Cover the Nationals - Fredericksburg, VA

No. It wouldn't hurt - but no.

But I would say experience covering a beat and understanding what it takes to develop these sort of contacts is essential.

Flattery will get you everywhere with me.

I haven't seen my name on ESPN's Who's Now, but getting my name in there would go a long way towards someone landing this gig.

Being a poker player will definitely win you points with our staff and help revive our weekly game. And there's the annual Super Bowl game in my basement (which has turned into quite an event!).

As for knocking out the Lynchburgians ... just get Warters good and loaded and you can be assured of outlasting at least one of them.

 

Wouldn't they prefer it if you simply knew the rules of poker but otherwise had no talent at the game?

 

Perk One -- Nats get a brand new stadium in SE D.C. next year.

Perk Two -- covering a team Dmitri Young plays for.

Perk Three -- when the huge-headed former presidents race around the stadium between innings (come on Moddy, every Nats fan loves this).

If the timing was right, my stuff would be in the mail. Saw Todd there all the time while covering the Nats myself, always did a solid job, asked good questions in the clubhouse.

Nationals' front office/media relations also does things right, and takes care of its media folks.

Oh, and if you get this beat and start covering them this year, bring a hard hat. The ceilings and walls at RFK Stadium could crumble at any moment.

 

Sorry Justin... I won't be submitting your name to "Who's now?" (Nor will I be submitting my resume). Just showing you some much-deserved love.

 

Your weekly game is dead too, Justin? Ours is teetering on the brink of extinction. I somehow feel its Freehling's fault. (kidding)

 

Not dead - just in deep hibernation. We've lost some of our regulars .... it'll be back someday!

 

I suppose I should pipe up and add what it was like to cover this beat. I lived in Woodbridge, Va., which is about halfway from Fredericksburg to RFK Stadium, and the commute wasn't that bad. I left for 7 p.m. home games around 1:30 p.m. and typically got home sometime after midnight. You can hit traffic at any time, but it's worst for weekday afternoon games.

Writing for a paper that isn't circulated in D.C. can be tough, and initially it was very tough convincing members of the front office how serious we were about covering the beat, but I think over the last 2 1/2 years we proved we were there to stay - to the players, coaches, front office staff and PR folks. We were able to break stories, write interesting features and enterprise projects, and I made an effort to cover all 81 home games each season, though I never did (the birth of my son came smack in the middle of a 10-game winning streak in May/June of '05). I think I did 77 home games that year, and last year, I did close to 100 games total (and a trip to the All-Star Game). Without a doubt, people knew who the Free Lance-Star was at RFK Stadium, even if they thought the name of the paper was really weird.

I also travelled as much as possible, going to NYC, Philly, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. No, that's not really "travelling" with the team and it was sometimes hard to get over that hump, considering the Post and the Times were always there in Seattle or Colorado or wherever, but I tried to fight that by really increasing our coverage of the team's minor league system (which was perfect, considering they're putting a lot of money and resources there as they rebuild). The plan, I hoped, if I had stuck around, was that if the Nats ever were in a playoff race, I'd travel more consistently, and in '05, that was the plan - I was going on trips to San Diego and Colorado until the Nats tanked and were out of the race. There are many media outlets that cover the team, but I think four (plus AP) are considered to have true beat writers: the Post, the Times, MLB.com and the Free Lance-Star. Richmond certainly could be; Markon is there all the time writing columns but they don't have a beat writer there.

The people at the Free Lance-Star are great to work for and I have no regrets at all. I had tons of freedom to cover the beat (during the season, it was 99 percent Nats; in the offseason, there's some preps/college coverage).

But a lot has changed in my life since I got into this business in college 10 years ago. I've got a family and a 2-year-old son, and in the end, that took precendence over some things that I like about sports journalism. I'd be lying if I said pay wasn't a factor, because it was (that's an industry-wide thing, not at all a dig at the Free Lance-Star), and the state of the industry isn't great. Time with my family was also important, especially as my son begins to grow up. I loved covering MLB, but it's no joke, and it's a hard beat to cover well.

I also didn't especially like living in Woodbridge, and wanted to move closer to my extended family, which is in Maryland (that's the reason I never sent any clips to Richmond), and with my new job in D.C., I'll be able to do that. Yes, the job is out of sports journalism, and it's a total 180 from what I'm doing now. I'll be covering energy-related issues for a newsletter in Washington (it's a 9-5 gig, weekends off).

If anyone has any more questions about the beat or the paper or whatever, send me a pm or email (dcwriter1978@aol.com) and I can answer them.

Todd Jacobson

 

Todd, you did a very creditable job with the resources at your disposal. I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. Good Luck in the future.

 

Young might be landing on a team in my neck of the woods.
And I enjoyed Todd's thoughtful explanation of the beat and his rationale for leaving the industry. It's not a defeat if the next step has as many positive aspects as this one seems to.

 

No, it's certainly not a defeat, not even close. But it was a decision that took A LOT of thinking.