Hi everyone, I’m writing to you live from Buies Creek, N.C. trying to come up with something to write about. Usually in these cases, it time to break out some Reflections but I save those for Sunday. I can do some Observations, which are always enjoyable.
Music to listen to: Indra by Thievery Corporation
Something chill to listen to.
Crush of the Day: Robin Meade
She’s one of the only reasons to get up in the morning and watch the news. She has a solid background, good age, surprised that she’s been married since 1993, good for her, seriously. Her husband’s last name is Yeagar, so why not go with Robin Yeagar? That would make her even more awesome.
-I’m loving the latest batch of reality shows that have been on. Rock of Love Bus has been decent, even though I’ve missed the past five or six episodes. For the Love of Ray J and I Love Money 2 have been incredibly enjoyable and I don’t miss an episode ever.
Now, it looks like MTV is bringing back The Duel and you know I’ll be all over that one.
I watched the first two episodes of Real World: Brooklyn and haven’t had the desire to check it out since. That’s bad because its in my hometown but there’s only so much television that I can watch.
-I was speaking with the People’s Champion some time ago and we started discussing the television show, Friends.
It was a decent show accept for that they violated two major guy rules that I can never, ever get over.
First, you don’t date the sister of your good friend. It’s unacceptable that Chandler started dating Monica. Second, you definitely don’t date the ex of your good friend. How the heck can Joey date Ross and even worse impregnate her.
Actually, didn’t Rachel get pregnant with Ross’ baby while dating Joey? Terrible.
-I’ve been meaning to post about this in the past few weeks, but I found this article interesting.
The Washington Nationals have been assigned a new reporter by the Washington Post and he isn’t too happy about his new position. Here’s the article for the entire read, which I suggest that you do: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/11866.html
Chico Harlan made two statements that I want to address:
1) “I don’t like sports—I am embarrassed that I cover them,” Chico Harlan says. “I can’t wait to stop. It is a means to an end and a paycheck.”
This has caused fans of the Nationals to be angered by his candor and I completely understand this. Sports are something that people take very seriously and often emotions are tied into these feelings. Many people would feel fortunate to have the position of a sports writer for a team they follow. It looks like a glamorous position to have.
For him to make those statements was not good. Especially considering that the guy is 26 and should honestly be fortunate to have any position with a newspaper, let alone as a reporter. Take it from me who is currently looking for a job in sports management, the job market is not good right now.
The problem that I have with his statement is the word “embarrassed.” Each of us gets assigned to an aspect of our job that we may not like. For him to make a generalization that sports are embarrassing was not cool to me as someone who is a big sports fan. I understand if he’s a bigger fan of politics, arts and entertainment, music or other aspects of the newspaper coverage but don’t state that opinion.
Furthermore, don’t use the paycheck argument. This isn’t manual labor that is taxing on you. You’re not someone who works in construction 18 hours a day trying to make enough money for your spouse and kids to live under a roof and pay bills. You’re a sports reporter who gets to attend all of the games for free and watch a ballgame. It’s not that hard to make it sound like its ruining your life.
2) “My approach might drive hard-core fans crazy because I might not get inside for that nitty-gritty play-by-play,” he says. “The passion I can drum up is wanting to capture what is unique about each game. I am interested in the characters more than anything.”
I get where he’s trying to come from with this one. I think that the best reporting in sports usually takes place when the reporter can find the balance to report objectively on the team without feeling positive or negative emotions about the subjects.
This is especially tough on a beat reporter or even a columnist for a newspaper covering the team because you interact with the players and management on a daily basis so it may be tough to criticize the first baseman about his fielding when you’ve talked about your family with him and shared stories.
Harlan is trying to take the approach of keeping distance and writing from the broad prospective about the Nationals, which I get. I’ve always said that fans can look at the box score if they want to know how many hits someone had or who struck out in the sixth inning during a crucial game. Fans are savvy enough in 2009 to not need their reporter to tell this information. Fans appreciate reporters who will provide them with information to gain prospective on why someone may have hit that home run or gotten that strikeout.
One thing that I didn’t like about the second quote was that he described the team as “characters.” This isn’t a movie with actors. These are real people playing a sport.
So in the end, I’m glad that Harlan made his statements because it brings to light an alternative prospective of covering a team.
That’s it for my Observations. What are your thoughts on any of these topics?
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