J470 Sportswriting: Carlson vs. Gundy

The following is my reactions and thoughts to a class conversation we had with Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman.  In 2007, Carlson wrote a column criticizing Oklahoma St. quarterback Bobby Reid.  Oklahoma St. head coach Mike Gundy erupted into a tirade in the press conference following OSU’s win the next Saturday.  The original column can be found here.  The video of the press conference can be found here.  

The conversation that we had with Jenni Carlson was quite informative because it addressed a few issues that came up during her run in with coach Mike Gundy that I had never thought about before.

I had never considered that Gundy’s blow-up during the post-game press conference might have happened only because Carlson is a woman.  I found it interesting as well to learn that our class seemed pretty split about whether or not he would have done the same thing to a male reporter.

Personally, I think it had a big influence in the situation because you have to consider where the incident occurred:  the South.  I can’t honestly say that the same thing would have happened to a man, not in the manner that Gundy blew up at Carlson.

As far as her column is concerned, I still don’t think it was a strong column, nor do I think it was a smart column.  Even though she said that the beat writers had tipped her off about the player’s mother feeding him chicken, I would never consider putting that into a column.  Why bring that into the picture?  I understand criticizing a player, and I understand that players have to have a thick skin and be able to stand up to the criticism.  But nothing good or constructive can come from embarrassing a young guy in the media.

Mike Gundy is the biggest failure to Bobby Reid though.  Along with Carlson, his instincts on this issue seemed to be wrong as well.  He probably thought he was helping the situation, but by causing such an intense uproar he all but guaranteed ESPN airtime later that evening.  If you’re trying to protect your player, don’t mention him television, especially without even being asked about it.

In general, this whole situation just seems like giant mess:  an average column, an overdramatic coach, and an emotional football player.  This was almost a perfect storm of drama, and we happened to catch all of it on film.

J470 Sportswriting: A New’s Battle Approaching?

The following is my response to a class conversation with Gregg Bell, the director of writing at the University of Washington.  He is a professional journalist who was hired by Washington to write original content on their athletics website.

On Wednesday, we heard from Gregg Bell, the director of writing at the University of Washington.  Most of the conversation revolved around the changing media landscape within the NCAA, and how it will evolve in the next couple of years.

Personally, I don’t see a problem with professional journalists being hired by athletic departments to control the information that the university puts out regarding their athletic teams.  Some consider it selling out, but in a world where jobs are hard to come by, and the changing landscape prevents new jobs from being formed, these jobs suddenly become quite attractive.  While a position like this is not particularly “true journalism,” it melds journalism and public relations into one position.

What’s interesting to me is that while longtime journalists and sportswriters might consider this “selling out,” I think our new generation of journalists find these jobs attractive because they allow great freedom to write as many stories as you want, and you are allowed full access to everything within the athletic department.

Not to mention, if Ohio came calling and wanted me to be a part of their writing/PR team for athletics, as a graduate, I would not turn them down.  Someone mentioned in class last week that this job is probably more suited for the passionate sports fan that experiences undying love for a team.  I would most certainly love the career that allowed me to talk about Ohio Bobcats sports for five, ten, fifteen years.

It really comes down to the preference of the individual, and I don’t think it makes the profession any less remarkable because it isn’t true journalism, according to some experts.  To touch on the Cuban blog, Cuban has every right to deny journalists to his locker room, because he owns it.  He also has every right to start his own writing division within his organization.  Will this make journalists job a little tougher and change the way they do their job?

Absolutely.  But in the democracy we live in, he has every right to do that.  It’s up to the people, and his consumers, to decide whether or not his message will resonate.  The people have a choice to consume the media they desire.  In this changing time, it will be up to the newspapers and television stations to decide if they will try to pursue the same stories that the teams are putting out or pursue the stories they are hiding.

J470 Sportswriting: Final Four Broadcasting and Paying NCAA Athletes

The following is my response to the prompt “What did you think of the broadcasting work done for the Final Four?”  The response also includes opinion on whether or not NCAA athletes should be paid.  It was completed in a response format, not in any journalistic form.  All opinions are my own.

While I specifically did not get to watch the Final Four or the National Championship game due to work commitments, I did watch enough of the tournament to get an idea of how the media works during the tournament.  This year marked the first year that TNT, as well as TBS aired games during the tournament.

My first praise actually goes to the choice to air games on TNT and TBS.  The commentary crew with Marv Albert and Charles Barkley was actually my favorite throughout the tournament.  Despite being NBA analysts, they brought a refreshing approach to the coverage.  Many people do not like the attitude that Barkley brings to the broadcast, especially when he starts talking about athletes and whether or not they should be paid for their efforts.  However, I feel that this brings a contrasting view to the broadcast and offers at least a strong voice to go against the vast majority of commentators that tend to only talk about the negatives that paying a player causes.

I have had varying opinions on whether or not athletes should be paid since I’ve started my college career, but I think I’ve finally settled on a side of the argument that makes the most sense to me.  I do believe that all collegiate athletes should receive a per diem for daily living expenses.  If the NCAA is going to place so many restrictions on their athletes, like limiting the amount of hours they can work at a job, or denying them the ability to make money of their image, then they should at least allow the university to give per diems to the athletes for compensation for the work they do for the university.

As a member of the Marching 110, I put in a similar amount of time each fall representing the university in uniform as many of my fellow athletes on campus, and yet I probably get more compensation than some of the football or basketball players on campus.  I know that our marching band is different, and one of the biggest attractions at the university, but we don’t have the restrictions on us like the athletes do.

How can you ask an athlete who comes from poverty to just accept that he has to frugally live the next four years while he wears a collegiate uniform just because the NCAA says that it is wrong to make money as a student-athlete?  The debate about whether or not these athletes are actually student-athletes is for another time, but using this moniker to justify not paying them, while big time programs are making millions of dollars off them is ridiculous.

Ultimately, despite my opinion, I don’t think its necessary to extensively discuss the issue during live broadcasts of the NCAA tournament.  It is newsworthy, and it is important, but not during this event.  There are so many stories the commentators can cover during the tournament (underdogs, upset wins, Cinderella runs) that aren’t as distracting from the game at hand.  I do believe there is a time and a place however.  Put it on Sportscenter, PTI, Around the Horn, any other show other than a live-broadcast of the biggest sporting event of the year (Biased opinion, right there).