “insider”…Following their favorite writer, their favorite athlete, their favorite team…Finding out information before anyone else…Being able to tell their friends,” Shalise Manza Young just tweeted Darius Butler was cut by the Patriots”… And that’s the only thing we should care about….How can we serve the fans…

Twitter has become the new rolodex, the new email…But it’s also the best thing that ever happened to sports journalists from a marketing point of view…Bylines are constant…Every tweet starts with @so and so…Even before you read the tweet, you’re identifying with its author…If you’re following your favorite writers, bloggers, columnists, you’re device is alerting you at a frenetic pace…

At our initial seminar at this year’s Boston University Sports Journalism Series, Rapoport was asked about what seemed like an endless stream of postings, on this day totaling no less than twelve in a twenty four hour period, and we hadn’t played a game yet! Said Rapoport, “…It’s great cause people know they can go right there and read all about it and get analysis.  But it kind of captures you a little bit because you know you have to go and update it all the time”

But tweeting all the time put Rapoport in an uneasy position back in July when he “filed” from the Myra Kraft funeral…Gasper, for one, took exception not so much at the intent but more so at the way it was presented;  “For me it was as much the tone as the use of Twitter.  This was not the Oscars, this was  not the Grammys, somebody had passed away here.  To me there’s a certain tone that needs to be condoned”…”I don’t think it was inappropriate at all, countered Rapoport, maybe because of where I was sitting but as far as I saw I was covering the news respectfully and this was an event.  This was my job to disseminate what was going on”

As is usually the case with new technology, new philosophy, the lines get blurred…How far can i go?…Where will this get me?… It sometimes can be a “write/post/tweet it now, we’ll worry about whether or not it’s correct later” situation but it’s called progress folks…We’re overloaded, sure….we’re bombarded, of course….But just like you didn’t have to listen (radio), didn’t have to watch (tv), now, you don’t have to follow…Bust for those of us who do, it beats waiting for the paper to be delivered or the six and eleven o’clock news…embrace it!

Like any good relationship, the way a reporter, or producer for that matter, gets along with the media people of a team or school , has to be worked on and nurtured...They can be your best friend or your worst nightmare...Treat them kindly, figure out how they can help and never, ever use their name in print or on air...EVER...

Getting along with the media relations people is a game in and of itself, just like the one you're watching...Sure, you have a job to do but so do they and sometimes that doesn't include giving you a straight answer to your question....As the Executive Sports Producer for more years than i care to remember (21 actually) my favorite line to the P.R. people in town was "Am i sawing off the limb behind me if i say (this)..." Whether it was a player trade rumor or an injury or simply confirming something that might have happened in the locker room, the point was, i was giving them an out...They knew I'd never use their name, quote them and in turn, they could give me information i needed to do my job...In essence, everybody wins...

Taking part in the Boston University Sports Journalism Seminar Series, Aaron Salkin of the New England Patriots pointed out, "Sometimes it might be information that's way off...certainly if there's misinformation, we'll shoot it down"...and supporting that, Bill Wanless of the Pawtucket Red Sox added, "You never really want to lie because that will come back to get you...Sometimes you just have to say I don't know...that covers a lot of bases for you..."

The Media Relations people are always in the middle, it seems...Management and the players want one thing, the reporters and fans want another...It's the job of these team officials to keep everybody happy...It's their jib to get the message across, your job to understand the message and make it work to your advantage...

In most cities, you didn’t have a choice…one sports talk radio station was it…But here in Boston, thanks to some good hires, there’s competition…and the listeners are the benefactors…

Granted, much of it is local and that, in and of itself, narrows the scope of what’s covered, but two important things have happened to the “game”…Firstly, there’s less yelling!…thankfully….Secondly, you have radio hosts that have to know their stuff…There;s no hiding when you’re on the air for four hours…Your audience is more sophisticated than ever before and with the computer(internet) at hand, listeners can’t wait to correct your mistakes….

But most of all, listeners want someone they can commiserate with….they want to whine, kvetch and get a sympathetic ear…And to that point, I wondered if the talk show hosts have to root for the local teams…Surely their listeners do….At a recent Boston University sports journalism seminar, John Rish of WEEI and Tony Massarotti of 98.5, The Sports Hub weighed in…”Not at all” says Rish. However, if you come across as someone who dislikes the local teams, that will make you very unpopular very quickly.”…Added Massarotti, “Being critical is critical.  But you can’t be stupid(about it). It’s human nature to express displeasure more than it is satisfaction.”

I like having a choice…somehow, it gives me a little more power as a listener…If i want to hop around, i can…And you can be sure, i do…It can only make for better programming, better hosts and better conversation…WEEI and NESN just announced a joint venture to telecast the Dennis and Callahan show…Methinks before long, you’ll have even more choices…

I just read where the NFL Network is running a list of the 100 greatest players ever...The final ten won't be released until early November so i thought i'd let you know there should be no discussion here, absolutely none...argue willie mays, babe ruth, hank aaron in basbeall...bill russell, wilt chamberlain, michael jordan, larry, magic in basketball...bobby orr, wayne gretzky, gordie howe in hockey but when it comes to football it's one name and everyone else...the fact that he stopped playing 45 years ago is irrelevant...i know that leaves out most of pro football fans of today but let me add, not only was he the best football player ever, he's the best athlete EVER....that would be Jimmy Brown...most years leading the league in attempts, most years leading the league in yards, most consecutive years leading the league and the highest average per rush of all time, a mark that's held up for nearly half a century...how'd you like a guy for your fantasy league team that averaged 5.2 yards every time he touched the ball?...And in case you didn't know, he walked away from football at the age of 29, having just completed a season with 17 touchdowns, 1544 yards and an average of 5.3 in 14 games!...

Brown is generally regarded as the greatest lacrosse player ever produced in the United States as well....and oh yes, he averaged 15 points a game for the Syracuse basketball team as a sophomore and there are those who think he could have been the heavyweight boxing champion of the world if he'd wanted to...At 6 feet 2 inches and 232 pounds Brown was Syracuse's best high jumper, discus and javelin thrower...
You can wait till November to find out who the NFL Network thinks is number one...or you can tell em you read it here first....

It may be unthinkable...But one of these days, as they've done in Albany, New York and Tampa, Florida, for example, you're going to read that one of the local Boston stations has cut sports from its local newscast...There will be the attendant vocalizing, "how can they do that?...Don't they know what a big sports town Boston is?"...Big, indeed, but until the locals start covering truly "local" stories and management makes a commitment to do something different than the obligatory three minutes, no one will watch...It's that simple...Why should i watch a recap of yesterday's/last night's Patriots/Bruins/Red Sox/Celtics game almost twenty four hours later when I've  already seen the highlights, heard the sound bites and listened to the breakdown to my hearts content...The theory is very simple: Tell me something i don't already know and most importantly, advance the story...The first thing I do when I hear a local sportscaster say "The Patriots beat/lost to the (pick your opponent) yesterday" is immediately change the channel...Why"...because he/she's living in the past and I want to live for the future...

Local television stations are producing anywhere from three to four hours a day in local news yet they constantly rehash the same material overt that period...Broken up into half hour blocks they can't possibly give the sports departments enough time to break the mold...Try this one on for size news directors - a half hour local sports show during that three hour early news block!...Beef up those departments once again and give them a chance to shine...You'd be surprised how easily your sales department will be able to sell it and you might even attract viewers...What more can you ask for?...It's working for the cable outlets, take a chance!

What else that's working for the cable outlets is the hiring of new and creditable talent...The path that starts in the smaller markets has a new branch...The job train is headed for the Cable Sports Networks and it's standing room only...We see it here in Boston with CSSNE and with the New England Sports Network...It's why Comcast has almost a dozen regional sports networks nationwide... Time for the locals to move into the twenty first century....