tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332900302024-03-04T21:53:12.587-08:00Sporting MadnessMy thoughts on what's going on in the wide world of sports. Going beyond black-and-white analysis and into the shades of grey.Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.comBlogger771125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-20240956634889221802017-09-04T09:15:00.000-07:002017-09-04T09:20:02.007-07:00Labour Day battles in Ontario, Alberta have a lot on the line <br />
The Labour Day weekend is often a critical point in the CFL season, and this year’s Labour Day Monday games set up as crucial ones for all teams involved. The 7-2 Edmonton Eskimos face the 7-1-1 Calgary Stampeders at 3 p.m. Eastern Monday in the Battle of Alberta, while the 0-8 Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the 4-6 Toronto Argonauts at 6:30 p.m. Eastern in the Battle of Ontario. Here’s a look at key storylines to watch in each game.<br />
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<b>Can the Eskimos rebound?</b> Edmonton got off to a great start this year despite a historic amount of injuries, but they’ve slumped over the last two weeks, falling 54-31 to Saskatchewan at home last week and losing 33-26 in Winnipeg the week before. Quarterback Mike Reilly, an early favourite for Most Outstanding Player, particularly struggled last week, completing just 15 of 26 passes (57.7 per cent) for 160 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions before being pulled in favor of James Franklin. Franklin was impressive in relief (10 completions on 12 attempts, 83.3 per cent, for 111 yards and a touchdown), and so that may put more pressure on Reilly to perform or risk a hook. Edmonton has found an impressive rookie receiver recently in D’haquille Williams (six catches for 101 yards last week), but they’ll need others to step up as well against the Stampeders.<br />
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<b>Calgary’s versatility:</b> The Stampeders have found a lot of different ways to win games over the past few years, and that’s continued recently. The most recent example came with a 23-7 win over Toronto last week; their 23 points were less than normal for them, but their stifling defence kept Ricky Ray and the Argos from doing much. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell put up impressive stats despite the low point total (384 passing yards, a 73.8 per cent completion rate, two touchdowns and one interception), but could stand to convert more opportunities into points. However, if the Stampeders’ defence and special teams keep playing as well as they have been, they may not need a ton of offence to succeed.<br />
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<b>Hamilton’s changes:</b> It’s been a tumultous pair of weeks since the Tiger-Cats last played (a 37-18 loss to Ottawa August 18), with Kent Austin stepping down as head coach (he remains vice-president of football operations), the team hiring Art Briles and then recanting following backlash, and the attempt to bring in Johnny Manziel. Hamilton will probably be happy to get the focus back on the field, and there are some intriuging elements there, especially with new head coach June Jones and new starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. It will be interesting to see how Masoli fits into Jones’ historically pass-focused system.<br />
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<b>The up-and-down Argos:</b> Toronto has been an inconsistent team this year, and that’s been evident over the past two weeks, which saw a dominant 38-6 win over Montreal before a lackluster 23-7 loss to Calgary. A lot of their success or failure has been linked to on the play of QB Ricky Ray. We'll see how he does in this one.<br />
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<br />Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-76453114668027503152016-11-27T22:39:00.003-08:002016-11-27T22:58:23.844-08:00Henry Burris finally quiets critics, outdueling Mitchell in dazzling passing-record Grey Cup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Henry Burris has long seemed so determined <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/mop-henry-burris-is-motivated-to-prove-doubters-wrong--including-kent-austin-221931481.html">to quiet his detractors</a>, and Sunday's Grey Cup <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/grey-cup-preview-can-henry-burris-lead-redblacks-over-former-team-225253299.html">set up as the perfect opportunity for him</a>. It was against his old team, the Calgary Stampeders, the team that decided <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/glenn-burris-swap-really-help-anyone-234141331.html">to trade him to Hamilton</a> before the 2012 season to go with a younger quarterback (Drew Tate, who in turn gave way to Bo Levi Mitchell, Burris' opponent Sunday). It was after a year where the 41-year-old Burris was initially the starter, was replaced by Trevor Harris thanks to injury, was replaced again thanks to ineffectiveness, and then returned to lead the Redblacks into and through the playoffs. It was after a year where many were questioning if Ottawa even deserved to be in the postseason, and it was with Burris' own future seemingly up in the air, with the Redblacks apparently set to move on with Harris next year. It was with his individual highs (in particular, his Most Outstanding Player awards in 2015 and 2010) never seeming to quite align with his teams that won it all. It was <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/2016/11/27/redblacks-beat-stampeders-in-grey-cup-thriller.html">the perfect opportunity</a> for Burris to answer the call and bolster his legacy, and he did so in incredible fashion.<br />
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Sunday was perhaps the greatest game Burris has ever played in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Burris">his 20 years of professional football</a>, and that's before you consider the stakes or the other context. Burris completed 35 of his 46 passing attempts (76.1 per cent) for 461 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, and he also ran for two touchdowns on goal-line plays. He was a deserving winner of the Grey Cup's Most Outstanding Player, and that performance was essential to the Redblacks' victory. Looking at <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/grey-cup-preview-can-henry-burris-lead-redblacks-over-former-team-225253299.html">the matchups</a>, 15-2-1 Calgary seemed well ahead of 8-9-1 Ottawa in most categories, but quarterback play was potentially more even. The Stampeders had Mitchell, who had a tremendous season and won <a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/bo-levi-mitchell-could-be-unanimous-mop-but-five-other-outstanding-seasons-fell-short-194045750.html">the hard-to-earn unanimous Most Outstanding Player</a>, but the Redblacks had Burris, who won MOPs in 2010 and 2015. He didn't play as much this year and wasn't always dominant when he did, but he was impressive down the stretch, averaging 383 passing yards in his final several regular-season starts. Any reasonable case for a predicted Ottawa win had to involve Burris having a dominant game (with the aid of his impressive receiving corps), and that's exactly what happened.<br />
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Burris needed to have an incredible game, too. Yes, Calgary made plenty of mistakes early on, and that's what led to a 20-7 lead for the Redblacks at the half, but these Stampeders were too good to go down without a fight. Mitchell's three interceptions on the day deserve criticism, but he threw for 391 yards (combining with Burris for 852, the highest joint total in Grey Cup history) and two touchdowns with a 68.3 per cent completion rate, a showing better than many other Grey Cup champion quarterbacks have turned in. Burris wasn't perfect, as that interception proved, but he was an essential part of what Ottawa did here, and they needed every single bit of his production. They still barely escaped with the win; the play of the game might have been Redblacks' DB Abdul Kanneh getting just a hand on Calgary quarterback Andrew Buckley's heel and tripping him up on an otherwise-open second-and-goal run in the final minute, leading to the Stampeders kicking a field goal and sending the game to overtime. In the end, though, Burris was able to hit Ernest Jackson (who juggled the ball, but still made the catch) for an overtime touchdown, and Ottawa's defence was able to stop Mitchell and the Calgary offence on their own possession.<br />
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What's particularly remarkable is that Burris almost didn't get to this point. Before the game, he hurt his knee in warmup, and there were reports that he would be unavailable. He wasn't on the field when the teams were introduced, receiving treatment and painkillers in the locker room instead. That makes this performance even more incredible, as does how unlikely it looked that he would be leading the team at this point; the thought before the season was that the Redblacks would be Burris' team this year and then be turned over to Harris next year, but when Burris was hurt in the first game and Harris stepped in and dazzled, the younger quarterback might well have continued leading them if he hadn't gotten hurt himself. The quarterback carousel between the two played out all year, and there were low points as well as high ones for Burris; he memorably told "all those guys at TSN" to "<a href="https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/watch--henry-burris-tells--all-those-guys-at-tsn--to--shove-it--in-interview-014315167.html">shove it</a>" after he received deserved criticism following a loss to Toronto where he threw for just 218 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. There were times where he looked done as a starter, times where imagining him as the Grey Cup's most outstanding player would have seemed an incredible reach.<br />
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That speaks to a larger dichotomy with Burris and with player evaluation in general. People can hold two ideas at once, and just because Burris reached the top of the mountain here doesn't mean everyone who ever moved on from him or criticized him was wrong. Burris has had major ups and downs throughout his CFL and NFL stints; there's a reason he's remembered as one of the Chicago Bears' biggest starting quarterbacking failures, and there's a reason the "Bad Hank" narrative has followed him throughout his CFL career. At times, he's played very poorly and made terrible decisions, and the recent calls by Calgary (in 2012) and Hamilton (in 2014) to move on without him had some merit. Those moves paved the way for the emergence of Tate and Mitchell in Calgary and the emergence of Zach Collaros in Hamilton, and it's hard to blame teams for trying to go with a younger quarterback. Most quarterbacks anywhere near Burris' age aren't dominating the CFL (and have a lot of injury concerns), and paving the way for the future is understandable.<br />
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Burris has proved to be able to turn back the clock, though, in some ways becoming even better in the last few years. His 2012 (5,356) and 2015 (5,693) seasons are his two highest yardage totals, and his completion percentage has shot up since leaving Calgary. It's understandable why those teams moved on from him, but it's also understandable why he took offence to that. He clearly can still play, and Sunday's game certainly showed that. Burris had perhaps the best game of his career on the biggest stage imaginable, and while some of the criticism of him has been justified, he certainly proved able to answer it for at least one day. <br />
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A quarterback's legacy should never rest on one game, and Burris was a certain CFL Hall of Famer, a probable top-10 all-time CFL quarterback, and a likely top-five all-time CFL quarterback before this. However, this does add another Grey Cup ring (his third; 1998, 2008, 2016) and another Grey Cup MOP (also in 2008) to his impressive trophy case, and the dominant performance he turned in here illustrates just how good he can be. We'll see where Burris goes from here, but whether he opts to ride off into the sunset on a high note or keep playing (in Ottawa or elsewhere), this was another piece of evidence that he's one of the CFL's legends. It was the perfect game from him at the perfect time, and one desperately needed. The 8-9-1 Redblacks and the 41-year-old Burris both had Rodney Dangerfield syndrome all week, getting no respect next to Mitchell and the Stampeders, but they did their talking on the field Sunday. Burris was able to use all that disrespect and all that motivation, and to deliver one of the most remarkable performances you'll ever see. Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-30371944024920155592016-11-13T13:29:00.001-08:002016-11-13T13:50:53.612-08:00Eskimos' White leads them to controversial win, but they lose ReillyThe Edmonton Eskimos accomplished the first step towards defending their Grey Cup title Sunday, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 24-21 in the CFL's East semifinal, but it wasn't an easy win, an unquestioned win, or a win without cost. Edmonton dominated the first half on the scoreboard, leading 7-3 after the first quarter and 18-3 at the break, but that was after Hamilton failed to take advantage of multiple Eskimos' miscues; despite a blocked punt and other Edmonton mistakes, the Ticats went 0 for 7 on second-down conversions in the half and only notched one field goal. Hamilton woke up more late in the game, though, and had a chance to win it late, especially after Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly went down, but the Eskimos came out victorious thanks to a great performance from running back John White, a crucial interception from Kenny Ladler, a close non-call on what looked like a late hit, and an eventual field goal from Sean Whyte.<br />
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White's play in this one was really the biggest difference between the teams. On a windy day in Hamilton, neither passing offence did particularly well, and Reilly was certainly a far cry from the guy who led the league with 5,554 passing yards and posted a 70.8 per cent completion mark this season. On Sunday, he only completed 10 of 19 passes (52.6 per cent) for 133 yards, and backup James Franklin only completed two of four for 19 yards. Hamilton's Zach Collaros wasn't much better, though, completing 20 of 31 (64.6 per cent) for 231 yards with that late interception, and backup Jeremiah Masoli produced the biggest spark from the quarterback position, completing his only pass for 46 yards and rushing for a touchdown. The ground game did a lot to decide this, though; White rushed 20 times for 160 yards and two touchdowns, averaged 8.0 yards per carry, and set up the decisive late first and goal inside the final minute with a 23-yard-run (after recovering his own fumble on the previous play) that led to Whyte's chip-shot field goal to give Edmonton the lead with seven seconds left, letting them win after they picked off a Brandon Banks lateral on the subsequent kickoff return.<br />
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One element from this that will receive a lot of discussion going forward was on Hamilton's final drive. The Ticats tied the game at 21 with a rushing touchdown from Masoli, a perfectly-thrown two-point conversion from Collaros, and then a rare kickoff rouge, and they then forced Edmonton to punt into the wind late. The Eskimos' defence stood stout, though, and forced an incompletion from Collaros, which backed the Ticats up deeper thanks to a holding call. Edmonton defensive end Odell Willis hit Collaros after the ball was thrown, but it wasn't called on the field, and while Hamilton head coach Kent Austin challenged roughing the passer on the play, the command centre opted to uphold the on-the-field non-call.<br />
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From this perspective, that's the wrong decision; it looked like Willis launched late. However, it was close, and that is a tough call to make in real time. It's not certain that Hamilton would have won even with a call there, either; yes, they'd get a first down deep in their own territory, but there's still a long ways to go from there, and their offence wasn't doing much on the day. The non-call did set up Edmonton's win, though; the Ticats wound up in second and long, tried to throw deep, and had Ladler pick it off, leading to White's run and Whyte's field goal.<br />
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The Eskimos move on with this win and will face Ottawa in the East Final (in a Grey Cup rematch, and a clash of Edmonton HC Jason Maas with his old team) next Sunday, but they'll have a lot of questions to answer going forward. First, there's the issue of Reilly's health and if he'll be able to play. Franklin is a skilled backup, but Reilly's one of the league's best quarterbacks, and being without him would be a major loss. Beyond that, there's a lot for the Eskimos to clean up. There were too many fumbles and miscues in this one, and if Hamilton had taken advantage of just a couple of those, it might be the Ticats moving on. The Edmonton passing offence, so good for so much of this year, was also missing in action Sunday, and Hamilton demonstrated an effective plan to shut down top receivers Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker. The Eskimos will have a lot to work on this week if they want to get back to the Grey Cup. However, their hopes of being the first crossover team ever to appear in the championship game are still alive for now, and that's the important thing. Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-65337369527054821692016-02-25T08:13:00.001-08:002016-02-25T08:35:22.430-08:00Why The Input Club's attempt to control longform isn't going to work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got angry yesterday. This isn't a regular occurrence for me in general, but it's particularly unusual when it comes to sports media; there's plenty of frustration and disappointment in that world, and in discussing it, but there isn't too much that motivates me to outright anger. Yet, <i>Esquire</i> and <i>ESPN The Magazine </i>writer Chris Jones' "<a href="http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2016/02/in-defence-of-longform_24.html">In Defence Of Longform</a>" (which really reads like a defence of a specific kind of longform that he practices, a condemnation of all other attempts at the form, and an exclusion of those who aren't already practicing his kind of longform, but we'll get to that) and the subsequent <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewBucholtz/status/702576091479674880">Twitter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewBucholtz/status/702603609804972032">arguments</a> I had about it ticked me off in a way I hadn't experienced in years. I've been trying to figure out what exactly sparked that anger (after all, surely there are more controversial and more problematic things out there than an argument over longform standards), and I think I now know just why it bothered me so much. The case made by Jones (which was written in the wake of SB Nation <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/sb-nation-pulls-daniel-holtzclaw-longform-they-were-blasted-for.html">running and then pulling</a> a highly-problematic piece on convicted serial rapist Daniel Holtzclaw and then putting their longform program "<a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/sb-nation-puts-longform-program-on-temporary-hiatus-during-holtzclaw-review.html">on temporary hiatus</a>" during the subsequent internal investigation), and by those who took his side, feels like the latest iteration of a highly-problematic subset of media, The Input Club, something that's used to limit the advancement of young writers and try to ensure they play by the conventional rules. <br />
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What is The Input Club? Simply, it's the belief that work should be judged not on its intrinsic merits (the output), but on who wrote it, what process they used to write it, and where it was published (input factors). This is something that's been used in the media wars before, and was a key part of traditional journalists' original arguments against bloggers. That war <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/the-battle-is-over-the-blogs-have-won-the-evolution-of-sports-blogging-and-blogs-with-balls.html">has now been lost</a>, and you won't find many still taking outright shots at blogs and the web (apart from <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/michael-wilbon-drops-mothers-basement-slam-bloggers-like-2008.html">Michael Wilbon</a>, that is), but that doesn't mean the anti-blogger, anti-young journalist sentiments have dried up completely; people have just moved the fight. In this case, thanks to the Holtzclaw story, it's happening over <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/longform">SB Nation Longform</a>, which has produced <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2014/7/15/5883593/the-many-crimes-of-mel-hall">a</a> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/6/4/8694199/accokeek-street-racing-disaster">variety</a> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/8/11/9121347/hellbent-but-not-broken-the-tough-birches-paddle-the-yukon-river-quest">of</a> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2015/7/1/8861183/james-hammes-appalachian-trail-bismarck">incredible</a> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2015/9/23/9364951/the-reckoning">pieces</a>. I'd rather read many of those than much of The Input Club's conventional longform, and I'd argue that the site should be judged on its entire body of work rather than
just the problematic Holtzclaw story. They shouldn't be told to stay out of longform just because their longform vertical doesn't have the resources of conventional media outlets doing it. In many ways, that argument smacks of those anti-blogger wars, especially when you consider that many of the SBN pieces have been written by younger journalists, some with a blogging background.<br />
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Saying bloggers can't do journalism would get you widely pilloried, and even specifically saying bloggers can't do longform would probably be criticized, so the next way to do a Lucy-esque football yank and keep those people out of the real journalist club is to come up with a definition of "real longform" that conveniently excludes everything without the resources of a traditional magazine (most of which aren't exactly hiring bloggers to write big features). This approach also ensures plenty of continued employment for those already in the club. However, as we'll get to later, it's not really worth arguing with them, and their definition doesn't ultimately matter all that much. It's worth discussing, though, to illustrate to readers and aspiring journalists that their way is not the only way.<br />
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One of the biggest problems with The Input Club's ideals is that they lead to what longform critics have criticized as "longform for the sake of longform." They say that their pieces are good, but they attempt to prove this by a recitation of how much time, effort and money went into them. Consider <a href="http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2016/02/in-defence-of-longform_24.html">what Jones says on this front</a>:<br />
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<i>In 15 years writing features, I've had hundreds of ideas rejected—sometimes with surprising physical force—and I've written exactly one story that was longer than 12,000 words. It took me eight months. I went to 13 states. I worked with one of the best editors in the business, who cut 5,000 words from it, and some of those cuts were painful. We also worked with outstanding, full-time copy editors and fact checkers, two of whom combine for a half-century of experience alone, and with a professional photographer and art director. It was a true team effort, and if we were able to calculate how much that piece cost, in terms of hours and travel, it would be well into six figures. That's what it takes. You can't say you want to play the game and then make up your own rules. Or you can, but then you risk looking like you don't belong out there.</i><br />
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"Look at how much work I did, the resources I had, and how much money my company spent on this piece" just feels like bragging, and it's not necessarily proof that the end product was any good. That's not "what it takes" to produce a 12,000-word feature; that's what it took to produce the feature Jones is talking about. Of course, all those resources can be helpful; it would be fantastic to get to spend eight months on something, to travel all over for a story, to work with top editors and full-time copy editors and factcheckers and professional photographers and art directors. All of those resources have the potential to improve a story. However, they don't necessarily make it better than a story produced without those resources, and they're not necessarily required to produce a good piece.<br />
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I don't know which particular piece Jones is talking about, but I'd be very curious to find out. (<b>Update:</b> It's <a href="https://twitter.com/bpmoritz/status/702893335015456768">likely</a> <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a4363/things-that-carried-him/">this one</a>, which strikes me as a good read, but not the greatest thing ever written, and not necessarily superior to some of the SB Nation pieces linked above. Your mileage may vary.) I'd be particularly curious to read and evaluate it next to some of those excellent SB Nation pieces linked above, which were presumably produced at a fraction of the cost. Standards are individual, and there are plenty of disagreements over what makes a good read, so we're not going to get universal agreement either that Jones' expensive piece is better or that some top stories done without those resources are better; that would depend on readers' particular tastes and affinities for the author, the writing style and the subject matter. I can almost guarantee that I'd find at least some cheaper pieces I like better than whatever six-figure piece Jones is referencing, though, and I don't think I'd be alone. It's superior according to The Input Club because of what went into it; I don't think that superiority necessarily translates to the actual product, which really should be all that matters. <i> </i><br />
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To be clear, I'm not inside Jones' head (or anyone else's), so I don't know if he subscribes to the Input Club theory in general or in this particular instance. I'm just saying from the outside, that's what his piece appears to be arguing. Consider these lines <a href="http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2016/02/in-defence-of-longform_24.html">from his piece</a>:<br />
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<i>Here's the situation, as I see it. A bunch of sites—SB Nation is far from alone here—wanted to start doing longer features. They wanted to start doing features because, done well, they can “improve engagement” or whatever it’s called and lend a sense of prestige to a venture that maybe hasn’t always been seen as a quality product. The longform vertical becomes the stable anchor tenant for a much larger, looser enterprise. That's fine and logical, I think; it's like the use of distraction in a magic trick. (Or, put more charitably, "a rising tide lifts all boats.") The problem arises because of the gap between the desire to do longform and the ability to do it well.<br /><br />That “ability gap” exists for all sorts of reasons. In the case of SB Nation, as far as I can tell, one man was pushing out a magazine's worth of features each month by himself rather than with a masthead of twenty or thirty. (There is a 2011 interview with Glenn Stout below. If you didn’t know him before the Holtzclaw piece, it might change your opinion of him and his work.) He was doing it with limited resources—SB Nation wasn't paying the rates that would attract top-flight writers—and apparently without much of a safety net. The Holtzclaw story was deeply flawed, but I still have empathy for both its writer and editor, because producing a risky story like this one properly is maybe impossible without the necessary support systems in place. When you run hundreds of stories on a relative shoestring, something like this was probably inevitable.</i><br />
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So, Jones appears to not only be saying that those who wrote for SB Nation Longform weren't "top-flight writers" simply based on their willingness to work for fees less than he'd want, but also that the site wasn't "doing longform well" because they didn't have a masthead of 20 or 30 involved in it. He throws further shade at the site with "not always seen as a quality product" (and <i>Esquire</i> is? <a href="http://www.esquire.com/">Their homepage</a> currently includes such quality features as "The Women We Love Of Instagram"and "The 23 Hottest Looks From The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue," and there are plenty of problematic pieces in the actual magazine too), and goes on to talk about how longform <a href="http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2016/02/in-defence-of-longform_24.html">should only be done the way traditional magazines with immense budgets would do it</a>:<br />
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<i>I’m about to sound like an old man, but fuck it, old men
are right sometimes. Doing good longform requires incredible resources.
Those include things like talent and experience, but they also include cold-hard
cash, in the shape of good writer's fees and the expense of the on-the-ground reporting
such pieces require. The real trouble is, the genuine assets of writing
online—speed and cheap, infinite space—are precisely the things that can work
against good feature writing. It takes time, and you can't treat space (or the
reader's attention span) like a bottomless resource. You can’t volume shoot
longform. ...</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>This modern middle ground of longform in theory, digital
by practice is pretty clearly fraught. Newspapers and magazines aren't perfect;
Lord knows that even with our best efforts, we make mistakes. But the more
analog systems and teams of professionals we have in place improve the chances
of great work happening, and they reduce the chances of catastrophic error. The
digital revolution was heralded by some for its elimination of the traditional
gatekeepers. It turns out those gatekeepers did a pretty good job, and they
were in place for good fucking reason. </i><br />
<br />
This rant about gatekeepers is the tiredest of old-media canards, and it's another example of how this relates to the old blogger-mainstream media war. Like "you need huge resources to do longform," it's a statement that sounds good at first: who doesn't want resources? Who doesn't want extra editors improving their work and ensuring you don't publish something horrible? Consider the more subtle implications, though. If you start mandating that longform can only be done by "more analog systems and teams of professionals," you're reducing the playing field to traditional magazines and media outlets. Perhaps you allow digital ones to join the party if they play by the old-media rules and pay "rates that attract top-flight writers" (so, essentially, those traditional journalists who have already been accepted into the longform fraternity), but that's frankly incredibly unfeasible for most digital operations (and it can be argued that it's not really feasible for print, either; it's just hard to separate those costs out from all the other problems print journalism is facing). Moreover, who's to know that the club won't again yank the football away and move the goalposts once you meet the standards they set? The arguments for gatekeepers and resources feel like <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/government-and-civics/essays/winning-vote-history-voting-rights">a property qualification for voting</a>; "Well, we can't outwardly ban these people, so let's just create a standard they can't meet."<br />
<br />
But those gatekeepers were in place for "good fucking reason," weren't they? It's interesting to consider that many of the worst journalism scandals have come at places with incredible resources and substantial "gatekeepers". Take a look at <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/in-report-on-rolling-stone-a-case-study-in-failed-journalism.html?_r=1">the remarkable failures</a> with <i>Rolling Stone</i>'s 2014 story about an alleged gang-rape at the University of Virginia. Examine the cases of serial fabricators <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayson_Blair">Jayson Blair</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Glass">Stephen Glass</a>, who worked at <i>The New York Times</i> and <i>The New Republic</i> respectively. Gatekeepers did not stop those problems. Could they have? Maybe. But it's worth noting that the biggest failure in the <i>Rolling Stone</i> case was exactly what SB Nation has been accused of; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/in-report-on-rolling-stone-a-case-study-in-failed-journalism.html?_r=0">a lack of critical editing</a>. They had editors in place, but those editors didn't pick up on the problems with the story. I don't remember Jones telling <i>Rolling Stone</i> to stay out of longform after that. Telling, isn't it, that print media outlets like <i>Rolling Stone</i> and <i>The New York Times</i> are judged on their body of work after scandals, while a digital site like SB Nation is condemned and told they shouldn't engage in longform because one of their many, many longform pieces went awry?<br />
<br />
So, with the input (the money, the numbers of editors specifically assigned to a piece, the outlet publishing it) mattering so much more than the output (the actual piece itself) to these judges, is there any hope for those not already in the club? Not really, but they'll grant you the illusion of hope. <a href="http://sonofboldventure.blogspot.com/2016/02/in-defence-of-longform_24.html">See Jones</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>If nothing else comes from this episode, I hope that it demonstrates what goes into the best of what we do, and helps Young Writers understand why rejection happens, and why they might not be ready to write cover stories for The New Yorker next year. "Longform" doesn't suck because of this piece. This piece shows how hard the good stuff really is, and if there is a cult among us, that's why it exists: We </i><br />
<i>know just how rare and elusive the highest heights are, and why it's worth celebrating when any one of our shrinking number is lucky enough to reach them, however briefly.</i><br />
<br />
What's actually "the good stuff" is very much subject to interpretation, and will vary from reader to reader, but the references to the "cult" and "our shrinking number" are maybe even more telling. It's a very small group of those who practice #longform according to Jones' standards, because there simply aren't many publications willing to invest that much in a story; Jones talks earlier in his piece about how the one over-12,000 word piece he's written took him eight months and cost his outlet "six figures" (between travel, expenses, compensation for those involved, etc), and the numbers of places that can afford to spend six figures on a story are extremely limited. Moreover, if they're laying out that kind of money for a story, you can bet they're only hiring someone who's already written plenty of those conventional stories. See Jones' Twitter advice on starting at the bottom and working your way up (which fits in with <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/on-chris-jones-criticism-and-context-lessons-from-fast-break-panel.html">previous advice he's given</a> about not being critical of outlets and playing by the traditional rules):<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/Leah_Sottile">@Leah_Sottile</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewBucholtz">@AndrewBucholtz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jfdinunz">@jfdinunz</a> Smaller pieces at smaller places. Shouldn't write 5,000 words before you've written 400, 1,200, etc.</div>
— Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire) <a href="https://twitter.com/MySecondEmpire/status/702617071855624192">February 24, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
If everyone follows that advice, it really will be a "shrinking number"; you're only going to get new #longform writers when the old ones in the biggest magazines retire and they promote from within. In another parallel to the blogger-mainstream war, that's how things conventionally worked at many newspapers; you started in the smallest places or doing the worst jobs and only ascended when a gap opened, with who got to write what often based on seniority rather than merit. That was a huge part of the blogging revolution; without those "gatekeepers," talented people were able to put their writing out there, often in different and better ways than the traditional model, and they found an audience for it.<br />
<br />
It's notable that one of the most important media figures out there, and someone who played one of the biggest roles in the democratization of and success of longform, initially quit media because he was frustrated at the menial jobs he was asked to do and the seniority-tied infrastructure that kept him down. <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/bill-simmons-chapters-chapter-rise-sports-guy.html">That would be Bill Simmons</a>, who went on to become not just a high-profile columnist, but <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/bill-simmons-chapters-chapter-iv-top-pyramid.html">to found Grantland and run it as editor-in-chief</a>, doing a ton there to promote good journalism and storytelling (including longform). Yes, <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/why-the-narrative-on-grantland-s-dr-v-story-shifted-and-what-lessons-that-can-teach-us.html">they had their missteps too</a>, but on the whole, Grantland was a huge benefit for sports journalism, both traditional and innovative, and <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/bill-simmons-new-site-is-the-ringer-launching-later-in-2016.html">Simmons' new site</a> will hopefully be the same. In any case, it will definitely be paying good writers, and maybe even some traditionalists. That's ironic, considering that Simmons probably never would have been let in their club. <br />
<br />
Overall, it's hard to buy Jones' contention that good, long journalism and the numbers of those who practice it are shrinking. If anything, good longform is expanding, and that's thanks to digital sites like SB Nation, which have generally done a tremendous job and produced a lot of great pieces. Of course, there's bad stuff to sift through out there too, but that's absolutely the case for traditional magazines as well. The "cult" is only shrinking in the minds of those practitioners who have a very narrow and exclusive definition of who's in their club.<br />
<br />
In the end, though, The Input Club doesn't particularly matter, and this piece isn't written in an attempt to change the mind of anyone in it. That's a futile endeavor. They're welcome to keep their definitions, and to only praise and promote long pieces done by traditional organizations to their exacting and high-budget standards. The good thing for readers is that they're not the only game in town. There's plenty of excellent work out there that isn't created according to these standards, and as long as readers are willing to judge it by its merits, the world of sports journalism will be just fine. The Input Club doesn't get to determine what pieces are published, or at what length, or by who, or at which outlet, and they don't have to read them. As long as others do, there will be good content created.<br />
<br />
This isn't to say that we should ignore criticism and dialogue, but rather to take heed of what criticism we listen to and what it's based off. That's why I vow, both as a reader and a writer, to do my best to be in The Output Club going forward. It's an alternative, inclusive model, judging pieces only by what's in them, not if they were written by "real journalists" using traditional models at traditional outlets. I'm going to do my best to not focus on where content appears or who wrote it (and oddly enough, this will probably help some of The Input Club; for example, many of <i>Esquire</i>'s pieces will likely appear much better if considered without the baggage of their brand and their other content), but on if the content's actually good. This is a big part of how blogging rose to prominence in the first place, and consistently creating good content is what led us to a place <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/the-battle-is-over-the-blogs-have-won-the-evolution-of-sports-blogging-and-blogs-with-balls.html">where the blogs won the war</a>. Doing so going forward is how digital outlets will do just fine with longform, regardless of criticisms from The Input Club. Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-77887599011769747482015-04-30T12:27:00.000-07:002015-04-30T19:52:29.954-07:00BWB6: Justice, society, and the rise of online and athlete activistsI'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the "Justice, society, and the rise of online and athlete activists" panel that closed out the day. (Update: also see <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/blogs-with-balls-justice-and-society-panel-leads-to-some-media-fireworks.html">my take on this at Awful Announcing</a>.)<br />
<br />
Panelists:<br />
Julie DiCaro @JulieDiCaro<br />
Aaron Harison @FreeBeacon<br />
Greg Howard @GregHoward88<br />
Chris Kluwe @ChrisWarcraft<br />
Cyd Zeigler @CydZeigler<br />
<br />
Moderator: Kevin Blackistone, @ProfBlackistone<br />
<br />
CK: "I'm a straight white male. My life is not hard."<br />
CZ: "I don't watch much sports anymore."<br />
"It's a tool for social justice for me. It's a tool to advance kids' lives."<br />
<br />
JD: "We have baggage we all bring. Before I wrote about sports, I was an attorney, representing domestic violence victims. I was a public defender."<br />
On sports blazing a trail for society: JD: "The Bruce Jenner interview was an example of that. Sports sometimes goes first."<br />
AH: "We warn about the dangers of the politicized life, what you're buying what you're rooting for based on your politics."<br />
"Sports should be sports."<br />
Jackie Robinson: "HE wasn't out there doing the Michael Sam reality show."<br />
"You let your actions speak for your words."<br />
GH: "I would disagree. I think a lot of things bleed into each other."<br />
"It's not just about that. It's about the people who are scrubs. Do they gety to play baseball too?"<br />
"Athletes are people too. They can have political opinions too."<br />
<br />
AH: Chik-Fil-A:<br />
"It's a shitty way to live your life if you're judging your chicken sandwiches based on the owners' position."<br />
CK: "The society we live in is shaped by those people."<br />
"If you're saying other people should not politically oppose that, you're giving the power to the status quo."<br />
CK: "We are human beings as well."<br />
"We would like to use that voice the way everyone else gets to use that voice."<br />
"We're gladiators. Go forth and bleed in the arena. And then shut your fucking mouth. That's bullshit."<br />
AH: "You did create a circus around yourself and played a position that's replaceable."<br />
CK: "You're saying that we don't have to care that Floyd Mayweather is a serial abuser of women because he can box really well."<br />
<br />
CK: "First Take is huge, it makes a ton of money, it's dragging us straight towards Idiocracy."<br />
CZ: "This is the problem that everyone who doesn't agree with the power structure needs to shut up and sit down and get fired."<br />
"People don't always link up their fandom with social issues."<br />
On Tony Dungy raising money for antigay causes: "My business partner at Outsports is a gay man who loves the Colts. He didn't change his team. Fandom is irrational."<br />
JD: "Everyone sits down and watches the NFL."<br />
NFL brings greater discussion of domestic violence, rape, etc<br />
GH: "To pretend sports is a vacuum is disingenous."<br />
<br />
KB asked why don't more athletes speak up?<br />
CK: "I think it's to do with the overwhelming corporate desire of our society."<br />
"If you speak up, and you're not a Tom Brady or a LeBron James, teams can find reasons to replace you."<br />
<br />
On Jameis Winston: CK: "Are we comfortable with that person being a role model for all the young adults in our society?"<br />
"A lot of people have said yes. It's just sports. Why do we care what he does? He can throw a football really far."<br />
JD: Winston: "He has not been exonerated by the court system."<br />
Need to challenge things like Lovie Smith's comments on Winston<br />
AH: "He hasn't been convicted!"<br />
"I'm saying there's really nothing wrong with [Winston going first overall and playing in the NFL without punishment] at this point in time."<br />
JD: "Most rapists aren't convicted. Most domestic abusers are not convicted."<br />
AH: "What's your alternative?"<br />
JD: NFL system of having experienced attorney look into it outside of judicial process has promise<br />
"This idea that there's some kind of right to play in the NFL, that's not true at all. Teams can choose who they want to be associated with."<br />
<br />
KB: Are NFL players being scapegoated for domestic violence?<br />
GH: "Anyone who gets trashed or thrown in a hole for hitting a woman in the face deserves it."<br />
"It should probably be mirrored in the real world, especially for how easy it is for those with means to get away with it."<br />
CZ: "We are a capitalist society. We are driven in part by money."<br />
NFL/media: "The people will let them know if they should continue doing it or not."<br />
Freedom of expression: "When that video of Ray Rice came out, people overwhelmingly expressed themselves."<br />
"It became really financially imperative for the NFL to take big steps."<br />
CK: "One of the broader things we need to look at is not what are the results of these actions, what is the structure that allowed this to happen?"<br />
"What are the underlying structures that allowed this to exist?" Socioeconomic background, high school, how they interacted with police.<br />
"People do not exist in a vacuum."u<br />
"We need to understand that all of our citizens are important."<br />
"if you only focus on curing the symptoms, you're never going to cure the underlying disease and things will never change."<br />
"That's why athletes should speak out, because we have a platform."<br />
<br />
KB: Are media doing a good job on these issues?<br />
JD: "I think the blogs are doing a much better job than mainstream media on some issues. And that's because you don't have as many people to go through."<br />
AH: "Sports media, I don't think does a thorough job in covering theses issues, and the reason is because you've got a lot of people who agree with each other."<br />
"I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just saying there are consequences."<br />
GH: Speak out if you want. "If you don't have anything to say, that's okay too."<br />
"If you recognize the humanity in athletes, it's a lot easier for you to not look up at them as freedom fighters. They're mostly guys in their 20s like me who don't know shit about shit."<br />
AH: "I think a lot of the media's very lazy." See one guy write about it, everyone else does<br />
"It's a very superficial analysis. That's what you get on a lot of these issues."<br />
CZ: Calls AH out for "lazy opinion" on Michael Sam<br />
JD: Expansion of the media improves coverage, different perspectives represented<br />
<br />
KB: How do we be more proactive?<br />
GH: "Be less white, be less male, be less old."<br />
"It's not like Ferguson's the first time a black dude got killed."<br />
Video catches mainstream interest, forces action<br />
"We all fucking knew what happened."<br />
AH: To be proactive, news organizations need to invest. Video is reactive, cheap.<br />
JD: Idea that convictions require video "It's doing a huge injustice in our society."<br />
AH: "It can be very expensive to do an investigation the right way."<br />
<br />
Blogs With Balls' Don Povia ended with: "This is why we do this, to have conversations like this."Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-4589471421994155272015-04-30T12:14:00.002-07:002015-04-30T12:14:29.499-07:00BWB6: Breaking Away From the Narrative: How to Navigate the Waters of 24/7 NFL Coverage<i>I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the "Breaking Away From the Narrative: How to Navigate the Waters of 24/7 NFL Coverage" panel. Apologies for the short notes here; I was uploading some other notes during this panel.</i><br />
<br />
Panelists:<br />
Eric Edholm @eric_edholm<br />
Andrea Hangst @fball_andrea<br />
Maggie Hendricks @maggiehendricks<br />
Robert Klemko @robertklemko<br />
Keith Bulluck, @kbull53<br />
<br />
Moderator: Michael Schottey @schottey<br />
<br />
Maggie: [At USA Today] "I didn't necessarily always know my click numbers which was nice. It let me look for stories that are good stories."<br />
<br />
How to balance the 24/7 nature of the NFL today: Andrea: "It's hard to have that separation between work and life."
"It's something I'm thinking about all of the time."
"My work is my life."<br />
RK: "There are things you're going to weigh in on and not know what you're talking about."<br />
He cites mock drafts in particular; Eric agrees.<br />
MS: There are both internal and external pressures
"We can all sit here and say mock drafts don't matter but we're all going to write them."<br />
"It's something people like to read and they get informed, if you do it right."
Not just the opinion, "It's about the process you go through in supporting that."<br />
MH: Mocks can teach non-college football fans about draft eligible players<br />
RK: "The better example of something that is completely worthless is the draft grades that come out the day after the draft."
"Most of the times, it's driven more by your betters and what they want you to do."<br />
<br />
MS: "Where is the line between a strong opinion and throwing something out there just to have a strong opinion?"<br />
RK: Needs to be a thought you have a tough time editing to 140 characters.<br />
AH: Needs a level of thoughtfulness, not used just to start fights.<br />
EE: You can write most great ideas on back of a business card, though, so just 140 characters shouldn't kill everything.<br />
<br />
MS: "What's your process for writing something unique?"
Hypothetical situation of Roger Goodell killing someone.<br />
Maggie, work with editors, "Who's discussing the murder weapon? Who's discussing where it happened?"<br />
EE: Have an idea where the story might be going<br />
RK: "Spin it forward." Look at next commish.
"What are the things I've done in my life that gives me a perspective on this?"<br />
AH: "Get all the facts. Who did Roger Goodell murder? What weapon? Spin it forward, not just who the next commish will be, what does this mean for the NFL right now?" Sponsorships, etc.<br />
<br />
KB: Do media members think about the person involved in drug charges?<br />
AH: "I think about the person all the time."<br />
RK: "I didn't always and then I had a couple of legal scrapes."
"The more you do this [media job], the more cautious you are."<br />
EE: Bad situations affect normal people, same as NFLers<br />
MH: "I think of the families first."<br />
MS: AP, Ray Rice: "I can't say your punishment is you never get to play football ever again."
Not supported by CBA
"You can morally believe what you want to believe, but at the same time, that's not how it works."<br />
<br />
I asked about concussions and how that affects their coverage of the NFL.<br />
MH: "After Dave Duerson killed himself, I had a breakdown." Had to debate whether to keep covering football. Decided: "Use my loud voice for good."<br />
RK: Attitudes towards concussions are a problem. He looked at concussion treatment at a rural HS, a valuable story that caused some major changes: "The problem is my story in that series got 5000 page views, the least on our site that year."
"A lot of NFL fans don't want to read about it."<br />
AH: "It's so clear as day that this is a huge problem."
"You don't want to be faced with that."
"I'm trying to do something good here even I know there's ugliness with this sport."<br />
KB: "It's a reality for me."
"They literally showed me my brain."
"Players know. Some guys at 23 are retiring. They play four years they want to retire. And that's great."
"The NFL is doing things to make this better for players."
"I honestly don't worry about myself now, but what about 10,15, 20 years from now?"
"We're modern day gladiators."
Duerson story affected him.
"All you guys can do is just make people aware. If they don't click they don't click."<br />
<br />
This was a useful panel with a lot of different perspectives on football and how to cover it. I thought the responses to the concussion question were particularly good, addressing it from all sides (impact on players, impact on writers, public interest or lack thereof in stories).Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-32699886057877123252015-04-30T11:53:00.002-07:002015-04-30T11:59:45.467-07:00BWB6: Your Pitch Is Futile<i>I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the very interesting "Your Pitch Is Futile" panel, a discussion about PR and the media. </i><br />
Panelists:<br />
Mitch Germann (@mcg5)<br />
Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport)<br />
Robert Littal (@bso)<br />
Dayn Perry (@daynperry)<br />
Moderator: Zack Smith (@sportsflackzack)
<br />
<br />
The panel started with panelists asked to define storytelling and then describe either media (if they're from the PR side) or PR (if they're from the media side).
<br />
<br />
RL: Storytelling is about his own unique take. PR people : Agenda.<br />
MG: "Storytelling is something that creates a connection with the audience."
Media: resourceful, busy<br />
RG: "[Storytelling is] informative, entertaining, and or funny." PR "Under the delusion that the product they're trying to sell is in and of itself intrinsically interesting. A lot of the time, I disagree."
DP: "The visual element is important as the written word."
PR: Involved, helpful, follow-uppy.<br />
<br />
Zack asked the media guys about PR horror stories.<br />
RL: PR pitch on Viagra. "They also gave me a sample. They wanted me to use the sample."<br />
"The part where they say erections may last more than four hours, that is factual. I had to go to the ER."<br />
RG on Stone Cold Steve Austin<a href="http://thebiglead.com/2014/09/29/stone-cold-steve-austin-tells-us-why-wwe-wont-unionize/"> shilling a Wendy's sandwich</a>: "Literally every answer was about the stupid fucking sandwich."<br />
<br />
ZS: What are the benefits to PR?<br />
RL: Does things for PR with expectation of them helping later
"If you deal with the silliness and some of the dumb things, when something important comes up, they'll take care of you."
Mayweather/Pacquiao example: he's helped firms, they've helped him gain access now<br />
RG: "We're looking for somebody to be interesting and honest with us. Access in the absence of candour isn't that valuable."<br />
<br />
ZS: What's important for PR firms to do in a pitch?<br />
MG: Encourages brevity, personalization, creative assets (visual or video)<br />
RL: "A lot of bloggers' audience, they can smell BS. They can smell when you're shilling something. They expect that from mainstream media, they don't expect that from us."<br />
Pacquiao: RL has to make fun of him to get people to read. PR needs to understand that.<br />
"Everyone's not Whitlock with a playbook."<br />
RG on PR expecting stories for free. "We have paid advertisers."
"Why would anyone do that if they can just make something that triggers emotions that everyone will run for free?"<br />
For RG to run something PR-based, it needs to be unique, something that could generate pickup from elsewhere<br />
<br />
MG said there are two main ways for PR firms to get bloggers excited about their stuff: "Invite someone to come along and be part of the process that generates that content [or] create such good content that it drives the news cycle even without having to pitch it."<br />
He cites a Madden spot with James Franco and Kevin Hart as an example; it got pickup without pitches.<br />
<br />
DP: Artistic content can help: "It can serve the advertising purpose and be artistic."<br />
ZS: Athletes/products: "Our hope is that there is that authentic connection."<br />
RL: Tug-of-war between what PR wants, what audience wants
"I think that's the biggest challenge." RL on interviews with athletes set up by PR: "Really take it seriously and have a plan when you're talking to the athlete."
"The best way to be taken seriously is to ask serious questions."<br />
<br />
MG: "Our expectations when it comes to athlete spokespeople are very low."
Avoid complicated corporate statements
"Athletes are a lot more protective of their brand than they have been in the past."
"The expectation is just one mention." Buster Posey as example: "Just start it with esurance, go into baseball and we're good."
"Hopefully it's a win-win."
"We try to set really realistic expectations with people we work with on both sides."<br />
<br />
DP: "There needs to be a clear obligation on the part of the athlete to be candid."
Matt Harvey/Dan Patrick interview: example where that didn't happen<br />
<br />
ZS asked about The Players' Tribune: are they bypassing media?<br />
RL: "It's an extension of [athletes'] social media."
"It's good for fans, it's good for consumers to have as much information as they possibly can."
Players Tribune can provide media/blogs with more content
"I'm a proponent of multiple opinions and multiple outlets."<br />
MG: It gives more credibility to regular media<br />
RG: We have inflated sense of TPT thanks to being in media, seeing it in feeds<br />
"It's not necessarily as influential as some might think."<br />
DP: "It's not a new phenomenon." Jackie Robinson ghostwrote columns. As told to autobiographies also common.<br />
<br />
I thought this was a really well-done panel. It had the potential to be dry, but Smith did a great job of moderating, asking interesting questions that were relevant to both PR people and media types and exploring some interesting parts of the issue (such as just what PR wants from bloggers and athletes). Great job by BWB on this one.Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-32548274376494411482015-04-30T11:38:00.002-07:002015-04-30T11:43:01.648-07:00BWB6: Cyd Zeigler and Christina Kahrl<i>I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcriptsu. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from <a href="http://twitter.com/cydzeigler">Cyd Zeigler</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/christinakahrl">Christina Kahrl</a>'s conversation about trans issues.</i><br />
<br />
On trans issues in general: CZ: "People don't know anything about this."<br />
<br />
On Bruce Jenner and his recent ABC interview: CK: "Certainly it's an opportunity."<br />
(to talk more about trans issues).<br />
<br />
CK wishes they'd discussed sports element more on Jenner interview<br />
On journalists looking to cover trans people and worried about pronoun use: CK: "Trans people are used to the (pronoun) question. Just ask."<br />
<br />
CK on her own identity: "between my ears, I always have been Christina."<br />
<br />
Discussing <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/why-the-narrative-on-grantland-s-dr-v-story-shifted-and-what-lessons-that-can-teach-us.html">Grantland's piece on Essay Anne Vanderbilt</a>, Dr. V:<br />
CK: "The tragedy is that Essay Anne took her own life."<br />
"It's not the teaching moment you ask for."<br />
"You have to talk about the mistake. You have to own it and walk it back and see where you went wrong."<br />
What you do with people is give them the opportunity." (and work to help before things go wrong)<br />
<br />
ESPN is doing a panel for its own journalists this summer in Bristol with trans athletes and coaches. CK: "It's 'Here's how to do this right.'"<br />
<br />
SI's Robert Klemko asked a question about trans athletes looking to compete in women's sports, especially in high school.<br />
CK: "It's a copout to say its not safe."<br />
On hormone blockers "it's not a competitive advantage."<br />
NCAA, IOC policies are positive<br />
CZ noted that everyone has an advantage of some sort, so lines drawn against trans athletes are arbitrary. "Shaquille O'Neal has an unfair advantage against me." "Everyone has an advantage."<br />
<br />
Christina was asked if she's faced challenges either at ESPN or in baseball thanks to her identity.<br />
CK: "I havent found much discrimination." "I'm just another asshole with a microphone."<br />
"ESPN has been a model workplace where no one has even misgendered me in terms of pronouns."<br />
<br />
CK on why players respect her: "I'm not there to talk trans issues, I'm there to talk baseball."<br />
<br />
CK said her decision to come out wasn't "brave": "I'm just exhausted with the fear of not being myself." "Given a choice between guaranteed unhappiness and the unknown, I'm choosing the unknown."Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-59990161193670406542015-04-30T11:18:00.003-07:002015-04-30T11:37:06.664-07:00BWB6: Yahoo's "Grandstanding" podcast<i>I'm in Chicago for Blogs With Balls 6 and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts; this panel's highlights are particularly short, as I was uploading a previous panel's highlights during it. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the Yahoo Sports <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grandstanding/id969326620?mt=2">Grandstanding Podcast</a>, which did a special episode live from BWB focused on the NFL draft.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Panelists: Jay Busbee (@jaybusbee), Kevin Kaduk (@KevinKaduk), Eric Edholm (@eric_edholm)<br />
<br />
On the draft in Chicago: KK: "I don't think the NFL knows how this is going to go."<br />
"They're trying to turn this into a travelling roadshow."<br />
<br />
If drug arrests really hurt a player's stock: EE: "I don't think they put a little marijuana flag by the guy's name."<br />
KK: "They should."<br />
<br />
During the Q+A, former NFLer Chris Kluwe asked about the recent rush to draft quarterbacks:<br />
EE: "I think there are quarterbacks thrown into it." (and not given enough time)<br />
KK: "I think that's a mark of a bad organization."<br />
<br />
Someone else asked about UCLA QB Brett Hundley:<br />
EE on Brett Hundley: "I didn't see much difference from his first few games to his last few games. I don't think he improved that much."<br />
"I'm not excited about him, I don't know why."<br />
JB: "The more time we have to look at these guys, the more flaws we find with them."<br />
<br />
Apologies for the short notes here; this was a good panel overall, but I wasn't able to take a ton of notes during it.<br />
<br />Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-51297763715717533912015-04-29T12:12:00.000-07:002015-04-29T12:18:29.379-07:00BWB6: SB Nation's Spencer Hall on their network's Josh Hamilton post <i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a>
and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel
here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind
that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is
given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription
mistakes. Here are my notes from the Q+A session with SB Nation editorial director and Every Day Should Be Saturday's Spencer Hall, focusing on the questions he was asked about how the network handled the situation with <a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/sbnation-deletes-hateful-josh-hamilton-article.html">a rogue post on their Angels' blog about Josh Hamilton</a></i><a href="http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/sbnation-deletes-hateful-josh-hamilton-article.html"> </a><i>(SB Nation has since parted ways with the blogger in question). </i><br />
<br />
<br />
On the Hamilton post, and the challenges with having people in their affiliate network who are not full SB Nation employees: "It is difficult at times."<br />
"Hopefully the goal is to groom people to run these sites in a way that's within our editorial guidelines."<br />
"That's where you cross the line, where you do something inhumane."<br />
He woke up and saw the post around 8, the guy was gone by noon.<br />
<br />
On the Josh Hamilton post and how it differs from EDSBS satire: "The line itself is fuzzy,"<br />
"It's the respect for the form."<br />
Satire: The Onion is a good example: "There is no line for them."<br />
"You have to have your definition of what you do and what you are as a writer and live within those rules."<br />
"It seemed like something that was unnecessarily malicious, beyond all rationale."Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-21828402787768076292015-04-29T11:54:00.004-07:002015-04-29T11:55:10.459-07:00BWB6: NFLPA: The Business Of Football<i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a>
and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel
here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind
that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is
given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription
mistakes. Here are my notes from the NFLPA Q+A with assistant executive director (external affairs) George Atallah and president Eric Winston.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
NFLPA: The Business Of Football<br />
George Atallah and Eric WInston<br />
@GeorgeAtallah<br />
@EricWinston<br />
<br />
Keith Bulluck asked about players in transition<br />
EW: Worked with league to create The Trust<br />
Helping guys find what they want to do and get into it<br />
"When they get off that field, they've been doing something for so long. They've had that path and that path has always been given to them."<br />
Been going for 24 months, over 1000 enrolees, all you need is one season<br />
The Trust: NFLPA Affiliated organization, funded to nearly $25 million a year through CBA<br />
GA: "Eric, who was a player at the time, and his colleagues, voted to leave money on the table to take care<br />
<br />
On concussions: EW: "I don't think it's ever a done situation."<br />
"We've changed a lot of those things and its obviously for the better."<br />
"Hopefully we'll be able to produce new technologies that protect players more than we do now."<br />
"I don't think it's ever going to be a state where we're good."<br />
"It's going to be something we always have to push the envelope on."<br />
Role as a union to push for that and educate their own players<br />
"It's to educate our guys so they can make the decisions for themselves." <br />
<br />
Chris Kluwe: "Do you think that having guaranteed contracts for the players would lower the pressure that players face to get back on the field?"<br />
EW: "Without a doubt."<br />
"Our work's never done until that happens."<br />
Concussions: "This isn't an ankle sprain or some torn cartilige. It's much more serious than that."<br />
GA: "No other major sport has guaranteed contracts because of their CBA."<br />
Baseball: "It took an individual player and an agent."<br />
"How do we improve the level of guaranteed money? We just had a phen FA period with the most guaranteed money ever. That's something we're looking to improve."<br />
<br />
Leverage: GA: "It took us three years to get a deal on drug policies because players wouldn't agree to a deal that didn't have neutral arbitration."<br />
"We have not accepted the league's new personal conduct policy as part of the CBA precisely because it violates the CBA."<br />
"When there are policies enacted by the league unilaterally that in our belief violate the CBA, we have to stand up and fight."<br />
EW: "It's not always shaking hands and figuring stuff out. Sometimes it's winning court battles."<br />
"It takes time."<br />
"That's how change has happened, unfortunately and fortunately, through the legal system."<br />
<br />
Asked about 18 game sched:<br />
EW: "For them, it's probably always in the back of their mind. We know how hard they pushed for it in 2011."<br />
"I won't sign off on it."<br />
More playoff games also an issue<br />
"I don't know how much support there really is for any new games, whether they're playoffs or regular season."<br />
Hitting in youth football: "I'm uncertain about it to a certain age."<br />
Baseball analogy of starting with tee<br />
"The idea that football has to be a contact sport at all times is kind of silly to me."<br />
Specialization: baseball, basketball, football: "I played all three through high school."<br />
<br />
On protecting younger players: GA: "Isn't it ridiculous that the NCAA hasn't adopted the NFL's concussion protocols? Isn't it ridiculous that FIFA hasn't adopted the NFL's concussion protocols?"Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-88391669341018304192015-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:002015-04-29T10:53:08.855-07:00BWB6: The State of Chicago Sports (and media)<i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a>
and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel
here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind
that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is
given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription
mistakes. Here are my notes from the fifth panel, focusing on the state of Chicago sports.</i><br />
<br />
The State of Chicago Sports (and media)<br />Panelists:<br />Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes), 670 The Score/120 Sports<br />Jon Greenberg (@jon_greenberg), ESPN<br />Dan Katz (@BarstoolBigCat), Barstool Sports<br />David Kaplan (@thekapman), CSN Chicago<br />Jen Lada (@JenLada), CSN Chicago<br />Moderator: Sarah Spain, ESPN (@SarahSpain)<br /><br />David Kaplan: "Anyone with a Twitter account can actually break news."<br />"A story can get out there and it doesn't have to be vetted."<br />"You're competing with so many different people now."<br />"You go into the locker room and there's 100 different media, and then there are uncredentialed media."<br />"Even if its farfetched you have to track it down, and sometimes they're right."<br /><br />LH: "There are still some of those guys who need someone to filter it."<br />"Matt Forte, I thought he did a shitty job" of telling his own story on Instagram of why he missed events<br />"His mistake was almost being flippant about the Piccolo award."<br />"It came off as if he missed the mark."<br />"I don't think he did himself any favors by the way he got his message out there."<br /><br />JL: "If they want to reveal to me that they're an idiot by the way they use their social media, I'll take that."<br />"I'll use that to advance my agenda and my company's agenda."<br />"I probably broke four stories this spring on the Bears just by using social media."<br />JG: "People are like, "They're going to squeeze media out." Well, no."<br /><br />JL: differences in Milwaukee/Chicago markets: "The access is very different in Milwaukee." Packers, other teams, want to encourage coverage. "Teams here, they don't necessarily need to, not buy the coverage, but encourage you to cover them."<br />Green Bay, distance: "You couldn't be there every single day. You had to rely on other people to do your job."<br />LH: "Teams, they want you when they want you."<br />Cubs: "As the team got worse, you could do more."<br />SS: "The Blackhawks used to beg for coverage. And then they got good."<br />"People who are doing good stories and are there every day are having a hard time getting access."<br /><br />Dan Katz: Cutler and Rose are tougher on access because they've been burned by Chicago media<br />Dan Katz on Rose: "He's never going to be a polished, perfect speaker." <br />JG: "Jay stunk. That's why he's vilified."<br />LH: "I know there is the perception about Jay. I personally haven't experienced it."<br />"I've had national people come up to me and you can tell exactly what they're going to write, what they're going to say, how it's going to go before they hear a word." Rick Reilly as example.<br />JL: "You could argue that that's not doing your job."<br />"Rick Reilly, great, he's been very successful, but you can't walk in and assume your requests are going to be met."<br />SS: "In some cases, teams need to be more open."<br /><br />SS: to Dan Katz on not being owned by teams: "You have the opposite, you don't have to answer to anyone."<br />Dan Katz: "I'm a true pirate ship."<br />"I don't have an editor."<br />SS: "We can tell."<br />Dan Katz: "I don't even want to be in the locker room. I don't want to be in that world. People want to see an outsider's perspective and a true fan perspective."<br /><br />
SS: "I was at the first Blogs With Balls in 2008 or so and there was a very blogs versus the mainstream media element."<br />"That isn't really the case anymore."<br />Asked Dan Katz how he separates himself from mainstream sites. "Do you have to get crazier?"<br />Dan Katz: "We don't break news. And I don't want to break news." <br />"I never ever want to get into that."<br />"Where we have cornered the market and where people resonate with us is that I'm an average guy."<br />"Everyone goes on Twitter today basically to be outraged."<br />"Sports are fun. They should be fun."<br /><br />David Kaplan: Different kinds of blogs, some legitimate news sources, Baseball Prospectus: "I think they all get lumped into the same thing."<br />LH: "Deadspin is so inside now that they have to try to be outside."<br /><br />LH on 120 Sports, national network, 2 minutes on anything: Run by MLB, NASCAR, PGA. Limited partnerships with NBA .<br />"We do two minutes on each big national story."<br />"You're seeing leagues create their own digital efforts. I think that's where the industry's going."<br />NFL locked them out, "We went around them, we now have a contract with the NFL Players' Association."<br />"We look at ourselves as a second-screen opportunity."<br /><br />SS to Dan Katz: "Do you have aspirations to work at a more mainstream place?"<br />Dan Katz: Wouldn't necessarily turn it down, but likes freedom. "You get in trouble. I can't get in trouble."<br />"I think there's a place for us and what we do."<br />"I turn on the TV and its the same five or six guys saying the same stuff over and over."<br /><br />JL "I have an issue with some of the stuff that's on Barstool. I don't like the WAG of the day."<br />"Can you exist without relying on that kind of clickbait?"<br />SS: Katz doesn't do that himself, but "You're always going to be associated with that."<br />Dan Katz: SB Nation, Bleacher Report, "All those blogs are owned by big coporations."<br />"We have to stay on the fringe."<br />"If we had millions of dollars and didn't have to post the WAG of the day, I'd be okay with that."<br />Big blog networks: "They sit on a pedestal and they judge everyone else."<br />"Jen, you criticize us for the smokeshow of the day. Those girls, or ladies, they ask to be posted."<br />"It's not as creepy as people say of it."<br />David: "If a guy or a girl doesn't want to read it, don't click on it. Who has an issue with that?"<br />JL: "Women like me who want to be respected for their thoughts!"<br />Dan: "I tried to stop doing stuff like that where you take photos off the TV of someone hot."<br />"I think you can hold two thoughts at once. That you can say "That is an attractive woman" and still respect her opinion."<br />SS: "I think you can click on two buttons, one for sports and one for porn, and I don't think they have to be in the same place."<br /><br />On the need for proper sourcing:<br /> LH: "I'm from the school of get it right, not get it first."<br />David: "We get off on it more than anyone in the general public."<br />JL: "The people above us, the executives, they place emphasis on that."<br />SS: "That has been blown up so much because of everyone attacking ESPN over it. Now everyone's trying to do it."<i> </i>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-61092790830078703252015-04-29T09:36:00.000-07:002015-04-29T09:36:11.819-07:00BWB6: Like, Follow, Swipe Right: How The NBA is Connecting With Fans in the Modern Era<i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a>
and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel
here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind
that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is
given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription
mistakes. Here are my notes from the third panel, focusing on the NBA and its engagement with fans.</i><br />
<br />
Like, Follow, Swipe Right: How The NBA is Connecting With Fans in the Modern Era<br />Panelists: <br />Zach Harper, CBS, @talkhoops<br />Eddie Maisonet III, The SF Journal, @edthesportsfan<br />Andrew Nicholson, Sacramento Kings, @a_nicholson<br />Moderator: Lang Whitaker, NBA Digital, @langwhitaker<br /><br />EM: On Twitter, you can talk about anything, even things not directly NBA related. Movies: <br />“Jesse Hall is the greatest MIghty Duck of all time.”<br />EM: “Getting a credential is not that tough for the NBA.”<br />ZH: “I started writing when I moved to Sacramento. When I started Truehoop’s Kings blog, the Kings reached out to me.”<br />LW: “The Hawks reached out to me.”<br />“The NBA’s been pretty forward-thinking.”<br />NBA popularity: “It’s come a really long way in a short amount of time.”<br />EM on Twitter: “We can read a Zach Harper piece on CBSsports.com and we can call Zach an idiot and he can respond. Or we can have a deeper secondary, tertiary conversation.”<br />“You build these microcommunities and people can jump in and hop on.”<br /><br />ZH: “I actually hate tweeting about basketball because it’s too difficult to get proper context in one tweet.”<br />“It’s this awesome force that brings people together.”<br /><br />LW: “Why are we doing this? Why are we waking up and checking our mentions?”<br />ZH: “I literally have nothing else to do.”<br />EM: “You see personalities that emerge and are able to traffic whatever they want to traffic. ...The opportunity is legitimately there.”<br />LW: “You don’t have to be an expert on something, you just have to sound like an expert.”<br />ZH: “I can speak to that.”<br /><br />AN on “Sauce Castillo”: team account jumped on it, players jumped on it<br />“Since that time, Nik’s signed his own endorsement deal.”<br />“It’s worked out well for everyone.”<br /><br />EM: “If you can create GIFs and get them out to the people, you’ll have a following.”<br />AN: “One of our most popular posts on Facebook ever was the dunk show that took place during the third quarter.”<br />“We’re trying to tell the whole story, not just what happens on the court.”<br /><br />EM: Twitter: “It’s by the fan for the fan. You get to see these diehard fans.”<br /><br />AN: Does SM help small-market teams? “We found our niche in being able to provide access that no one else could. Social has given us an incredible platform to disseminate that across the world.”<br />LW: “The teams that aren’t as good seem to be more willing to take risks on social media.”<br />“It’s a way for teams that aren’t very good to have more of a presence.”<br /><br />LW on odd stories like Hawks organist: “Nowadays, within two days it’s on every website.”<br />EM: “Find those little things that you think are interesting. More likely than not, other people will find them interesting.”<br /><br />AN: “Teams pay attention to the communities that support them.”<br /><br />LW on leagues taking down video, NBA not; it makes sense to let fans do stuff. “I’ve posted fan videos on NBA.com.”<br />ZH: “I think the breaking point is are you getting a sponsor for it.”<br />EM: “Being able to leverage that content, even if you didn’t create it originally, there’s an opportunity there.”<br /><br />AN: Are owners involved in team’s social media? “From a team standpoint, we have over 40 channels that we have.”<br />“So much of the organization is on social media to continue to tell the story of why it’s an exciting time to be a Kings fan.” <i></i><i></i>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-58925193505818297602015-04-29T08:58:00.004-07:002015-04-29T08:59:17.081-07:00BWB6: Athletes Off The Field<i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a>
and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel
here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind
that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is
given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription
mistakes. Here are my notes from the second panel,
Measuring Online Influence.</i><br />
<br />
Athletes Off The Field<br />
Don Povia, @HHReynolds, moderator<br />
Shawn Smith: @1stLadyXAMSport<br />
Mike Dolan, @mikedolanaq<br />
John Thornton, @JohnThornton<br />
<br />
SS: Has an agency with her husband<br />
“I do all the marketing, the PR.”<br />
MD: “I’m the editor and publisher of Athletes Quarterly.”<br />
“We’re the official magazine of major league toilets.”<br />
JT: “I’m an NFL agent at Octagon. Before joining Octagon last year I had my own agency.”<br />
“Before that I had a 10-year career in the NFL.”<br />
“I forced the Bengals to upgrade their website because I had more traffic than them.”<br />
<br />
SS: Connor Barwin: “The dude is so authentic to what he loves.”<br />
Barwin’s big on environmental causes<br />
<br />
JT: “Athletes are taken advantage of a lot because we have our eyes elsewhere.”<br />
“That’s the biggest reason athletes get in trouble. We’re trying to be the best at what we do and we’re not focused on post-career.”<br />
<br />
MD on athletes trying to differentiate themselves: “It’s an elite fraternity. If you’re in the NBA, there’s only 400 of you, but there are 400 of you. They’re trying to find ways to stand out in a culturally-acceptable way so the team doesn’t give them a hard time.”<br />
“Building that audience gives them a bit more leverage with brands because they’re not relying on playing time.”<br />
“It makes them a more valuable commodity.”<br />
<br />
DP: “How has social media helped and or hindered the players you work with?”<br />
SS: “In the old days, it was press releases.”<br />
DP: “Do press releases matter now?”<br />
SS: “Not at all.”<br />
<br />
On account managers:<br />
SS: Facebook: “We make it very clear that it’s third person, it’s a fan page.”<br />
“I will never ever manage an athlete’s Twitter account.”<br />
<br />
JT: “I played with Chad Johnson. He took to Twitter and it went crazy.”<br />
“He was a good player so he could do what he wanted. If he was an average player, it wouldn’t have lasted long.”<br />
“Teams are watching.”<br />
MD: “There’s nothing in it for the team for you to be a star on social media.”<br />
<br />
JT on agents: “As soon as they didn’t do what they promised, I fired them. ...I fired four of them in 10 years.”<br />
“Athletes have to hold people around them more accountable.”<br />
“It’s not about how much money you have, it’s about what can you do when you’re done? Can you find something to make you happy?”<br />
Dhani Jones: “He made a career out of being a weird guy.”<br />
“Every time I turn on the TV, he’s hosting something.”<br />
“He did it the right way. He didn’t do it for right now.”<br />
“He’s doing much better than guys that were getting bigger endorsement deals while he was playing.”<br />
<br />
SS: “It’s about learning who they are off the field and what they’re really passionate about off the field.”<br />
<br />
JT on shady competing agents: “Those people will be out of business soon enough.”<br />
“I’m going to recruit them the best way I know how. I’ll be honest and I’ll play within the rules.”<br />
“They’ll come back to me.”<br />
“There’s so many agents and not enough players.”<br />
“There’s shady people in any business. There’s probably shady people in here.”Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-62024422991884743372015-04-29T08:35:00.003-07:002015-04-29T08:40:51.014-07:00BWB6: Intro And Measuring Online Influence<i>I'm in Chicago for <a href="http://www.blogswithballs.com/">Blogs With Balls 6</a> and taking plenty of notes. I'll be posting my notes from each panel here for the use of anyone who wants to check them out. Keep in mind that these are highlights, not complete transcripts. Every effort is given to be as accurate as possible; apologies for any transcription mistakes. Here are my notes from the introduction and the first panel, Measuring Online Influence.</i><br />
<br />
<b><i> </i>Introduction: </b><br />
Don Povia, @HHReynolds:<br />
"I hate to call this a conference. It's more of a networking event."<br />
"It's a community-driven event."<b></b><br />
<b><br />Panel I: Measuring Online Influence: </b><br />
<br />
Panelists: <br />
JR Jackson, @jrsportbrief<br />
Brandon WIlliams, @bjw5002, moderator<br />
Wes Davis, content director, MVP Index, @mvpindex<br />
<br />
WD: "We're trying to become like a Nielsen ratings for teams."<br />
<br />
"People aren't stupid. You know when you're being sold to."<br />
<br />
"Where real engagement occurs is when an athlete is actually living the lifestyle of the brand. A brand I think does this well is Red Bull."<br />
<br />
Athletes talking about Team Red Bull, not just the product<br />
<br />
Images of Red Bull in instagram posts<br />
<br />
"When you're being authentic and living that brand, it works."<br />
<br />
JR: "People are able to start, foster and build their own communities online."<br />
<br />
BW: "It's a matter of hitting them where they're watching."<br />
<br />
JR: "If you'd told me 25 years ago I'd be watching the Rockets and the Mavericks and there would be a Rockets Twitter account talking about shooting a dead horse, I'd tell you 'Get out of here.'"<br />
<br />
WD: Athletes ranked by reach, engagement, conversation score.<br />
"We ranked the top three by reach and engagement and then we started looking at their tweets."<br />
"Are these people being talked about with connections to drug use, DWI?"<br />
<br />
JR on his own deals: "It's not a one-off situation."<br />
"It boils down to engagment and loyalty."<br />
<br />
WD: "It's the people who are more real and more authentic that are going to get better deals."<br />
John Daly: "He's the 708th ranked golfer. He's our 8th-ranked athlete."<br />
"He's engaging people, he's having those conversations."<br />
"You're trying to bring an athlete partnership that is real. You don't want to force anything."<br />
<br />
JR: "If I'm working with someone, it's "This is what I do. What do you do?"<br />
"It's very important to set expectations."<br />
"If all of this is discussed beforehand and everyone's aligned, I've never had an issue."<br />
"I wouldn't tell Dove 'Nobody wants white soap. Make yellow soap!' They do what they do and I do what I do."<br />
<br />
WD: "If you used all of Cristiano Ronaldo's accounts, you have the ability to talk to a third of the population of the U.S."<br />
"Doing something locally is probably smarter."<br />
"If you're able to influence the influencer to get that audience to interact with your brand...”<br />
“You’re never going to be sure you’re engaging the entire audience, especially if you’re somebody with a million followers. A tweet lasts five seconds.”<br />
“Don’t overtweet. I don’t want to see that you’re eating a croissant and five seconds later that it was good.”<br />
[But with that said] “Frequency is important.”<br />
<br />
BW: “Just because they have a handle and a lot of followers doesn’t mean it’s being used in an effective way.”<br />
<br />
JR on multiple social media networks: “I look at everything as programming. ...It’s about figuring what bucket it goes in.”<br />
<br />
On paying for a single tweet<br />
WD: “I don’t think a single tweet can do anything. I think it can get some impressions, but you need a partnership, you need a campaign.”<br />
BW: “People right now are seeing right through a lot of those single athlete posts.”<br />
JR: “It’s short-sighted in my opinion.”<br />
<br />
Tipping point for JR?<br />
“I’ve been very meticulous in building a community, building a brand.”<br />
<br />
How a PR firm should approach JR? <br />
“Hi, what’s up?”<br />
“I like to take a lot of the BS out of business.”<br />
“I am the brand and it is me.”<br />
<br />
<i>Comments? Questions? Ask me <a href="http://twitter.com/andrewbucholtz">on Twitter</a> or via e-mail at andrew_bucholtz@hotmail.com</i>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-42948555261985588512013-03-07T16:32:00.000-08:002013-03-07T16:37:47.817-08:00Stompin' Tom Connors and hoserism<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wednesday's news that legendary singer Stompin' Tom Connors had passed away at 77 is making waves across Canada, and for good reason. Yes, he was known for his odes to <a href="http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/stompin-tom-connors-creator-hockey-song-dies-77-020715880--nhl.html">hockey</a>, <a href="http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/stompin-tom-connors-captured-canadian-sports-experience-hockey-031554968.html">football</a> and more, but his impact went well beyond that, and even beyond his songs. One of the most poignant statements he ever made came in 1978, when he returned his Juno Awards in a protest of the American-focused state of the Canadian music industry at that time; Dave Bidini has an excellent piece on just what that meant <a href="http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/02/06/the-junos-stompin-tom-at-75-and-a-soundtrack-for-canada/">here</a>. It wasn't a contrived or spotlight-seeking moment; indeed, after doing so, Stompin' Tom withdrew from the Canadian music scene almost completely for much of a decade. Instead, returning those awards was a natural extension of what he believed, what he sung about and what made him so important to Canada.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A Twitter hashtag I use a lot is <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hoserism&src=hash">#hoserism</a>, and I think I can trace its origins back to Stompin' Tom. It's my version of Canadian nationalism, and it's a little different than how nationalism often shows up. I'm not out to prove that my country or my province is better than yours, or that everything Canadian's automatically better than anything from anywhere else, or even that the sports team from my country should defeat the sports team from yours (which proves so much, of course). For me, it's more about celebrating the uniqueness and the diversity of what we do have in Canada. I unashamedly like and celebrate a lot of Canadian things, from Rush to SCTV to the CFL, and I'm just fine with that, but they each have their own attractions, and it's not about yelling about how one of these things is the best level of Canadian culture and everything else is inferior. In my mind, that fits in with a lot of what Stompin' Tom wrote about. Many of his songs are about incredibly specific Canadian places, their glories and their problems, but you never really get the sense that he's trying to boost one part of the country over all others, or even that he's trying to criticize the rest of the world. Instead, he was showing off his pride in this entire country, and I think that's laudable. His "Stompin' Grounds" is a perfect example of this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HM40V59SpGg?list=PL3C2D9B85C5956DF0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps most importantly, though, Stompin' Tom constantly fought against the idea that the only real Canadian successes were those who went and made it big south of the border. Personally, I'm fine with Canadians deciding that living in the U.S. is a better fit for their life or their career; everyone's situation is unique, and a lot of those Canadian exports have done great things for this country's profile. What Stompin' Tom really promoted was the idea that that's not the only means of success, though, that it's just fine to be focused on a Canadian audience. That's something I try to embrace personally, primarily writing about the CFL the way I do. Sure, I do some wider-audience stuff, and that's fun too, but I don't necessarily need to cover a sport that's popular worldwide to have a fulfilling career. There's no shame in liking and writing about Canadiana even if it doesn't make you a huge worldwide name. Stompin' Tom's career is absolute proof of that, and the impact he had on this country is one to be admired. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stompin' Tom's biggest legacy may be the idea that including Canadian references in your art is a laudable thing, not a shameful one. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We're seeing a lot of that today, from music (bands from the Arkells to Japandroids to Arcade Fire have filled their work with specific Canadian references) to television (in both U.S. and Canadian shows: we've seen everything from How I Met Your Mother's</span><a href="http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/video-met-mother-1996-grey-cup-halftime-show-203246316.html" style="font-family: inherit;"> take on the Grey Cup</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> to unapologetically-Canadian shows like Republic of Doyle and Arctic Air) to books (some of my favourite reads lately are Tanya Huff's fantasy novels, many of which are set in Canadian cities). A Canadian background's become something to be largely celebrated, not hidden, and I think we hosers owe Stompin' Tom a massive debt for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">CBC's Jian Ghomeshi did a remarkable hour-long tribute to Stompin' Tom on his Q show Thursday (listen to it <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2013/03/07/remembering-stompin-tom/">here</a>), and this was shown throughout it. Ghomeshi interviewed NDP MP (and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Angus">famed former musician</a>) Charlie Angus, who commented that Stompin' Tom's stand in favour of Canadiana has influenced countless bands today. "“Bands are so proud of where they come from," Angus said “That is part of that legacy. We come from really great
places in this country and there is no shame in singing about that.” It was an old interview with Stompin' Tom himself Ghomeshi aired that provided the most important comments, though. Stompin' Tom told Ghomeshi his constant goal was to make it so he was always viewed as Canadian first, and he said he hoped his legacy was just getting Canadians to think about their own country.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"There’s no other way to feel about Stompin’ Tom than
Canadian," he said. "If they learn my songs, they’ll be singing about Canada. To
me, that’s reward enough."</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ghomeshi asked Stompin' Tom how things had changed over his career, and he said he thought there was a growing awareness of Canadian stories.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Canada has grown up in terms of being aware of itself," he said. "We’re becoming aware that we too have heroes like the
Americans do."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We sure do. Unfortunately, we lost one of them Wednesday, but we'll always have his music. Here's my favourite Stompin' Tom song, about the greatest possible cross-Canada truck journey:</span><br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UgdEJnsdOOU" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Thank you, Tom. Your hoserism will always be remembered, and all of us Canadians owe you a massive debt.Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-29684154404647206792013-02-15T20:34:00.003-08:002013-02-15T20:36:36.860-08:00On Michael Jordan and the value of accessWright Thompson's <i>ESPN The Magazine</i> article <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/Michael-Jordan/michael-jordan-not-left-building">on Michael Jordan at 50</a> is getting plenty of praise, and deservedly so. Thompson paints an excellent, nuanced portrait of Jordan, highlighting both how he's changed and how he hasn't since he quit playing. In order to do this, Thompson gains plenty of access to Jordan's life and his inner circle, and he uses it well: there's plenty of insight in his piece into what drives Jordan, and it's a worthy read. However, while reading it, I couldn't help but think back to an earlier magazine piece on Jordan, Brett Popplewell's <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/magazine/2012/12/17/the_crash_of_air_jordan/">December profile</a> in <i>Sportsnet Magazine</i>. Both pieces are well worth your time, and they highlight different aspects of Jordan, so it's not like we have to unequivocally declare that one is better. However, if I had to choose just one piece I'd recommend to someone curious about Jordan's post-playing career, I'd go with Popplewell's. That might surprise many, as unlike Thompson's, it doesn't contain a single quote Jordan gave Popplewell.<br />
<br />
Access has often been seen as one of the holy grails of journalism, and for good reason. It can be extremely useful to hear what players and coaches are thinking, to hear their rationale on why they made the decisions they did and to try and understand them as people. Moreover, access of the sort Thompson had can be the most valuable; spending more time with a subject than a quick interview in a locker room can be extremely useful, as can seeing how they behave at home and how they interact with friends. Some of my favourite sports books have followed these lines, spending a season around a team and portraying how they behave on and off the court; a few examples include Jack McCallum's <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Seconds_or_Less">Seven Seconds Or Less</a></i>, David Halberstam's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breaks_of_the_Game"><i>The Breaks Of The Game</i></a> and one I'm currently reading, Roy Blount Jr.'s <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/About-Three-Bricks-Shy-Filled/dp/0822958341">Three Bricks Shy Of A Load</a></i>. In all of those cases, the authors used their access effectively to portray the teams and characters they covered in a deep way, and the books are better for it.<br />
<br />
However, there's often a lot of value to pieces written with little or no access to their subject as well, and that's what stands out about Popplewell's piece. It's an extremely well-researched, well-written look at Jordan after his playing career, and it gets there without a single quote from the man himself. In many ways, it's better for not having Jordan speak (technically, there's one quote from him, but it's an old one from a 1992 interview). Instead, we hear about him not primarily from the friends and associates Thompson quotes, but from the Bobcats' fans who watch Jordan's team, from the buskers in his city and from Popplewell's own writing. Both articles arguably have Jordan the crazily-intense competitor at their centre, but the accounts of Jordan's behaviour in Thompson's piece are tempered by comments from his inner circle about how critics misunderstand him (particularly, his Hall of Fame speech) and by humanizing, compassionate moments from Jordan himself. Given that this is Jordan we're talking about, it leads me to wonder how much of that's real and how much of that is him applying his legendary competitiveness to "winning the profile". Thompson's piece is no hagiography, and he does a good job of revealing and illuminating Jordan's flaws as well as his strengths, but Popplewell's seems to me to give a more accurate picture of the man.<br />
<br />
Is that a call to throw out the old pillar of access, to move all journalism to the <i><a href="http://www.deadspin.com/">Deadspin</a></i> tagline of "Sports news without access, favor or discretion"? No, it isn't. As mentioned above, there's significant value to access, and significant value to pieces' like Thompson's. I see the takeaway here more as that you can still produce some pretty remarkable journalism with little (while Popplewell didn't interview Jordan, he did interview some people) or no access. There's a long tradition of that in journalism too, as seen in articles such as Gay Talese's famous "<a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1003-OCT_SINATRA_rev_">Frank Sinatra Has A Cold</a>" piece in <i>Esquire</i> and many of the works of another Thompson, Dr. Hunter S. (whose "<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/fear-and-loathing-at-the-superbowl-no-rest-for-the-wretched-19730215">Fear And Loathing At The Super Bowl</a>" in particular might be my favourite thing ever written about a sports event, despite it including very few quotes from anyone involved). In my mind, that's an inspiring message as well, one to encourage people to get writing and keep writing regardless of if they're working for <i>Sports Illustrated</i>, <i>ESPN The Magazine</i> or just their own independent blog. Not everyone can hang out in Michael Jordan's penthouse, but that doesn't have to stop you from writing something great about him. Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-74048933793576422602013-01-23T13:06:00.002-08:002013-01-23T13:17:20.568-08:00Don't stop believing, Manti Te'o<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAH9UoujHYUPIfa4PBrAJ9qJHAdPwrHEtEZhp4mHrzZa7o6aa7YapkYZu-u03A3deTZ7jxtd5JMTG954UseJb-DUurWDRwO1QDk7WeIZuhqiTMPdiaOD3mHooBBl7LCfa1OOwog/s1600/teo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAH9UoujHYUPIfa4PBrAJ9qJHAdPwrHEtEZhp4mHrzZa7o6aa7YapkYZu-u03A3deTZ7jxtd5JMTG954UseJb-DUurWDRwO1QDk7WeIZuhqiTMPdiaOD3mHooBBl7LCfa1OOwog/s1600/teo.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Continuing our quest to be your number-one source <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/12/when-tebows-jet-hes-not-jet-all-way.html">of</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/12/justin-mcelroys-tebow-weak-armed-bronco.html">sports</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/02/tebow-christ-superstar-complete-musical.html">song</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/03/tebow-christ-superstar-redux-manning.html">parodies</a>, here's the most appropriate (far more <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2013/01/clay-travis-outkicks-his-mental.html">than some</a>, at least) way to summarize <a href="http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/january/manti-te-o-s-admits-to-lying-in-interview-with-katie-couric.html">the saga of Manti Te'o</a> and <a href="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-is-a-hoax">his fake girlfriend</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfMCctSLt4">Is that...Journey</a>? Why, yes, yes it is:<br />
<br />
Just an internet girl, livin' in a made-up world<br />
She took the midnight calls from anywhere<br />
Just a ND boy, living in South Bend, not Detroit<br />
He made the midnight calls goin' anywhere<br />
<br />
A hoaxster in a online room<br />
A smell of pizza and pot fumes<br />
On the phone, they can share the night<br />
It goes on and on and on and on<br />
<br />
Media, waiting, up and down the boulevard<br />
Writing profiles in the night <br />
Te'o, deceived? Or lying just to find emotion?<br />
Hiding, somewhere in the night.<br />
<br />
Working hard to get his fill,<br />
Looking for that online thrill<br />
Payin' anything to talk to her,<br />
Just one more time<br />
<br />
Some will win, some will lose<br />
Some were born to sing "I'm used!"<br />
Oh, this story never ends<br />
It goes on and on and on and on<br />
<br />
Media, searching, up and down the online trail<br />
Deadspin breaking bad news in the night<br />
ESPN, playing catchup, sending in Jeremy Schaap<br />
He'll <a href="http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/01/19/jeremy-schaap-interviews-manti-teo-espn-releases-the-tiniest-portion-of-conversation-possible/">summarize interviews</a> in the night<br />
<br />
Don't stop believin'<br />
Hold on to your feelings<br />
For fake girls<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VcjzHMhBtf0" width="420"></iframe>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-82040011569734598102013-01-16T22:04:00.002-08:002013-01-16T22:07:15.007-08:00C'lay Travis Outkicks His Mental Coverage Once Again<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRP8GQatPkW8aoZnk_Hem2DwW9Nt-ZYw04MfK_rYkE1oNFjUZ8Ciqa5vWTiTI6B13j8NFST0N0ZhE9L2dkXEqVcpjo6CSg14MPUJc17mZJgIp7tIZz6XnCfDTM59lhElv1vsRPlw/s1600/clay+travis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRP8GQatPkW8aoZnk_Hem2DwW9Nt-ZYw04MfK_rYkE1oNFjUZ8Ciqa5vWTiTI6B13j8NFST0N0ZhE9L2dkXEqVcpjo6CSg14MPUJc17mZJgIp7tIZz6XnCfDTM59lhElv1vsRPlw/s1600/clay+travis.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unsurprisingly, this is one of the first pictures that pops up for "Clay Travis".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The<i> </i>Deadspin <a href="http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-is-a-hoax">story</a> about Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o's oft-referenced girlfriend being illusory has spurred <a href="http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013/january/real-tweets-from-real-people-the-manti-te-o-hoax.html">plenty of interesting reactions</a> on what this means for<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130116/teo-column/index.html"> the media</a>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/01/16/manti_te_o_lennay_kekua_notre_dame_football_star_s_dead_girlfriend_was_a.html">story verification procedures</a>, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/alleged-hoax-leaves-manti-te-os-draft-stock-231725141--nfl.html">his draft stock</a> and much more. Unfortunately, it's also stirred up some of the worst detritus of the Internet. A case in point comes from <a href="http://twitter.com/claytravisbgid">C'lay Travis</a>, who's covered college football for Deadspin, AOL FanHouse (RIP), and his current Outkick The Coverage site, plus hosts a Nashville radio show. What's Travis' take on this complicated, layered story that's still coming together? <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravisBGID/status/291759343186112512">The only plausible rationale here</a> is <a href="http://outkickthecoverage.com/manti-teos-fake-dead-girlfriend-breaks-the-internet.php">that Te'o is gay</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
This is actually the only story that makes any sense at all. And even if it's true, Te'o will probably deny it because, unfortunately, football players aren't exactly the most welcoming of homosexuality.
Otherwise, how are you the star player on a football crazy campus and having an online-only relationship with a woman you've never met? Even Tim Tebow thinks is ridiculous. If you're gay and girls are throwing themselves at you left and right but you continue to rebuff their advances, isn't one of the easiest stories to tell your teammates about why you don't hook up with any of these girls that you have a girlfriend?
Even if, you know, that girlfriend isn't actually real.
Couldn't being gay even make you more than willing to overlook the fact that your girlfriend didn't want to meet with you? It might be that on some subconscious level Te'o welcomed the hoax because it kept him from having to explain why he didn't have a girlfriend. Furthermore, given that Te'o is Mormon and attending a very religious school, wouldn't being gay be unacceptable to pretty much everyone around him? Having an online girlfiend is an awfully convenient cover.
Again, this is just speculation and Te'o would probably deny it anyway, but it actually makes a ton more sense than any other wild theories being tossed out there, that Te'o used the online relationship as a cover for his hidden homosexuality.</blockquote>
To be clear, C'lay is far from the only person who's suggested this, and if this is in fact the case, there will be plenty of support for Te'o from this corner. C'lay has the dubious honour of broaching the topic in the least-tasteful, most-repugnant way possible, though. This is not "the only story that makes any sense at all". C'lay is not inside Te'o's head; he doesn't know the linebacker's motivations, he doesn't know how this apparent relationship unfolded and he certainly doesn't know Te'o's sexual preferences. So why has he come up with this speculation? Well, as seen from other parts of <a href="http://outkickthecoverage.com/manti-teos-fake-dead-girlfriend-breaks-the-internet.php">his piece</a>, C'lay believes that all straight men are attracted to the same things and all men handle relationships the same way. Another choice quote:<br />
<a name='more'></a><blockquote>
If you believe there is a straight man on earth not currently in prison who has a three year exclusively online relationship, then you're a damn fool.
Period.
There's just no way this actually happens.
Especially for a college kid who happens to be the best player on a football mad campus.</blockquote>
Well, that's a nice generalization about a few billion men. I must have missed the vote that gave Secretary Of The SEC Travis the authority to speak on behalf of all straight men everywhere. What he's doing here is taking his own experience (you might have heard that he's married to a cheerleader; he only mentions it every few minutes, usually in conjunction <a href="http://edsbs.wikia.com/wiki/Clay_Travis_is_a_Lawyer">with his law degree</a>) and universally applying it to men everywhere. That is complete and utter bull excrement. Online-only relationships can work, and there are plenty of people who have three-year-plus relationships without sex.
What's also absolute crap here is C'lay's contention that Te'o's status as "the best player on a football mad campus" would have provided him with local relationships that were guaranteed to be successful. There's no dispute that there are groupies interested in high-profile athletes, but that doesn't mean that's the kind of relationship those athletes want.<br />
<br />
In some ways, too, this is a reflection of how the world's changed; the spread of the web means it's much more possible to meet someone who actually shares your interests and can have in-depth conversations with you. Those relationships aren't always local, but that doesn't mean that some won't take them over going cruising for a hookup at a campus bar every evening. I'm not inside Te'o's head any more than C'lay is, so I can't speak to his motivation, but to suggest that choosing an online relationship over Notre Dame groupies makes him less of a man, or less straight, is completely ridiculous. Relationships are a complicated subject, and they're made more complicated by how unique each and every person is. Just because C'lay has chosen a particular relationship path doesn't mean that his thoughts are shared by every straight man in the world.<br />
<br />
That hasn't stopped C'lay from trying to impose his views of sexuality on everyone else, though. Whether it's using a SEC press conference <a href="http://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2009/7/23/960755/clay-traviss-question-about-tim">to ask Tim Tebow if he's a virgin</a> or disparaging those who criticized Brent Musburger's on-air horndoggery <a href="http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/big-ten-feminist-in-bill-cosby-sweater-offended-by-brent-musburger.php">based on their looks</a> or <a href="http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/ku-boobs-takes-internet-by-storm.php">endorsing college women showing off their breasts on Twitter</a> or <a href="http://outkickthecoverage.com/the-boob-draft.php">actually drafting celebrities' breasts</a>, C'lay has never shied away from promoting his particular views of sex and criticizing everyone else's. He doesn't go for insightful analysis or serious takes on what's going on in the sports world; he'd rather <a href="http://outkickthecoverage.com/the-boob-draft.php">write 10-plus paragraphs about Kate Upton's breasts</a> and <a href="http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/all-that-and-a-bag-of-mail-which-disney-princess-is-the-hottest-edition.php">rank how hot each Disney princess was</a>. And hey, if you don't agree with him? You must be <a href="http://www.outkickthecoverage.com/big-ten-feminist-in-bill-cosby-sweater-offended-by-brent-musburger.php">some sort of ugly feminist</a> or gay man.<br />
<br />
What really gets me here aren't C'lay's opinions. He's certainly far from the only person who holds them, or the only blogger who posts picture after picture of scantily-clad women to drive up the pageviews. That's problematic enough, but what's really troubling is his central premise: it's not "here's what I think," it's "here's what every straight man thinks, and if you disagree, you're not a straight man." The world isn't as black and white as C'lay would like to make it, especially when it comes to relationships, and his coverage of the Te'o story definitely illustrates that. It's not a black and white dichotomy: not banging every girl in sight doesn't mean that you prefer men. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamnt of in your philosophy, C'lay. Oh, what's that, you didn't get the reference? That's fair: Hamlet clearly didn't have enough references to boobs, so the only plausible conclusion is that anyone who appreciates it is gay.Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-51207263179502235232013-01-07T17:53:00.000-08:002013-01-07T17:55:38.065-08:00Who do I root for? Team Grantland Rice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tonight's BCS National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Alabama has college football fans everywhere picking sides, and for good reason. These programs both have incredible histories, and millions of fans have deep connections to them. For me, though, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear "Notre Dame football" isn't Rudy, or Joe Theismann, or Lou Holtz. It's what's probably my favourite piece of sportswriting ever, Grantland Rice's "<a href="http://archives.nd.edu/research/texts/rice.htm">The Four Horsemen</a>". A selection of what makes this stand out for me:<br />
<blockquote>
Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army football team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds yesterday afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread on the green plain below.
A cyclone can't be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going. When the cyclone starts from South Bend, where the candle lights still gleam through the Indiana sycamores, those in the way must take to storm cellars at top speed.
Yesterday the cyclone struck again as Notre Dame beat the Army, 13 to 7, with a set of backfield stars that ripped and crashed through a strong Army defense with more speed and power than the warring cadets could meet.</blockquote>
Since the publication of that piece, in the <i>New York Herald-Tribune </i>in 1924, a hell of a lot's changed in the sportswriting world. Plenty of those changes have been for the better; so many more people have an opportunity to write for a big audience now, whether that's through traditional outlets or non-traditional blogs, and that's led to a much greater diversity of information and perspectives than was ever available in Rice's day. I think we've partially lost something along the way too, though; especially in the traditional outlets, there's been a lot of blowback against far-flung analogies and loquacious wording. To me, that's a loss. Not everyone needs to write like Rice, one of my favourite sportswriters (unlike <a href="http://www.grantland.com/">the site that bears his name today</a>) and his contemporaries, but I think there's a lot to admire in what they did, and it shouldn't be so casually dismissed.<br />
<br />
One of the main criticisms of extensive analogies like the one Rice uses here is that they trivialize real-world events (cyclones, death, destruction and the like), and that's partially fair. Yes, football (and other sports) are nowhere near close to actual battles or disasters, and they shouldn't be seen as such. From here, there's always plenty of room for analogies, though. It's like reading or watching fantasy or science fiction books or novels; you know it's not strictly reality, but that doesn't make it invalid. That's why this corner will always support brilliant efforts along those lines, such as everything ever done by <i><a href="http://bringyourchampionstheyreourmeat.blogspot.ca/">Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat</a></i>. It's also behind our ongoing silliness in everything from <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/12/when-tebows-jet-hes-not-jet-all-way.html">Tebow showtunes</a> to <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/06/casting-cfl-edition-of-lord-of-rings.html">Lord of the Rings/CFL comparisons</a>. Of course, they're not strictly accurate, and they don't tell the whole story, so there's always plenty of room for traditional news pieces as well. It's just worth pointing out that sometimes it can be much more enjoyable to read something where someone lets their imagination fly. Imagine if Rice had today's editors hacking and slashing the above piece of his? You'd wind up with something like this:<br />
<br />
"Notre Dame beat Army 13-7 thanks to the efforts of four stars in front of a crowd estimated at 55,000."<br />
<br />
And I doubt that game recap would be remembered almost 100 years later.<br />
<br />
This touches on objectivity versus fandom a bit, but that's a complex issue that deserves more discussion of its own. Suffice it to say that from this corner, there are plenty of merits to both approaches. Root for whoever you like or don't root at all, but don't let anyone else make that decision for you. Over here, though, rather than root for Notre Dame or Alabama, I'm firmly in the corner of the sportswriters, particularly those who are willing to take a few leaps Rice-style rather than insisting on dull, just-the-facts takes on everything. That's why I'm wearing this shirt tonight; it's not an endorsement of the Irish, but an endorsement of one of their most famed chroniclers:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN4-Un8MADT80ivQzEftnMGzIcdBmbOHBRfBa6etcxDh6orWWMUiSFnqV0gXc4-yzPdvApfuiq8ZicSkP4Z0h7YECH31c2Q00CfS_w6BHuKR0LzzomdrvthvDsOmjuon4tglxgg/s1600/ND+shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN4-Un8MADT80ivQzEftnMGzIcdBmbOHBRfBa6etcxDh6orWWMUiSFnqV0gXc4-yzPdvApfuiq8ZicSkP4Z0h7YECH31c2Q00CfS_w6BHuKR0LzzomdrvthvDsOmjuon4tglxgg/s400/ND+shirt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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War Damn Sportswriting. Roll Tweets.<br />
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<br />Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-44383789011705967152012-12-26T14:58:00.001-08:002012-12-26T15:06:10.125-08:00When Tebow's a Jet, he's not a Jet all the wayContinuing the quest to make this the top corner of the Internet for <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/12/justin-mcelroys-tebow-weak-armed-bronco.html">Tim Tebow</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/02/tebow-christ-superstar-complete-musical.html">song</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/03/tebow-christ-superstar-redux-manning.html">parodies</a>, here's the latest one that popped into my mind: a rewrite of the first part of West Side Story's "Jet Song", set last week before Rex Ryan reportedly asked Tebow to play Wildcat QB and Tebow <a href="http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8776088/tim-tebow-new-york-jets-asked-left-wildcat-sources-say">reportedly turned him down</a>...<br />
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REX RYAN: Against the Chargers, we need every man we got.<br />
<br />
GREG MCELROY: Tim don't belong any more.<br />
<br />
REX: Cut it, Alabama boy! Even if I won't let Tim start for the Jets.<br />
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MCELROY: Well, he acts like he don't wanna belong.<br />
<br />
JEREMY KERLEY: Who wouldn't wanna belong to the Jets?!<br />
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MCELROY: Tim ain't been with us for over a season.<br />
<br />
DUSTIN KELLER: What about the day we clobbered the Colts?<br />
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JOE MCKNIGHT: Which we couldn't have done without Tim.<br />
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KERLEY: He saved my ever-lovin' quarterback rating!<br />
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RYAN: Right! He's always come through for us and he will now.<br />
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When you're a Jet,<br />
You're a Jet all the way<br />
From your first goddamned snack<br />
To your last dyin' day.<br />
<br />
When you're a Jet,<br />
If the blitz hits the fan,<br />
You got linemen around,<br />
You're a pocket-passing man!<br />
<br />
You're never alone,<br />
Your headset's never disconnected!<br />
You're home with your own:<br />
When a pass rush is expected,<br />
You're well protected!<br />
<br />
Then you are set<br />
With a capital J,<br />
Which you'll never forget<br />
Till they cart you away.<br />
When you're a Jet,<br />
You stay a Jet!<br />
<br />
I know Tim like I know me. I guarantee you can count him in.<br />
<br />
MCELROY: In, out, let's get crackin'.<br />
<br />
KELLER: Where you gonna find Norv Turner?<br />
<br />
RYAN: At the dance today at the Meadowlands.<br />
<br />
SANTONIO HOLMES: Hey, that's supposed to be our territory!<br />
<br />
RYAN: I'm gonna make nice there! I'm only gonna use my challenges more effectively than him.<br />
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MCKNIGHT: Great, Daddy-O!<br />
<br />
RYAN: So everybody dress up sweet and sharp.<br />
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For reference, the original:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/exGJsv6ZNlo" width="420"></iframe>
Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-16227833697416031462012-12-26T14:33:00.002-08:002012-12-26T14:33:58.742-08:00Justin McElroy's "Tebow, The Weak-Armed Bronco"In an effort to corner the market on Tim Tebow-themed <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/02/tebow-christ-superstar-complete-musical.html">musical</a> <a href="http://www.sportingmadness.ca/2012/03/tebow-christ-superstar-redux-manning.html">compositions</a>, here's another one! This isn't even written by me, but was brilliantly put together in a Christmas Eve series of tweets by Global's <a href="https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy">Justin McElroy</a> (a former CIS Blog colleague). Here they are, <a href="http://storify.com/andrewbucholtz/justin-mcelroy-s-tebow-the-weak-armed-bronco#">preserved in a Storify</a> for posterity and ease of reading:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xBdDVcp95xOmIkzmfoUmTdz5IwE1szjbXv3SiPVLIanxkCnC-1ZpPZ1jQFnvfsA_HZ6vPlTN6W4d59iFxGaKdhY_cpBSlNuALAi6wWw_BnTr6PT21jYsQ51guden7tmahfePOg/s1600/Justin+Tebow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xBdDVcp95xOmIkzmfoUmTdz5IwE1szjbXv3SiPVLIanxkCnC-1ZpPZ1jQFnvfsA_HZ6vPlTN6W4d59iFxGaKdhY_cpBSlNuALAi6wWw_BnTr6PT21jYsQ51guden7tmahfePOg/s1600/Justin+Tebow.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-91023176146248468482012-12-20T12:28:00.002-08:002012-12-20T12:28:17.686-08:00The Wisdom Of The InternetsI normally don't advocate reading comments, but the brilliance of a few of the best ones on <a href="http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/why-cfl-shouldn-t-bother-tim-tebow-211713364.html">my 55-Yard Line piece about Tim Tebow</a> should be preserved for posterity:<br />
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<blockquote>
What the hell do you know about football to say that about T-Bow. He took Denver to the playoffs you idiot!! His record isnt' any good because he is NOT used!!! Remember .... Gators ..... DUH!!! Get a job Bucholtz.. you obviously know nothing about foot ball!!!</blockquote>
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tebow was what?7&1 with a playoff win last year?bucholtz your daddies little reporter not a sports analyst.Now 7&1 doesn t mean he is the greatest but the nfl is tough ask sanchez,or does he suck too?football is a team game not some #$%$ with a tache writing alone in his wackoff lair.would he be good in cfl??i think Jacksonville would give him a shot before that happened.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
I love when these little twerp sports reporters, who never played a single down of football, make fun of Tebow as if he is some sort of clown. The truth is, the typist who wrote this article doesn't like Tebow because he prays openly. It's simple. A shallow little man like Bucholtz isn't half the man Tebow is. And from the picture at the top, I don't think too many pretty girls are breaking down his door to get a date, as they seem to be with Tebow.
I guess the world will always be full of shallow little men. Sigh.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
What a shoddy excuse at "journalism" penned by an obviously myoptic hater with a chip on his shoulder. Back to writing obituaries, eh? Guess you're still ticked off over losing that plum job at National Enquier. What a hack.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
you are a sanctimonious jerk off.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Gretzky was too small and too slow .... All he and Tebow have ever done is win ... You can expect a head from your #$%$ extractor for Christmas ... Enjoy it !!!</blockquote>
<blockquote>
so does it just totally suck being canadian? is that why you wrote this bizarre little comment?</blockquote>
Now, back to your regularly scheduled avoidance of comment sections...Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-74609262776558113662012-11-23T09:10:00.001-08:002012-11-23T09:29:20.836-08:00VideoOne of the stupidest things I've ever seen on television.<br />
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<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0" height="270" id="flashObj" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=1985221052001&playerID=867119956001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAybGjzqk~,6NfTc6c241F8RVDY60fjAj_JENn4BuUd&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="videoId=1985221052001&playerID=867119956001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAybGjzqk~,6NfTc6c241F8RVDY60fjAj_JENn4BuUd&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="480" height="270" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33290030.post-16523275702775793142012-09-28T12:36:00.001-07:002012-09-28T12:37:20.311-07:00On The Ground: John Chidley-Hill on the Fast Break conference<i>Here's the third and final companion interview <a href="http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/september/on-chris-jones-criticism-and-context-lessons-from-fast-break-panel.html">to this piece</a>, with <a href="http://twitter.com/jchidleyhill">John Chidley-Hill</a> of The Canadian Press, who helped put the Fast Break conference together. This is the one that particularly motivated me to run these separately, as John had a lot of great things to say about the conference that I wasn't able to squeeze into the story. To me, it's very important to see these kinds of conferences, and they're a terrific idea, so I wanted to make sure John's comments on them in somewhere. I got on-the-record responses from John to four questions: What was your role in putting this together? </i><i>How do you think it went? </i><i>Are these sorts of events useful for young journalists?How'd Jones' comments sound in person? Here's what he had to say.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>What was your role in putting this together?</i><br />
<br />
Nadine [Liverpool] and I are both graduates of Centennial's sports journalism program and we sit on the Program Advisory Council as alum. She brought up the idea of doing a conference for aspiring sports journalists at one of the PAC meetings and I tried my best to chip in and help. Program director Malcolm Kelly, dean Nate Horrowitz, some of the current students and a couple other alum pitched in too.<br />
<br />
My main contribution though was inviting Julie Scott -- my boss at CP -- to be one of the panelists. I did some other stuff in the background, but really, this was Nadine's baby. She did the heavy lifting.<br />
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<i>How do you think it went?</i><br />
<br />
I think it went really well. All four panelists were really articulate and they had the crowd hanging on their words.<br />
<br />
I'm kind of obsessed with people's creative process -- no matter what their field -- so it was cool hearing the very different stories of how Chris, Akil, Julie and Tas broke in to the industry. I've been in the business three short years and I definitely learned some things.<br />
<br />
When the speakers were done there was a networking hour for the audience to speak with the panelists one-on-one and that was also really interesting. All four speakers had lengthy lineups and ended up staying for hours to speak. I'm sure some of those students learned some valuable lessons in those one-on-ones.<br />
<br />
Hell, some students even asked me questions about breaking in and I met some great young journalists.<br />
<br />
<i>Are these sorts of events useful for young journalists?</i><br />
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I think that, like anything in life, it's what you make of it. If you paid attention, asked some questions and tried to apply the talk to your own budding career, it was invaluable. If you goofed off and didn't think hard on what was being said, you missed out.<br />
<br />
Same goes for the networking portion of the night. The students who went up to the panelists and made a good impression will probably see that connection pay off in the long run. Maybe not a job, but the admiration of a peer and the experience of saying "Hey, I had a really great conversation with Tas Melas and got some great ideas for my podcast."<br />
<br />
<i>How'd Jones' comments sound in person?</i><br />
<br />
I thought Chris made some great points on the panel -- really, all four guests did.<br />
<br />
I agree with him that being polite and friendly is a key networking skill. There's no point in saying to me "I want your job" because, well, I like putting bread on my table. I'm going to be less inclined to help you out if your approach is to basically threaten me. Saying "Hey, can I ask you about your experience? What would you have done differently? What advice can you give me?" will go much, much further.<br />
<br />
I think Chris' point was that sports journalism is a very small corner of a very small industry and if you turn someone off -- either by unfairly criticizing them or by being overly aggressive or rude or whatever -- you're going to make your own life more difficult.<br />
<br />
Like I said above, I've only been at this for three years but already I have friends and colleagues at a bunch of different outlets (like, say, Yahoo! Sports). If I'm asked my opinion on someone, I'm going to be honest about my impression. Surely an aspiring journalist wants that to be a GOOD impression?<br />
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<i>Thanks to John for the time. He's a highly recommended follow on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/jchidleyhill">here</a>.</i>Andrew Bucholtzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14156615450275929751noreply@blogger.com1