Sports departments are truly a separate entity from news. In my experience at KWCH, everyone from sports to news has a much more lighthearted attitude than you would think. But in news, I think it is more of a defense mechanism. Joking around becomes the way of dealing with all the generally horrible things you have to report on daily.
Kirk Seminoff and Tom Seales attitudes reflected the laid back nature of a sports department. When the big news of the day is not a rape/murder of a teenager, but rather a coach blaming one of your columnists for booing in an arena, things at the office are pretty good.
I appreciated how they both talked about the lack of riches to be made, and that a good reporter will do a good job no matter what the subject. Kirk talked about two kinds of sports writers: those who are into sports and do it as a way to stay close, and those who are reporters who simply fell into sports as a venue to tell their stories.
I once read a boxing writer who said the key word to being a good boxing writer is the word writer, not boxing. He went on to say that too many people think that because they are knowledgeable sports fans, they would make good reporters.
I think this was Kirk and Toms' way of saying the same thing.
Again, although we work for rival organizations, I along with the rest of the Catch It Kansas staff, am a fan of Taylor and I was glad to hear the big wigs praise his writing.
Varsity Kansas used to be Joanna Chadwick and Jonathan Long. That was until Long made up a quote from Collegiate swimmer Josh Barrett without ever talking to Josh. I suspect this is the opening they were talking about. I think Taylor would fill in perfectly. He is a much better writer than Long in the first place.
On a side note, those tours make you feel like a monkey in the zoo. It was nice to be on the other end!
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