George Solomon, former sports editor at “The Washington Post” from 1975-2003 and ESPN’s first ombudsman, visited our class on Tuesday, March 1 to talk about how to break into the field of journalism.

The biggest thing Solomon talked about was that you have to read good writing if you want to get better at writing. By reading what other great sports writers have written, you pick up on what good writing is. And just reading more, in general, gets you more well-versed and more aware of what is going on in the world.

Another tip from Solomon was that when you’re trying to get a career in sports journalism you need to get published as much as you can, whether it’s on the Internet or in print. Journalism is one of those fields where you can’t get better without experience and the more you write, the better you get. And getting published as much as possible helps you gather a reel to show potential employers.

Solomon also mentioned that you need to learn how to break stories. That doesn’t mean you sacrifice your quality of reporting to be first, but if you’re consistently breaking news, people will notice and you will gain credibility.

The last bit of advice he provided was to stretch yourself. Be willing to work nights, weekends and long hours. The more you show you’re willing to work hard, the more you will be noticed and the opportunities you will have.

No matter what profession you are in, you have to understand the power, immediacy and permanency of new technology like Twitter.

Alan Goldenbach from the Washington Post visited class on Thursday and offered some sound tips on covering sports games. He also discussed why he likes covering high school sports over professional sports.

The biggest reason Alan likes covering high school sports is because he can better connect with the players and coaches than at the professional level. For example, with the Redskins, he would

This is why Alan Goldenbach doesn't like covering professional sports.

packed in a room with other reporters for a short time to ask Mike Shanahan questions. And as he noted, you would be lucky to get your question in. With high school sports, you get more one-on-one chances with the players and coaches to ask questions, which can lead to better quotes as you get more familiar with that person.

In terms of writing game stories, Alan provided these tips:

1. The biggest goal when at a game is to be able to tell the readers something they didn’t know about when they were watching the game. If the reader was at the game and you tell them just a straight recap of the game, they’re not going to want to read the article. But if you focus in on something they didn’t know about, they will want to read your article and continue reading your writing.
2. When interviewing someone at first, find their interest. Get to know them better so that they will open up to provide better quotes.
3. Be confident with who you’re talking to. If you act confident with whom you’re asking questions, they’ll be confident in answering your questions.
4. If you’re interviewing someone and they are speaking too fast, ask them to slow down and repeat what they said. It’s good to reassure the person you’re quoting that you want to get their quote accurately. It shows you care about what they’re saying and if they notice that, they will be more receptive to speaking to you.

The headline of today and probably the NBA season is this: Jerry Sloan has decided to call it quits, resigning as head coach of the Utah Jazz Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011.

Sloan, an NBA player from 1965-1976, and most notably coach of the Jazz for 23 years, is one of the best NBA coaches ever (and the best to never win a ring) and is third in all-time wins among NBA coaches. While Sloan isn’t one of the greatest all-time players, he is considered one of the toughest guys to ever play the game. And Sloan has coached John Stockton, one of the best point guards ever, and Karl Malone, a player who has scored the 2nd most points ever and pulled down the 5th most rebounds ever in NBA history. And Sloan coached Deron Williams, one of the top point guards in the NBA today.

John Stockton and Karl Malone

It comes as a shock to much of the NBA community that Sloan retired without finishing the season and there might be a reason for his decision.

But it turns out Williams might have contributed to Sloan’s retirement. Williams and Sloan almost came to blows at halftime of Wednesday’s game against Chicago, and it isn’t the first time the two have had a major confrontation. And supposedly Williams said he wouldn’t re-sign with the team if Sloan was still coach.

It’s unclear if Sloan retired because he felt he could no long coexist with Williams, felt he was fighting a losing battle against ownership and Williams or no longer had the will to fight at 68 years old.

Sloan’s legacy will stay in tact: he will go down as one of the best coaches of all time and is a Hall of Famer. But if Williams is responsible for why one of the greatest professional coaches of all-time, a classy guy, couldn’t finish the season, Williams’ legacy will be pushing out Sloan, no matter how great of a career Williams has.

It turns out Williams may not be back in Utah even with Sloan gone.

You can't hold your hands up on this one, Deron

Image via CrunchBase

Grant Paulsen visited our Comm 371 class today to talk about how social media (mostly Twitter) has impacted the media and sports media specifically.

The most important thing I took away from Grant’s visit was that it’s more important to be accurate than first when it comes to reporting news, especially when first starting out.

To build up credibility when first starting out, you can’t afford to be inaccurate because if you are, you lose a lot of credibility and it’s hard to build that credibility back up. For example, Adam Schefter is probably the most trusted source when it comes to NFL news. He’s not always first at breaking news, but he is the most trusted NFL source because he has built up his credibility because he’s almost never wrong.

Another important point is to not burn bridges. No matter who your work for, when you eventually have to split ways, do it amicably because at some point you will see them again and you could be working for them again or they could be working for you.

Grant also mentioned that it’s important to carve out a niche when working in sports media. If you do the same thing as everyone else, you won’t distinguish yourself from all the other reporters.

Grant said that working in sports media is fun; it’s the best job he could ever ask for. But it requires a lot of effort to make it. He said young people have an advantage in working in this field, because most likely they have less obligations than someone that’s older, which allows them to make a name for themselves by being the first one in and the last one out.

Image via Wikipedia

Maureen Nasser, Associate Athletic Director at George Mason University, visited our Sports Writing and Reporting class to speak about professionalism.

She provided a lot of insight as to what is necessary to succeed and what constitutes professionalism.

1. Dress the part: Dressing professionaly and appropriately demonstrates that you are serious about your job and that you want to be taken seriously. Also, don’t wear team apparel when covering a game or team.
2. Don’t cheer for your team on press row: There are very few exceptions to this rule, such as when the USA beat Russia in ice hockey in the 1980 Winter Olympics–an historic upset. Cheering for the team you work for or cover is amateur and can demonstrate you care more about the team than your job.
3. Be proactive: When it comes to dealing in public relations, if a situation comes about where there is a situation that could have negative media implications, be proactive and respond to the situation before the media gets a hold of it and runs away with the situation.

Thanks to Maureen Nasser for visiting and providing tips about professionalism.

Eddie House was fined $25,000 for making an obscene gesture after making a 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 22 seconds left that eventually won the Heat the game.

What was the “obscene” gesture?

The problem with this fine? Other than the fact that Eddie’s imitation of Sam Cassell’s dance isn’t offensive except to only the most sensitive of people, Kevin Garnett committed a more egregious offense two days earlier and received no punishment except for a foul during the game.

Whether or not the NBA turns around in a couple of days and fines and/or suspends Garnett for his cheap shot isn’t the biggest issue.  The NBA shouldn’t need the media to point out hypocrisy in their decisions. The NBA should know what is and isn’t right to fine.

And let’s not forget, these sorts of display of “unsportsmanlike” conduct are what made the great days of the NBA and sports in general. The glory days of the NBA were when Magic and Bird loathed each other on the court and refused to shake hands; when Michael Jordan and his Bulls went to war against the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs.

These shows of emotion and pride are what fuel rivalries. They’re why we watch sports.