Sports Media Guy: 'This was my last class'
Since we’re all stuck inside looking for things to do and read, I figured it would be a good time to reboot the Sports Media Guy newsletter. I hope you enjoy whatever it turns into and becomes. If you do, please consider sharing it.
This week, I contributed a story to Will Leitch’s excellent daily newsletter. This is a longer version of that essay.
Remember the second semester of your senior year in college?
I remember mine. It was 1999, I was a journalism/mass communication major at St. Bonaventure University (south of Buffalo). I had started working as a news reporter at the local paper three days a week (I’d start full time after graduation in May), the first step of what was bound to be a spectacular career as a writer. What I remember is the intoxicating blend of potential, promise, possibility and apprehension. It felt like the world was at my feet and there was great adventure just ahead.
But what I remember most is the fun. There’s no better time in your college life than the second half of your second semester of your senior year. Your responsibilities are few and far between. You’re 21, all your friends are. You feel like a grown-up, but you’re unencumbered by debts and obligations beyond a few classes. I can remember writing a check for my first apartment, and first month’s rent and security deposit was a combined $550 and I felt like SUCH A GROWN UP for writing a check that enormous.
Most of all, it was fun. It was cheap beer, pop-punk and ska music, late nights and just … just fun.
College is different now, of course. Students are way more socially conscious than we ever were. They’re already entering a world that is way more insecure than the one we did, facing far more student-loan debt and fewer concrete economic opportunities. But second semester senior year always had this magic. I still saw the confidence in so many faces, the joy when a student had struggled for four years finally saw the work pay off, the elation from families who saw their first member graduate college.
Now, that may be gone.
My school (SUNY Oswego) is online indefinitely. And I can’t stop thinking of my seniors.
I love seeing Scott Van Pelt give a showcase to senior athletes, and I love seeing Jennifer Garner give a showcase to senior theater kids. But I’m thinking of all the seniors and all that they’re potentially losing. Graduating in front of their families. Those last weekends together.
Last Friday, I had a media law class that ended at 2:45 p.m. Last class before spring break. Last in person class for the time being.
I had three students stick around after. One was in tears. They all had sad, lost looks in their eyes.
“This was my last class” two of them said sadly.
Sports journalism news from this week:
What do sports journalists do when there are no sports to cover? by Hanaa’ Tameez
There are certainly still stories to be produced about all these cancellations and their effects on communities. But the de-scheduling of a highly scheduled beat can also open up new possibilities. In Philadelphia, for instance, Woods said that without his reporters traveling for games, they have more time to explore the idea of starting a podcast. They have more time now to dive into stories they can’t find time for during a regular season.
Washington Post Redeploys Sports Staff During Coronavirus Coverage by Andrew Beaujon
The Washington Post will redirect a good chunk of its sports staff toward coronavirus coverage, according to a memo to the sports team on Wednesday from Sports section honchos Matt Vita and Matt Rennie.
ESPN in the era of No Sports by Will Leitch
The sports-information vacuum is unnerving. So much of the average sports fan’s enjoyment is based on the kind of arguments that Smith relishes, based on the constant hum of low-impact news that has driven sports-talk radio, and ESPN, and all of us, for years. ESPN will miss that, but it has the personalities who have mastered, well, making something out of nothing. Continuing to do so may feel like a public service.
What Do We Do Now? Sports Media Ponders the Coronavirus by Bryan Curtis
Last week, as leagues canceled or suspended games, it was fashionable to search for “something positive” about the experience. My training as a sportswriter prevents me from searching for something positive. But if I had to come up with something less dire, I’d say this: When a pandemic is crossing the globe, it’s normal for a sports media person to feel discombobulated, sidelined, almost useless, even as she or he snaps into action. Such self-awareness is useful. I worry about anybody who doesn’t feel at least slightly self-conscious about covering sports for a living.
This Week at Sports Media Guy
Sports journalism without game stories
Game coverage is central to sports journalism. A reporter’s work schedule, story selection, and sourcing decisions are almost always centered around the games of the team(s) he or she covers. An editor’s planning of his or her section—both in print and online—almost universally centers around game coverage. Sports themselves revolve around games—from the NFL to high school football—so it’s natural that sports journalism has its roots in games. In fact, it can be argued that no area of journalism is so intrinsically tied to a part of their coverage as sports journalism is to games.
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The Other 51
EPISODE 112: LISTENING TO THE GHOSTS WITH MIKE VACCARO
So what’s it like to be a sports writer when there’s no sports? That’s the question all sports journalists are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and this week, we check in with New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro to see how he’s still doing his job. Mike discusses how this time is bringing sports journalists back to their roots, the stories he’d most like to do, his favorite sports videos on YouTube and the singular value of persistence.
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The Flip Side
Brian and Galen are back to talk about media and life during the Covid–19 outbreak. The pandemic seems to be Twitter’s time to shine. Brian takes the pessimistic side, while Galen takes the optimistic angle. I know, right? They also lament the experiences of their seniors and talk about their cooking goals for the next few weeks/months. It’s all about intentionality.
After no episodes in three months, the boys are back with their second episode in a week. Quarantine, man. Brian and Galen take some time to discuss free agency in the NFL. Tom Brady’s in Tampa Bay? The Bills are good? The Colts have Philip Rivers? Crazy times, man. Crazy times.
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