SMG does Phil Taylor

http://www.sportsmediaguide.com/interviews/phil-taylor/

Some good stuff,
Outstanding column at the bottom by Taylor.
He also discloses himself as a SportsJournalists.com visitor.

And has a few things to say about TBL and Deadspin.

 

Good read.

Some of what he says echoes that Shaunghessy column that was debated so heatedly earlier this week. In particular, I'm thinking about how he realized he wanted off the NBA beat when Brian Shaw, a seemingly nice guy and supporting cast member to Shaq and Kobe's Lakers, didn't want to make time to talk before the time. Sounds like it kind of shocked him.

 

excellent interview.

sounds like he wants out - he's seen enough brian shaws and frank violas.

and maybe his video game idea is his ticket.

(taylor suggests a video game pitting old-time bb stars against negro league stars)

 

[quote author=Phil Taylor]
In 2000 I went up to Brian Shaw, who was with the Lakers at the time, and asked if I could talk with him for a few minutes. This was 90 minutes before game time – NBA rules are that the lockerroom is open from that point until 45 minutes before tip-off. He knew who I was – I asked about the Shaq-Kobe situation at the time – and though he had talked before games in the past, now he said ‘Not before the game’. He was polite about it, but I thought, ‘Are we to the point where Brian Shaw, who is nice enough but not a star, is telling people he won’t talk’? That flipped a switch in my brain – at that point I wanted out of the NBA on a regular beat basis. It was just getting too hard to get access.
[/quote]
So this was the seminal moment? Being rebuffed by Brian Shaw before a game? About a topic that Shaw probably had been asked about ad nauseam? Really?

Seems that Taylor missed the obvious lightbulb moment: That he was chasing the same story that every other reporter in the lockerroom had chased themselves, Taylor included.

Indeed, a quick search reveals that Taylor wrote about Kobe and Shaq's relationship at the beginning of that season, again at about midseason and a third time heading into the playoffs. Magazines, remember, don't like to tread over well-documented territory, though this was an ongoing soap opera.

But the point is, if you were Brian Shaw, wouldn't you be tired of having to answer the same questions over and over again?

 

So this was the seminal moment? Being rebuffed by Brian Shaw before a game? About a topic that Shaw probably had been asked about ad nauseam? Really?

Seems that Taylor missed the obvious lightbulb moment: That he was chasing the same story that every other reporter in the lockerroom had chased themselves, Taylor included.

Indeed, a quick search reveals that Taylor wrote about Kobe and Shaq's relationship at the beginning of that season, again at about midseason and a third time heading into the playoffs. Magazines, remember, don't like to tread over well-documented territory, though this was an ongoing soap opera.

But the point is, if you were Brian Shaw, wouldn't you be tired of having to answer the same questions over and over again?
[/quote]

I think the point is, when a run-of-the-mill player with whom you already have a relationship won't to talk to you -- during the time set aside for interviews -- it can make you throw up your hands and think maybe it's time to do something else.