What's the biggest misconception people you know have about sports journalism?

THAT'S when you give sophomore football as much coverage as the varsity. I'm sure the caller will understand and not have had a change of heart at all.

 

The common ones I see are the gross underestimation of time spent on the articles, the belief that coverage can be arranged by a phone call within 15 minutes, and the belief that Friday football nights are like 12 weekly election nights. They're not.

 

Re: What's the biggest misconception people you know have about sports journalis

especially when it's your boss, who has never covered Team X, or any major sport for that matter.

 

The concept of nightly deadlines.

I'm sure most folks think we finish writing ten minutes before the paper hits their doorstep. I don't even bother trying to explain the process anymore.

 

Our 4-man dept. at our 17K daily does both. We also take our own pictures (except football games).

 

Shot's observation about reporters being responsible for writing the heds and cutlines is a great one.

I've been called out in an NFL locker room before because one player took exception to a cutline. I tried explaining it to him, but he wasn't really interested in my response.

 

There are several on this thread I agree with, but to me, the biggest misconception is that we are P.R. for whatever we cover.
I do a lot of preps, and if the team loses, I often hear, "Way to support the local team with that big headline after they lost."
I try to explain that my job is to tell the truth, not sugarcoat things, but they usually don't get it.
And believe me, I'm not overly hard on high school kids. I'm actually a lot softer on them than they should be (and than most are on themselves).
I also love when the sports we cover more than anyone else in our area complain about something. Yes, we hit nearly every home softball and soccer team for the high school in our town, but we still get complaints. It's funny, because the football parents almost never complain about the coverage, and this is clearly a football state.

 

Hahaha!

I have a good friend who thinks I'm in the backshop working on the press.
Every time he sees me, he asks why I don't have more black smudges on my face.

 

Public misconceptions don't bother me. I don't expect the average person to have a clue.

What's tiresome is the attitudes from other media people. Let's be serious: most news reporters in print and broadcast think they are the world's only remaining virgins.

 

Misconceptions:

1. We are the toy department.

2. That getting access to players and coaches at a major college football program is a piece of cake.

3. That every time we travel is the same as a paid vacation.

4. That TV sports anchors are sports journalists.

5. That sports talk show hosts really are the insiders they purport to be.

6. That coach or player is telling the truth when he says "I never read the papers, anyway."

7. That it's the God-given right of every high school athlete to have his or her name in the paper at least once a week--that it is a paper's civic duty to do so.

8. That newspaper sports' sole existence is to provide positive coverage and to do otherwise is blatant cynicism.

10. That we get to cheer in the pressbox or at press row (well, that's a misconception unless you're from Kentucky and the 'Cats are playing hoops).

11. That we get to play golf whenever we feel like it.

 

We have a winner. I've played a total of one round all year.