Few tasks are more daunting than the post-game interview, especially when it takes place late at night. Sports journalists are already nearly overwhelmed doing the following on deadline – filing an initial story online, racing downstairs to post-game conferences and/or dugouts to get comments from players and coaches, plugging these quotes into a second draft, [...]
Oct
30
2012
30
2012
Oct
16
2012
16
2012
Dealing with coaches after a loss
The local volleyball coach refuses to speak to you after a loss. The football coach talks excitedly after a victory, but offers monosyllabic responses following a defeat. The basketball coach stares directly at you following a loss, daring you to ask a question.
Maybe the coach slams his headset to the ground, stomps his feet, or [...]
Mar
3
2012
3
2012
Ask the tough, relevant questions
Are you going to be a shill or are you going to be a reporter? That’s what the Los Angeles Times’ T.J. Simers wants to know. In this terrific column, Simers focuses on how Tiger Woods and boxer Floyd Mayweather each tried to intimidate reporters last week in order to avoid responding to the tougher questions. [...]
Jan
29
2012
29
2012
Access still a struggle for college media
The Indiana Daily Student, which does a terrific job covering sports, tweeted many interesting comments and insights about its basketball team last night. But what struck me the most was the term – media availability. That’s a chilling term, really. When did universities start curtailing access and inhibiting speech? When they started to allow athletic [...]
Dec
6
2011
6
2011
MLB issues dress code
Major League Baseball issued a dress code for reporters in press boxes and locker rooms that requires common sense, forbidding open-faced shoes like sandals and clothing with any MLB team logos. That’s akin to telling college sports journalists not to wear clothing that identifies them as a representative of their own school, nor to wear [...]
Jul
7
2011
7
2011
Aug
25
2009
25
2009
Introduce yourself to coaches, SIDs
First impressions are terribly important. So make a better one by introducing yourself to the coaches and sports information directors you will work with this season – in their offices, not out on the field where they will be working. You would not want people introducing themselves to you on deadline, right?
Keep these conversations off [...]
Oct
2
2008
2
2008
SIDs, college papers clash over access
Before Sarah Jones can interview an athlete at Fairleigh Dickinson University, she must contact the athletic department and let them know about the scheduled meeting. As sports editor of the Equinox, Jones is required to cite the date, time and place where she will interview the player.
At the University of Texas in Austin, reporters are [...]
How best to turn yourself from sports fan to professional sports journalist? Quickly moving beyond general guidance about sports writing, Joe Gisondi focuses on the nitty-gritty, with hands-on, practical advice on covering 20 specific sports. From auto racing to wrestling, you’ll find tips on the seemingly straightforward—where to stand on the sideline and how to identify a key player—along with the more specialized—figuring out shot selection in lacrosse and understanding a coxswain’s call for a harder stroke in rowing. Preparing you for just about any game, match, meet, race, regatta or tournament you’re likely to cover, Field Guide to Covering Sports is the ideal go-to resource to have on hand as you master the beat. You can 
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