Question about "The Vanifesto" and its practicality

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Van's message was to change a mindset. To challenge a ho-hum section.

I'm not disputing that McKenzie improved the section, but those people were not exactly sitting atop a load of turnips before his arrival in 1999. The section had taken a first and a fourth in the APSE writing awards in 1998. It had a long, proud history of excellence. I saw the paper frequently in the 1980s and never would have described it as ho-hum.

You can bet that the intended purpose of the Vanifesto was for staffers to take it literally. He was very specific about how procedures were to change. I see nothing wrong with people dissecting it. They are not saying McKenzie was full of it, they are trying to apply the specifics to their own situations.

 

[shotglass]

I'm not a sports reporter (and know nothing about Van), but this got me wondering:

"The best reporters...have personal home numbers for every player in the league they cover."

Really?

That jumped out at me as well. Can't see that happening. If you're doing a good job covering your own team, you're probably not even close to 100 percent there.

I have been consistently amazed by the phone lists of some of our best beat writers. This is not that far from the truth.

 

[cranberry]

It's a stretch. Most players I know change their cell numbers at least once a year. At any given time only about half the numbers in my cell phone are actually correct.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

If you have a lot of "inside" phone numbers for players in this age (especially those on teams you don't cover), you're probably a fist-bumping sycophant. I don't work in TV.

 

[fishwrapper]

Van's message was to change a mindset. To challenge a ho-hum section.

I'm not disputing that McKenzie improved the section, but those people were not exactly sitting atop a load of turnips before his arrival in 1999. The section had taken a first and a fourth in the APSE writing awards in 1998. It had a long, proud history of excellence. I saw the paper frequently in the 1980s and never would have described it as ho-hum.

You can bet that the intended purpose of the Vanifesto was for staffers to take it literally. He was very specific about how procedures were to change. I see nothing wrong with people dissecting it. They are not saying McKenzie was full of it, they are trying to apply the specifics to their own situations.

Well, I've been there before (and with Van).
So, let me type from experience, not conjecture.
(And, Frank, thanks for the APSE breakdown, because I know how much merit you put into that contest.)
Van's messages, and I've seen dozens of them, contain specifics, but were meant as wake-up calls. Van could motivate, either with an email, a look, a squeeze of the shoulder, a bout of anger or a round of drinks.
A note from him is noticed and commands respect. Whether it is Van, or Dave Smith or Bill Dwyre or George Solomon, you respect their messages and decisions.

 

[shotglass]

If you have a lot of "inside" phone numbers for players in this age (especially those on teams you don't cover), you're probably a fist-bumping sycophant. I don't work in TV.

OK, Smasher. All the good beat writers I work with are fist-bumping sycophants. Thank you.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

If you have a lot of "inside" phone numbers for players in this age (especially those on teams you don't cover), you're probably a fist-bumping sycophant. I don't work in TV.

OK, Smasher. All the good beat writers I work with are fist-bumping sycophants. Thank you.

I'm sure yours is a dream staff without peer.

All I'm saying is guys who cover a team well rarely have time to interact with players from other teams, much less develop enough of a relationship that personal phone numbers are exchanged.

 

[shockey]

sorry, but i call "bull" on the notion that ANY pro beat writers today have anywhere close to 100 percent of their team's players' phone numbers. no way today. back in the day, players were much more open with their numbers. the nfl team i covered would send their players off each off-season with a list of all the players numbers. getting a player to share it with you was a piece of cake in the '80s/early '90s.

today? no effin' way.