D'oh! Sports writer tells mag.. he's embarassed to cover sports.

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Chico Harlan, an outstanding writer who used to work for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, recently got into a little hot water.
I guess he covers the Nats for the Post. But in a feature on him in a magazine he said he hated sports and was embarassed to cover them. Oops.
Fall out ensures, Harlan issues an apology.
His readers - at least those of his blog anyway - seem pretty forgiving.


http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/03/an_apology.html?wprss=nationalsjournal

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Why doesn't he GTFO if he's embarrassed?

 

[blueview]

In reading that Washingtonian piece, the comment made him sound like a bit of an ingrate, and I wonder how he felt when he initially read the piece, pre-blog entry.

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/11866.html

At least he did some good personal damage control with the blog. Any other sports reporters out there who hate sports?

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Any other sports reporters out there who hate sports?

I think it's quite a large number.

 

[Kato]

I think Klosterman wrote a piece about sportswriters hating sports sometime back. Maybe it was in Esquire; maybe it was in one of his books. Anyway, I think he had a point. Often, sportswriters become so unattached to sports. They're angry, bitter and rarely impressed anymore -- just watch Around the Horn; those guys are never happy (and, sadly, they often represent us to the general public.

To contrast that, look at political reporters and music writers. They love politics; they love music. They're junkies about their beats.

I'm not trying to paint with a broad brush, but I do think there is a perception out there of sportswriters hating sports -- or at least being really bored with sports.

 

[Ace]

I think Klosterman wrote a piece about sportswriters hating sports sometime back. Maybe it was in Esquire; maybe it was in one of his books. Anyway, I think he had a point. Often, sportswriters become so unattached to sports. They're angry, bitter and rarely impressed anymore -- just watch Around the Horn; those guys are never happy (and, sadly, they often represent us to the general public.

To contrast that, look at political reporters and music writers. They love politics; they love music. They're junkies about their beats.

I'm not trying to paint with a broad brush, but I do think there is a perception out there of sportswriters hating sports -- or at least being really bored with sports.

Yes, but there is a difference between becoming disengaged with being a fan or caring who wins to hating them and being embarrassed to cover them.

 

[Trouser_Buddah]

I thought Jason Wilde once said he'd rather go to Lilith Fair than cover the Packers...

 

[GuessWho]

Am not embarrassed to cover it, and don't hate it, but sports is very rarely on our TV when I'm off the clock. I see enough when I'm on it (the clock).

 

[mike311gd]

Why doesn't he GTFO if he's embarrassed?

I'll take his job.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Why doesn't he GTFO if he's embarrassed?

I'll take his job.

He can swap jobs with me. And then he'll be sorry. Trust me on this ...

 

[outofplace]

Embarrassed to cover sports? Sounds like Harlan has a very high opinion of himself. I guess I can understand it. He has certainly had some success in his young career.

 

[forever_town]

If he's so embarrassed to be covering sports, let him step aside in favor of someone who wants to do it. :

****. People like that have a job and people like Carl Dubois are unemployed. Where's the justice?

 

[Starman]

Reporters, more than anybody else, should know that any time you are talking to another reporter, anything and everything you say probably will end up in print.

Therefore the usual excuse of "offhand unguarded remark" doesn't fly.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

chico's good people, a hell of a writer and a hell of a reporter... who cares how he feels about it as long as he gets the job done?

 

[DisembodiedOwlHead]

Yes, but there is a difference between becoming disengaged with being a fan or caring who wins to hating them and being embarrassed to cover them.

True, however, I think the previous analogy is apt and interesting: nobody in music or politics worries about being perceived as a "fan" of their beat. That's a major neurotic problem in sportswriting. Even when you look at opinion writing in those areas, it's not a matter of whether George Will or James Carville hates politics, it's which side they're supporting. In sports, some people try to prove their objectivity by being above the subject, which returns to the heart of Harlan's comments.

 

[beardpuller]

I think you ought to be allowed to hate sports, if you do a good job of writing about it anyway. I don't think anybody cares whether a great political reporter hates politics. There are things all of us hate about sports. There are things all political writers probably hate about politics.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Reporters, more than anybody else, should know that any time you are talking to another reporter, anything and everything you say probably will end up in print.

Therefore the usual excuse of "offhand unguarded remark" doesn't fly.

Writers, of all sorts, should be aware of this. Yet many want to trot out the same tired excuses.

 

[outofplace]

Did writing about food somehow become prestigious and I missed it?

 

[Write-brained]

Give the guy a break, he covers the freakin' Nationals.

Hi Moddy!

 

[Rufino]

That's a spectacularly tone deaf thing to say right now. If you're so above sports, find someone to give you a job writing about something you deem worthy of your brilliance. Otherwise STFU.