Sports writers get chance in big leagues

IU junior and Indiana Daily Student Sports Editor Eamonn Brennan paid $15 for courtside seats and locker room access to the NCAA National Championship game in Indianapolis tonight. \nBrennan was chosen from a pool of sports writers from IU and other schools that attended Thursday's U.S. Basketball Writer's Association's Full Court Press Seminar in Ernie Pyle Hall. At the seminar, some of the nation's most credentialed sports writers shared stories and advice with students.\nBoston Globe columnist and ESPN "Around the Horn" regular Bob Ryan told journalists that print media is dead, something other panelists echoed. But The Sporting News writer Mike DeCourcy was quick to point out that good storytelling will survive when journalism switches to an online-focused profession. \nPanelists said good storytelling is what separates writers from fans. Many of them offered advice about how to navigate a changing profession. \n"You always hear people saying George Mason (University) is a 'good story,'" DeCourcy said. "It's not as simple as that -- every team has a 'good story.'" \nPanelist and Chicago Tribune sports writer Avani Patel said labels like "good story" were misleading -- good stories come from Goliaths as much as they come from Davids like George Mason, she said. \nShe told the crowd about University of Memphis basketball stand-out Shawne Williams, whose brother was killed the same day he \nannounced he would be attending Memphis.\n"As soon as he found out his brother was late, he headed straight for the county hospital," Patel said. "He knew that's where they took people without insurance."\nPanelists, with more than 150 years of sports coverage between them, were wowed by Patel's story. Billy Reed, a former writer for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, said that is the kind of information that separates the good storyteller from the average.\nAfter the panel discussion, students had an opportunity to ask a few questions before meeting individually with the writers.\n"With Malcolm (Moran of USA Today), we talked about techniques for covering the Final Four," Brennan said. "But it was very, very interesting to interact with them, just as one fan to another -- to get that unvetted opinion (from "PTI's" Ryan), complete with swear words and all."\nStudents were excited for the chance to run with the biggest names in college sports and college sports media. Attending the USBWA breakfast before the practice were newly named IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, North Carolina coach Roy Williams (named coach of the year), players of the year Adam Morrison and J.J. Reddick, Indiana high school basketball legend Oscar Robertson and members of the '76 and '81 IU NCAA Championship teams. At the open practices, students interviewed players, coaches and staffers. Other students attended a press conference by NCAA President and former IU President Myles Brand and the college all-star game, among other events. \nJunior and IDS sports columnist Ryan Corazza said he was awed by the media swarm around the events.\n"I definitely noticed ... when you get to a big level like the Final Four how many media people are there and how much of a 'circus' it is," he said. "Just being in the George Mason locker room -- I am sure they had just six or seven media people before all this -- but there wasn't room to breathe in there."\nThe more than 50 participating students have until Wednesday at midnight to submit their stories to be entered into competition for a $1,000 scholarship.\nEditor's note -- Campus Editor Sam Nissen attended the USBWA seminar, the USBWA Player of the Year and Coach of the Year breakfast and the NCAA Final Four open practice. Tickets for the breakfast and press credentials for the practices were obtained from the USBWA for a $15 fee, which he paid. A significant portion of the USBWA programs were attended by IDS staffers.