Tampa Bay Times seeks pro sports reporter

The Tampa Bay Times and tampabay.com are looking for a versatile reporter to help cover the Bucs, Rays and Lightning in print and online.
The successful candidate will be the primary backup on each of our three main pro sports beats but also have the opportunity to produce distinctive enterprise work. A knack for news and good ideas will make you stand out.
We’re looking for someone who can meet a tight deadline with a gamer and notes but also conceive of a meaty story that can take off on the web and anchor the Sunday front. Digital and social media skills are essential.
The person most recently in this job was promoted to our state colleges position, and we’ll hit the ground running with some applicants from that search, but additional candidates are welcome. If you’re interested, contact assistant metro editor Roy LeBlanc at rleblanc@tampabay.com.

 

This is my former job. As mentioned above and in another thread, I've moved to our state colleges position, which I'm extremely excited about.

I don't know exactly how/if the position will evolve, but I'll share what I did to give y'all a more concrete feel for the gig. I went to Bucs practices as much as possible and was usually responsible for a feature a week, and I was at almost every home game. I covered Rays games/spring training when our beat reporter needed a breather (a roadtrip here and there typically comes with this gig). Same with Lightning, although I think I was at every home playoff game/practice. That's quite a bit on its own - one season flows into the next, which flows into the next - but we made some time for enterprise, especially this time last year as the Bucs had the No. 1 pick in the draft.

You won't get bored. There's always something going on. I had one stretch where I covered hockey practice on Friday, college football on Saturday, NASCAR on Sunday and Bucs on Monday. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to keep up with all of them and switch hats when needed.

One other cool thing about this job is that Tampa Bay hosts some things that don't fall into the usual categories. St. Pete hosts the IndyCar season opener next month. The Frozen Four is here in April. Daytona is only a couple hours away, so we usually staff both of those NASCAR races (and often Homestead, too). Three teams have spring training in our immediate coverage area. So there are opportunities to branch out, too, if you want them.

If you have questions about the position/paper/area, my email is mbaker@tampabay.com. I'll be happy to help as best I can. This is a really cool gig, especially for someone younger and trying to move up the food chain. Good luck.

 

This piques my interest. I received a rejection email from Roy this morning for that college opening (applied so long ago I forgot about it anyway, unfortunately), but this would be cool. A few years of my youth were spent in the Tampa area and my first NHL game was between the Lightning and Red Wings. I'll need to toss my hat into this race.

 

Any update here?

 

Finally got around to getting my updated materials submitted for this!

 

Any word on this?