Simmons on sports writing

Sometimes --- maybe most times --- you'd be right.

But there was this game between the Lakers and Jazz in Utah. Magic is talking to Utah writer, and then when he finishes the L.A. writers corral him. They ask him, "Hey, what was with that disagreement you and Westhead were having?"

And Magic starts with his "I can't play here anymore. Tomorrow I'm going to go ask the man (Buss) to trade me." A few days later, Westhead is fired. Now, the decision to fire Westhead had already been made a couple of days BEFORE Magic said anything, but Magic's locker room tirade is what made news and what made everybody think (heck, many still do) that Magic fired the coach.


And that's why you go to the games and ask questions and don't depend on pool reporters to do it.

 

Nah, he'd be sitting on his couch, covered in Cheetos dust, writing a crappy gamer and telling House or J-Bug, "I'm a real boy!"

 

Did the same with FCS college football. The technology has definitely made it easier to do long distance. Do I wish I could be there in person? Sure. But logistics make that impossible much of the time, so you do the best you can with what you have.

 

Simmons has a point, but what really irritates me is the line of questioning is so damn idiotic. I mean, these are questions that are amateurish and of little thought. Interviewing has become a lost art, and that's why the public thinks so little of reporters these days. They need to do away with in-game interviews. Those things are, indeed, pointless and kudos to Pop for making a mockery of it. It amazes me how poor the questioning is.

 

Come to Philly. Eagles post-game we [the beat guys] get a fair chunk of our stuff in 1-on-1's. You're not going to get everybody by yourself, but you figure out ways to do it. Follow a guy out into the hallway and grab him while he's waiting to do a TV hit. Get a guy walking to the bus. Skip the guys at the podium if you know they're going to be transcribed and get guys at their locker while a lot of other scribes are in the interview room. Wait till the crowd thins out and get the last few guys coming out of the trainer's room just before they close the room. Or maybe get fresh stuff from guys back at their locker after they're done on the podium. If you're really committed to trying to get quotes nobody else will have, you can do it. And it makes your stories a lot stronger.

 

It's just a thought not fully thought out. Three guys can't do it and send out quotes because three guys aren't going to ask all the questions that cover sidebars and the such. Sure, they'd cover the gamer story just fine but all the other stuff would be lost. It's a two heads are better than one kind of thing or in this case 50 heads are better than three.

Plus, some sidebars are a very specific angle and you are the only one who can ask the question that makes it a story. I've done some of those.

Again, this is a thought from a guy who never had a beat and likely only reads gamer stories the night after a game. He doesn't pick up the newspaper and get all the sidebars and other stories that go into more detail on a interesting, but not necessarily important, part of that game.

 

Bravo.

 

Priceless.

 

Bill Simmons is spouting the opinion of bloggers everywhere, many of whom have credentials, yet don't attend games because they don't need to go to that effort to generate Web hits.

 

The in-game interview as pioneered by ESPN, which writes Simmons checks.

 

I read this yesterday, so I forget, isn't there a dissonance here between raving about Battier's brilliant quote to an enterprising reporter and championing less access? Someone has to ask questions. The only thing we need pool reporters for is tweeting press conferences. Nothing worse than 10 reporters on a beat you follow all tweeting out same practice quotes.

 

Ok that was his point, and it has some merit in theory. In reality, not so much.