Sports Journalism 101: How to Create a Story

Well, if you have been paying attention (even remotely) to the sports scene, you have undoubtedly heard about the idiotic statements by Tim Hardaway. If you really analyze the situation, you can learn a very simple method of creating the story. Here’s the formula:

Step 1: Wait for a sports personality to open up a controversial topic. In this case, it’s former NBA player, John Amaechi, revealing that he is gay – and was while he was a player.

Step 2: Suddenly, this topic is a talking point. Bring in as many people as you can that has a remote connection to the sport and ask a very open ended question to them all. In this case, the question is as simple as: How do you deal with a gay teammate? (note: previously, there would have been no reason to ask this question)

Step 3: Pay attention to the answer: This strategy will play well for both you and the person you interview. It will allow them to take a high road that is so politically correct, the discussion will go into the massive vault of pointless interviews and add to your experience resume. But it will also allow you the chance to pounce on an opportunity that presents itself when people are speaking too openly.

Step 4: Politely thank the guest or go in for the kill. If they take the high road, thank them and go on to the next chance to draw blood. But, if they say something stupid, pounce.

In this case, Hardaway responds by saying: I don’t think that is right. I don’t think that he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room, and it’s just a whole lot of other things and I wouldn’t even be a part of that.

Step 5: If you smell blood, go for the kill! This is where Le Batard follows up by saying (accusing): You know what you are saying there is flatly homophobic? It’s bigotry?

The response from Hardaway is: Well, you know I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States. So yeah, I don’t like it.

This, my friends, is where Tommy Boy would murmur out of the side of his mouth, Jackpot. Congratulations Mr. Le Batard, you are now the catalyst for creating a national story and drawing unprecedented attention to yourself and a silly debate that has very little to do with sports. In the process, you have disrupted an entire team that now must deal with increased scrutiny, fueled a surefire controversial and likely endless debate and contributed to all that is bad with sports reporting these days. But at least you will be up for a couple extra industry awards this year, right?

[tags]Le Batard, Hardaway, homophobia, sports reporting, bigotry, stupidity[/tags]