Jason Quick opens up about leaving the Blazers' beat

On the college level, it's usually the coach that sets the tone. And, sometimes, a media guy has to get a little creative, and think of solutions to bridge the gap if the access sucks.

Incidentally -- this'll sound weird but I think it might be true -- a guy once told me that in states with two big athletic programs, the that isn't "the University of" is usually better with access. So:

Oregon State over Oregon
Michigan State over Michigan
Purdue over Indiana
Arizona State over Arizona
Washington State over Washington
Iowa State over Iowa
North Carolina State over North Carolina
Auburn over Alabama
Kansas State over Kansas
Virginia Tech over Virginia
Florida State over Florida

Obviously, the comparison doesn't hold entirely, (Ohio State, for example), but I think it might hold for most of the time.

 

It's probably true more often than not... At least back during Snyder's first stint at K-State, that wasn't the case. I'm spacing the name of the hoops coach who was there in the late 90s, but he was an insufferable prick as well.

I don't know if Georgia Tech is bad, but Georgia would likely be an exception as well... Great access there...

 

Little harsh here. Not every reporter is an internal processor, and when process -- out loud, inside -- all kinds of statements come out.

I personally don't mind this stuff, but some editors do.

 

I've heard Snyder still shuts it all down. But Kansas State football's not the pastime around there no matter how good they are. It's still Allen Fieldhouse, Bill Self, that crew. I've heard Self's decent.

 

Roy was decent to deal with when he was there, at least based on my limited dealings with him.

I've heard FSU is still great, despite having a Saban disciple as a coach. USC had great access when Carroll was there, at least early on...

I'm under the impression that most of the Pac-12 schools, with the notable exception of Oregon, have pretty good access.

 

Yeah, who wouldn't like a custom-designed, cherry-picked role like that? That's not the world in which most newsrooms survive. First he expresses dissatisfaction with not being a columnist, then he wants the sort of boutique position hardly any paper can afford given staff sizes and other resources.

Better be careful what he wishes for. Those glorified enterprise/feature roles can quickly devolve into fill-in/sidebar grinds, where you don't have your own turf and you put yourself on the chopping block by becoming more expendable.

Kept hearing the guy from the employment agency in this clip, mocking Albert Brooks' out-of-touch, whiny character with "Oh I know, you mean the $100,000 box!"

http://youtu.be/l0rS5Zusw4M

 

Good point.

 

The difference is, Quick is good enough to fill that role, whereas most who desire it are not. And there are certainly room and resources at the Oregonian for that position, even with the cutbacks.

(And no, I am not Jason Quick's agent. But I have read his stories, in one manner or another, for more than 20 years, and am smart enough, to paraphrase the great Joe Salem, to discern a good writer from a Doug fir.)

 

There are more qualified workers who desire those kind of roles than there are those kind of roles. Remember, this is a very subjective business.

Grumbling about handling the biggest beat in town is bad form given the state of the industry. Guess he doesn't hurt anyone by doing so, but doesn't generate lot of empathy either.

Hope his bosses carve out something that makes him happy. Hope it doesn't come at the expense of any of his colleagues.

 

Tru dat. Losing him would be a loss to the Oregonian, and to people like me who enjoy his work. Many favorable comments in the comments section after the story.

And while I'm sure they can (and probably will) prove me wrong, it's hard to see the O's sports staff get any leaner than it already is, and fire someone to accommodate Quick. In fact, if he did become a reporter-at-large, someone would get his UO football beat, probably a desirable outcome for many on staff.

Due to retirements/turnover/layoffs I'm not as familiar with many of them as I once was, but generally a pretty good group of people who never big-timed their smaller-market brethren.

 

I wonder if having the Timbers in town and generating a lot of interest will improve the atmosphere of the Blazers. Between Paul Allen and the "only game in town" attitude fostered by the team, I can imagine it is difficult.
For all their passion, (maybe because of it?) many Oregon sports fans are incredibly unsophisticated and parochial. They've never followed any other team but the locals, figure the local media should be "on board." Throw that in with the players and an uncertain job outlook (don't tell me seeing colleagues who have been mentors getting shown the door doesn't make an impression). There are plenty of former Blazers beat people who aren't at the paper anymore.

 

Here is a significantly more nuanced take from Quick.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/08/behind_the_blazers_locker_room_door_jason_quick_on.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter