Sports Media Columnists?

[sprtswrtr10]

Question.

Who's still doing this as a regular gig.
Can't be what it was 10 years ago, but give me a few names of guys or women who do it (well?). I'm the SE of a four-person staff, but I have a guy who works our desk who wants to add to the product. So I was looking for an avenue that might add something to our paper (once a week) that we don't have right now. The other thought was a Fantasy Sports column. But, anyway, let's stick to sports media. Who's still doing this as a regular gig. I want to collect some examples. Thanks.

 

[DanOregon]

Just a suggestion, but I'd really look at the size of your market. Does it have a few radio and TV stations with a lot of sports coverage to comment on? Because the best sports media writers are able to get into the whys and hows of TV sports coverage.
If your market doesn't have a couple of local sports talk shows on the radio and regular TV coverage produced locally, I don't know if it makes a lot of sense to just make observations on the national scene without being able to advance the story with original interviews.
But every market is different. It might be something to try and get some feedback from readers on. After preps as priority 1 at the local level, I'd go recreational/youth; outdoors (might be no. 1 in some areas) and motor sports.

 

[HanSenSE]

Think part of the reason for the decline as well has been, in addition to the crappy economy, just how homogonized a lot of broadcasting has become. Larry Stewart got downsized off the LA Times and Steve Kroner of the SF Chronicle has been covering WCC basketball and doing Giants-A'sfill-in since they dropped their media coverage. There's Bob Raissman at the NY Daily News, Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News and David Barron blogging at the Houston Chronicle.

And like Dan Oregon said: Look at the market. If I had the resources, I'd love to have someone on local racing, especially in the summer. I did a quick-and-dirty racing notebook over the summer, mostly based on talking to the promoters and pr folks, but having covered racing at a previous stop, it's not the same. I looked into outdoors at one point, but with the shrinking news hole and time involved, opted against it. Another area to consider: MMA/boxing.

 

[huntsie]

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail does one which is very good.

 

[Andy _ Kent]

Barry Jackson still does it at The Miami Herald but works it into his weekly Sports Buzz column.

 

[Norrin Radd]

This niche has been taken over - and been made much more entertaining and interesting - by the likes of Deadspin, FireJoeMorgan, and KissingSuzyKolber.

 

[Mike Nadel]

Question.

Who's still doing this as a regular gig.
Can't be what it was 10 years ago, but give me a few names of guys or women who do it (well?). I'm the SE of a four-person staff, but I have a guy who works our desk who wants to add to the product. So I was looking for an avenue that might add something to our paper (once a week) that we don't have right now. The other thought was a Fantasy Sports column. But, anyway, let's stick to sports media. Who's still doing this as a regular gig. I want to collect some examples. Thanks.

Where are you located and how much will you pay me? Ha!

 

[sprtswrtr10]

This is all great info.
The truth is, there's a ton of local stuff here.
I'll probably give myself away, but I'm SE at a Big 12 Daily.
The hometown school doesn't have its own network, but a new deal with an established network that claims, what's the word, "multiple platforms" is exploding the amount of programming on the hometown school, particularly for secondary sports (volleyball, soccer this time of year). Also, there is one sports station in town and a much bigger one 20 miles away (most of the hosts at the big one live in this town). So, there you go.

This guy wants to write something and I'm trying to be helpful and come up with an idea that's actually good for the section and not beyond what he's in a position to do. I'm not from the school that "anything" is better than nothing. Also, he's full time on the desk, hence the once-a-week idea. He's already a consumer of sports media, so the "leg work" wouldn't necessarily amount to a huge time commitment. Anyway, I'm well aware this can be done badly, and I don't want that to happen.

But all of these replies are helpful.
I'll take more if there are more.
Thanks.

 

[Versatile]

Question.

Who's still doing this as a regular gig.
Can't be what it was 10 years ago, but give me a few names of guys or women who do it (well?). I'm the SE of a four-person staff, but I have a guy who works our desk who wants to add to the product. So I was looking for an avenue that might add something to our paper (once a week) that we don't have right now. The other thought was a Fantasy Sports column. But, anyway, let's stick to sports media. Who's still doing this as a regular gig. I want to collect some examples. Thanks.

It's about damn time a desker contributed.

Oh, and HanSenSE, while I agree with DanOregon's points, they were not mine.

 

[HanSenSE]

Question.

Who's still doing this as a regular gig.
Can't be what it was 10 years ago, but give me a few names of guys or women who do it (well?). I'm the SE of a four-person staff, but I have a guy who works our desk who wants to add to the product. So I was looking for an avenue that might add something to our paper (once a week) that we don't have right now. The other thought was a Fantasy Sports column. But, anyway, let's stick to sports media. Who's still doing this as a regular gig. I want to collect some examples. Thanks.

It's about damn time a desker contributed.

Oh, and HanSenSE, while I agree with DanOregon's points, they were not mine.

Apologies. What I get for doing the board and working on the agate page simultaneously. It's been fixed.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

This niche has been taken over - and been made much more entertaining and interesting - by the likes of Deadspin, FireJoeMorgan, and KissingSuzyKolber.

Yeah, but they're not covering your local stuff, which resonates more with readers. If you can swing it, do it. It's usually one of the best-read features of the section. People may not know if the local team is calling the right plays, but everybody has an opinion on announcers and talk show hosts. And remember -- it's the one thing that won't be discussed on local talk radio. WFAN doesn't take a lot of calls on what a steaming heap of bull**** Francesa is.

 

[mediaguy]

It's still the main thing Michael Hiestand does for USA Today, no?

 

[MileHigh]

Dusty Saunders does a weekly freelance column on Mondays for the Denver Post.

 

[BillyT]

Pete's very good. It's a side gig to his regular reporting.

Being in Albany, NY., means endless stuff coming through on the Yankees and Mets.

He had a good, related, front-page Sunday piece on the decline of local news anchors.

http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia/

 

[geddymurphy]

It's still the main thing Michael Hiestand does for USA Today, no?

Yep. And Rovell and Deitsch.

I'm not a Rovell fan, but the three of them are still a bit more responsible than Deadspin, Awful Announcing, etc.

 

[Versatile]

It's still the main thing Michael Hiestand does for USA Today, no?

Yep. And Rovell and Deitsch.

I'm not a Rovell fan, but the three of them are still a bit more responsible than Deadspin, Awful Announcing, etc.

I'd rather get my news from Deadspin than Darren Rovell every single time. But Richard Sandomir does an OK job.

The Big Fozzie Bear might be the best at covering sports media.

 

[daemon]

In all seriousness, how many journalists would be willing to publicly critique other media outlets when the current economic climate creates the very real possibility that they will need to land a job with one of those media outlets at some point? ESPN is obviously the big example - any serious media critic will do a healthy dose of crapping on the network, but the network is one of the few destination companies left anymore. But also on a local level, it's tough to take a critical look at outlets who might be potential employers if your shop cuts staff. Besides, with all of the mergers and content-sharing agreements between companies in all mediums, there might not be much in the way of media to critique.

 

[Versatile]

In all seriousness, how many journalists would be willing to publicly critique other media outlets when the current economic climate creates the very real possibility that they will need to land a job with one of those media outlets at some point? ESPN is obviously the big example - any serious media critic will do a healthy dose of crapping on the network, but the network is one of the few destination companies left anymore. But also on a local level, it's tough to take a critical look at outlets who might be potential employers if your shop cuts staff. Besides, with all of the mergers and content-sharing agreements between companies in all mediums, there might not be much in the way of media to critique.

ESPN tried to put Tommy Craggs on the payroll twice in the past year and a half.

 

[dixiehack]

It wouldn't work unless he had a passion for it, but Tuscaloosa had a designer (Chris Olds) who did regular features on trading cards and sports memorabilia. A unique niche I haven't seen anywhere else.

 

[mediaguy]

Rovell is much more about sports and business. Dietsch is probably the best out there right now.