Wes Wilson

Evolution of sports journalism

// December 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Journalism, Social Media, Sports

As newspapers continue to downsize and die a slow death, all those reporters are finding themselves out of work on life rafts as their former bosses steer the Titanic.  For news reporters, it’s arguably a little easier to find work on the Web, especially if they’re tech savvy.  Sports reporters… the waters are a little more murky.

Newspapers used to be great PR advertising machines for sports teams.  It wasn’t unusual for a big city paper to have a sports reporter per team, whose sole job was to find and write stories about that team.  Think of all the free publicity that creates.  But now newspapers are cutting costs, laying off staff and sharing stories across newspapers.  The Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer used to write up separate stories about games — now they share stories based on geography.

Sports teams, sports leagues, and Web sites that recognized this shift early are capitalizing on it, and it’s paying dividends.  I just want to take a minute to look at a few of those early adopters who have helped turn sports journalism on its head and are leading the evolution of sports journalism as we enter a new decade:

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Athletes joining Twitter in record numbers

// October 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // Social Media, Sports

I saw Al Horford joined Twitter recently.  He’s @Al_Horford, started tweeting Oct. 4 and three days later already has 880 followers.  I love how more and more athletes are using Twitter and Facebook to connect directly with fans.  It takes the middlemen — PR directors and the media — out of the equation and often gives you an unfiltered look at the men and women behind the jerseys you pull so hard for.

Most people know Al Horford as one of the leaders of the Florida Gators’ back-to-back national championship run.  Horford was then selected with the third overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.  He had a great rookie campaign but Kevin Durant narrowly beat him out for Rookie of the Year honors.

In some of his first tweets, Horford roots for his hometown Detroit Tigers as they take on the Minnesota Twins with a spot in the playoffs on the line.  Horford went to high school in Grand Ledge, Michigan, before heading south to Gainesville for college.

I follow a handful of athletes on Twitter, including the ever-popular Shaquille O’Neal, who will occasionally tell his tweeps where he’s at so they can say hello if they’re nearby.  While I wouldn’t advise this for someone like… supermodel Brooklyn Decker… I don’t suppose anyone will tug on that Superman’s cape.  But the fact is — social media applications are giving fans unbridled access to some of the world’s biggest stars.

Chad Johnson frequently tweets back and forth with fans and Ustreams live shows.  After one of OchoCinco’s preseason games, he logged onto Ustream and held a live show from the team’s plane.  It was pretty neat to see Chad interact with Bengals fans while munching on a cheeseburger, and it was funny when the plane ran out of cheeseburgers… worrying Chad that he might have to settle for a chicken sandwich instead.  Luckily a teammate came to the rescue and gave Chad his burger.  Crisis averted.  I never disliked Chad Johnson, but thanks to Twitter and Ustream, you can now count me among his 215,000-plus fans.

But anyway, all this brings me back to Horford.  I love messing around on Photoshop and felt like creating the Hawks star a background since he just has the generic Twitter background right now.  What do you guys think?

MLB Postseason picks

// October 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // Sports

Will Cliff Lee pitch Philly back into the World Series?

After one of the best games I’ve seen in a very long time, the Minnesota Twins are in to the playoffs, and our playoff field is set.  Philadelphia hosts Colorado, Los Angeles hosts St. Louis, New York hosts Minnesota and the Los Angeles Angels of “I wish they had just kept it” Anaheim host Boston.  I’ve given previews of each first round series below, plus my initial picks for the MLB playoffs.  I’ve done moderately well in the past, picking the correct winners in both 2006 (St. Louis) and 2007 (Boston) before backsliding a little last year.

Here were my preseason playoff picks that I posted elsewhere before starting my own blog:

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: L.A. Angels
AL Wild Card: New York Yankees

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: L.A. Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Florida Marlins

It’s obvious now that I was way off about my beloved Chicago Cubs.  They were probably the biggest disappointment of the 2009 MLB season.  Florida turned some heads like I thought they would but fell out of Wild Card contention late in September.  I missed badly on the St. Louis Cardinals.  I can’t believe how much pitching coach Dave Duncan continues to get out of retreads like closer Ryan Franklin.  He’s been the best pitching game in the game since Leo Mazzone left Atlanta to head to Baltimore.  I did much better in the American League, getting every team right but flip-flopping the Yankees and Red Sox.  It’s amazing that Minnesota had to play a 163rd game for the second straight year, but oh what a game it was.  Despite the Cubs’ absence, I’m excited about the postseason!

On to the picks…

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