Erin Quinn, Caroline Steadman and Hillary London on making their way to ESPN

Erin Quinn, Caroline Steadman and in particular, Hillary London, are perfect examples of how life can take you places you wouldn’t expect to go.

Quinn and Steadman, recent college graduates, already hold positions with ESPN in one of the fastest growing fields at the worldwide leader in sports; the stats and analysis department.

London, who works in the stats and analysis department, took longer to nab her position at ESPN. She was an 11-year lacrosse coach before a friend referred her to the opening.

“I tell a lot of the people that I got the job because I’m a woman and I speak Spanish,” said London, who added that ESPN was looking to add females in the statistics and information department, which includes bottom line, production research, stats an analyst and the analytics team.

London, Steadman and Quinn spoke to Steve Fox’s Sports Journalism class on Wednesday morning. They primarily answered questions about how they reached ESPN and dished out advice for students applying for jobs or internships.

Quinn graduated from Smith College in 2009 with a major in economics. She worked as the sports editor of the school newspaper her freshman year, and didn’t know what field she wanted to go into, but knew it would be sports oriented.

She built her resume through internships with a minor league baseball team in her sophomore summer and also interned at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A few months after graduating ESPN hired her as a stats analyst. Quinn described a lengthy interview process ESPN put her through, that included attending an info session, a phone assessment, an e-mail assessment, five or six more phone interviews and then a day on ESPN’s campus for interviews all day.

Steadman, an Amherst College graduate who also holds a degree in economics, went through the same interview process as Quinn did.

One of the most important things Steadman did was spend a summer in Costa Rica working on a literacy project. She eventually became fluent in Spanish.

This helps Steadman in her current position, because she can help translate blogs for ESPN Deportes, the Spanish version of ESPN.

“That was a pretty good selling point for our department,” said Steadman.

London hired Steadman and she reviews other applicants for positions in stats and analysis.

She stressed that the worst thing an applicant can put on their resume is that they are “passionate about sports.”

London argued that every applicant at ESPN has a passion for sports, and instead it’s important to sell yourself and explain why you want the job you’re applying for.

“Make sure that you’re putting across the reason why you want that job, it’s not just about passion,” said London. “If there’s one thing to take away from this, take that.”

For an aspiring journalist like myself, it was reassuring to hear that opportunities for young people like Quinn and Steadman are still available. You always hear how difficult it is to break into the sports field, but knowing that they already hold solid position at the mecca of sports journalism made me more optimistic about my own future.

Derek Boogaard and the state of hockey

Last year, I caught wind of the Derek Boogaard story by the New York Times. I read it, and was instantly astonished at the entire package. The writing, reporting, photography and videography was just fantastic, not to mention how informative the piece was. I feel like I know a lot about sports, even a sport like hockey that I don't follow too closely. But I found myself learning so much about the game of hockey, the state of concussions and even addiction from the NYT piece.

First of all, I thought the chronicling of the fight's was brilliant. It's not that I enjoyed the violence, but I had a better picture of the health issues Boogaard suffered after watching a number of his fights. They didn't have to link the fights in the text, but I took the time to watch the videos because I felt it was applicable to the text.

The reporting and writing was exquisite, and the author clearly did some serious digging into Boogaard's personal life to get the information he did. The three-part video that accompanied the piece provided me with visuals of the people in Boogaard's life, and their recollection of him. Sometimes it's much more powerful to hear someone say something, rather than read someone say something.

I want to take this last section to continue the discussion we had in class regarding how the game needs to change. Like football, obviously, it needs to be changed from the ground up. That means coaches must be teaching our youth to play hockey in the safest way possible.

I also think that the current players and fans mindsets must change. I heard the argument in class that "the game will never change" and the role of an enforcer is necessary because otherwise there would be no policing. First of all, "the game will never change" mindset is close-minded. We're seeing a gradual change in the way the game of football is being player, in that player safety has been brought to light. It's not far-fetched to think that hockey could follow

As for the argument that self-policing by players will never change, I wonder, isn't that the commissioner's job? Shouldn't he be doing the policing? For example, what if he handed out suspensions for fights? Would fighting and enforcers then be necessary to the sport then?

Think of the big three sports. In baseball if you fight you can expect anywhere from a 5-to-10 game suspension, depending on the severity of the fight. In football, a punch thrown correlates to an ejection, a fine and a possible suspension the following week. In basketball, Carmelo Anthony received a lengthy suspension for throwing a punch, and the Malice at the Palace resulted in some of the most serious suspensions in basketball history. There is no self-policing in these three sports. Instead, there's an understanding between the commissioner and the players that fighting is unacceptable, and if players step out of bounds, serious punishment will follow. It's not a coincicidence that fights are incredibly rare in all three sports -- particularly basketball and baseball.

Boogaard's story should have illuminated the problems in hockey, particularly with concussions and the  role of the enforcer. Instead, based on our conversation in class, it just reassured the disastrous, illogical mindset of the sport's fans..

Overcoming Your Fears in Journalism

“Don’t be afraid, just do it.” – Steve Jobs.

This is the message that ESPN.com’s senior editor of blogs, Matt Lee, so often directed towards Steve Fox’s Sports Journalism class during his talk with the class on Friday.

He pulled the “don’t be afraid, just do it,” quote from Jobs’ biography, and applied it as advice, throughout his speech.

“If you want to be a journalist, don’t be afraid, just do it,” said Lee.

Lee used Jobs’ advice when he attended George Mason University as an undergraduate student studying journalism. George Mason is not in the same breath as the upper echelon journalism schools, said Lee.

“That was a chip on my shoulder,” said Lee.

In his first year at college, Lee was not involved on campus. He was afraid.

But after a year, he broke out of his shell and joined the campus newspaper. Eventually, the time came for Lee to interview for jobs.

His first interview came in D.C., and halfway through the interview he knew that he wasn’t getting the job. Instead of becoming discouraged, he used the interview as practice. 

“If you apply, and they tell you no, then you’ve lost nothing, you’ve just gained experience in interviewing,” said Lee.

Lee left school seeking one of the three career paths available to journalism students in the late 1990s: a newspaper, a radio station or a television station.

When a job came along at the Washington Post’s website, he was afraid.

At the time, many viewed the dot.com boom as a “fad” that wouldn’t last, and he described the Post’s website as “primitive” at the time.

But he decided to overcome his fears and take a chance with the job.

After a number of years with the Post, Lee moved to ESPN for a job as the lead editor of the Insider section of the website. The job came after Lee, again, decided to chase his dreams rather than stay stationary with fear.

One of his former co-workers at the Post notified him that ESPN was hiring. The prospect of working at ESPN was daunting to him. But he decided to throw his hat in the ring and see what happens. He applied for a job on the news desk and did not get it. However, because he applied, he got his name out there to ESPN, who later hired him for the Insider position.

Lee now works as an editor of the ESPN.com blog network. Who knows if that opportunity would have arisen if he hadn’t mustered the courage to at least try for a job at ESPN.

The final thing that Lee emphasized to the class that resonated with me was the concept of embracing the unknown. In one of his power point slides, he displayed all the technological advances that had been made since he graduated college. Facebook, Twitter, the iPhone, Instagram and even Google did not exist.

This made me think about the technological advances that are inevitable in the next 15 years. And then I started to think that another Facebook, or Twitter, or Google is out there, yet to be discovered. And that scared the hell out of me.

But then I remember Steve Jobs.

Robert Griffin III and concussions in the NFL

One of the most discussed topics in the week leading up to Week 6 in the NFL was the health of Robert Griffin III, the Washington Redskins’ star rookie quarterback.

Griffin suffered a concussion in Week 5 of Washington’s 24-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Once the game ended, speculation overwhether Griffin would play the following week began.

He ended up playing this week, and playing very well. Griffin threw for 182 yards, ran for 138 yards, and accounted for two touchdowns in his team’s 38-26 win. His performance was not emblematic of a man who’d been knocked out of a football game just one week earlier.

Despite the strong performance, I still think Washington made the wrong call by playing him this week.

Concussions have been arguably the most talked about topic in football over the past few years. Last week, concussed Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kevin Boss was ruled out for the remainder of the season. He’s one of many players to have had their careers, and sometimes lives, ruined by concussions.

It’s gotten to the point where the longevity of the NFL has come into question.

So when I heard that the face of the Redskins franchise, the player that they gave up three first round picks and a second round pick for and anointed as their starter from the moment he arrived in Washington, was starting this week in a relatively meaningless game when considering the situation from a long-term view, I was disappointed.

I know Griffin passed all the concussion tests, and that every game in the NFL matters, but I can’t agree with putting your organization’s best player – who happens to be vulnerable – in a situation that may cause him harm.

I think in the coming days we’ll hear from many that the Redskins made the right choice because of his performance Sunday. I disagree with this line of thinking. It’s an argument based on the outcome of a decision, rather than an argument based on the process of a decision.

One little variable changes, and the narrative changes drastically. Can you imagine the vitriol towards the Redskins organization if Griffin had suffered a head injury in the game? Instead of people blabbering about how Washington made the right decision to start Griffin, the collective football community would have torched the Redskins’ organization for their mistreatment of the situation.

Obviously this story was brought to the limelight because of the status of the player. Many players suffer concussions in one week, and then return the next with no complaints about player safety being made.

Because of this, perhaps the NFL needs to make more definitive rules on concussion treatment. What if a player, in addition to having to pass the team’s concussion tests, was required to sit at least one week following a concussion. At the least, the NFL would be sending a message to its fans that they’re taking concussions very seriously, and doing everything possible to ensure player safety in the league. 

Sean Glennon talks new book, "Tom Brady vs. the NFL: The Case for Football's Greatest Quarterback"

Forget about Joe Montana's 4-0 record in the Super Bowl, or that he's never thrown an interception in the big game; Sean Glennon firmly believes that Tom Brady reigns supreme when it comes to the National Football League's greatest quarterback.

Glennon took the time to speak to Steve Fox's Sports Journalism class about his newly released book, "Tom Brady vs. the NFL: The Case for Football's Greatest Quarterback" on Tuesday.

Glennon said that he used a mix of analytical and anecdotal evidence to make the case that Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback and winner of three Super Bowls, trumps all NFL "passers." A list that includes Montana, Bart Starr, Peyton Manning, Terry Bradshaw and a handful of former and current greats.

Glennon started his career writing about arts, and said that he "backed into sports journalism."

His blog about Patriots fans jumpstarted his career, and with this blog, he found a topic he wanted to continue to write about: the New England Patriots.

In 2004, he published his first book, "This Pats Year," which focused on Patriot fans.

In 2008, he wrote about the history of the Patriots in his second book, "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly."

Two years later, came "Game Changers," a book chronicling the greatest plays in Patriots history.

After "Game Changers," his publishers asked for a book about Tom Brady. He knew Charles Pierce had done "Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything" in 2006. Glennon felt like he couldn't tell Brady's story as well as Pierce did, so he opted to avoid the biography route.

Instead, he chose to make a case for Tom Brady as the NFL's greatest quarterback.

Glennon struggled with a number of things in the making of his book.

He said "stat's don't interest people, stories do." But, given that he had no access to Brady or really anyone in the Patriots organization, how would he be able to tell an interesting story without overloading on stats?

Glennon pointed to Pat Kerwin, of NFL.com, as someone who helped guide him through the predicament. Kerwin ended up writing the forward for Glennon's book.

He also wrestled with the reality that Brady may not be the best quarterback in the NFL. Montana and Brady are two of the first names mentioned when discussing this topic, and proving that Brady is superior to Montana was one of his biggest challenges.

One of Glennon's key arguments is that "there's a reason Montana never won a 5th Super Bowl. Because he kept losing conference championships."

Glennon said that he didn’t care if people disagreed with his point, as long as they acknowledged that his opinion was well thought out and sensible. He made it clear that younger quarterbacks like Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger could usurp Brady in the coming years.

Glenon said that he expects his publishers to ask him to write a book about Patriots' coach Bill Belichick next. 

Sports blogging still has a long way to go

The thing that bothers me about the professional world of sports' resistance to bloggers is that a lot of them are no longer the stereotypical, fanboy bloggers living out of their mother's basement. So when I read articles about Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanting to ban bloggers from his press conferences -- because obviously allowing a few reporters that aren't with a professional organization is the absolute worst thing in the world -- I get frustrated. There is so much good sports writing prevalent today that could be considered "blogging." Take Grantland, a project headed by ESPN's star Bill Simmons, for example. That's technically a blog, correct? Yet, Simmons has assembled an all-star staff that would stack up against any other professional organization. So it's disappointing to see that Grantland can't get credentialed to certain events simply because their title isn't the New York Times, the Boston Globe, etc. It's disappointing because the best writers, and Grantland absolutely has some of the best writers, should be covering the most significant events.

In my opinion, we need to start to wean ourselves off of the word "blogger." The term carries a negative connotation, even though today's definition of a blogger is vastly different than what you'd find in the infancy of sports blogging. Grantland is not the only example here. SB Nation and Sports on Earth also churns out some of the best content to offer, but still they don't have close to the same access as newspapers and professional organizations such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Although sports blogging faces an uphill battle, the world of professional sports is beginning to open their doors to the Grantland's and SB Nation's of the sports blogging world. Now, if we can reshape wide-spread beliefs about the lines between bloggers and journalists, a real breakthrough in sports journalism can be made.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/media/21bloggers.html?pagewanted=2