Category Archives: Sportswriters

Remembering Furman Bisher with his annual Thanksgiving column

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Saw this tweet from Tony Barnhart.

@MrCFB First Thanksgiving in my lifetime that Furman Bisher has not been here to do traditional column. This from AJC today.

Furman, who died in March, wrote a Thanksgiving Day column for 57 years. In his honor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran his first Thanksgiving Day column from 1955. He was a true treasure, and is deeply missed by the sportswriting fraternity.

From Furman:

I’m  thankful for the right to play the game you want to play and back the  team you want to back, though it isn’t necessarily set forth as such in  the constitution.

I’m thankful for a profession that gave us a Grantland Rice and the philosophy that came with him.

I’m thankful for the right to call an umpire a blind bum.

I’m thankful for drivers who dim their lights on the highway without waiting for you to dim yours.

I’m   thankful for guys who hit home runs in the last of the ninth inning  with the bases loaded, especially if they’re on our side.

I’m  thankful for “September Song,” as recorded by Walter Huston. In tones  hoary and uneven, but with a feeling that only he could give it.

And there’s more, much more. Thanks, Furman.

New IU National Sports Journalism director: young writers have advantage over veterans in market

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Teaching sports journalism at the big U these days would seem to be as valuable as starting classes on how to make a typewriter.

Journalism is a dying industry, we’re told. Read about it in the papers. What’s left of them, that is.

Malcolm Moran is here to say don’t believe everything you read and hear. And listen to this: He contends in many respects the market never has been better for young journalists. So are the opportunities to make an immediate impact.

Moran has seen it up close as the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism since 2006. And it isn’t just about young equaling cheaper.

“For the first time in the history of the industry, a 20-something journalist could have an advantage over a 40-something candidate,” Moran said.

In January, Moran will be molding those young writers as the new director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana. He takes over a program launched in 2009 by my old Tribune boss Tim Franklin. Moran said there are 100 students affiliated with the NJSC. Those students recently participated in compiling the hiring report card for the Black Coaches and Administrators Association, yet another example of the opportunity to make an early impact.

Moran obviously has the credentials with distinguished stops at the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and USA Today. He has covered more college bowl games and Final Fours than he cares to count.

Now Moran is making his presence felt on the academic side during a time of great transition for the profession. Here’s my Q/A.

What makes you say 20-somethings have an advantage over 40-somethings?

For the first time in the history of the industry, a 20-something journalist could have an advantage over a 40-something candidate. Graduates as recent as the class of 2007 have told me they feel as though they missed out on having the new technology included in their course work. If a younger candidate can meet all the timeless expectations of the industry, and demonstrate that he or she can tell stories across platforms, the assumption is that the candidate will handle the technology more easily than the more experienced veteran. Media outlets are willing to sacrifice institutional memory – and the higher salaries that comes with that – for more cost-effective, techno-savvy candidates. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying it’s happening.

But what about the job cuts in the market. Aren’t there diminished opportunities?

Yes, there is a distribution problem on the print side, but think about how many outlets that didn’t exist 10 years ago. There are staffers from our program at Penn State who are working at the Big Ten Network. When I started, the Big Ten Network was on the drawing board. ESPN.com was a small core of writers and a lot of wire copy 10-15 years ago. Now look at it.

In the spring of 2009, it seemed like there was no movement. The students who were graduating had a hard time finding jobs. But now we’re seeing more opportunities.

At Penn State, we had a student, Mark Viera, who wound up covering a lot of the Sandusky story for the New York Times. If you opened up the paper, you would assume he was a staff writer. He and Pete Thamel won the APSE award for breaking news. Those kinds of places would rarely use a free lancer 10-15 years ago. Now they do. The opportunity to make a name for yourself now is much greater.

Why would somebody want a sports journalism program as opposed to a regular journalism program?

Part of it is the nature of the industry and the changes we’ve seen. It’s so much more fragmented. Can a journalism major succeed in sports? Of course. However, last year, the students at Penn State covered the men’s Final Four, the BCS game, and the Olympics. If you’re 22 and have that on your resume, you’re in good shape.

We had nine students at the Olympics in London. They produced the digital newsletter daily for the USOC. There were only 15 U.S. media outlets that had more people in London than we did.

You can’t replicate what we did in London in a classroom. When we first got there, they were, ‘OK, what do we do now?’ By the end, they were veterans. It was fun to watch them discover that they can do this.

How is teaching sports journalism different now than 10 years ago?

It’s different than even three or four years ago. I guarantee you the word ‘tweet’ was nowhere to be found in my syllabus. Now I do a class on tweeting and how to use it in an intelligent way. We stress the same standards apply to a 140-character tweet as they do to a 2,000 word story.

Tweeting wasn’t on our radar three years ago, but if you don’t do it now, you’re not doing yourself justice.

What is the key for a young writer to get a job today?

You have to be able to cross every platform. You have to be able to tell your story in more ways than you used to. You can’t show up with a notebook in your pocket and expect to be relevant. You have to market yourself by demonstrating you can work across all the platforms. If you can do that and retain your core values, then you’re marketable.

What are your hopes for NSJC?

I’d like to grow the program and identify people who can make a difference. I have relationships with people they have relationships with. They’ve done a lot in a short period of time. I hope to be able to build upon it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q/A with Jay Mariotti: On two years out of spotlight; his side of what happened on that night and aftermath; and his next step

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The email in my inbox had a familiar name: Jay Mariotti.

Earlier that day a couple weeks ago, I had written a post about Mariotti. I wondered why he had taken two years off and if anybody would hire him again?

The email read: “You’re welcome to ask me questions. Don’t have to guess when I can give you context.”

Mariotti has a point. If I am going to comment and speculate about him, I should allow him to give his side. That’s the way I operate.

I followed up, asking if he was up for doing a Q/A. Prior to sending out questions, I did read his book on Amazon, The System: A Manual on Surviving Liars, Loons, Law, Life. Much of the book is Mariotti’s account of a domestic violence incident with a woman he was dating in 2010. He gives a condensed version in this Q/A.

Mariotti has been mostly on the sidelines ever since. However, he says he is ready to jump back in, and that there are opportunities out there for him. And if you think Mariotti has mellowed, well, guess again.

So here is “context” from Mariotti.

Why have you been off for two years? Obviously, you know the speculation out there. People don’t believe it is by choice.

Mariotti: “People” need to stop guessing when they really have no clue about me and what’s happening in my life. How irresponsible is that? They don’t realize what a great life I have here in Los Angeles. As I write this, I’m sitting under a blue sky by the pool in Santa Monica, with the ocean a few yards away. I read, write, ride my bike and work out here every day. Not really missing two bogus Sun-Times deadlines in Green Bay, eating bratwurst at halftime and getting back to Chicago at 4 a.m. That was a kamikaze mission for a failing newspaper — this is the good life.

When I’ve written more than 6,000 columns, done 1,800 TV shows on ESPN and 1,000 radio shows, covered 14 Olympics and 24 Super Bowls and dozens of golf majors and seen the world — and made a very comfortable living doing so — what possibly is wrong with voluntarily taking some time off in a beautiful place? I’m fortunate to not have to work, and I’ve taken advantage and cleared my head with two wonderful years away from the media business. I’ve had a rewarding and successful career, and not unlike some people in sports and Hollywood, I’m chilling until the opportunities are just right. I poured about 50 years of hard work into two decades. I’m preparing wisely for my next two decades in media.

Taking this break HAS been my choice, and whatever the speculation is, I can’t say I care when my two daughters are healthy and well and I don’t have to work for a corrupt Chicago newspaper as I did for 17 years. I’ve never been in better physical shape, and I’ll be back in sports media when the timing is right.

And just because I haven’t worked in sports media doesn’t mean I haven’t worked. I’m thick into a documentary project, for instance, and being in L.A. has opened new avenues to creativity. I’ve spoken to virtually all the big players in national sports media, including some the last few weeks. Right now, I’m mulling over three possibilities — all terrific jobs. If they happen, great. If not, Mumford & Sons are coming to the Hollywood Bowl next week. I would pay to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the Hollywood Bowl — not exactly Tinley Park, you know?

Why did you decide to do the ChicagoSide columns? What was the reaction?

Jon Eig, the editor, is a best-selling author who wants to do a smart, responsible sports site. I like smart, responsible sports sites because there are too many bad, amateur-hour sites that are sludging up the business like rat feces. Jon asked me to do pieces when the urge strikes. He said the reaction has been great and the site traffic off the charts. I suggested a piece on the White Sox when they were in first place so I could show people I’m not the anti-Christ of the South Side.

What happened? The Sox choked out here in Anaheim and faded away. I had to write it. Can’t win with that franchise.

Jon then suggested a piece on why I still love sportswriting. It attracted national attention, and I did an hour on Sirius/XM Radio about it. No doubt I still resonate, and I very much appreciate all the nice words from folks.

Do you want to work again? And in what capacity?

Again, I have been “working” — I’m doing documentary work, wrote a detailed book about my career and court case and have a standing offer to do another book. When I regularly return to the sports media, I assume it will be in a mutimedia capacity — TV, radio, writing. And maybe for more than one employer — I’ve always worked for two or three at a time.

Have there been any previous offers? If so, why did you turn them down?

Yes. I’ve turned down some sports media things. One would have required a cross-country move to do a daily afternoon-drive radio show. Another involved a book that didn’t interest me. Someone wanted me to invest in a restaurant — thought about it, said no. I’d actually like to be a roadie for the Black Keys, but they haven’t asked. I have an agent out here at Octagon, a Chicago native. He talks to people all the time about me.

How have/will your legal issues impact your ability to get hired? For lack of a better word, are you “tainted”?

That’s a fine word. And the answer is no, I’m not tainted. Anyone who knows the real story, as I’ve written in meticulous detail in my Amazon/Kindle book, knows I was victimized by a system that enabled a troubled and vindictive woman to lie about me, abuse me and stalk me in the neighborhood in which I live. I’m pleased that top executives at some major media companies have taken time to read the book — one said it was commendable that I spent many months trying to help the woman, who was broke and had personal problems after being fired from her advertising job and going through a divorce.

Ever see “Fatal Attraction,” the movie? I often felt like Michael Douglas. But that doesn’t matter in post-O.J. Simpson L.A., where even a battered man doesn’t stand a chance when a couple is arguing on a street and a third-party witness calls 911. Prosecutors saw an opportunity for a quick series of headlines in the L.A. Times. They never wanted to hear my side of the story; they just funneled me through a preliminary hearing and left it up to me to take it to a trial, not caring about the invaluable witnesses we brought to the courtroom and my $250,000 in legal expenses, plenty of which made its way to a financially ailing city via outrageous court costs. I could have taken the case to trial, but what a circus that would have been. How do I know a jury wouldn’t profile me unfairly, as an opinionated ESPN commentator of Italian heritage, and assume guilt regardless of the truth? I chose to take a no-contest plea bargain for one low-level misdemeanor, which allowed this person to stalk me in attempts to entrap me and cause me more trouble.

It appeared I was headed back to work for AOL, where I was the lead sports columnist. It was the best job in the business, with unlimited travel and terrific camaraderie among the staffers, unlike the Sun-Times insane asylum. But the company suddenly cut me a large financial settlement while not telling me or anyone else that it was dumping the sports site while doing a lucrative deal with Arianna Huffington. I was not “fired” because of this court case. That hasn’t stopped sleazy bloggers from writing otherwise. Wish these guys would take some journalism classes and stop being reckless gossips.

Since then, the woman and her attorneys have demanded money. I have refused to pay a cent. If my fellow journalists do their due diligence instead of just assuming I’m guilty — or, worse, WANTING to assume I’m guilty — then they’ll see what this was: a desperate money grab. I was put through a hellish ordeal despite never going to jail or pleading guilty. I was exploited as a public figure, lied about by bloggers who don’t corroborate their wild guesses — one said I was going to jail for 12 years — and harassed by lawyers who wanted to make a quick buck in a settlement. I’m proud to say I didn’t budge, but that decision still hurt me because the woman then told more lies to police and prosecutors, who were all ears. All of these details are in my book. Thank God it’s over, and shame on the legal system for allowing the chaos to interrupt my life.

Everyone makes mistakes — and mine was getting involved with a person who clearly was using me. It’s no coincidence that since I wrote the book, everyone has gone away — lawyers, prosecutors, the person herself — while the presiding judge says he is strongly considering an expungement of the entire case so that it’s completely wiped off my otherwise clean record. In more than two decades of marriage, we never had such problems in a loving, peaceful household in suburban Chicago. The LAPD is reckless. The system out here is a money-gouging, plea-bargain machine. And it didn’t help that the Times — owned by the Chicago Tribune, my rival for 17 years — was basically re-running the district attorney’s press releases.

I don’t hit women — never have, never will. As the father of two daughters, I abhor domestic abuse. In truth, I was the one abused in the relationship; one night, she punched me 22 times in the chest, right against the stent inserted during my 2007 heart attack. I’ve discussed all of this on two Fox Sports podcasts and in a Sirius/XM interview. I’ve written a book about it. Now it’s time for everyone to move on and realize that men, too, can be victims of domestic abuse. Sometimes life can be so messed up, you have no choice but to smile, be happy that you and your loved ones are well and just enjoy another beautiful day in paradise.

I read your book and your version of what went down. However, the vast majority of people won’t read your book. All they know is that you were involved in a domestic violence incident. Is there any way for you to undo that perception about you?

The book manuscript was sent to a couple of thousand people — family members, friends and media. While it’s available on Amazon, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to aggressively market it. It’s a for-the-record narrative that corrects the preposterous lies and reckless investigative work. Once I return to the media, I assume more people will read it. I just want it out there to counter all the lies that were reported.

Perception? Only two people know what actually happened. One is a successful sports media personality with two successful, well-adjusted daughters; the other was broke, jobless, abusive and emotionally unbalanced. Shame on anyone else who pretends to know more than they do, which is nothing.

And who says no one is reading the book? The numbers were excellent initially, but when you change the pricing and update content on Amazon, the sales numbers start over. I wasn’t consciously monitoring sales, but one day, an alert popped up and said I’d cracked the top 30 among media authors, ahead of Dan Rather and Chuck Klosterman. My mother must have bought extra copies that day.

You wrote columns about athletes involved in domestic violence issues. Has your perspective changed? I’m coming at it from the angle of the rush to judgement and people not knowing both sides of the story, as you feel was the case in what happened to you.

Uh, remember Tiger Woods and the SUV? I wrote that night that we shouldn’t rush to judgment. Turns out I was too soft initially on his marital infidelities, which shows it’s wrong to categorize me as an impulsive hatchet man. I’ve criticized athletes for many transgressions, and most deserved it. But I sure will think twice — or maybe three or four times — before assuming guilt in the future.

Yes, after my first brush with the law in 50 years of life, I now have a keener understanding of how the truth can be manipulated for financial motives. I’ve met a few bad people in my life, many in the media or wanting a piece of my wealth as a media person. Away from the public eye, it has been nice to meet terrific people.

Could you write a column about domestic violence given what happened to you?

No one is better qualified. I know what it’s like to be physically abused. Remember Chuck Finley, the former major-league pitcher? People in sports laughed when he was abused by Tawny Kitaen, the actress. Well, guess what? It’s 2012. Men are abused, too, by women who know they can manipulate the system. Know how many times I wanted to call the police or a hotel front desk? I couldn’t because I worried about the fallout, even if the headline might say, “ESPN analyst accuses woman of domestic abuse.” Even that would have been frowned upon in Bristol. Such is the pressure.

How do you feel about ESPN?

I’ve been to Bristol twice this year. Starting with John Skipper, they’ve been very supportive. The network has a zero-tolerance behavorial policy because of its powerful brand name and recent issues with personnel, and I made the mistake of not getting out of a toxic relationship when I knew a person could hurt me professionally. I always had been extra-careful about my associations in the public eye, but I had a blind spot in this case. ESPN had every right to be disappointed in me, but our chats have been very positive.

I am concerned about the network and its ability, with so many business deals in place with sports leagues, to let its commentators have editorial freedom. That might be a bigger issue in my situation than you think. People such as Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf weren’t happy I was on a five-day-a-week TV show on the flagship, and if ESPN really did reject Stan Van Gundy because David Stern didn’t want him on the air, I’m frightened for the network’s future. Somehow, I lasted eight years there.

For now, I’d like Adam Schefter and Kirk Herbstreit to stop posing in front of those little football helmets in their home-office studios. They look like little kids. What will we see next, their Hot Wheels collections?

Much has happened in the last two years in our industry. What stands out for you?

A softening of commentary. Rather than writing the tough piece for the readers, too many writers are writing marshmallowy crap for each other. And those with the guts to speak their minds with conviction — Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith — are maligned for it. Please. When did the business become so mushy? Are people that scared for their jobs? On the sleazy side of the spectrum are these numbnuts who put $12,000 in a paper bag for alleged pictures of Brett Favre’s penis. I hope that blogger’s parents are proud of him, but I doubt it.

More distressing is the lack of investigative sports journalism. Other than the new USA Today initiative, documentaries and profiles on HBO, the New York Times and a few people at Yahoo, who is busting big stories?

You wonder why I’ve taken my time returning. It’s not as if sports media is a sacred cause. There are some good, genuine, honest people in the business. But there are more sellouts, creeps, liars, cowards and lazy asses.

Do you think you still have your fastball? After being out for two years, do you think you’ll be able to summon the same fire/passion for a topic.

Theo Epstein is a fraud.

Curt Schilling should be in jail.

Too many people are piling on Lance Armstrong and forgetting the great work he has done in the cancer fight, which still outweighs his shame as a juicer.

The Bulls are doing Derrick Rose an injustice by not surrounding him with better talent. Why do the Lakers have four major stars and the Bulls one? When did Chicago stop acting like a major market?

Without Michael Jordan, whom he inherited, Jerry Reinsdorf would be 1-for-62 as a sports owner. That percentage would make him a bum if he owned teams in his native New York.

Until the Bears beat a real good team, slow down on the Super Bowl jabber. I still don’t trust Cutler and Lovie in the biggest moments.

The Sun-Times will die in 2013. The Tribune will die in 2015.

Fastball up near 100.

Will you be working in 2013?

Yep, assuming I’m alive.

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: Sally Jenkins responds about views towards Lance Armstrong

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Updated: Sally Jenkins responded to JimRomenesko.com. Says she is busy working on a Pat Summit book. She hasn’t written about Lance Armstrong since late August.

She wrote in an email:

I can tell you that while my thoughts are complicated Lance remains a friend of mine, and my personal opinion of him was never based on what he did or didn’t do while riding a bike up an Alp. I like the guy.

If my editors ask me to write when I come back from the book project, I will discuss it with them. Until then my thoughts remain my own. As for my reputation, if I can wind up with a rep for being a good friend and an independent thinker, I’d like that.

*******

Questions were raised about Jenkins because of the two books she did with Lance Armstrong. I was forwarded this post from JimRomenesko.com.

Romenesko cites two columns questioning Jenkins’ relationship with Armstrong.

Glenn Nelson, a former beat NBA beat writer, writes in Seattle Weekly:

Jenkins is a sports columnist for the Washington Post who has written for Sports Illustrated, been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and occupied the No. 1 spot on the New York Times best seller list. She also closely hitched her star to Armstrong’s by penning with him two books, “Every Second Counts” and “Not About the Bike.” I wonder if she consequently will–and should–be sucked into the draft of Armstrong’s nosedive. Because of Jenkins, we knew more about Armstrong than most athletes of his stature. Readers gained this perspective because Jenkins made a deal as old as her craft: access in exchange for a blind eye, either permanent or occasional.

This isn’t to claim that Jenkins knew the truth about Armstrong’s alleged doping activities. But, at the very least, she was in a position to view flags which were red as the blood Armstrong was supposed to be altering. Was Jenkins therefore obligated to employ more skepticism while sketching such overwhelmingly flattering pictures of Armstrong?

He concludes:

Until the recent rise of Web-fueled haterism, the writer-athlete partnership has pretty closely reflected the mores of society. People long have preferred their heroes not be felled. If the public wants access to those who inspire or titillate, the price of an acceptably blind eye may be one that cannot be refused.

By extension, Sally Jenkins has accomplished too much to be dragged down by Lance Armstrong, who did so much bad to offset so much good. She was just a partner in telling his story, not an accomplice to his misdeeds.

Previously, before the latest news about Armstrong hit, Harry Jaffe wrote in the Washingtonian.

Sally Jenkins is one of the Post’s most brave and incisive columnists. In the case of Lance Armstrong, she has tied herself to his fortunes, to his veracity, to his worthiness as a champion. If he takes a fall, will she write about it? Will she take one, too?

Jenkins has yet to respond to questions about whether she would write about Armstrong’s latest travails. Her readers deserve her take.

Jenkins has not written about Armstrong since an Aug. 24 column, when she slammed the policies of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. She wrote:

How does an agency that is supposed to regulate drug testing strip a guy of seven titles without a single positive drug test? Whether Armstrong is innocent or guilty, that question should give all of us pause.

 

 

 

 

Malcolm Moran to head Indiana’s Sports Journalism program

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Old friend and colleague Malcolm Moran is returning to Big Ten country. And just in time with Hoosiers hoops becoming relevant again.

From the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana:

New National Sports Journalism Center director Malcolm Moran brings 30 years of sports journalism experience to his new post, which he assumes in January, the Indiana University School of Journalism announced today.

As director, Moran will oversee programming for the Indianapolis-based center, which serves as a comprehensive institute for the study of sports journalism. The School of Journalism launched the center in 2009.

“It will be an honor to direct the National Sports Journalism Center and build upon all the good work that has been done since its launch,” said Moran. “All journalists are products of their experiences, and the core of our mission will be to connect students to the most rewarding challenges we can find.”

As a sportswriter, Moran worked for USA Today, Newsday, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune. In 2006, he was named the inaugural Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society in the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University. Moran also serves as director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism within the College.

Moran was honored with the Curt Gowdy Print Media Award in 2007 from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for outstanding lifetime coverage of basketball.

In his sportswriting career, Moran covered 26 bowl games, 26 men’s NCAA Final Fours, 16 World Series, 11 Super Bowls and two Olympic Games.

“Malcolm brings an impressive array of experiences to the position,” said School of Journalism Interim Dean Michael Evans. “His background as a highly respected journalist and as a successful leader in an academic setting, coupled with his outstanding skills and talents, make him an excellent choice to lead the National Sports Journalism Center to new levels of national prominence.”

Moran also will hold the Louis A. Weil Jr. Endowed Chair at the School of Journalism and will be involved in the curriculum, which includes the nation’s first master’s degree in sports journalism.

Moran has taught a variety of sports journalism courses at Penn State. He also used his professional experiences to provide students with opportunities to cover premiere national and international sporting events.

“In the past year, the opportunity to direct Penn State students and recent graduates at the BCS Championship Game, NCAA men’s Final Four basketball tournament and London Olympic Games has produced some of the most memorable moments of my career,” said Moran. “The relationships already in place at the NSJC, and others that we will develop, will help create more of those experiences.”

 

 

 

Sportswriter flaps: Student reporter feels heat from Weis, Kansas; LA Kings writer departs over lockout story

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A couple of interesting stories involving sportswriters:

At Kansas, there is a bizarre story involving a reporter covering the football team for the student paper. It seems coach Charlie Weis isn’t a big fan. Also, he probably is more than a bit cranky about his 1-4 Jayhawks.

Romenesko.com reports:

University Daily Kansan sports reporter Blake Schuster says he was warned Tuesday by University of Kansas football communications director Katy Lonergan about asking questions at the weekly football press conference.

The reason: Coach Charlie Weis and his team are still miffed about last week’s newspaper cover art and story.

Later, Romenesko reports:

I wasn’t able to reach Lonergan by phone this afternoon, but she did  talk to Sports Radio 810 host Kevin Kietzman off the air and told him: “Coach Weis has been very patient with [the student reporter]. Other KU coaches I know would have obliterated him and humiliated him for asking dumb questions.”

Kietzman says he talked to Lonergan for 17 minutes. “She made one great decision” he adds. “She made a great decision in not coming on the air. She made a poor decision in saying I’ll talk to you on the record, because she couldn’t stop talking. And the farther she got into this thing, the weirder the conversation got as to why” the student reporter was warned about asking questions at the press conference.

Note to Kansas: You’ll never look good when you try to bully the student newspaper.

*******

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News reports on why Rich Hammond left his job covering the Los Angeles Kings for the team’s website. He has since joined the Orange County Register.

From the story:

Hammond’s Sept. 17 post was a Q and A with the Kings’ Kevin Westgarth, the most visible of the team’s players as he worked with the NHL Players Association during Collective Bargaining Agreement talks. Westgarth was candid in his opinions about both sides of the negotiations.

“The league wanted the story taken down,” said Hammond, who stressed the Kings organization did not take issue with it. “Technically, they were saying that as a team employee, I had to abide by their rules of not discussing the lockout.”

The story remains posted (linked here) as discussions between the team and league continued. Still, Hammond wondered about maintaining the integrity of the blog if future restrictions or threats were ever put to him again.

In the meantime, he had renewed discussions from the Register about the USC beat and decided to take it, explaining only on his last post for the Kings’ blog (linked here) that “the timing and situation” was right for him to “move on . . . the decision is mine and the Kings in no way pushed or encouraged me to leave.” He said that during the lockout, he was not in danger of being laid off.

“It’s my choice, for a number of reasons,” he said. “I will leave on good terms.”

Hammond told the USC class that the team would have preferred he stayed but he “was not totally convinced the Kings could make (this situation) have a good ending.”

Probably not. Obviously, different rules apply for a team-owned website. Given his sentiments, Hammond is better off at the Register.

 

 

Bill Jauss dies: Versatile Chicago Tribune sportswriter became unlikely hit on TV; loved being at the game

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It is a sad day for the Chicago sportswriting fraternity. Bill Jauss, a long-time veteran, passed away at the age of 81.

I remember meeting Jauss for the first time in 1977. I was a high school student at New Trier West working the pass gate for a basketball game. Jauss walked in to pick up his credential. Naturally, I was in awe since I was an aspiring sportswriter myself.

Five years later, I found myself as a teammate with Jauss at the Tribune. That night at New Trier West stuck with me during all the years I worked with him. Even though he covered the pros and major colleges, I recall he was so enthusiastic about being there for that high school game.

His approach never wavered. For a four-year period in the 90s, I was Jauss’ main editor. It didn’t matter whether the game or assignment was big or small, Jauss was eager to dive in. Trust me, everyone on the staff didn’t have the same attitude.

Jauss just wanted to part of the action. And he was there for more than 50 years.

The Tribune’s Fred Mitchell wrote a terrific tribute to Jauss. He talked about the Sportswriters on TV show that developed a cult following nationally.

“I think that Gleason was the guy … we were in Billy Goat’s (tavern) one night,” Jauss recalled in May. “We had covered the same event — a hockey game or a basketball game. We had written our stories at our offices and met at Billy Goat’s. We were having a drink and there were some printers in there that we knew. They were seated at a table and we were at the bar. First thing you know, closing time came and we got up and started to walk down to Andy’s, which had a 4 a.m. closing.

“These printers were following along behind us. So Gleason turned around and said: ‘Where are you guys going?’ And they said: ‘Your argument is interesting. We want to hear how it ends.’

“So Gleason is walking along and thinking to himself, ‘Maybe this thing is sell-able.’ And that’s where he got the idea of putting on this argument, first on radio on WGN, and then on TV. I think that is what started all of these (sports) discussion shows that are so prevalent now. It was a pioneering thing at the time, although we didn’t realize it.”

Like me, his colleagues recalled Jauss’ work ethic.

Retired Tribune sportswriter Mike Conklin remembers how much Jauss was revered locally, even though his television notoriety garnered him national attention.

“Bill was a Chicago original. In fact, the farther his assignment took him from Chicago, the less he liked it,” Conklin recalled.

“I first bumped into him at events when he was with Chicago Today (the old afternoon newspaper). I thought it was a great thing to have him as a colleague when the Tribune absorbed the paper (in 1974) and combined sports staffs. He and Rick Talley were the star catches for the Trib in the merger and added much-needed flair.

“I liked this best about Bill: He was the most unpretentious sportswriter I knew,” Conklin said. “He would cover anything. A high school football game or a DePaul women’s basketball game were as important to him, and got his full attention, just as much as the Bears or the Cubs.”

Retired Tribune Hall of Fame Bears writer Don Pierson also admired Jauss’ versatility.

“Bill was the most complete sportswriter I knew because of his interest in and knowledge of so many sports, and his natural curiosity as a journalist,” Pierson said. “He always asked great questions without being confrontational. (He was) one of the few sportswriters even Bobby Knight respected. My fondest recollection is how Bill wrote exactly how Houston would upset UCLA in that famous basketball game (in 1968) — the day before the game.”

Jauss was a true Chicago original. RIP.

Mariotti reappears with Bears column on Chicago site

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If several Chicago-area athletes, coaches and owners woke up with a headache Monday (Jerry Reinsdorf probably had a migraine), here’s the reason: Jay Mariotti is back.

Well, sort of.

The former Chicago Sun-Times columnist reappeared in ChicagoSide, a relatively new site launched by Jonathan Eig. He weighed in from California on the Bears-Packers game.

It was typical Jay. He even professed to want to be positive, but that other Jay (Cutler) spoiled the mood.

Preparing for this article last week, I was hoping the Bears would beat the Packers and allow me to share in some rare warm-and-fuzzy glow. But in my 17 years as a Sun-Times sports columnist, topicality and necessity forced me into the corners of harsh reality way too often. This column is no different. I’ll be accused of Mariotti negativity, and some people will complain just so they can have something to be mad about. But so what?

Besides, it may take the heat off another Jay.

As for how Mariotti wound up writing for ChicagoSide, Eig said, “It is simple.”

“I invited him to submit a story if he ever felt the urge,” said Eig in an email. “He submitted one and I liked it. I don’t know if he’ll write for us again, but if he produces additional stories as good as this one, I’d be pleased to have them.”

Mariotti is pictured in a relaxed pose, an empty beer glass in his hand with the Pacific in the distance.

Life is good, right?

Mariotti has been in relative obscurity ever since a domestic violence incident cost him high-profile jobs with AOL Fanhouse and on ESPN’s Around the Horn.

Here’s what his bio says on ChicagoSide:

He lives in Los Angeles where he works on media projects. His recent e-book about his life and media career, “The System: A Manual on Surviving Liars, Loons, Law, Life,” is available on Amazon.com.

Here’s a link to the book. The cover features a sunset, an odd choice considering the hard-hitting title.

Perhaps Mariotti has mellowed out and is enjoying the good life in LA, drinking beers by the ocean. It represents quite a lifestyle change from the columnist who would have written three columns per day if given the chance.

It’ll be interesting to see if Mariotti does more for ChicagoSide. It definitely won’t be for the money, because ChicagoSide doesn’t operate that way.

Rather, I expect Mariotti will do it so he can be heard again. He’s been silent for a long time.

 

 

 

 

Joe Mooshil,1925-2012: Veteran Chicago AP sportswriter

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If you worked the press boxes in Chicago, you loved working with Joe Mooshil.

He could be gruff, and definitely didn’t suffer fools, and that includes coaches, players and owners. But if you earned the respect of the veteran Associated Press reporter in Chicago, it meant something.

From the obit in the Tribune:

On Saturday, friends and family remembered him as a gruff-voiced master of the sports world who nearly always had a cigar in his mouth, but whose tough exterior melted around those he loved.

From the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan:

“He was a classic, old-school sportswriter. It was hard to believe that anyone could write on deadline as sharply as he did. He made it look easy. He never got flustered.”

And from the Tribune’s Dave van Dyck:

“Joe Mooshil was kind of scary to us young guys because he had this gruff demeanor,” van Dyck said, chuckling. “Anything he said, he said it with this gruff and booming voice. But once you got to know him, he was just the opposite.”

Van Dyck also recalled Mr. Mooshil’s persistence as a reporter.

“I can remember many times coaches and managers getting really mad at him because he kept asking the same question over and over again until they really answered it,” van Dyck said. “He would never let them get off easy.”

A statement from Jerry Reinsdorf:

“The Chicago sports scene has lost a member of the Old Guard … with the passing of Joe Mooshil,” Chicago Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement Saturday. “It’s probably fitting in a way that he passed away on a fall weekend filled with sports events, because Joe covered them all during his long and honor-filled career.”

 

New role: Former USA Today reporter launches new sports business blog

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Michael McCarthy is the latest installment of journalists looking to reinvent themselves in the new media age. Welcome to the club, Mike.

A veteran sports business and media reporter, McCarthy saw his 12-year career at USA Today end last spring. However, he saw no reason to change what he had been doing at the paper.

Last week, McCarthy unveiled a new site, Sportsbizusa.com. The site will examine all facets of sports business, from sponsorship to rights deals and beyond.

Here’s Mike on USA Today and his new endeavor:

On covering sports business: It’s something I’ve always been interested in. For two years, I worked on the Game On blog for USA Today. I saw the great reaction to sports business news. Sometimes, it was the most read posts on the entire website.

I saw a real market for the game within a game, looking at the many sides of why things get done.

On leaving USA Today: Nothing was a surprise. The only surprise was who was going to stay and who was going to go. I felt fine. I felt a lot worse for the people who had been there 30 years and helped build the paper. I knew I’d be able to do something else.

On his hopes for his site: I want to focus on opinion and original reporting as much as I do on the news. It’ll be my take on sports business. I’m going to do my best to beat the competition, but I’m also looking to be a voice in this business. I think I’ve got the track record to do it. I’ve shown I have the track record to do it.

On what currently interests him in sports business: I think it is the whole social media thing. Athletes have become their own newspapers, their own PR men. Half the time, it winds up blowing up in their faces. Vince Young sent out a tweet that he was released from Buffalo before the team announced it. Is that a smart move? It’s all going to be interesting to watch.