Sports writer - Grant writer

Category: sports media (Page 6 of 10)

The USCHO Pay Wall: Why Putting Today’s Dave Starman Piece Behind It Is a Giant Mistake

Update: Within minutes of my posting this, Todd from USCHO Tweeted at me, said he saw the point and made today’s Starman column free. He also responded in the comments. Class act! Thank you!

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I have had thoughts swimming around in my head over the past week regarding the Wall Street Journal article surrounding the growth of college hockey, as well as national hockey commentator and CBS College Sports on-air personality Dave Starman’s USCHO “rebuttal” (to an article that was overwhelmingly positive, I might add.) As my Twitter followers know, my month long battle with bronchitis came to a head as both articles were posted – I ended up in the hospital with a far worse infection – and thus, I wasn’t able to write a response in a timely manner. I was going to leave the issue be.

Then on Wednesday morning, USCHO posted a further Starman commentary where he responds to the many comments he received on his rebuttal. But I, and many other college hockey fans couldn’t read it. It is posted behind USCHO‘s pay wall, called “USCHO Extra”, which costs $14.99 a year.

Isn’t the fact that USCHO hid this rebuttal-of-a-rebuttal behind a pay wall essentially one of the things inhibiting the growth of college hockey? College hockey is a growing sport with a feverous fan base, with message board posters and lurkers galore, with hundreds of Twitter users wanting to be the next Starman or Jim Connolly or Adam Wodon or Bernie Corbett. How can you inhibit this fan base from reading your pieces? Isn’t hiding your content, especially content about an important conversation about the future of the game, behind a pay wall almost an oxymoron?

That a prominent online media source is making their readers pay to access an author’s response to comments, is both traditional and online journalisticly misguided. A good journalist should respond to his or her critics, as long as they are not personally attacking them, in the same forum in which he or she posted the original piece and/or an easily accessible, preferably free, forum. Starman’s original piece last week was free for all to read on USCHO.com. His response to the comments and emails is behind a pay wall, thereby reducing his readership on a popular topic, and shutting out most likely over half of his original readers. I am not saying he had to respond to every commenter or emailer, or even do so on USCHO itself. His feedback just needs to be accessible to the majority of his readers. Take Sports Illustrated’s Peter King or the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle’s Sal Marjorana – they are two polarizing football journalists who respond to their critics via Twitter, a free-of-charge social media tool. It may not be in the original comment section of their pieces, but you can easily find the two and challenge their controversial sentiments (even if their response may be snarky or not you wanted to hear.)

I am not blind to the costs of hosting and maintaining a large-scale website – frankly, it is becoming more than half of my full-time job in higher education and is what I do for various other sites on my home computer after dinner every evening. I understand that ad revenue alone rarely covers the payment of journalists, the hosting, the design, the forum moderation – all the tools that make USCHO one of the big three sites in college hockey. But is college hockey in a place within the American sports landscape that any site can justify having a pay wall?

Isn’t that, after all, the larger question that Starman – and the Wall Street Journal before him – asking with last week’s pieces? Is college hockey a sport that can sustain past the gimmicky nature of the annual outdoor game? And if both the WSJ and Starman are correct and the sport is still growing in popularity with a much higher future ahead of it, why cut off access to any information, discussion or features that may grow the fan base?

Get Out There! Two Blogging Networking Events and Tips For Success

I’m embarking on a month full of fun events, both personally, professionally and writing wise, and I wanted to share two of them with you. In addition, I wanted to share some of my own networking tips for socially-tentative sports writers like myself.

The Events

On October 21st, I will be attending Boston Blogtoberfest for the first time. The event is sold out, otherwise I would urge you all to join me. Blogtoberfest is a gathering assembled by the past few years by Boston based social media specialist Jenny Frazier, and draws a wide-range of bloggers and social media types.

On November 6th, I will be attending the second Boston Sports Blogapalooza at The Baseball Tavern. Boston Sports Then and Now’s Joe Gill has put together a second edition of his sports writing bonanza, which will include panel discussions this go-around. No matter your level of experience within sports media (new blogger to a writer with a major site), the event is a must attend – the networking I did at the first edition is still paying dividends for my writing. Registration is still open, and I think Joe is even looking for some Sox and Celtics panelists – check out their registration page or their Facebook fan page.

SportsGirlKat’s Tips for Overcoming Networking Shyness

As an introvert, going to events like Blogtoberfest and Blogapalooza can be extremely intimidating. Having to speak to absolute strangers? Not my fortay. (Part of the reason why I became a writer in the first place.) However, if you ever want to parlay your blogging to a freelance writing career (which I am working towards), you must put yourself out there and break through the shyness. Here is what I’ll be doing to prepare for both events:

1) Stock up on business cards. They need not be fancy – just clean, clear and easy to read. I’ve seen great work done by UPrinting.com, which is one of the many online printing companies offering professional looking print goods at discount prices. Even if you go to an office supply store and buy print-your-own business card sets, it’s imperative to have them on you when you attend one of these events.

2) Practice a 20 second hook of what you are all about. While I write about a wide variety of sports, at the first Blogapalooza I knew I would have to stand out among the masses of Red Sox bloggers and Patriots writers. Therefore, I emphasized my lacrosse writing. I rehearsed how I would introduce myself, “Hi, I’m Kat. I write about professional and college lacrosse for several publications.” Don’t sound fake, and don’t recite the introduction verbatim every single introduction. Think of this 20 second hook as your angle – how are you going to stand out – and keep it in mind when having these discussions.

3) Be willing to listen. I am an adviser/mentor by training, so I genuinely enjoy listening to what others have to say. Being willing to actively listen to others thoughts, pitches, and what have you at networking events – even if you aren’t interested – earns you a ton of social currency. By being willing to listen to others, I earned introductions I would not have normally.

4) You are never too “big” to network. At the first Blogapalooza, several writers and editors from NESN and other larger media sources were in attendance, and this go-around, Comcast Sports Net New England is sponsoring the event. They understand the exposure their brand receives by attending an event with a hundred sports fans, and know how worthwhile it is. Your site might receive a 1,000 hits a day, or you might be a columnist with a bigger site, but there’s never a time to slow down the hustle. Keep telling people what you do, keep meeting people with similar interests, and stay hungry. Keep the exposure of your own brand high, just like the bigger media outlets are doing.

If you are attending either event, tell me in the comments! I would love to connect with you there!

Steve Young is on my iPod. All is Good with the World.

My Buffalo Bills lost rather embarassingly to the Miami Dolphins today, and in order to either cheer me up and/or lambast me more, my husband started searching “Steve Young” on YouTube. (In case you’re new to this blog, when I was a teenager, instead of liking Jonathan Taylor Thomas like my best friends, Young was my celebrity crush.) During his search, we found the following:

After some Googling, we learned the Steve Young Football they were singing about in the ad was a new game for the iPad and iPod touch released on Thursday by Vaporware Labs. In searching, we found the developers’ YouTube Channel, which includes several videos starring the man himself. As a fan of his since I was ten, I have to say they might be his best work since his turn on Beverly Hills, 90210. Continue reading

A Former Terrier Gets A Do-Over

Photo: BU Athletics

On June 20, Fox Sports Network will begin airing Season 2 of Replay The Series, a series focused on enabling rematches of games from participants’ younger years. This season will focus on a 1999 hockey game between Detroit Central Catholic and Trenton High School that was stopped mid-game when a Trenton player suffered a severe injury to his jugular vein.

While Central Catholic continued on that season to have a championship season, Trenton couldn’t rebound from the horrific injury. Gatorade, the series sponsor, set out to recreate the game to allow the two teams to finish – including the severely injured Trenton player.

The actual game and the rematch featured a former BU captain and his Providence College standout twin brother. Brad and Tony Zancanaro played for Trenton High in 1999, and are key players in the rematch. You’ll be able to spot them in the featured clips on the series’ website. Brad was captain of the Terriers in 2005-06, while his brother Tony was one of the key cogs of the Friars from 2003-07. Immediately following Trenton’s disappointing 1999 season, both brothers went on to play in the USHL and NAHL before beginning their collegiate careers.

Tragedy Befalls Lacrosse Community (And a Look Inside What UVA Admins Are Going Through)

This morning, a University of Virginia women’s lacrosse player, Yeardley Love, was found deceased in an off-campus apartment. A member of the UVA men’s lacrosse team, George Huguely, was charged with first degree murder in connection with Love’s death.

I wrote about the facts of the case, as they are known, this afternoon at the Examiner. Not only is the story incredibly heartbreaking to the lacrosse world, it strikes another chord with me because I feel also for the administrators at UVA.

In my full-time job, I have served on a crisis response committee that responds to student deaths for the past four years. Trying to make sense of the tragedy that is a young man or woman passing away accidentally and suddenly, while consoling the students who comprised the deceased’s “second family” is a test of emotions. Add to that the close-knit quality of any athletic team, and the impact must be intense. UVA administrators are working overtime, providing counseling services to students, staff and faculty members, while trying to manage a controversy hungry media, and trying to be appropriately responsive to a grieving family. Continue reading

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