“Where do you see sports journalism going in the new digital age” “Honestly, down the shitter” – Pub Chat with Jeff Pearlman

Every now and then TPP likes to chat with some writers that know what the hell they’re doing. But frankly, we’re beyond honored that best selling author, along with former ESPN and SI columnist Jeff Pearlman took time out of his busy schedule to answer some of our questions, and give his perspective on sports writing. Thanks Jeff!

FD: What motivated you to get into sports journalism specifically?

JP: I was a teenager growing up in Mahopac, N.Y. Although nobody in my family knows anything about sports, I absolutely lived for the morning New York Times, when I dig through the sports section, absorbed by the boxscores and games stories and sidebars. It was an inexplicable love—not sure why sports, as opposed to, say, computers or fish or whatever. So when I got to Mahopac High School I started writing for the student newspaper. I couldn’t believe the attention and acclaim one could receive for merely writing stuff. The cheerleaders would yell at me, football players would threaten to beat me up … and I dug it. That was the initial buzz. I no longer do it for that reason, but it hooked me in.

FD: What was your favorite story and why? If you don’t have one, what makes a story that you’re proud of?

JP: Well, the story that most stands out in my mind came out after 9/11. Bill Colson, the managing editor at SI at the time, wanted to put out an issue, and told us to try and find story ideas. I was immediately opposed—what did sports have to do with 9/11, etc? But I was living in New York, about a mile from the Trade Center, and I looked up a few of the names of the fliers. One guy was Tyler Ugolyn, a 23-year-old kid who’d recently graduated from Columbia. He’d played two years of hoops there … so I called his home. At first his father, Victor, didn’t want to talk. I understood, of course. Then he called me back a few minutes later, and we chatted for an hour, maybe more. That story means so much to me, mainly because it means so much to Tyler’s family. Best of all, I’ve remained very tight with Tyler’s family. Such wonderful people. This is the article: http://75.145.255.51/SI%20Article1.htm

FD: I check your blog regularly – where do you see sports journalism going in the new digital age?

JP: Honestly, down the shitter. The need for speed and immediacy has rendered depth sort of obsolete. Everything has to be fast, fast, fast, so the great writers wind up writing 1,000 words, where once it would have been 5,000. I want to know what makes, say, Derek Jeter ticks—not just that he ticks. But nobody writes those stories anymore, and it bums me out. That’s a big reason I love books. The 100,000 words are priceless.

FD: What was the most difficult part researching your books like “Boys Will Be Boys” or “The Rocket That Fell to Earth,” versus a story on deadline.

JP: Oh, it’s sooooooo much harder. With a deadline story, you need speed, but you know you have these constraints, and after a certain point there’s only so much one can do. But books—hell, it’s all-consuming. I want to interview absolutely everyone. I want to see where you grew up, where you went to college, where you ate your first hamburger and where you learned your dog had died. Everything. It’s joy and pain, because it’s time consuming and, often, heartbreaking. You become a stalker, obsessed with the subject. It overtakes you, to the point of numbness. When I was deep into Clemens—I mean, really, really deep—I felt as if I was losing a sense of reality. Fifteen … 16 hours per day, every single day, devoted to one person.

FD: If you could go back and re-write one piece that you did, which would it be and why?

JP: I’d add to “The Bad Guys Won!” It was my first book, and I’m proud of it. But I wish there was a bit more character development. Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.

Tags: first derivative, interview, Jeff Pearlman, pub chat, real writers talking to us - wow!
Categories: Daily Specials, Domestics, Non-Alcoholic

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