Lucky Number 12…

In the “Know”

by Matt Shanley

Not many people make their way out of Central Jersey.

The list is short and prestigious. It’s one that includes Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, and Kirsten Dunst. Saturday, New Jersey sports fans had a reason to celebrate: Knowshon Moreno of Middletown had become the first round draft pick of the Denver Broncos.

This Is The Way I Live

Going along with the apparent theme of this week, I want to talk about another lecture I sat through in one of my classes.

In my Online Journalism class yesterday, my professor asked us three questions, the most important of which may have been “What is journalism?”

He talked about how journalism is more than news and media.  He spoke to the class about how so much more goes into journalism than just relaying information.  It really hit home with me and what he said will remain in my brain until the day my life in journalism is over, and probably after that, too.

Raise Your Voice

This week in my Sports Journalism class, my professor (and Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer) Phil Anastasia stressed one point to his audience.  He wrote the word five times over on his marker board: “Voice.”

He said that no article, outside of a column, is complete without outside voice.

I agree with this statement, and admit that I haven’t always been the best at seeking quotes for my articles.  It’s necessary to get the ideas of the players from both teams.  The audience wants to know what it’s like to lose a close game just as much as they’d like to know how it feels to win one.  It’s important to get the feelings of the coaches from both sidelines.  The audience deserves to know what game plan worked better than the other.

A Look Back…

I am a firm believer that there is at least one point in a person’s life that helps them decide how they want to spend the rest of it.  I was never known as the most decisive person in the world, so for me, there are ten moments where I can honestly look back and say “This is why I want to be involved in professional sports.”  I created a timeline of these events, and in the description, I wrote a lead for each to give my audience a little dose of how I would have written an article on the occurrence.

The Top Ten Events That Influenced My Decision To Be A Sports Writer.

Back to the Future

Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to go back in time?

I do.  Every day.  And right now, I’m going to name off some of the things I wish I knew about journalism in sports before I applied to Rowan University as a journalism major nearly two years ago.

I wish I knew that nobody starts off at ESPN.  Clearly, I wasn’t naive enough to the point to think that I’d get a great job as soon as I was handed my diploma, however, the road is a lot rockier than I had initially thought.

I wish I knew that interviews are not always easy to come by, and most of the time, the interviewee isn’t as willing to answer questions as you are to ask them.

I wish I had been more aware of the current state of print journalism.  Though, I have no plans of leaving the field any time soon, and I have complete faith that the general public will soon realize that not everyone is a journalist, it is a tough time for the industry.

A Day in the Life

When you decide you want to be a sports journalist, the first thing you’re taught is that your life as a fan is over.

“You can’t be a fan,” I was told.  “You can’t be biased to a particular team or player.”  “Root for a good game.”

As a child, that’s the polar opposite of what you root for.  You proudly sport the jersey of your favorite player.  You don the cap of your favorite ball club.  You root for a blow-out.  The transition isn’t easy.

Up until March 28th, I wasn’t worried about it.  I wasn’t writing about the Giants.  I wasn’t interviewing Derek Jeter.  I certainly wasn’t covering a game in which Michael Jordan was imposing his dominance.  I pulled into the parking lot at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center with butterflies swarming my stomach.  I was about to cover a professional lacrosse game.  I was worried about my first real shot in the world of sports journalism, not about my actions in regards to clapping or cheering.  Perhaps I should have been worried about both.

I was handed a press pass and made my way into the Wings’ locker room.  I interviewed players and coaches just as I had for all of Rowan’s sports teams.  It seemed no different to me.  I took notes, I took pictures.  I was calm.  Oddly enough, my nerves kicked in when all of the actual reporting was over.  I did what I so rarely do.  I looked around.  I soaked in the moment, and against my will, and the will of those before me, I became a fan.

The combination of finesse and brutality was too much for me to handle.  I loved the sport.  And because I was sitting amongst the fans, rather than in a press box, I attempted to blend in.  I enjoyed it.

And that’s when I realized, it’s impossible to watch a sport and not have a preference as to who wins.  You can deny it, but the favoritism is always there.  It’s inevitable.  It’s the beauty of sport.  The fans are the reason journalists are there.  Everyone is a fan to some extent.

Crime Logs and Goosebumps

For the past week in my News Writing II class with Professor Kathryn Quigley, we’ve been learning about police beats and crime journalists.  I think this is a prime example of things aspiring sports journalists may have no original interest in, yet find surprisingly interesting.  It’s amazing what kind of stories these journalists get to write.  We read one description of a crime in Florida about a man who was wearing nothing but his underwear and beat an elderly woman with a hose.  Seriously?  How awesome is that?  Think of all the possible headlines for a story like that.

Break The Walls Down

While browsing the internet today, I found a very informational video. It is about an hour and 35 minutes long, and in order to view the entire thing, you must subscribe to Media Bistro.  There was, however, a brief preview on You Tube that gives a pretty general idea of what the video is about.  In the video, Robbyn Footlick and Alison Overholt, editors at ESPN The Magazine, discuss what it takes to become a good sports writer with a variety of other people within the industry of sports journalism.

Here is the five minute preview:

One on One With the Great One

Okay, so, she’s not all that great.  I mean, I did request interviews with Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, Rick Reilly and Bill Simmons of ESPN, and Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Unfortunately, none of the aforementioned names responded to my e-mails, and here you are getting ready to read an interview with a simple student.  In spite of the fact that she may not be a big name (yet), but she is my classmate, my Happy Hour co-host, and a good friend of mine.  This next blog entry includes an uncensored interview with Corianne Egan, a fellow aspiring sports journalist at Rowan University.

Matt:  You ready, Freddie?

Cori:  Yes sir, I am.

Matt:  What made you want to become a journalist?