The Old Perfessor

I'm a professor of journalism at Wingate University near Charlotte, N.C. I've also written about sports for newspapers and other publications for more than 30 years. This blog's about journalism, sports and whatever else I find interesting on any given Sunday or other day, for that matter.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Random observations

Having been on the opposite side of the reportorial process as a PR person, I do have some amount of sympathy for those who are the subject of media attention.

So I enjoyed a throwaway comment by Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Williams, whom I interviewed when he spent a few days in Charlotte visiting the Knights recently. I asked him about his itinerary on his swings through the minor leagues, and he volunteered that the thing he enjoyed most was "not having to read the Chicago papers or listen to Chicago radio stations."

COMING BACK FROM HELL: It was an interesting experience to interview Josh Hamilton, rookie outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, yesterday before the Knights' game with the Louisville Bats.


Hamilton is on a major league rehab assigment with Louisville as he recovers from gastroenteritis.

The word "rehab" has had other connotations in recent years for the 26-year-old Hamilton. The native of Raleigh was the No. 1 pick in baseball's amateur draft in 1999. He's the "feel-good" story of the year so far in MLB, finally making his major league debut after four years of a hard battle with cocaine addiction which resulted in his suspension from baseball.

He spoke frankly with reporters about his comeback and about the toll that his drug habits has taken on his body and his family, and about people's reactions to his comeback at ballparks around the country.

As I've talked with readers over the years, I know some of them think that sports reporters have biases. But I think those biases tend to be for or against individuals rather than teams. Like most people, we divide these folks into "good guys" or "bad guys" camps depending on how they interact with us.

Hamilton seems like a good guy and you can't help but pull for him to stay recovered and to have a good career.

GOOD DAY, BAD DAY: Knights third baseman Josh Fields had an interesting day Tuesday. He was named the International League's Player of the Week for May 21-27, then struck out four times Tuesday night in Charlotte's 4-3 loss to Louisville.

Monday, May 28, 2007

A forgotten trophy

Sometimes it's fun to write the off-beat story item that comes from an obscure detail. Here's one from Sunday afternoon's Charlotte Knights-Ottawa Lynx game that didn't make it into the paper:

Today's game was the last meeting ever between the Knights and the Lynx, which will move to the Allentown, Pa., area next season. And it also marked the retirement of an obscure trophy. Ottawa and Charlotte, which both entered the International League in 1993, were supposed to play annually for the Expansion Cup, awarded to the winner of the season series.

But the trophy hasn't been engraved with a winner -- or presumably awarded -- since 2002 and has been sitting for at least the past year on a shelf in the Knights Stadium press box. For the record, the Knights and Lynx tied this season's series 4-4, and Ottawa finished with a 76-73 advantage all-time.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

"Baseball, gentlemen, baseball"

The title for this entry comes from the late great New York sports columnist Jimmy Cannon. He was admonishing a group of sportswriters in a major league press box on a late-season Saturday afternoon for checking out the college football scores.

Cannon was right. Baseball demands your attention, which is why I enjoy covering it each summer for The Charlotte Observer and other papers. Every game is different and it's never hard to find a story.

(Someone once asked another great sports writer, Pulitzer-Prize winner Red Smith, if all the games ever started looking alike to him. "They're only alike to small minds," he replied.)

As someone who tends to be a creature of habit, I also like the rhythm and pace of the sport. I cover the Charlotte Knights (http://www.charlotteknights.com), a Class AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, and the season is 144 games. Another notable quote, this one from former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver: "This ain't football. We do this every day."

So while baseball players don't like to lose any more than other athletes, a loss -- or even a win -- isn't as big a self-contained event. There's another game coming at you tomorrow.

Some folks who cover major league baseball say that the daily interaction this set up between the reporter and the players/managers creates a "familiarity breeds contempt" sort of situation, but I guess I've been lucky.

On the best days, I can take advantage of opportunties to learn more about the sport itself. And I have more opportunities than in other sports I cover to ask questions that aren't about the game that just ended.

An example of this that didn't make it into my story about the Knights game with the Ottawa Lynx on Friday night (http://www.charlotte.com/456/story/136216.html). I talked with Knights outfielder Ryan Sweeney about what he learned from a recent 15-game stay with the Chicago White Sox. I'm always interested in how players take being "sent down" and have seen lots of different reactions to demotion. Sweeney is a personable young man who seems to have a good perspective on it.

He told me he's having to learn to adjust his swing, which led to the question of exactly what that meant. Sweeney is what is known in baseball as a "contact hitter" -- one who usually concentrates on putting the ball in the play rather than going for home runs. He made the interesting point that coaches in Charlotte are working with him to "miss more" and take more risks with his swings.

"That means I might get fewer hits, but they'll be bigger ones," Sweeney said. "And to stay in the major leagues, you have to get big hits."

It's an insight that gives me something to write about in future games.

Other encounters can just educate me on some basic assumptions and ways of looking at the game. I asked Knights manager Marc Bombard about something baseball folks call situational hitting -- what's supposed to happen in specific scenarios like runners on first and third, two out. Do certain situations inherently have more pressure than others? (May seem like a dumb question, but like an attorney, sometimes you ask a question you think you know the answer to...)

"When you have runners on, it's the other guy who has the pressure," Bombard said. "The pitcher's the one in trouble, not you."

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Time passages: A graduation, a wedding, a reunion

Had I but world enough and time, as the poet said, I wouldn't have taken three months off since my last entry. But I'm back on the blog here at the end of the school year, and my summer resolution is to make this a harder habit to break.

Anyway, this seems like an opportune time to jump back in, as the last week or so has been a time worth writing about -- filled with life's rituals, milestones and transitions. May is always a bittersweet month for Jayne and me for several reasons. Jayne's father and both of my parents -- my Mom a year and a day ago -- passed away in the month of May, as well as our dog, Pica. But Jayne and I also celebrate our anniversary on the 25th of the month (also the birthday of our chocolate Lab, Mocha) -- so there are both sad and happy observances throughout the month for both of us.

For me, May also means Graduation Day at Wingate (http://www.wingate.edu) , and it was held last Saturday, May 12. It's meaningful to me to celebrate with students and their families and friends the accomplishment of earning (and that is the right verb) a college degree. But, sadly, I also say goodbye to day-to-day relationships I've cultivated with these young or young-at-heart people over the previous four years. Well, sometimes it's five and in a couple of memorable instances, six. But I digress.

Wingate's graduation is held the Academic Quadrangle in the middle of campus, a wonderful outdoor setting for an academic ritual. Out of 13 I've been involved in, none have been driven indoors by rain. The weather has usually been sunny, which can be a mixed blessing. The academic regalia worn by professors was orginally designed in medieval times to keep lecturers and students warm in drafty old university buildings in places like Oxford and Gottingen. The inventors of these outfits certainly couldn't have envisioned their use in North Carolina in May. But this year the day was mild, and in response to popular demand and to accommodate an increasing number of graduates, the ceremony began at 9 a.m.

The ritual is largely the same every year. Graduates enter the Quad marching through two lines of faculty members, where we get to offer congratulations and sometimes get handshakes and hugs in return. (It's nice for faculty, as it helps us get a chance to speak to graduates that we may miss following the ceremony. Some families leave pretty quickly when it's all over.)

Awards are announced for outstanding students and two faculty awards were given. I received the Charles and Hazel Corts Teaching Award for 2007. Walking across the stage to receive the award from Dr. Jerry McGee, the university's president, was a proud moment, and I appreciate the nomination from a group of my former students. (Jayne knew about this for two weeks beforehand and never let on. Amazing and I'm proud of her, too.)

There's a commencement address from the executive director of the N.C. Pharmacy Board, occasioned by the university's first graduating class from our School of Pharmacy. Then the proud moments for the students and their families as the procession of graduates begins. (A note on etiquette: This is a big day for every family present, the culmination of lots of sacrifice and effort by lots of people, and I don't begrudge folks hootin' and hollerin' a little as their graduate gets his or her diploma. But please leave the air horns and noisemakers at home the next time you go to a graduation.)

It actually goes by quickly and afterwards I search for graduates and families. It always makes me feel good when they want me to be in their pictures and introduce me to Mom and Dad, etc. And every once in a while you get to be a part of a post-graduation lunch, reception or party. This year I was privileged to be invited to a luncheon for Willmarie Davila, an intelligent and personable young woman from Puerto Rico who has a bright future ahead. I appreciate her making me a particpant in her special day.

Last Saturday was also a special day for two members of Wingate's Class of 2004. Kelly Hinchcliffe and Justin (better known as "Quiz") Quesinberry are former students of mine and now two fine young professionals in TV journalism. Kelly's a Web editor for WRAL.com (http://www.wral.com) in Raleigh and Justin's a reporter for WFMY-TV (http://www.wfmy.com) in Greensboro. They were married in Justin's hometown of Black Mountain, and if it hadn't been on Graduation Day I certainly would have been there.

Wingate's long-time Dean of Students, the late Don "Deano" Haskins, once referred to our school as "prime marrying ground," noting the number of students who found their mate while enrolled at Wingate. That's what happened with Quiz and Kelly, who worked side-by-side on The Weekly Triangle student newspaper and WUTV, the campus television station. And they've been together ever since.

I understand that the honeymoon trip was to Walt Disney World, a place neither of these young adults had ever been. Hope you enjoyed the Caribbean Beach Resort, guys. (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/resorts/resortOverview?id=ResortOverviewPage)
Congratulations, and best wishes for many years of happiness.

Finally, this past Saturday was the occasion for another gathering, the first Gordon family reunion in quite some time, held in Asheboro. I was about to say "Jayne's family," but that's not quite right. Contrary to what some folks think, when you marry, you DO marry an entire family. And I have to say that I married well in that respect. I look forward to these events -- Jayne's cousins Mark and Polly Sisk hosted this one at their lovely home -- and to getting together with people that I have come to regard as "my" family, too.

My life as Jayne's husband has been a good lesson in being a family member, as odd as that may sound, as I think it's very much a learned behavior when you join a new one. I quickly had to get used to a group of folks much different from my more reserved immediate family -- Gordon gatherings were noisier and my early impression was that if there was a thought, it was almost without exception expressed.

That was different from my family's posture that if we didn't talk about something, it didn't exist. I have come not only to accept those differences, but to revel in them. Twenty-two years in, I've pretty much learned, not only who everyone is, but the history and the lore.

Like all family reunions, this one had plenty of good food -- barbecue, fried chicken, our pork tenderloin and barbecue beans, countless casseroles, vegetable dishes, cakes and pies. And by my count, we could have supplied a deviled egg to each person in Randolph County.

All that and hayrides for the kids and one sweet dog named Dixie that managed to get into most of the pictures.

But my lasting impression of the reunion was of the family members gathering in a living room to watch a DVD produced by Mark and consisting of nearly 250 photos from the mid-1920s to the present, a family history rolling by in a slide show, with the old standard "Memories of You" as background music.

We had great fun identifying all the folks in the pictures, or wondering when and where that was taken and just who the heck that was in the picture with so-and-so? They brought back memories of vacations, birthdays, weddings and reunions past, and brought some misty-eyed moments over some loved ones who were no longer around. And nearly everybody had their moment as the object of good-natured kidding over Sixties, Seventies or Eighties hair or clothes. Did we really look like that?

The answer is that we did, and it's a part of who we are now. Like Faulkner wrote, "The past isn't dead. It isn't even past."

So be thankful for all the little rituals -- the reunions, the weddings, the other special days -- that help us remember what's happened, to anticipate what the future holds, and to appreciate the precious here and now.