he is a horrible analyst - but he had good relationships with agents and GMs so he got info pretty quick. I just wish that ESPN would understand that just because someone know rumors doesn't mean they are a good basketball mind.
Man, I used to love SportsTalk.com back in the day. I remember dying a little when ESPN sucked it up and made it a pay service. Now you have to pay for everything except the current days articles. Like, you know how Bill Simmons sometimes connects one article to something he previously wrote and provides a link, now you need to pay to see those archives.
I still have a ways to go and a lot to learn. I also didn't write a lick about sports for the better part of a year spread out over 2003-04 while I pursued "other interests" (namely pretending I was a rock star in a pub with 34 people in it), so I'm catching up a bit. Say what you want about Chad throwing stuff against a wall to see if it stuck, but he found a niche, and took advantage of it. I'm not there yet. I'm still finding my voice. And, I'm sorry, but I've little interest in the transaction side of things. To me, the game is the thing. That's what I love. That's what I obsess over. And to a point, I abhor trades and massive roster turnover because it hinders team chemistry. This was Ford's bread and butter. BEYOND happy being where I'm at. I have a patient and brilliant editor who pulled me out from the depths and still wades through my crap once or twice a week. I write some tripe about the Cavs, and not only has it been the main focus of the NBA page for nearly a day, but it gets stuck on the main SI.com page next to Peter King and Petra Nemcova and stays up there for a day. At the Worldwide Leader, you get lost in the shuffle. They're so bent on dominating every type of media outlet that the talent gets lost. Look at my man Bill Simmons: he's fighting tooth and nail right now to keep his page on the non-Insider part of the site. I'm 25 years old, and so happy with my lot in life that I have to take a step back and shake my head at the fact that S I freakin' dot com wants me to write for them. I wish my checks were a little bigger and I had to have a cyst removed from my ass last week, but other than that I'm loving life. (Oh, and if you work at ESPN.com I think they force you to be on Cold Pizza a couple times a month. I'd rather snort paint)
I was with your post until this crap. Dude, the Cold Pizza Green Room has excellent snacks, the hosts are totally friendly. Being on the show is much more bearable than watching it - oddly enough, that same algorhythm applied to my band, possibly yours too. So dont dog it until you try it. Snorting paint, i mean. Although CP is apparently allergic to re-paying your expenses, which they promise "is about to happen." Some dude named John Stone owes me $200 for parking, cabs, meals and whatnot. By the way, KD's SI gig does totally rule, save for the obvious problem of that picture upon which someone graphics dude clearly photoshopped a soul patch. But man, it is awesome that he gets a frontpage byline -- essentially a columnist, which is a very tough gig to get.
I'm glad to see Professor Ford moving on, because he had zero business analyzing the NBA. The fact that ESPN charged for his miniscule insight was beyond ridiculous. As much as he... well... sucks, at least I can read Peter Vecsey's drivel for free...
You barely got away with that one...it should actually be "minuscule"...but I guess, for some reason, Websters allows "miniscule" as a variant... but don't even think for a second that I am not breathing down your neck .
hey, don't hate in history majors! if I ever graduate, I'm going to call myself a history major. But that graduating thing is a lot harder than its made out to be. besides, maybe Chad did what I'm donig: taking basketball coaching classes (only maybe not basketball so much) so he could get into the history of sports stuff. that's not what I'm doing, but I just want to be a basketball coach, and I love history, so I figure, why not teach history and coach hoops for a high school......anyway, that has nothing to do with anything. I was not one of Ford's biggest fans. But I always read his articles becuase I did find the ideas he purposed (sometimes at least) interesting. I really think he may have been able to turn the Hawks around by now, espically seeing as how no one in Hotlanta has... Side note: hey Kelly, quick question for a guy who is thinking about getting a degree in journilism on the side ( I guess I just love school), how did you get a break and start writting for SI? your 25 and writting for one of the most well known magazines world wide......thats absolutly amazing dude. .......and do you really know the Sportsguy? That's so cool.....I'd ask him the same question if I knew he knew you
I don't know the Sports Guy. Never met him, never exchanged emails, and I'd be surprised and honored if he even knew he I was. My info on his Insider tussle is all second-hand. The reason I got the SI gig when I was 24 is because I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Wrote and edited for OnHoops.com when I was 17. Bugged my way into other journalists' lives and got my name out there. Begged and pleaded with copy editors to get NBA scribes AOL/IM addresses and bugged them endlessly for advice and help. Sent out clips to anyone who would take them. Started writing for Ford/NBAtalk when I was 20, wrote a six-day a week column, even on Saturdays when nobody was reading. Wrote under psuedonyms for wire services and scouting services. Wrote under psuedonyms for betting services and tout sheets, even though I've never made a bet in my life. Bugged media relations guys and got into games, even in the worst seats on press row (second-tier benches empty benches in the rafters). Started up with Bootleg Sports and Foxsports.com when I was 22. Kept writing and scouting under fake names. Frustrated with it all, I quit in late 2003. A few months later, my editor was looking for writers to round out the page, and he remembered me from all the crap I wrote, over and over and over. Send articles to any website that will take them. In between jobs, I didn't mind writing for free for sites like RealGM or Desipio because I knew it would keep my name out there and I'd have current clips to send to potential employers. I've been pretty much writing and researching my ass off for nine years now, and although the results have varied in terms of quality (to say the least) I left myself room to grow and got my weird-ass name out there. Oh, and journalism degrees are hardly required. They help, though.
so you never went to school for that? and you started at 17?? Dude, you do a helleva job, thanks for the time.
If I wrote articles for ESPN people would read them as well, especially if it was about a subject people were passionate about. Make it just a little contraversial like Charley Rosen does over at Fox Sports and suddenly noboby gives a rats ass about your writting style but you will be the talk in some circles. Bob Crandell once said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Just be a little contriversial and have your BS posted on ESPN or Fox or someother recognized sports magazine or web page and people will read what you write.
So true. It's all about writing controversy nowadays. Just look at Sreamin A Smith, Jim Rome, the PTI guys. Those are argueably the most popular writers. Then when there's nothing to write about, they just make up some junk. Sooner or later, they end up getting their own TV show.
Congratulations, Chad! Here's an introductory assignment for your first conflict resolution class. Please resolve the following conflicts: “On paper, the McGrady-for-Francis swap has the potential to be a disaster for the Magic. … Francis has as much baggage as McGrady, and possibly more.” -- Chad Ford, June 22, 2004 “This is what happens when you let a hockey guy run an NBA team.” -- Chad Ford, June 23, 2004 “A number of NBA GMs snickered [at] Weisbrod, whose only real experience to date had been running a minor-league hockey franchise … When word leaked [about the Francis-for-McGrady] deal … just about everyone in the league shook their head and said, off the record, of course, ‘I told you so.’ Now it might be Weisbrod who is having the last laugh.” -- Chad Ford, Oct. 20, 2004 "Put together Weisbrod's scouting report on McGrady with Francis' take on Van Gundy, and it's not a stretch to wonder how well the two are going to get along this season." -- Chad Ford, Oct. 25, 2004 “John Weisbrod would consider trading ANYONE on the Magic if he didn't believe they were pulling their weight. He's been unhappy with Francis' effort, leadership and defense.” -- Chad Ford, Feb. 16, 2005 “TMac looks Jordan-esque for the Rockets. … [The Magic] never should've traded T-Mac … Why didn't the Magic fix the culture of losing in Orlando instead of scapegoating one superstar?” -- Chad Ford, April 27, 2005
In case anybody cares, Ford is taking this professorship but isn't leaving ESPN. He's just cutting back on his workload for the network: http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/magazine/magBlog?id=2039748
