New York Times Knicks/NBA writer

The New York Times has an opening for a writer to cover the NBA/Knicks. Previous coverage of the NBA is not essential. We are looking for a writer who thinks broadly and sees the larger story, spots trends, has a proven track record on deadline and a package of clips that demonstrates range from breaking news to game stories to takeouts. Email clips and resumes to jolly@nytimes.com or huck@nytimes.com
Note: we are moving buildings June 8 so for now, email is better than paper.

 

Surely this can't be real. I'm sure the second this job came open it had every tom, dick and harry on the east coast flooding the inbox with resumes. Am I wrong here?

 

They're probably doing this as a formality. Some poor intern in HR will spend his/her time deleting shitloads of resumes from dipsticks who think that they're ready to cover the Knicks after two years of covering Hooterville Community College sports. Meanwhile, the Time is offering the job to some f'n stud.

 

So that must mean that Chris Snow and Mizzougrad are the finalists.

 

Where was this posted?

 

Who WAS covering the Knicks? Howard Beck?

 

I don't know about that. I haven't tried them in 12 years, but twice I found them surprisingly receptive to unsolicited applications by me. They can be haughty in lots of ways, including at the interview, but my experience with two SEs (not the current one), was that their attitude was you never can tell what's going to come in through the mail, let's give him a look. They've been pretty egalitarian that way with me and others. I think they go their own way on people and don't seem to care much what other journalists think. Normally in a competitive market, you would want an NBA writer to have NBA experience so he or she will bring a shitload of sources to the job -- this person has to compete against Frank Isola, among others, and Isola is terrific. Yet they seem more worried about how this person can see the big picture longterm than whether he'll get beaten by the tabs a few times come November. You make a traditional hire and you get traditional coverage -- and that doesn't seem to be what they want. For good or ill or both.

 

But that's pretty much their entire section. The Times had the NBA officiating study story and no one else did. I like their section a lot and they have terrific writers.

 

Where has Howard Beck gone?

 

Something's funny in the City. No way Jolly, as nice a guy as he is, would throw out his email address like this asking for the avalanche of resumes that's sure to hit him in...3, 2, 1.

 

It's legit.

 

I think it would be a pretty great moment in anyone's career to hear "You're hired!" in regards to this job.