Joe Posnanski on Project X and Paterno book

Posted on by

It is hard to imagine anyone having a better gig in sportswriting than Joe Posnanski. He had emerged as one of the big guns at Sports Illustrated; was featured prominently with a popular blog on SI.com, and had his own podcast.

Yet Posnanski decided to leave SI to go to a new unnamed endeavor he calls “Project X.” It sounds like something run by Maxwell Smart with Chief as the publisher.

Actually, it is affiliated with USA Today Sports Group and MLB Advanced Media. More details will be revealed soon. He explains in an interview with Dave Kindred at sportsjournalism.org.

“The best way to define Project X,” Posnanski says, “is that it will be a multi-platform project with, we hope, great sports writing on all fronts. . . . the idea is to marry great technology and great writing.”

Later in the piece, Kindred writes:

It’s a decision made in favor of “an opportunity that’s really exciting,” he told me. Project X will create work available online, on tablets, on all the current mobile devices and, if anyone perfects technology that will imprint words on the back of your eyelids during sleep, X will probably use that, too. “The best part,” Posnanski said, “is that everything will be built around the written word. I’m not a TV guy. I’m not a radio guy. I write.”

He sounded like a man who made a decision based on the future rather than on the past or even the present. As good as SI has been, is, and will be, it yet is part of a legacy media that is attempting, without notable success so far, to adapt its values and retro-fit its practices to fit a 21st-century template.

Posnanski also is working on finishing his biography on Joe Paterno. The book is due out in August. It figures to be a blockbuster, considering he moved to State College last year and had an up-close look when the coach’s legacy changed forever in November.

He said:

“It’s a very, very different book now,” Posnanski said. “But, in many ways, it’s still the same. It’s still about his life – a life that changed dramatically at the end. And in the last three months of his life, when nobody else had access to him, I was with him quite a bit.”

 

Rose injury: What they’re saying in Chicago; differing views

Posted on by

The sun finally is out this morning, but it is a dark, dark day in Chicago.

Sports talk radio almost sounds as if it is in mourning. Perhaps, the hosts are mourning the likely end to an NBA title run.

Interesting to note the views from the various columnists on the Derrick Rose injury, especially on if he should have been in the game with the Bulls up by 12.

David Haugh in the Chicago Tribune:

There’s also little doubt in my mind that Rose’s season-ending injury occurred due to bad luck, not bad judgment by Tom Thibodeau.

Later, Haugh writes:

Rose needs to work on closing sounds as silly as Thibodeau needing to practice on his intensity. But Thibodeau had nothing to apologize for regarding Rose playing. You didn’t have to be the best coach in the NBA the past two years to understand why Rose was on the floor.
This wasn’t a meaningless regular-season game. This was the NBA playoffs. Momentum matters. Sixers coach Doug Collins sought any glimmer of hope in the final minutes to make Game 2 less daunting psychologically for his team. Thibodeau wanted to do everything to prevent that momentum from developing.

Rick Morrissey had a different view in the Sun-Times:

It had been established by the middle of the season that Rose’s body and hard-driving game were not built for a condensed schedule. He had gone down with a sprained left toe in January that caused him to miss five games, and from there, his season read like the index to a human-anatomy handbook: lower back, right groin, right ankle and right foot. In all, he missed 26 regular-season games.

It meant that every decision the Bulls made during the season should have flowed from the simple truth that he was brittle. The idea should have been to keep Rose healthy, to keep him off the floor whenever opportune and, above all, to keep him away from banana peels.

Later, Morrissey writes:

“It’s part of the game,’’ Thibodeau said. “There are going to be injuries. A guy can get hurt in practice. He can hurt in the first five minutes of the game. He can get hurt at the end of the game. You can get hurt any time.’’

You can get hurt playing in highway traffic, too, but it doesn’t mean you should be doing it. It’s the coach’s job to look at the scoreboard, see that his team has a double-digit lead and get his injury-prone point guard out of the game to fight another day.

Michael Wilbon at ESPNChicago.com:

It’s an unbelievable downer that Rose is now done for the season, just when the season starts to truly matter. And I’m dogged by this feeling there was something inevitable about it. But a very smart man I know who makes his living in the basketball industry is miffed by the notion, held by many of us, that the compacted season contributed mightily (not at all, in his opinion) to Rose’s injury. While, like the rest of us, he finds the injury to be a downer, my friend says Rose’s playing in five games the past 46 days and only 39 games in four months suggests he had plenty of time to recuperate. He contends the schedule didn’t have the wear and tear on him it might have had on others, and this was just a freakish thing the schedule had nothing to do with.

Melissa Isaacson at ESPNChicago.com:

While it is entirely fair to question Thibodeau and to engage in the debate, particularly given the fact that this was the league MVP who had five previous injuries, this was not February and these were not the New Jersey Nets. Rose was en route to a game-high 23 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds. He was driving effectively though less frequently, shooting the 3 at a 50 percent clip, looking better than he has in any game since returning from his last (ankle/foot) injury a week and a half ago.

But he was also shooting 9-for-23, had five turnovers and needed the work. This is presumably what he was being saved for.

Sam Smith at Bulls.com:

 I can’t fault Thibodeau. There’s no blame there. He has been consistent and always coached this way. It is the playoffs, and the 76ers had shaved eight points off the lead in the last few minutes. They were about to have it down to 10 with over a minute left, and you still can lose that sort of lead as the 76ers shoot threes well in streaks. Rose had played 37 minutes and sat out the first four minutes of the fourth. Yes, he’s had multiple injuries this season, which was a concern. But he just jumped and was hurt. He wasn’t hit. So that could have happened anywhere and at any time. He jumps at all times in games.

 

Posted in NBA

Lifetime Achievement Award overdue for Jack Whitaker

Posted on by

Jack Whitaker finally will get his due Monday night. The legendary sports broadcaster will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York.

You have to wonder why it took the Academy so long to get to Whitaker. Surely, they heard his wonderful lyrical essays on CBS and then ABC. He was a pioneer, showing sports on television could be about words as well as pictures. Perhaps even more so.

When Frank Gifford was given his lifetime award in 1997, he said:

To have a Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award without Jack Whitaker on the list is hard to believe. He was the best of the best, a great friend and a terrific colleague.

For some mysterious reason, it took the Academy another 15 years to heed Gifford’s suggestion. Thankfully, Whitaker, 87, still is around to enjoy this honor. He will be presented by Jim Nantz, who learned his lessons well from Whitaker.

To see what made Whitaker so great, check out this video narrated by Brent Musburger. After you watch it, you’ll ask yourself: Why did they wait so long?

Posted in ABC

An exclusive interview with me

Posted on by

I never expected an interview with me ever to be labeled “an exclusive.” I’ll pretty much talk to anyone. Just call.

However, thanks to Paul M. Banks, who did an “exclusive” Q/A with me on his new site, Chicago Sports Media Watch.

And this is a first. I’m selecting an excerpt from myself:

Tell us about your experiences writing “Inside Media” for the Chicago Tribune, what was your favorite part of doing that column? What do you miss and not miss about it writing it?

ES: I really enjoyed doing the column for the Tribune. It was a position I wanted for a long time. There’s so many different facets of the industry. You could be writing on one thing and then suddenly have to transition to something completely different. It’s too bad many papers, including the three big ones in Chicago, have eliminated the sports media columns. I know that the columns get great readership, especially if there’s something controversial going on.

I remember there was a month at the Tribune when three of my stories ranked in the top 10 for most read on the website. And I’m not talking about the sport section. It was for the entire paper.

A big plus of the beat:

Unlike athletes, the people–play-by-play men, analysts, studio host etc–want to talk to you for the most part. And again unlike athletes, they understand the nature of our job.

The biggest plus:

Getting to know some of the giants of the industry.  A truly memorable day was having lunch with David Halberstam, one of my heroes. There weren’t a lot of negatives, which is one of the reasons why I’m jumping back in.

Debuts: Scully spans from Mantle to Harper

Posted on by

Just saw an amazing tweet from Keith Olbermann. He writes:

Mickey Mantle debuted in NY in an exhibition vs #Dodgers, 1951. Bryce Harper debuts vs Dodgers tonight. Announcer then and now? Vin Scully

Think about it this way: Scully called games involving the most celebrated rookie of my father’s generation. And now he is calling games involving the most celebrated rookie of my sons’ generation.

Scully once said:

All my career, all I have ever really done, all I ever have accomplished, is to talk about the accomplishments of others. We can’t all be heroes. Somebody has to stand on the curb and applaud as the parade goes by.

Of course, Scully has it wrong. Sixty-one years since Mantle’s debut, Scully is a certified hero. We’re so fortunate to still hear him “applaud as the parade goes by” as only he could.

 

Posted in MLB

Shaq not universally loved on TNT

Posted on by

I had hoped to ask some questions of Shaquille O’Neal this week, but the big man was a no-show for a TNT-NBA Network conference call. I wanted his evaluation of his first year as a studio analyst. Maybe another day.

Brian Lowry of Foxsports.com provided his answer: An emphatic thumbs down for O’Neal. He writes.

The former All-Star center might be a jolly giant to have around, but in terms of basketball analysis, all he proves is that the bigger they are, the harder they can be to listen to — and that star players, for whatever reason, generally have a hard time graduating from playing the game to talking about it.

Later, Lowry says.

TNT certainly didn’t need to shake things up, but the powers that be couldn’t resist enlisting O’Neal, an attention-getting hire who won championships with the Lakers and Miami before retiring. Always media-savvy, his career included detours to star in movies (“Blue Chips,” “Steel”) and novelties like the ABC reality show “Shaq Vs.,” so in theory, the transition wouldn’t be a huge leap.

Still, he’s never exactly been a natural as a commentator — for starters, he has a tendency to mumble and laugh at his own jokes — and he almost immediately felt out of place in his new assignment.

Posted in TNT

Weekend flashback: Howard Cosell on David Letterman

Posted on by

I’m going to offer a blast from the past on the weekends. It could be an old video, a print interview or profile of a famous newsmaker in sportswriter, or a classic story.

Since we’re in the beginning stages of this site, I felt it was appropriate to dig up something on Howard Cosell, the one and only.

In this clip, Cosell pays a visit to David Letterman in 1985. He’s promoting his new book, “I Never Played the Game.”

Cosell is engaging, but also he’s also pretty bitter about most things. Take a look.

 

NFL.com La Canfora top pick tipper in second round

Posted on by

I was following ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s tweets to see if he would continue to reveal picks in the second round of the NFL draft. Thus far, the answer is no. The master tweeter has been relatively quiet on the tip front.

Then I got a tip to follow Jason La Canfora of NFL.com. Viola, ladies and gentleman, we have our top tipper for Friday. La Canfora has been way ahead of ESPN and NFL Network all night.

Since I live in Chicago, I was focused on the Bears’ pick at No. 45. Well, La Canfora reported it was receiver Alshon Jeffery a full six minutes before the pick was formally announced on NFL Network. In fact, La Canfora tabbed the Bears selection prior to the network revealing the Chiefs’ pick at No. 44.

Interestingly, people now are mad at La Canfora. “One follower said: Looks like Jason La Canfora is out to ruin the draft for everyone.”

Another said: “I wonder how many followers Jason La Canfora is going to lose tonight.”

And finally, just to show people notice, there is this tweet: “your’e kinda slacking today @AdamSchefter Jason La canfora is beating you with every pick today.. whats goin on man.”

Indeed, makes me if wonder if Schefter decided to tone down the tweet tips because of complaints from his followers.

Fun times, this Twitter.

 

 

 

 

Posted in NFL

Rumor: NFL to shut down all worldwide social media for round 2

Posted on by

How powerful is the NFL? Well, there’s a rumor floating around that the league will shut down all forms of social media throughout the world during the draft, beginning with the all-important second round tonight.

According to an unconfirmed report, there are the only exceptions: Tweets by Rob Lowe concerning Peyton Manning; and simply anything related to Tim Tebow.

Otherwise, there will be a worldwide blackout. Take that, Mark Zuckerberg!

****

I’ve been told I need to come up with bold headlines to drive traffic. Besides, I wouldn’t put it past the NFL to pull it off, given all its clout and money.

The league and networks have quite a franchise to protect. A combined 25.3 million viewers tuned in Thursday to ESPN and the NFL Network’s coverage. The rating set a new record and proved once again that we have nothing else better to do.

I’m sure what happened involving Twitter sparked considerable discussion within the league and its TV partners. As I’ve written throughout the day, much of the drama disappeared with tweets from numerous outlets revealing upcoming picks well in advance of the formal announcement on the networks.

Will the trend continue for round 2? Earlier today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter told me he will keep on tweeting if he has the information despite complaints from some of his 1.56 million followers.

Let’s see how early we learn who the Rams take with the first pick of the second round prior to the 7 p.m. (Eastern) start.

Now the big question: How did you feel about Twitter and the draft? Here’s a sample from some of the responses I received:

Aaron: Schefter is a beast. I follow him on Twitter but avoided looking at my phone in order to enjoy the broadcast. Maybe next year, the NFL will adopt the movie theater policy and request all viewers to turn off all electronic devices.

Ada: It is a double-edged sword. Beating people by 2 minutes doesn’t increase his credibility. Would not tweeting it hurt?  Sounds like he believes it does.

Matt: It seems like the league would have a rule against leaking picks. Maybe Goodell wasn’t prepared to face the awesome might of the Twitterverse.

Shari: It’s not the Oscars. Unless you’re being drafted, anyone so deeply invested in draft suspense can stay off Twitter.

Eric: Did not bother me at all. We watch the draft for analysis by Kiper’s hair and trades.

More thoughts? Let me know.

 

Posted in NFL

Spoiler alert: ESPN’s Schefter will keep on tweeting about draft

Posted on by

Adam Schefter is among those coming under fire. The avid tweeter is being accused of ruining the NFL draft for some of his followers.

John Mitchell at Breakingtackles.com was upset. Mitchell didn’t enjoy that the ESPN reporter revealed upcoming picks to his 1.56 million twitter followers before they were formally announced.

Mitchell writes:

It started innocent and actually kind of cool with Schefter reporting all the trades and who those teams were probably going to take with that pick. But then it got flat out frustrating as pick-by-pick went by with Schefter tweeting out the results for everyone to see. I thought it would stop once the flurry of early trades did, but it did not.

What is the cost of being the first to report the draft picks? 1.5 million followers being robbed of the draft experience. You want Roger Goodell to be the first to announce the draft pick. Not an ESPN reporter who happens to find out the information before anyone else.

The whole Twitter thing has created an interesting dynamic with the draft coverage. On the one hand, reporters like Schefter have clear marching orders: Be first with breaking news everywhere, especially on Twitter. Breaking news includes who the Bears will take with the next pick.

However, as I wrote earlier, that means Schefter is in essence scooping his network. While Chris Berman & Co. speculate on air about who the Bears, or any other team, will select, his followers already know the answer. There goes the suspense.

Much to his critics’ dismay, Schefter intends to keep on tweeting. In an email, he writes:

I approach the draft just like any other NFL news story. When I learn informaton, it’s my job to report it. I didn’t report every pick; I was more interested in the trades, actually. But if someone felt it detracted from their experience, they could have unfollowed me or not paid attention to Twitter. ESPN does a tremendous job presenting and broadcasting the draft, and I work to do my job as effectively as the people around me.

To be fair to Schefter, there were plenty of other outlets disclosing upcoming picks. If you really want to be kept in suspense, don’t look at Twitter during the draft.

Schefter also had a reply to this passage on Breakingtackles:

I’m not sure if Schefter has kids, but if he does Christmas morning must really suck around the Schefter household. “Hey kids, I got you a Tonka Truck.”

(Addendum: I was informed that Schefter is Jewish. And as a friend of mine points out, I guess he can take to ruining eight nights worth of gifts instead.)

Schefter writes:

My children aren’t always happy with me either, but for now, they’re stuck following me. Sadly for now, they can’t unfollow me. Poor kids.