NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hey folks, I'm a Cornell student and I work for the local radio station, WVBR. At 6:00 on every weekday, there is a 2 minute sports opinion piece read by a sportscaster. I was on the air about an hour ago, and I wanted to do mine as an homage to the folks who died in the plane crash. It's Sabres-related, so I thought I would post it here. http://wvbr.com/sportsshot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Very nice piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Very nice piece. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Not every victim was from Buffalo, not by a long shot. Getting the facts straight is important. It's a good piece of writing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Not every victim was from Buffalo, not by a long shot. Getting the facts straight is important. It's a good piece of writing though. I understand that, I suppose I'm guilty of exaggerating for the purpose of emotionalizing it. :oops: I usually stick to journalistic integrity. Anyway, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpandean Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I'm a Cornell student Go Big Red! I graduated in 1999 (BSME). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Go Big Red! I graduated in 1999 (BSME). Good stuff. Watch out for Cornell hockey in the NCAA tourney this year. Goalie Ben Scrivens was a leading candidate for the Hobey Baker until he recently became a sieve. Cornell's currently sitting 3rd in the ECAC and will probably have a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, probably a 2nd if they can win the ECAC tourney. Basketball team is most likely headed back to the NCAAs too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Not every victim was from Buffalo, not by a long shot. Getting the facts straight is important. It's a good piece of writing though. Just to be a jerk...because it's you, but a long shot would be 10 to 1, or 50 to 1. 2 to 3 is not a long shot(30 people were from the Buffalo area). And of the 2, 10 of those people had direct ties to Buffalo. So it's more like 1 to 4, which definitely is not a long shot. It was an opinion piece, not a news report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Just to be a jerk...because it's you, but a long shot would be 10 to 1, or 50 to 1. 2 to 3 is not a long shot(30 people were from the Buffalo area). And of the 2, 10 of those people had direct ties to Buffalo. So it's more like 1 to 4, which definitely is not a long shot.It was an opinion piece, not a news report. Doesn't matter. Screwing up a fact like that - an established fact - casts the entire report in a different light, and makes you question the whole thing. I'd also question the whole "burying 50 Sabres fans" thing. It's a good piece, but exaggerating the numbers for the sake of emotionalizing is unnecessary and affects how many people will view it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Doesn't matter. Screwing up a fact like that - an established fact - casts the entire report in a different light, and makes you question the whole thing. I'd also question the whole "burying 50 Sabres fans" thing. It's a good piece, but exaggerating the numbers for the sake of emotionalizing is unnecessary and affects how many people will view it. Ok here's where I'm coming from...I'm in Ithaca, not Buffalo. The "burying 50 sabres fans" thing wasn't meant literally, it was metonymous and meant to make people in the listening market understand the magnitude of the importance of the sabres to the city, that's all. I don't expect people to believe that ALL the deceased were Sabres fans. That'd be ridiculous. I'll admit I exaggerated, but I wanted the thing to be powerful in order to pay homage to my friend's dad. In Ithaca, sports is not really on the forefront of peoples' minds, and I wanted people to understand what the Sabres mean to the community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Doesn't matter. Screwing up a fact like that - an established fact - casts the entire report in a different light, and makes you question the whole thing. I'd also question the whole "burying 50 Sabres fans" thing. It's a good piece, but exaggerating the numbers for the sake of emotionalizing is unnecessary and affects how many people will view it. I agree with everything you said and thought the exact same things when I first read it. It didn't change how I felt about the piece though. I wrote what I did more to show PA that he was doing the exact same thing that NDYB did to make his point. We all exaggerate to make our points. It doesn't make them any less valid, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Not every victim was from Buffalo, not by a long shot. Getting the facts straight is important. It's a good piece of writing though. What he said--and I see that a few others picked up on that, too. On the WTC thing, the whole country wasn't focused on the two NY baseball teams, and more than one city was affected by that tragedy. (Am I seriously the only one who remembers that a plane hit the freaking Pentagon and that two planes took off from Logan, and two from Dulles? Must NYC dominate everything, all the time?) The NFL was actually the bigger focus in sports, too. BUT, that said, and again, as others have pointed out, you did a really nice job with the tie-in to how the Sabres made us all feel a little bit better last weekend. That crowd entered quietly and exited loudly (or, if you want to get all radio about it, the crowd entered like a lamb and left like a lion). You definitely did a good job of conveying what the team means to this town, and how it can affect our spirits. If you ever want to broaden the piece and turn it into some writing, you might consider adding what the Sabres game meant right after the October storm (was that against the Rangers?)--it was well-attended despite the fact that people lacked electricity and heat. And the game against the Flyers a few days later (Hitch fired!) brought a lot of folks together inside the houses that had utilities. It was very well-written, and very heartfelt, that much is obvious. Keep it up. You've got a good "voice." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Ok here's where I'm coming from...I'm in Ithaca, not Buffalo. The "burying 50 sabres fans" thing wasn't meant literally, it was metonymous and meant to make people in the listening market understand the magnitude of the importance of the sabres to the city, that's all. I don't expect people to believe that ALL the deceased were Sabres fans. That'd be ridiculous. I'll admit I exaggerated, but I wanted the thing to be powerful in order to pay homage to my friend's dad. In Ithaca, sports is not really on the forefront of peoples' minds, and I wanted people to understand what the Sabres mean to the community. Look, here's the thing - I'm a sportswriter as well, and I do understand what you're saying and trying to do, but you could have made the point in a way just as powerful without the exaggeration, embellishment and inaccuracies. I can't imagine something like that making it past any decent editor. The fact of the matter is that when you bury 50 natives of Buffalo, you?re burying 50 Sabres fans too. You're going to get readers who say "they all weren't from Buffalo, so they're not burying 50 Buffalo natives" and "if they weren't from Buffalo, how is it the 'fact of the matter' that it's 50 Sabres fans?" Just some unsolicited advice. Take it FWIW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Look, here's the thing - I'm a sportswriter as well, and I do understand what you're saying and trying to do, but you could have made the point in a way just as powerful without the exaggeration, embellishment and inaccuracies. I can't imagine something like that making it past any decent editor. The fact of the matter is that when you bury 50 natives of Buffalo, you?re burying 50 Sabres fans too. You're going to get readers who say "they all weren't from Buffalo, so they're not burying 50 Buffalo natives" and "if they weren't from Buffalo, how is it the 'fact of the matter' that it's 50 Sabres fans?" Just some unsolicited advice. Take it FWIW. Well it was intended for a listening audience, not necessarily a reading audience. The website doesn't get very much traffic. If you think I'd submit this to a newspaper editor, you're wrong. And I do appreciate the advice. I'm looking to get into the sports journalism industry, but as a broadcaster not a writer. I'm the play by play guy for Cornell women's basketball. Small gig, but not bad for a 19 year old kid. Trust me when I say I wouldn't be so brash when submitting a newspaper column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Well it was intended for a listening audience, not necessarily a reading audience. If you think I'd submit this to a newspaper editor, you're wrong. And I do appreciate the advice. I'm looking to get into the sports journalism industry, but as a broadcaster not a writer. I'm the play by play guy for Cornell women's basketball. Small gig, but not bad for a 19 year old kid. Trust me when I say I wouldn't be so brash when submitting a newspaper column. Ok. But trust us when you ask for a bit of advice--it's all been constructive, because the people who have contributed want to help. (Trust me on that, too. These aren't the board's jerks. Well, except for me.) No one expects a polished piece. But almost all of us had the same reaction, FWIW. Keep it up, keep learning, and we'll hear you on the radio someday, we all hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 What he said--and I see that a few others picked up on that, too. On the WTC thing, the whole country wasn't focused on the two NY baseball teams, and more than one city was affected by that tragedy. (Am I seriously the only one who remembers that a plane hit the freaking Pentagon and that two planes took off from Logan, and two from Dulles? Must NYC dominate everything, all the time?) The NFL was actually the bigger focus in sports, too. BUT, that said, and again, as others have pointed out, you did a really nice job with the tie-in to how the Sabres made us all feel a little bit better last weekend. That crowd entered quietly and exited loudly (or, if you want to get all radio about it, the crowd entered like a lamb and left like a lion). You definitely did a good job of conveying what the team means to this town, and how it can affect our spirits. If you ever want to broaden the piece and turn it into some writing, you might consider adding what the Sabres game meant right after the October storm (was that against the Rangers?)--it was well-attended despite the fact that people lacked electricity and heat. And the game against the Flyers a few days later (Hitch fired!) brought a lot of folks together inside the houses that had utilities. It was very well-written, and very heartfelt, that much is obvious. Keep it up. You've got a good "voice." Thanks, I appreciate it. Thankfully, I've been given a pretty good literal voice too, which is why I'm trying to enter into the broadcasting industry. Ever since I was 6, I wanted to be the new RJ. Regarding your point on baseball though, I seem to remember the nation pretty much openly rooting for the Yankees in the 01 world series. I've talked to some die hard sox fans who were pulling for the yanks and mets back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Ok. But trust us when you ask for a bit of advice--it's all been constructive, because the people who have contributed want to help. (Trust me on that, too. These aren't the board's jerks. Well, except for me.) No one expects a polished piece. But almost all of us had the same reaction, FWIW. Keep it up, keep learning, and we'll hear you on the radio someday, we all hope. Oh trust me, I don't mind criticism and advice, and I apologize if I've been coming across as defensive and unappreciative. I can use all the help I can get, as I've only been involved with the industry for a year now. I was just trying to make clear what I was going for. In retrospect, the comment about 50 sabres fans was foolish, but I would not have made the comment if the city of Buffalo was my audience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Oh trust me, I don't mind criticism and advice, and I apologize if I've been coming across as defensive and unappreciative. I can use all the help I can get, as I've only been involved with the industry for a year now. I was just trying to make clear what I was going for. In retrospect, the comment about 50 sabres fans was foolish, but I would not have made the comment if the city of Buffalo was my audience. My bet--and I'll bet the rest of the board hopes this, too--is that you'll do just fine. Keep at it. And someday, when you're covering Rangers games, tell your color commentator Avery that I think he's a POS. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 My bet--and I'll bet the rest of the board hopes this, too--is that you'll do just fine. Keep at it. And someday, when you're covering Rangers games, tell your color commentator Avery that I think he's a POS. Thanks. :lol: If I ever found myself in a broadcast booth with Avery, I'd probably bludgeon him with a microphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Oh trust me, I don't mind criticism and advice, and I apologize if I've been coming across as defensive and unappreciative. I can use all the help I can get, as I've only been involved with the industry for a year now. I was just trying to make clear what I was going for. In retrospect, the comment about 50 sabres fans was foolish, but I would not have made the comment if the city of Buffalo was my audience. FWIW, being a radio guy in the baseball minor leagues is pretty intensive in terms of experience. You're usually the on-air radio guy, the on-site producer, the PR rep, probably do some marketing, sell some tickets/club suites - and get a lot of on-air experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoYouBelieve Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 FWIW, being a radio guy in the baseball minor leagues is pretty intensive in terms of experience. You're usually the on-air radio guy, the on-site producer, the PR rep, probably do some marketing, sell some tickets/club suites - and get a lot of on-air experience. Actually, baseball would be my sport of choice (I know it the best), so I'll probably find myself at a myriad of minor league venues in my life. Honestly, what you just described sounds a lot like what I'm doing now. When I call a women's basketball game, pretty much every single responsibility falls on me and my broadcast partner. We set up the equipment, do sound checks, do a pre game show, produce the half time show, call the game (obviously), and do all the engineering work involving sound quality. Outside of the games, we're also responsible for the marketing, not to mention all the research (my goal is to be more knowledgeable about the opposing team than that team's commentators). I've gotta say, it's a very busy process, but it's been a good way to become familiar with all aspects of a broadcast and not just one. It's given me a new respect for professional broadcasters of RJ's ilk. Most people think that the job is pretty much limited to talking for two and a half hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Actually, baseball would be my sport of choice (I know it the best), so I'll probably find myself at a myriad of minor league venues in my life. Honestly, what you just described sounds a lot like what I'm doing now. When I call a women's basketball game, pretty much every single responsibility falls on me and my broadcast partner. We set up the equipment, do sound checks, do a pre game show, produce the half time show, call the game (obviously), and do all the engineering work involving sound quality. Outside of the games, we're also responsible for the marketing, not to mention all the research (my goal is to be more knowledgeable about the opposing team than that team's commentators). I've gotta say, it's a very busy process, but it's been a good way to become familiar with all aspects of a broadcast and not just one. It's given me a new respect for professional broadcasters of RJ's ilk. Most people think that the job is pretty much limited to talking for two and a half hours. Sounds real similar to what I've seen in minor league (class AA) teams. The nice thing is you get your hand in a lot of different areas, and you get plenty of on-air and off-air time to figure out what works for you and what doesn't, how you want your research, stats, game notes, etc laid out and available, all taht. Plus there are a lot of good, experienced guys out there who are usually happy to help. If you're interested in working in minor league baseball (and possibly major league someday) try Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities and try going to their annual job fair at the baseball Winter Meetings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonInBuffalo Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 When I read the piece, I said to myself "Of course not all 50 people on the plane were Buffalo natives. But that really doesn't matter, because anyone with half a brain reading this would understand that the writer is speaking figuratively." Only a complete fool would read that and think the writer was trying to actually inform them from a news perspective that every person on the plane was a Buffalo native. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobody Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I'm sure the on-air piece had some too loud & annoying jazz music playing in the "background" drowning out what you said anyway. Why so much media thinks they have to have a soundtrack when sports are on; I don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 When I read the piece, I said to myself "Of course not all 50 people on the plane were Buffalo natives. But that really doesn't matter, because anyone with half a brain reading this would understand that the writer is speaking figuratively." Only a complete fool would read that and think the writer was trying to actually inform them from a news perspective that every person on the plane was a Buffalo native. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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