Now They Tell Me

It’s a good thing for the American people that sportswriters didn’t cover Richard Nixon in office; we’d be finding out about Watergate only now, and that’s if we were lucky.  There just doesn’t seem to be much journalism in “sports’ journalism.”

 

The weird rules of sports-writing were on display today as I read about the Bulls firing coach Jim Boylen.  Did you know that Boylen had an argument with a team chef serious enough to require a lawyer’s involvement or that he was known to treat people off the court badly?  I didn’t until I read about it in today’s Sun-Times.

 

Did you know that Boylen installed a time clock and expected players to punch in for practice?  I didn’t until I read about it in today’s Tribune.  Why would reporters sit on stuff like that, if they knew about it?  And if the answer is they didn’t know about it, why not?  They’re journalists, for heaven’s sake.

 

This reminds me of a comment by a sportswriter in 1993 after the Cubs fired manager Jim Lefebvre, despite his just going 84-78 on the season; back then, that was a respectable record, especially when you consider the North Siders would finish fifteen games under .500 the next year.  As I recall, the sportswriter said he could tell stories about Lefebvre.  Twenty-seven years later, I’m still waiting.