When TigerBlog arrived at Lot D for the men's lacrosse championships last weekend, the first two people he saw were Chuck and Eddie Timanus, who were getting out of their own car.
"Which one of you drove?" TigerBlog asked. The question drew chuckles for the Timanuses.
For those who don't know, Eddie Timanus is blind. Hasn't been able to see since he was 3.
TB would use a lot of words to describe Eddie; "handicapped" isn't one of them. Eddie Timanus is a sportswriter for USA Today, as well as the winner of a considerable amount of money as a five-time "Jeopardy" champion and a contestant on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
Chuck is Eddie's father, as well a grad of Cortland State (Bill Tierney's alma mater) who has ties to Georgetown (where John Thompson is the coach), which makes him okay with TB. After parking, the Timanuses went to the stadium store and bought a t-shirt for Eddie's six-year-old son.
They are quite a pair, Chuck and Eddie. They are usually at the center of all conversations in the press box, and it's not long before one or both is either laughing or making everyone else laugh.
The press box at M&T Bank Stadium last weekend was filled with familiar faces, not just Eddie's and Chuck's. Everywhere TB looked, he saw someone he's known for years, dating back to his own newspaper days.
There was Christian Swezey, who fits in well with the Timanus crowd. Like them, Swezey is extraordinarily nice and quick to laugh, and he somehow seems to be up on the latest news in the lives of everyone in the press box. He doesn't just say "hey, how are you" or "what's new;" instead, he is that rarest of people who actually wants to know how you are and what's new.
There was Gary Lambrecht, who is more the quintessential sportswriter, with a bit of an edge to him.
There was Dana O'Neil, the wife of Princeton athletic trainer George O'Neil. TigerBlog actually fixed George and Dana up; there are currently two married couples who owe it all to TB.
It was good to see all of them. Always is.
The interesting part to TB about seeing all of these people - as well as many others - came when they were in the postgame interview area. TigerBlog-Baltimore served as the moderator for the room, and if there was a hall of fame for press conference moderators, TB-Baltimore would definitely be in it.
Anyway, TB-Baltimore asked all of the media people to say their name and affiliation before asking their questions. Unlike, say, 10 years ago, when everyone was at a newspaper, almost everyone who asked a question was from an online publication, including Christian, Gary and Dana.
It's not exactly Earth-shattering news to learn that newspapers aren't what they once where and that online sites are dominating sports media these days. Still, to have it reinforced so clearly caught TB's attention.
It wasn't that long ago that the NCAA wouldn't have credentialed bloggers or on-line writers. Now the press box is dominated by them.
TB saw this when Princeton hosted the quarterfinals; almost no requests were made by newspapers. On the other hand, TB did receive multiple requests from laxpower.com and lax.com, two sites that offer all kinds of content, photos and, especially laxpower, fan interaction. Neither has any need for even one piece of paper.
Even the newspaper reporters who were in Baltimore - say, Dave Rahme of the Post-Standard who was covering Le Moyne in the DII final - are writing as much for the paper's website as anything that will be in print.
And none of that includes Inside Lacrosse, the organization that currently dominates lacrosse media coverage. Inside Lacrosse still prints its magazine, but it also updates its website every day. TB isn't sure how many credentials IL got for the Final Four, but there were a ton of writers there from the publication there, all doing different tasks, from in-game blogging to postgame write-ups to behind-the-scenes stories and video interviews and so on.
Of course, the point to all of this isn't just related to the changing media. It's also related to how this changing media has led directly to the growth of lacrosse.
The internet and television brought lacrosse to everyone in the country, not just to the traditional hotspots of Baltimore, Long Island and Syracuse. Today Division I rosters have players from all over the country. And how did they get into the sport? They saw it online, just like kids from Baltimore.
TigerBlog is fascinated by how much the profession he got into nearly 30 years ago has evolved and will continue to evolve.
It's something he has written about a great deal, and he will continue to do so, so clearly his radar is up on the subject.
Still, every now and then something happens to reinforce it, and last week's experience at the Final Four was one of them.
It's a whole new world. TigerBlog loves to see it, but he also will always love the good old days.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
A couple that I set up at Princeton later got married but then subsequently got divorced. Do I get credit for that?
Post a Comment