Challenges of Sportswriting

Gina Carrano

Mini-project #3

Challenges In Sportswriting

With the vast array of technological medium in today’s world, sports journalism can sometimes seem omnipresent. In print journalism, between newspaper, magazine and online publications, fans can access current, up-to-the-minute game coverage and commentary 24 hours a day. Dan Schlossberg, a freelance baseball journalist who has written 33 books and thousands of articles about the sport, deems competition the most difficult aspect of sportswriting. As a freelancer, Schlossberg competes with countless other writers for assignments from magazine articles to book deals. Also, the high volume of sports media outfits that exist today means there are more journalists jockeying to cover every game and story, and clubhouses can get crowded, making it harder to obtain press credentials and get access to players. Schlossberg overcomes this hurdle by setting his work apart from that of his peers in the eyes of editors, publishers and public relations officials. He sometimes shows them clips of his past work, but more importantly, he always tells them why he is the right man for the job, often pointing out to editors that his energies are 100% focused on baseball, 100% of the time. In fact, baseball is not only the sole sport that he covers; it is the only one he follows. “I know baseball better than anyone else because my concentration on the game, even during the offseason, is never diluted,” Schlossberg said. “I have never even seen a Super Bowl, Stanley Cup playoff, Indy 500 or NCAA Final Four basketball game.”

Throughout his 37-year journalism career, Schlossberg’s knowledge of and dedication to the game of baseball have opened many a door for him. Once his foot is in the proverbial door, however, he keeps himself in favor with editors and publishers by providing interesting, multi-faceted coverage of baseball players and teams, and taking new and fresh angles to every story he approaches. For every article or book he writes, he conducts both exhaustive research on the topic at hand and in-depth interviews of players and coaches. However, the interviews present another obstacle that Schlossberg calls a big challenge in sports journalism; gaining access to star Major League Baseball players.

“Ballplayers are increasingly reluctant to talk to media members. These guys make millions of dollars and have multiyear contracts, so there's really no need for them to be polite and take the time to talk to a reporter -- especially one they don't know,” Schlossberg said. However, he does have a few tried-and-true methods of getting players to speak to him, such as arranging an interview through the team’s PR department. This served Schlossberg well a few years ago when the Arizona Diamondbacks cleared time in the schedule of Shawn Green, then the team’s right fielder, to speak to him about a story he was writing for Elegant Accents, a Long Island (N.Y.)-based Jewish magazine. Again, getting his foot in the door was half the battle, and once that was accomplished, all that was left was for Schlossberg to get Green to open up and answer his questions, which he did by conducting himself in a manner that was “soft-spoken and respectful”—very similar to the demeanor Green himself exhibited during the interview. “For the most part, ballplayers, like people, will treat you the way you treat them,” Schlossberg said. “If you’re nice to them, they will probably be nice to you.”

To this end, another thing that works very well as far as getting ballplayers to talk to you is good old-fashioned politeness, Schlossberg said. Like anyone else, they want to be treated with respect, so Schlossberg advises to always ask a player if it is a good time to talk rather than jumping in and firing questions at them. If they are busy, he says, politely ask them when would be a better time. That’s what he did during 2007 Spring Training when looking to interview players for a travel radio show about spring training, and New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine agreed to come out of the clubhouse before a game and give him what turned out to be a great interview on spring training as a travel destination.

Even after clearing time to speak to a player, a sports journalist’s work doesn’t end. Getting ballplayers to open up rather than giving “canned” answers to interview questions can be challenging, Schlossberg said, especially because players often hear the same questions over and over from numerous reporters and quickly tire of answering them. Two methods Schlossberg uses to combat against this potential problem are taking a fresh angle to the story and getting his interviewee alone, separate from the distractions of other media members and players. To illustrate this, he recounts a very successful interview he conducted with the Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken, Jr.

The interview took place while Ripken, Jr. was striving to break baseball’s record for consecutive games played. Schlossberg wanted to interview him for a piece he was writing about ballparks around the country, however, and was able to arrange a private interview on the grounds that he would not mention the streak to the star shortstop at all; instead, his questions would be strictly about ballparks. Grateful for the short respite from the constant bombardment of questions about his streak, Ripken Jr. was relaxed and talkative, and the resulting interview was one of Schlossberg’s best. “Cal and I sat alone in the clubhouse and he really opened up, giving me some great material,” Schlossberg said.

Getting the player alone also worked well for Schlossberg when he interviewed New York Yankees legend Reggie Jackson. The two had a terrific conversation, and Schlossberg believes it was largely due to the fact that he found an opportunity to talk to Jackson alone as the Hall of Fame outfielder prepared to give a press conference at Rusty Staub’s restaurant in New York. Although Jackson is “a notoriously moody guy who can be very articulate or very obnoxious,” Schlossberg said, “I got him alone and we spoke privately. He couldn’t have been nicer.”

Schlossberg remembers his discussion with Jackson as one of the best interviews he has ever done, but in the end, he says, his all-time favorite interview has to be the one he conducted with Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey. Not only did Garvey give great answers to his questions, Schlossberg said, but at the end of the interview Garvey thanked him. When Schlossberg responded, “Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you for your time,” Garvey said, “You did your homework. Most writers don’t.” The challenges of sportswriting are numerous, but at the end of the day the rewards for Schlossberg’s hard work come in moments like that one.