SPORTSWRITERS

[marchmadness]

For the most part in the area, I enjoy what sportswriters have to say about local talent. They are talented, reporting games with good information and fairly judging the skill of local players. But from time to time I am mystified a the lack of skill and talent of some hometown sportswriters.

 

Am I wrong by thinking that sportswriters should report fairly about local games without a judgemental eye?

 

The Morgan County news sportswriter, I think his name is Langley, has to be the worst.

 

How does a guy like this get a job? Most people learn to read and write in the third grade and then we move on to bigger and better things in life. Talented writing is something that is necessary, something vital to fair news reporting... somebody who lives his high school days through the pen is something totally different.

 

I am a CAK fan and I read some of his articles after the district tournament. Luckily I have the pleasure of reading the Knoxville guys articles instead of the hometown garbage that the guy puts out.

 

What do you all think??

[o21putt]

Considering that most sportswriters know nothing about any of the sports that they write about, then why are we surprised that the reporting is so bad. Just report the scores and the stats and we can figure out the rest. That is, we are hopeful that they get the score and stats correct.

[icecold06]

Considering that most sportswriters know nothing about any of the sports that they write about, then why are we surprised that the reporting is so bad.  Just report the scores and the stats and we can figure out the rest.  That is, we are hopeful that they get the score and stats correct.

825599492[/snapback]

I agree, to a certain extent, even though my best friend who is a journalist is going to kill me for this, Most sportswriters are guys who enjoy and love sports but probably did not have the talent to excell so in order to stay involved in sports they became sportswriters, they really know nothing about the sports they are covering except basic information and rules, now there are some who know what they are talking about but not many

[team2beatvu]

I agree, to a certain extent, even though my best friend who is a journalist is going to kill me for this, Most sportswriters are guys who enjoy and love sports but probably did not have the talent to excell so in order to stay involved in sports they became sportswriters, they really know nothing about the sports they are covering except basic information and rules, now there are some who know what they are talking about but not many

825599520[/snapback]

It's ridiculous to say just because someone didn't have the talent to play sports that they can't be good sportswriters. I mean seriously, Bill Belichek never played football but he's won 3 Super Bowls. A lot of non-athletes know more about the sport than some athletes because they actually love it more.

[BlackSunshine]

I have a challenge for all the "sports writers aren't worth the money they're paid" people. It's very simple: find out EXACTLY what sports writers are paid. Then judge.

 

Then, here's another challenge. Go do it a bit. I mean go cover 4 to 5 schools, have the reports and pictures ready in 2 days, and then take the heat for everything you write (at their salary). It's not as easy as you think.

 

I think it's funny how people can sit back and critique the performances of coaches, players, and the media. Hey, they know what they're getting into, but I still think it would be fun to put some of those people in front of a crowd of 3 or 4 thousand while they do their daily job.

 

"And Wally is reaching for the can of oil to put in this perfectly running 1998 Chevy Impala. OHHHH, he dropped the funnel under the car. No way Wally is going to get his 300 pound body under THAT car. Poor training on his boss' part, obviously. He should have been cut from the team in favor of that younger guy, Paul. He's never dropped a funnel, and, if he did, he has the reach to go under there and get it. Wally is a disgrace. They ought to can him."

 

Think how you'd feel if you had to work under those conditions every day for probably a whole lot less money that what you make now.

[FHSrebel27]

What in the world does not having talent to play a game have to do with writing about the game? Comments like that baffle me. Look at some of the posters around here... WesVols for example. He'll be the first to tell you he's not anywhere close to being able to suit up and hit the grid-iron but he could write about it all day and do it pretty darn good.

 

That's just a silly thing to say.

[1Fan]

I think it's funny how people can sit back and critique the performances of coaches, players, and the media. Hey, they know what they're getting into, but I still think it would be fun to put some of those people in front of a crowd of 3 or 4 thousand while they do their daily job.

 

"And Wally is reaching for the can of oil to put in this perfectly running 1998 Chevy Impala. OHHHH, he dropped the funnel under the car. No way Wally is going to get his 300 pound body under THAT car. Poor training on his boss' part, obviously. He should have been cut from the team in favor of that younger guy, Paul. He's never dropped a funnel, and, if he did, he has the reach to go under there and get it. Wally is a disgrace. They ought to can him."

 

Think how you'd feel if you had to work under those conditions every day for probably a whole lot less money that what you make now.

825599613[/snapback]

 

Great post! thumb

[tex]

We have one in Cookeville that has to be the biggest joke going. Never just reports about the game always ready with an excuse of how CHS got screwed one way or the other and the bad part is all he really does is hurt the school and even they cannot stand him

[5]

Anyone have any actual numbers on what some salaries are, or what's an average salary for a sportswriter?

[Prosushi]

most newspapers and such require their articles to be written on around an 8th grade level so that the average person can understand them. So a lot of times, the article seems dumbed down.

 

And yes it's true, some writers don't know much about the sport they cover, but you don't see them working for huge papers and such. I could cover HS basketball, doesn't mean i'd be great at it, but then again, i'm not writing for the NY Times

[spartans3]

I am a journalism student about to graduate and trust me, you would never envy what sportswriters covering high school athletics make...

[marchmadness]

Brian Langley talked about how good Wartburg was all year. And now they got hammered by CAK.

 

He has no idea what he is talking about.

 

He needs to write about the bad attitudes from Hamby and the Shannon brothers.

 

CAK, what what.