Frank Deford's "Over Time" memoir

What level is the course? What are the course objectives? You don't want content to go over the head of students, and that's why I think memoirs and such miss the mark. I dont think kids would understand Death of a Racehorse.

Honestly, how do you teach kids in a classroom to be a good journalist? The biggest failure in college journalism programs is the vast disconnect between classroom and real-world experiences. I know Joe can't do anything about that, but journalism seems to be an industry where apprenticeship would be the preferred method of training budding journalists.

 

what, you looking to pick up a few online credits, stitch?

 

Online? I thought I'd show up in person with my new Trapper Keeper. But in reality, the only place that would take me is that online school Shannon Doherty shills for.

 

and let's face it: she's only a 6 nowadays. ; P

 

I think journalism programs must require internships for accreditation. I agree with your points, though. I learned much more from my internships and student newspaper experience than any classes.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Re Joe's qualifications or suitability for teaching, Joe cares about the craft and all that goes with our business and on top of that he's one of the most generous and empathetic people I know in any business. His students are lucky. Whether they know it or not, whether they make use of his teaching, that will be on them, not Joe. Having taught and liked it at times and very definitely not at others, I can say that good students make good teachers.

Joe, I'm just a pucklorn Canuck who paints by numbers but I actually like William Nack's collection as much or more than Deford's. I'd be interested in what you or your students made of the story of L'il Irvy, the whale in deep freeze that toured circus and fairs. I read it as a kid and then again a few years back. I was fascinated by it on my first naive read but a little less on second pass. Deford once talked about some sort of Americana period where he tried to colour outside the borders of sport and I think L'il Irvy was his Great White Whale. The writer who did that much better was Paul Hemphill who did that sort of thing for Sport. You can find some collections on PH's online. I looked him up a couple of years before he died. He had heart and soul in a way that Deford only occasionally summons.

Mes deux sous,

YHS, etc

 

Thanks for all the input on the Deford memoir and other reading material to assign to my students in my Sports Reporting classes. Now, another question.

What about Web Sites? I want the students to monitor the regularly and am considering selecting three that they should hit every day. What are your best suggestions? Three that come to mind are ESPN, Grantland and Deadspin. I can see pros and cons to all of them. What others should I add to my list of considerations?

Thanx!

 

What about having them check, once a day or once a week, all the major national sports sites at one time and evaluate news judgment? You could stop at ESPN, Yahoo and CBS or also include Fox, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, USA Today, SB Nation, etc.