The "Homer" sports writer

Watched a guy beat the table in jubilation when the team he was covering won tonight. It made me think of this thread.

I guess there will just always be "Homers" in this business.

 

I'm not about to wade through all 13 pages of this, but has anyone mentioned the media guide?

I see no problem eating at an event ,or getting in free, or getting a closer parking place than other people. When you think about it, writers should have the same advantages as officials. Reporting the result of the game is just as important as having officials blow the whistles on the field. Well, maybe not, but the game story is still important, IMHO.

But a media guide is written by the team or university with a very biased slant to it. But still, volumes of them are in every sports department. I am not saying it is wrong, but to be all high and mighty about some things, but then to open up a media guide to read background info on a player or a coach just seems a little hypocritical to me.

These Podunk High and Bumbledunk U shirts would make great Secret Santa gifts people!!!

 

Speaking of Santa, covering I regularly receive stuff in the mail around Christmas from from various race tracks and sanctioning bodies - desk pen sets, bags, etc. Many times the items are stitched, embossed or whatever with my name on it.

I don't ask for it. They just send it to me. I'm not going to ship it back. Can't give it away because who wants something with someone else's name on it, and I'm certainly not going to give anything to Goodwill with my name on it.

 

Not sure what your point is here. Are you suggesting reporters should keep their own statistics and use only their own background info on players, coaches, etc.?

If so, have fun with that.

 

Oh no, I am for the media guide as a tool, but when people say things like "I won't eat at a game" or "I won't take close parking" and some of the other posts, then I think that using a media guide contradicts the ultra straight and narrow mind set used.

 

Having a media guide at your side is a tool for you to do your job. It's either use that for a quick find or search the team's Web site for an ancient stats in twice the time, thus delaying everything else you do or frustrate you into not taking the time for that piece of information. There is nothing wrong with accepting a media guide.

I think a lot of people are really putting too much thought into this. It's not taking a media guide is a bribe or anything.

 

I agree. Not everything given is bad, even if it is food or a t-shirt to wash your car with.

 

I don't give a shit about the free food. I've always practiced "If it's there and it's free, and I don't have to use my groceries that night, I'll eat it." Look, I've got to save where I can, and that includes taking a bite in my down time in the office or the stadium if it's available. I'm enough of a professional to where me eating a sub at halftime isn't going to impact my story, so it's not even a thought for me. I'll take a shirt, say thanks and not wear it -- the same thing I do with my company's apparel. (I've got shirts from my last two jobs I've never worn.)

If anything, I've taken more heat for not being a homer. I've never once been called one and on at least three occasions, been reminded of "our coverage area" by bosses.

 

That's because your bosses are dumbasses. Trust me, Mike. If you worked for me, I'd have your back.

Feeding my face on the Big University's dime is not going to have any impact on how I write my stories. Nor is the Class AA minor league team's spread going to have any impact on how I write.

As for the minor league indoor football team, the family of one of the players actually gave me a season invitation to eat with them before going inside to cover the games. That didn't affect my coverage of the team, though it led me to write a well-received sidebar about fan enthusiasm for the team.

 

secret santa gifts ... solid.

 

This is probably gonna be really long, but I can't not reply to this....

I got my first newspaper job at - hell, I'll even name it too - the now defunct Texas City Sun in Texas City, Texas. It started with a high school internship that basically turned into a full-time gig once the sports editor abruptly designed. It had been the SE, a sportswriter and myself. Suddenly it was the latter two of us.

You see, the SE had been there for 16 years or so and had made a career basically out of homering for Texas City High School. Now, I grew up in that town and went to that school. He didn't - he went to La Marque, a neighboring town and basically Texas City's archrival that our paper also covered. Well, the managing editor stepped in and decided to switch it where the SE would cover La Marque instead of Texas City. So he resigned. He took his frickin' ball and went home. I ended up working the next 66 days straight and got a crash course in Quark. I was formally hired full-time about three months later, or about three months after I was actually working full-time. The guy I worked with became SE and we made a good team.

Anyway, for stupid reasons I won't even get into, the new SE got fired by a later managing editor and the *homer* came back and talked to the guy who doesn't know him. His health had been failing (he actually passed away about three or four years ago) and I had seen him. He could hardly climb bleachers. But he conned the new ME into hiring him back. I ended up covering Texas City as much as him, though, and he only lasted six months before having to resign for health reasons. I ended up working the whole summer and the first half of high school football season running sports solo before they hired a new SE that made me wish *the homer* was still around....that's probably another topic though.

 

That's a pretty good typo there.
The guy paginated all of a sudden and it cost him his job?