Past The 'Keeper

Jeff Zillgitt is the NBA beat reporter for USA Today.

There is a place for every young journalist, you just need to find out where that place is. You are churning out copies all the time so you don’t get much time with any one story.

You might not break every story, but you don’t want to miss any story. You must be aware of it all and keep track of the stories that are constantly coming out. There is no problem acknowledging another newspaper when they report something.

It’s always a good thing to call a coach so they get to know you and create a relationship. But even if you have  a relationship with them, you should be critical if the player isn’t doing well or positive if they are.

Write the truth.

It’s not easy to get info out to the public, especially when the person does not want that story to get out. And while it may make both of you uncomfortable, at the end of the day, it’s your job. You must do it and ask questions.

You should know how to get information. This is important not only in journalism but also in the world outside of it. Employers love people who can do this.

The best interviews are not only when he was firing questions away at the player or coach but when he was able to strike a conversation with them so each of you are comfortable.

Even if you are not an expert in a certain sport, it’s really important to know who to ask and be confident enough to ask them any and all questions to help you do your job well.

The nay-sayers have said that Lionel Messi doesn’t perform for Argentina the way he does for FC Barcelona.

He did more than quiet them in an international friendly match against the United States.

His Argentina side was rewarded with a goal in the 41st minute after Esteban Cambiasso finished a play set up by Messi after the “little lion” skillfully beat numerous defenders and played the ball across the goal mouth  for Cambiasso to put away.

And the way Messi squeezed through tight gaps in the American defense, weaved his way around multiple players, and roamed all over the field in the first half reminded everyone of the way he plays at Barcelona.

No one could deny that.

The second half, unfortunately, was  a different story.

The Argentinians looked like a different team, losing their sharpness and allowing the Americans to get comfortable playing and eventually — after a horrendous drop by Argentina’s goalkeeper — USA scored when New York Red Bulls‘ 18-year old Juan Agudelo tapped the ball past the fallen goalie to tie the score at 1-1.

Argentina was never able to get another goal and USA came away with a happy draw, but the Argentinians were left confused, wondering why the score wasn’t more like 5-0 instead of 1-1 in the end.

It’s been a rough week for the “Gooners.”

Tomorrow’s match won’t make things any easier.

Arsenal, hoping to make amends for their loss in the Champions League last week,  will need a victory as they play the Red Devils, a team with a bullseye on its back.

A win for Arsenal would be amazing following the week they’ve had.

Let’s recap:

1. They tied Sunderland, a mid-table team
2. They lost to FC Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League, despite winning the first leg
3. Captain Cesc Fabregas is out with an injury
4. Their starting keeper is out six weeks with an injury

It’s safe to say things are looking bleak for second-place Arsenal.

But luckily for them, Man U has struggled in similar fashion.

Here’s their recap:

1. Rio Ferdinand is out with a calf injury
2. Anderson is out with a knee injury
3. Park Ji-sung is out with a hamstring injury
4. Antonio Valencia is out with an ankle injury
5. They’ve lost their last two games

Although both teams have injuries and seem to be struggling, it will definitely be quite a match up that shouldn’t be missed.

Check back after the game for the recap.

Washington Redskins blogger, Matt Terl, a University of Maryland graduate, began with freelance work, not having a known path to what he wanted to do as a creative writing major.

Creative writing major? That’s right.

So how did he end up as a blogger for DC’s pro football team? Let’s find out:

As a die-hard Redskins fan, he first made sure there was some sort of content every day on his blog — whether good or bad. It was important to keep a steady flow of content.

He reached out to DC sports “bogger” Dan Steinberg to get his name out and possibly get a job. His wish was granted when he got an interview and was given a job to blog!

The start to the path which made him the team blogger initially began when he was part of the Redskins PR department. But finally he got what he really wanted.

To be the embedded fan.

He knew what people want to see. They wanted “the nooks and crannies.” And he would give it to them.

Terl began the first day of training camp in 2008 and going from an unknown figure to a well-known figure was very difficult, especially from those who doubted his abilities.

The transition was rough. But the ownership and General Manager never had a problem with what he blogged.

So he continued. And still does to this day, without a single doubt from anyone above him.

He stays giving fresh, new updated content each day. After all this is, in Terl’s opinion, the most important concept to understand when looking to be a writer/blogger in the future.

Jon DeNunzio began writing sports at the University of Virginia writing women’s soccer and fell in love with it all.

He covered high school sports, some college games, and began editing sports articles and eventuall got a full-time gig at the Prince William Express.

It’s imporant to pay attention to the “landscape” and must know what’s going on with everything around you. When George Solomon hired him as a full-timer at the Post, Solomon asked DeNunzio what he was reading outside of sports and journalism (hmm. Sounds like something our class heard on Tuesday). You gotta be well-rounded. Plain and simple.

As the User Activity Editor at the Post now, his job is to focus on user interactions on the editorial side of things. These include live chats, polls, crowdsourcing, comments. Basically he finds out what people and followers want to know to get stories on those things instead of only what is on the editor’s agenda.

Real reporters go into the heart of the story. At the 1996 Olympics, there was a bomb and a reporter he knew went straight toward the bomb.

That’s a real reporter.

What has not changed in journalism since he began:

• Ask the hard questions
• Find a job that pays well and secure your spot in the journalism business
• You are competing for jobs
• You must want to be a journalist and love it
• Must work hard and work long hours and must enjoy it — if you are busy, it is because people are interested and want to read your stories
• Must pay attention to details because it can get confusing (McLean School in Potomac, MD and a Potomac School in McLean, VA)

Without credibility as a writer, you have nothing!

• Keep it simple. The reporting and the facts is the most important — not the adjectives.

Twitter can help with keeping your writing simple. You can’t make things “flowery” with just 140 characters.

What has changed in journalism:

• Information is much more at your fingertips now than ever before
• The audience is more empowered now
• Readers don’t trust journalists the way they used to.
• Everything you say is evaluated — embraced or ignored
• The pace of the news
• Conversation is in real time
• Big-time personalities aren’t as influential as they used to be

As a final reminder and thought as DeNunzio leaves, make sure to listen to your audience.

They are who you are writing for.

George Solomon was the sports editor at the Washington Post for many years. He was also the first ombudsman for ESPN.

Staff for print news has been cut drastically but noted there are lots of jobs with writing for internet sites and TV networks.

Journalism:

• What to look for when hiring employees:

1. Clips, getting published as much as you can (Broadside and Connect2Mason.com are good)
2. Become good reporters — make phone calls, get stories straight
3. Learn how to break stories. Be first to get important information to the public.
4. Write good stories
5. Read good stories to learn from what those reporters/writers are saying
6. Stretch yourself — find something interesting in different newspapers that you don’t typically read
7. Set your goals high
8. Volunteer to write/work nights and weekends to show you are willing to do whatever it takes to be great
9. Make sure you are doing what you love

Solomon mentioned that he once told (and now regrets) Mitch Albom, writer of two sports nonfiction bestsellers, that he needed to work on his writing!

You must be curious in order to get more knowledgable about thing going on, how newspapers from other states/countries write so that you can expand your writing skills.

For the most part, if you go out of your way to ask writers for help, they will go out of their way to help you.

Sports Journalism in Washington

• Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon were two of the biggest names to come out of the Washington Post and succeed elsewhere.
• Hired David Remnick, now the editor of The New Yorker
• The Washington Examiner stopped covering Sports and lost competition with the Washington Post. No competition makes the audience lose interest.
• Solomon made sure that his reporters were first to report stories. If another newspaper broke the story first, he was not a happy man!

“Cesc Fabregas could still lift the Carling Cup for Arsenal at Wembley” read a headline for The Guardian.

So, basically Arsenal was preparing for their injured captain to lift the trophy, which would be great for him. He’s led the team throughout the tournament so it would be fitting to end it with him on the field to accept the trophy.

But the game was still days away. And Birmingham were ready to give them as much as they could.

“We have to play our own style and that can hopefully upset Arsenal. It’s 11 v 11, they’re not superhuman. If we hit the right levels then we are capable of causing an upset.”

Those were the words of Birmingham manager Alex McLeish. His team put up quite a fight all game long and while Arsenal clearly looked the better side, their pass-first mentality came back to bit them with the game tied 1-1 and Birmingham pushing for their second goal to put them ahead of the second-best team in the English Premier League and Obafemi Martins made that happen on his second touch of the game after shocking miscommunication from keeper Wojciech Szczesny and defender Laurent Koscielny.

This embarrassment capped a game that Arsenal deserved to lose. They let Birmingham hang around and keep their confidence level high throughout the match. It was a deserving game and much credit needs to be given to the visitors for their continual efforts.