Sports Illustrated.com Freelancer Loses Job for Clapping at the Daytona 500
1-liner, All, Media Gossip/Musings March 1st. 2011, 10:04am
Media Musings: “So as that No. 21 Ford crossed the finish line, the walls of the infield couldn’t keep out 21 years of passion for motorsports in my own heart. Before I could control it, my hands were coming together to join them, caught up with fans and media alike in a moment we could all appreciate – but one fans and media are told never, ever to experience together. That day marked my first and last claps working as a NASCAR reporter for SI.com.” Pretty weak, Tom. I’ve sat in the press box and been moved by amazing basketball or football moments, but it’s a job, you know? [Front Stretch via Darren Rovell]
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March 1st, 2011 at 10:08 AM
So he got fired for cheering for the winner? Did cheering affect the quality of his reporting?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Some additional writeups on this from Esquire’s Chris Jones, who writes for effect:
And a writeup from the great Dave Kindred:
March 1st, 2011 at 10:11 AM
weak
March 1st, 2011 at 10:12 AM
I side w/ Jones & Kindred here. Nice links, s1r.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:14 AM
I demand the next firing be Dick Vitale who can’t keep his Duke boner at bay during games (and I don’t even mean Duke games, he can be calling any team and they’ll come up)…respect the job man
March 1st, 2011 at 10:14 AM
I’d like to know who ratted him out and if this is the ONLY reason he was canned.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:15 AM
I do too. I understand the obvious importance of staying neutral and not compromising your integrity one iota lest you lose credibility, but at the same time, it’s freaking sports. In the grand scheme of things, who cares?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:16 AM
my most embarassing moment was cheering in the press box covering a bhawks-avalanche playoff game in mid-90s. was a bhawks fan and pickup hockey player, had no reason not to be a bhawks fan because i didn;t cover them. was asked to help one night.
rocky mountain news. denver post guys on my right, my colleagues on my left. united center press box has no wall/glass between it and fans so crazy loud. game is tied or 1-goal diff. out of the blue, bhawks scored, like a flip from the blue line. on instinct, my arms go up, i yell yes!
immediately remembered where i was. wanted to be swallowed alive. after all the smirking i had done about piddly-ass weekly newspaper writers and their unprofessional ways. i could not face the guys from denver the rest of the night, actually sat withh my body turned to the right a bit. didn;t know if they saw me, but didn;t want to take the chance
i apologized to my guys, one of whom is the HOF writer Tim sassone. they said they hadn;t seen it
still makes me blush
March 1st, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Great link.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Dick Vitale who can’t keep his Duke boner at bay
Whole new meaning to “Diaper Dandy”.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:21 AM
couldn’t disagree more…unless it somehow tainted his work who gives fuck. i don’t see anyone here calling out wilbon, chris boussard (however the fuck it’s spelled), peter king, or the many other writers that are sucking the cocks of their favorite athletes while reporting on them.
most of the mainstream media is unreadable, which is why blogs and fan sites started in the first place. people want good shit to read. cocksucking aside, as long as the articles and talk is good, no one cares.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Why was this faggot even watching the race?
/Pearlman
March 1st, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Of course this isn’t the only reason he got canned. Big corporations just wait for “violations” like these to give them an opportunity to get rid of people.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:24 AM
people want good shit to read. cocksucking aside
Uh uh, you won’t make me say it. No way!
March 1st, 2011 at 10:24 AM
You can’t cheer in the press box. You just can’t. This is rule No. 1 for being a journalist in the press box. Everyone knows this who has ever been in a press box.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:25 AM
You’ve cracked the case.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:26 AM
I nominate Enzo.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:27 AM
sandi i agree with you, i my experience tho, the cheerers do let their feelings affect their work. they cozy up, and write slanted. the caveat with me is that most of my time in those boxes was pre-blogosphere.
press boxes are/were cynical negative places peopled by ink-stained dinosaurs or young guys who think their shit doesn’t stink because they are in a press box. there are rules there and will be until a generational change takes place
maybe the answer is a separate ‘new media’ press box, for cheering and cavorting. not sarcasm
March 1st, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Are you denying this happens?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:28 AM
So you cant cheer in the pressbox but the local guys calling games can openly cheer/root for the home team? How does that make any sense.
Journalists are self-righteous morons.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:29 AM
You’ve cracked the case.
Are you denying this happens?
Well, as the headline states, the reporter in question is a freelancer, not a paid staff member of the magazine. All they can do is take back their credentials, tell him they won’t be buying any more stuff from him and send him on his way.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:30 AM
coop, the guys calling the games are hired by the teams
March 1st, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Offtopic, but supposedly tape exists of Cams daddy selling him to schools while Cam was in the room. Somehow this slave sale didnt take place in Indianapolis.
Shortest lived national title evar.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Radio-host-says-a-tape-exists-that-implicates-Cam-Newton.html
March 1st, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Are you implying SI was so hard-up for cash that they had to look for any excuse to shit-can a freelance NASCAR reporter that nobody has ever heard of and probably makes $30k/yr?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Darrell Waltrip cheers openly during the race call.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Maybe, but it’s RULE No. 1!!! You can’t do it.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:32 AM
guys calling games/races are not journalists. simple as that
March 1st, 2011 at 10:32 AM
Offtopic, but supposedly tape exists of Cams daddy selling him to schools while Cam was in the room. Somehow this slave sale didnt take place in Indianapolis.
Shortest lived national title evar.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Radio-host-says-a-tape-exists-that-implicates-Cam-Newton.html
That it’s an Alabama fan bringing this up makes it questionable in the extreme, but I’m still interested to see if this goes anywhere.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:32 AM
My brother got kicked out of press row at a Final Four for accidently hooting and hollering after KU went on a run. He did not lose his job.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:32 AM
agreed, and it’s rule number 1 for anyone in the press box, not just journalists. I got to work the press box back in the day for the NLDS and NLCS in St. Louis and I was just a measly media runner, employed by the Cardinals. I was told first day on the job, no cheering of any kind and no asking for autographs, photo’s, etc…
March 1st, 2011 at 10:34 AM
At least he didn’t host a program where Trevor Bayne announced that he was signing with the Wood Brothers.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:34 AM
Not at all, but people get fired all of the time because they aren’t liked, but they need justification so they look for it. That’s all I’m saying. I don’t know if he should have been fired or not, but I do know that you can’t cheer in the press box.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:35 AM
maybe rule #1 has been around too long. fuck these old geezers always bitching about everything. shut the fuck up and write something good.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:35 AM
accidently hooting and hollering
huh? does he have tourette’s?
/cocksuckermotherfucker!!!
March 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM
I’ve been following that story a little bit for the past couple weeks. that whole thing is just shady as fuck. apparently Bond has had the tapes for a while and is dropping little pieces here and there and holding out for money before he gives them up. that whole situation is a fuck.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM
Seems fishy to me.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM
Did he call the UNC game over even before Billy Packer?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM
What–do you mean it’s not okay to scream “OH NO, JUNIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” when he wrecks near the end of the race?
Every person employed by a NASCAR broadcast openly roots for Junior to win because he’s the fan favorite.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:37 AM
Speaking of Cam…
March 1st, 2011 at 10:37 AM
So you cant cheer in the pressbox but the local guys calling games can openly cheer/root for the home team? How does that make any sense.
The local guys are team employees. They can cheer all they want because they’re cheering on their bosses’ product and, the better they do, the better their paychecks get.
Journalists are self-righteous morons.
I’d limit the scope to just sports journalists — the vast majority of which shill for someone tied with the leagues or want to.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:39 AM
@BFFredo – not sure I would limit the scope, have you seen Fox”News”, or MSNBC…brutal shit on TV and in newspapers right now
March 1st, 2011 at 10:39 AM
isn’t there a difference between the broadcasters and the writers? at least it seems there is these days, most sports with national broadcasts have the broadcasters openly pulling for one side to win.
it does make you wonder if some of the best sportswriting in history would have been different if the writers were actively invested in one team more than the other.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:41 AM
When Jeremy Shockey was released last week, a lot of local hacks threw him under the bus and started talking about how overrated he was and how he was the worst personnel decision duirng the Loomis/Payton era.
The reason (for many of them)? Shockey didn’t like the local media and didn’t talk to them.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:42 AM
rut roh.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:42 AM
he does openly root for Junior, but he does it for his brother (Michael) and several other drivers too. it’s not a problem or a distraction to me, it’s just funny. I think he actually is encouraged to do it because he’s kindof an endearing figure to many fans.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:43 AM
I think at some point on this site every writer in America except for Joe Posnanski has been called a hack
March 1st, 2011 at 10:44 AM
For example: it’s okay for the Cowboys’ announcers to root for them to win. It’s not okay for Troy Aikman to do it.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:44 AM
Biggest mistake this dude made was not cheering in the press box. It was not getting fired from Fanhouse. He’d have people lining up to support him, then.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:44 AM
I think at some point on this site every writer in America except for Joe Posnanski has been called a hack
Posnanski is a saint.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:45 AM
i usually stick to my guns.
hacks = john clayton (joe flacco = elite), don banks (completely ignorant) and mike lombardi (only gets rumors from his agent).
oh, and pat forde, mark schlabach, gene woj when he writes about golf and rick reilly.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:45 AM
Hahaha
March 1st, 2011 at 10:46 AM
yet, the national guys do it, and find ways to do it. unfortunately, they still have jobs whereas the writers get fired. go figure.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:47 AM
I think the networks could try harder to avoid obvious conflicts of interest, but they don’t.
For example, what are fans supposed to think when ESPN sends Doug Flutie to the Boston College game? Or when Fox sends Brian Billick to cover the Falcons when Mike Smith is his brother in law?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:47 AM
unfortunately, one (or many) bad apple(s) spoil the rep of the solid pros
/prose
March 1st, 2011 at 10:48 AM
@BFFredo – not sure I would limit the scope, have you seen Fox”News”, or MSNBC…brutal shit on TV and in newspapers right now
True enough for me to admit I have been corrected.
I just think back to David Simon’s words during Season 5 of “The Wire”: “The pond is getting smaller and the fish are getting restless.”
March 1st, 2011 at 10:48 AM
herbstreit has decided to become another espn, buckeye-hating puppet, so fuck that.
listening to chris spielman call buckeye games is one of life’s little pleasures. just hearing him strain to stay objective when he wants to go down there and start hitting people is hysterical.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Ooh, I did not know this.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Dan Fouts seems to get a lot of Charger games, always sounds like he’s dying a little inside when Phil Rivers breaks a record of his (usually when he throws for 450 yards because they were down 21 points in the first quarter)
March 1st, 2011 at 10:51 AM
The OSU hate he gets cracks me up. He really should be dumped on for being objective. What an asshole.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Or when NBC covers Notre Dame.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM
[Gravatar image]
For example, what are fans supposed to think when ESPN sends Doug Flutie to the Boston College game? Or when Fox sends Brian Billick to cover the Falcons when Mike Smith is his brother in law?
Or when NBC covers Notre Dame.
Or when MNF begins talking of QBs and switches the conversation to Brett Favre.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:55 AM
that’s the problem…he’s not obejctive in the fucking slightest anymore, especially when it comes to pryor.
and that entire fucking network’s CFB coverage hates OSU, and herbstreit USED to be the guy who always would say “hold up a second now…”
March 1st, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Sweet TBL, does this moral stance mean less crappy posts about the Jets/Knicks/Yankees, et al?
March 1st, 2011 at 10:58 AM
The OSU hate he gets cracks me up. He really should be dumped on for being objective. What an asshole.
that’s the problem…he’s not obejctive in the fucking slightest anymore, especially when it comes to pryor.
and that entire fucking network’s CFB coverage hates OSU, and herbstreit USED to be the guy who always would say “hold up a second now…”
Poor teh OSU
March 1st, 2011 at 11:00 AM
fuck nebraska.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:09 AM
or when sportscenter aired a interview of Coach K and Bob Knight when Knight was calling a Duke game that night.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:10 AM
You really think Herbie wants to take the program down or something? Really?
March 1st, 2011 at 11:12 AM
mlekan, no. tbl is not a journalist
March 1st, 2011 at 11:20 AM
I’ll respectfully disagree, but accept this comment based on an out-dated concept of journalist/journalism.
By reasonable extrapolation of the definition to include electronic media, TBL and it’s writers, and bloggers en masse, are journalists.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:24 AM
mlekan, my definition involves primary reporting and interviews
March 1st, 2011 at 11:28 AM
tbl used to do interviews, but i’ll need one of the writers or their boss to explain when they did any primary reporting. i’m not knocking them–i love the place. but they take the news, typically anchored by someone else’s coverage/reporting, and give us their take on it. opinion is what it is. can you cite any original reporting done here, and not an exception that proves the rule?
March 1st, 2011 at 11:33 AM
CRM interviewed swimsuit models. It was the finest journalism the internets have ever seen.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:34 AM
good call coop. i rescind my argument
March 1st, 2011 at 11:52 AM
I’m just glad that thebiglead.com is exempt from the “no cheering in the figurative press box” rule…
Surprised so many TBLers are with the good old boy journalist party line. Even if it’s inappropriate to cheer in the press box, whether you feel it inside or show it on the outside… it probably won’t change how you write about it. Frankly, I like for a writer to have really enjoyed an angle, and then write about it.
/as long as it’s not Rickbag Reilly
March 1st, 2011 at 11:53 AM
wws, in an ideal world, you;d be able to wear it on sleeve and still be professional
March 1st, 2011 at 11:55 AM
//also can’t stand anyone to be the moral authority about anything
///who died and made you king of anything?
March 1st, 2011 at 11:57 AM
I don’t think you should wear it on your sleeve… in a professional atmosphere, act professional. But if I got fired everytime I was unprofessional, I’d be screwed.
March 1st, 2011 at 11:58 AM
Most of Lisk’s excellent work and a decent amount of Duffy’s grandiloquent efforts are original, no? I agree that most entries here are based off a previously published article and offer a point/counterpoint, with inherent bias understood (I am ok with the NY-centric TBL as well; just busting on him a bit). Any writer (beat, feature, blogger) is subject to both bias and human emotion even when objectivity is “required.”
March 1st, 2011 at 12:55 PM
//also can’t stand anyone to be the moral authority about anything
///who died and made you king of anything?
wow, wws, you and me might be from the same gene pool. i wrote something exactly like that in some TBL discussion awhile back