By KEVIN DU and DIONI L. WISE
The UNITY News Online

8:23 a.m.

Kevin shows up late. For what? For a date with the White Sox and an introduction to Sports Journalism 101. We’re going to spend a day at U.S. Cellular Field with the White Sox. The coordinator of the class Justice B. Hill, MLB.com editor, and our mentor Jose Miguel Romero, sports reporter for The Seattle Times, greet us with a smile. Then we meet the other students and professional sports journalists working on the class, including ESPN.com columnist J.A. Adande.

9 a.m.

We arrived at the stadium, headed into the lobby and got our all-access press passes. Woo hoo! This means all-access to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams. The White Sox 2005 World Series trophy shined in the glass display.

9:15 a.m.

Next we headed into the conference room to get tips on sports reporting form J.A. Adande. He gave tips on how to improve our game stories:

1. “It’s all about context,” he said. Quotes add context. “Don’t quote just to quote.” Quotes should mean something.
2. “Write down something you know that will or will not happen” before the game starts so you can beat deadline.
3. Be prepared to write the story in advance. What happened? Who did what? Who was the hero? Who was the villain? What are the results and consequences?
4. Find out what is at stake for the athletes and what’s next.
5. “Try and give people something different.” Try to write a sentence that you’ve never seen before.
6. Find your own voice. Incorporate what your favorite writers have done.
7. “The lede is your one shot to get someone into the story,” Adande said.
   “The first sentence is crucial.”

10:15 a.m.

Kenny Williams, White Sox general manager, stopped by to discuss the relationship between media and baseball executives. He talked about the openness of his clubhouse. There is a strict no-lying policy as far as staff communicating with the media. But he does have boundaries of accessibility. He used to be accessible at all times to the media, even if that meant lying his phone by his bedside or carrying his phone to every workout station in the gym. But now he knows to leave business alone for family time.

10:30 a.m.

Ozzie walks in - the skipper of the White Sox. Ozzie spoke in his thick Venezuelan accent about some reporters who portray him in a less-than-stellar light. He enlightened us with his pet peeves, including reporters misinterpreting his statements, inappropriately addressing his work performance and typecasting him as a horrific guy on and off the field.

He encouraged any media journalists to step into his shoes and try to do his job and see how they would react to people like themselves. He also understands that some reporters are trying to make a name for himself and herself even at his expense. Ozzie, despite the negative portrayals by some media outlets, was a cool and open guy. He allows journalists to spend a week with him to really get to know him. Even if you don’t like Ozzie’s delivery, you have to respect his honesty.

Ozzie talking to student journalists about his relationship with the media

11:45 a.m.

Ozzie leaves with a big smile on his face. What a nice guy!

Next, Kenny discussed his relationship with journalists of color. Being one of very few general managers in Major League Baseball, Kenny recognizes the few journalists of color that cover his baseball team. Initially, the journalists of color stand out from the rest because he recognizes, like him, they had to jump through some hurdles to get to their current position. Then Kenny says he treats them just like the rest - with respect.

12:15 p.m.

Food. We leave for the dining area without Kevin, who is nowhere to be found.

12:17 p.m.

Kevin appears in the dining room. We didn’t ask him where he was.

Then we did what journalists do best - eat for free. After Kevin asked Dioni to pour some syrup on his pancakes, she accidentally saturated his entire meal - complete with eggs, bacon and smoked salmon - with maple syrup. Sorry, Kevin.

12: 51 p.m.

We finally headed for work. We picked up all the game notes, stats and team rosters that anyone could ever need.

The Press box over looking the field

1:05 p.m.

Game time! The first pitch was thrown. Ozzie gets ejected in the seventh inning after arguing balls and strikes - a no-no in the baseball world. Then his White Sox score five runs to end the game with a 10-8 victory. The drama was in full effect.

U.S. Cellular Field

4:45 p.m.

Dioni talked to the White Sox as hip hop music blasted in the clubhouse. Quentin, who had two homers tonight, including the three-run homer in the eighth inning for The Sox, had his entire torso wrapped in bandages and ice.

Kevin on the other hand, went to talk to the Texas Rangers.

“They were bummed,” Kevin said. Everyone was silent.

All you could hear was the equipment being packed up and the sounds of the players chewing their dinner. “They were really bummed,” Kevin repeated.

You could easily tell pitcher Kevin Millwood, who had to be taken out of the game during the second inning because of pain in his groin, was upset.

5:15 p.m.

We have 45 minutes to write our story coverage of tonight’s game and then send them to Justice to be reviewed and critiqued. We were all nervous.

6:11 p.m.

We finally leave U.S. Cellular Field. Our day with the White Sox is over.

topic: Chicagoland
tags: Kevin Williams, Ozzie Guillen, sports, sports reporting, White Sox

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under Blog, Chicagoland, Latest Coverage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.