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Sports reporter wanted to cover Va.Tech

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by gravehunter, Nov 29, 2011.

Page 5 of 13
  1. gravehunter

    gravehunter Member

    I spoke with a former columnist friend about this years ago. His picture was in the paper nearly every day. I asked if people recognized him from that and he said it rarely happens. He told me that people look at him as if they know him from someplace but can't figure out where.
     
    gravehunter, Nov 30, 2011
    #49
  2. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    We're getting more protective of our Virginia® mark. We're thinking about suing West Virginia to change its name to Sofainfernoland.
     
    Mystery Meat II, Nov 30, 2011
    #50
  3. TheWritingWaffle

    TheWritingWaffle Member

    Would love a crack at this job if I had the right experience level, but I really don't.

    Just seems like a good location with passionate fans and good sports. If you want to get read, this seems to be it.

    Oh well - jobs will be open down the road, too :)
     
    TheWritingWaffle, Nov 30, 2011
    #51
  4. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    I get the point you were trying to make. And at a smaller FBS schol that doesn't have so many beat reporters, you're probably right. I wouldn't say minor celeb status, but to the die-hard fans, probably recognizable. But like others have said, plenty of reporters, whether its print or online, cover VT, so it's doubtful something anyone would need to worry about.

    Now come out from under that bus.
     
    Matt Stephens, Nov 30, 2011
    #52
  5. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    There is for every school employee.
     
    93Devil, Nov 30, 2011
    #53
  6. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Which, for the 24th time, has nothing to do with this posting.
     
    imjustagirl, Nov 30, 2011
    #54
  7. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Our jobs are not like your job. Not even close. There's no on/off switch with ours. I don't care who sees me out smoking (which I don't do) or drinking. A very large part of our job is building "rapport" with a variety of sources and you often do that in non-coverage situations. So running into trainers, assistants, non-rev coaches, equipments guys, etc., while out for a beer or a pizza was usually a good thing. I ran into a former assistant one night at a hang out and he gave me a TON of good info. It's all part of the job, if you want to do it well. And it is so much easier to do if you live there.

    I never did live in Blacksburg in all the many years I covered VT but I spent a ton of nights there. Some of it was personal, as I had two kids in school there at various times. But running into VT people was never a problem. Some of those nights I was there, being able to walk to the hotel was a very good things. Driving to Roanoke would have sucked - or been impossible.

    All the time I covered, I ran into Frank Beamer around town exactly once. The Queen and I stopped at a Kroger after my son's graduation to get things for a cookout/party. Frank came up behind us in the checkout line. I introduced him to my wife, told him why we were there. Made some small talk in a slow-moving line. My son came up and Frank shook his hand and congratulated him. And that was it.

    You cover a beat, you need to know a whole hell of a lot of people on that beat. And the best way to do that is to get to know them away from the scene.

    But what the hell do I know?
     
    Moderator1, Nov 30, 2011
    #55
  8. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Ditto
     
    93Devil, Nov 30, 2011
    #56
  9. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Fine.

    The person who has this beat should live in Blacksburg. Did Slater?

    This is a great beat in a very nice part of the country. Sorry if I undervalued the property value in Blacksburg in my initial post.
     
    93Devil, Nov 30, 2011
    #57
  10. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Considering the fact that the only way you would know anything concrete about what I currently do would come from information that has not been shared on this board, it appears I need to prune some Facebook contacts.

    Or you just didn't know how to respond, which is quite possible.

    You, on the other hand, have posted more than once regarding your status as a school administrator.

    And I do understand your consternation regarding this issue, since I absolutely take note when I see an elementary school teacher (or group of teachers) who wait for the weekend so they can go to the bars and get blasted as if they are still 22 years old.
     
    Piotr Rasputin, Nov 30, 2011
    #58
  11. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Yes, Slater did. One of the things I insisted on when I became SE is our next VT reporter lived there. When I started, VT coverage meant almost all football. The school wasn't in the ACC then. When it joined the ACC, the other sports became much more important and football had grown into the monster it is today.

    I offered to move about 2000, they didn't want me to do it (probably for good reason). When they came back to me later with that, my daughter had started high school. So I did the back and forth thing - many times. Many, many, many times.

    I hired Slater, took him over there to meet people and helped him find his first apartment.
     
    Moderator1, Nov 30, 2011
    #59
  12. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Thank you for the post.

    School staff does play by a different set of rules in certain situations. Some are positive, and some are negative.

    And, Moddy, thank you for that post as well.

    I think we all agree that this would be a great gig.
     
    93Devil, Nov 30, 2011
    #60
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