If you just want to listen to the podcast and skip my mumbo-jumbo below, here is the link. Click it to play with your browser audio player or right-click and download the mp3. (And don’t worry, it’s free, for those of you have asked.)
Update: The Midwest Sports Fans podcast is now available via iTunes.
On Monday afternoon I had the great pleasure of conducting the first ever Midwest Sports Fans podcast, and I could not have been more excited to be joined by a guy I grew up reading and watching: Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times. With almost 40 years in sports media, plus a successful college football career and 8 books on his resume, Rick’s diverse knowledge, experience, and perspective on a wide range of sports is nearly unparalleled by anyone else in his profession.
And contrary to what Bo Schembechler or anyone else might say, Rick is decidedly not a loser. You don’t write a seminal book about the issues plaguing major college athletics, one that was years ahead of its time, if you are a loser. You also don’t write Barack Obama’s (and many others’) favorite book about basketball, “Heaven is a Playground”, which is preparing to be re-released to celebrate its 35th anniversary, if you are a loser. And, of course, you don’t make the eminently wise choice of the White Sox having a better shot at the 2009 playoffs than the Cubs if you are loser.
Rick has always been a guy who has galvanized strong reactions on both sides of his opinions because he is not afraid to speak his mind. He certainly did not disappoint during our wide-ranging conversation in which he tackled the following subjects:
- His unnecessarily controversial (and apparently widely unread) post in which he dared to mention Ryan Theriot’s name in the same sentence as steroids. (He takes nothing back, by the way.)
- His thoughts on bloggers, the proliferation of blogs as a relevant and powerful source of information, and the effect this has had on the newspaper industry.
- Journalism, and why it is not close to being dead even if newspapers may be.
- How the picture to the right shows just how many similarities there ar
![Rick Telander - Midwest Sports Fans podcast interview]()
e between bloggers and mainstream writers, all of whom must face the intimidation of the blank screen in their quest for quality. - His book “The Hundred Yard Lie” and its relevance two decades later.
- The ups and downs of the White Sox and Cubs and the roles that Ozzie Guillen and Lou Piniella play in their respective clubhouses.
- His astute prediction (highlighted by a beautiful Hawk Harrelson interlude courtesy of KVB) on which Chicago baseball team has a better chance at making the playoffs.
- The enormous expectations being placed on new Bears QB Jay Cutler.
- The “gift from God” that was his experience immersing himself in New York City basketball to write “Heaven is a Playground” 35 years ago.
- The genesis and current status of his love affair with music and his band Del Crustaceans.
e between bloggers and mainstream writers, all of whom must face the intimidation of the blank screen in their quest for quality.A few quick highlights:
On the reaction to his article about Ryan Theriot:
“If you are in a tainted game, there is something to be said for that. If you want be in a bar, there’s a chance you might be drunk. And that’s what baseball is, and when I spoke to Theriot about this after a lot of people misread the story, which they love to do, and started screaming all over “Rick Telander says Ryan Theriot’s using steroids,†well, come on clowns, I can’t help you read. And if you don’t get nuance, and satire, and you can’t pick out the truth in between all that stuff, well then I can’t help you. But when I did talk to Theriot, even he understood what was going on.”
On whether there is a difference in what topics are fair game between mainstream media writers who have access and bloggers who do not:
“The truth is the truth, and in this country, we write opinions, and if we can no longer write opinions, because, say, for instance, you and I interview Obama’s cabinet, so therefore if you haven’t talked to him, you can’t have an opinion about our President? Well that leads to chaos and other nonsense. On the other hand, I think we do need to be careful and we do need to realize we are dealing with human beings.
And so I didn’t catch all that much flak because, quite honestly, not too many people want to go head-to-head with me in a debate, because I’ll annihilate them and I don’t care who they are. Not many people have been writing about sports in this country for 38 years and have been to five Olympics on three different continents and countless World Series and Super Bowls and NCAA Championships and Masters and the British Open. So if they want to come at me, they better come at me with all their ammo, and they’re not going to have enough.”
In response to a quite by WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg that “journalism is not dead; newspapers are dead.”
“I would say kudos to him for understanding that, and that is absolutely true. If you can’t tell the difference between somebody writing a limerick on a bathroom door, and the poems of Emily Dickinson, well, there is no difference between journalism and just crap. But quality will win out, and true information will win out, and art, and craft. The things beyond just slanderous stuff will rise to the top; I think he’s absolutely right.”
On whether the issues he discussed in “The Hundred Yard Lie” have improved in the 20 years since the book was published:
“They’ve gotten more technological and more devious, but I guarantee you they haven’t gotten better…
…
And ESPN and the other TV networks and the NCAA and the coaches and the boosters, they just keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. I just can’t even write about it anymore because it’s that essential thing: people say, “We can’t pay the athletes!†and I say, “Well, why?â€
That is just a small taste, and hopefully you’ll take a listen to what was certainly an entertaining discussion to take part in and one that I think you’ll all find interesting and insightful. Once again, here is the link to listen to the podcast:
-
Midwest Sports Fans podcast featuring Rick Telander
- Update: The Midwest Sports Fans podcast is now available via iTunes.
We don’t have it set up on iTunes yet, but we’ll be getting it there soon. Our goal is to start bringing you a new podcast every couple of weeks starting out, and then gradually make it a weekly or even twice-weekly feature here on the site. Your comments, good or bad, are appreciated as we tweak the podcas
t to make them as enjoyable, compelling, and listener-friendly as possible.
I also need to give three huge shout outs.
First, to Cody Dunlap of our sister site Dallas Sports Fans for helping me transcribe the excerpts.
Second, to our very own KVB who edited the raw audio together and ingeniously added the Hawk Harrelson sound bytes to the White Sox discussion. He also made the incredible logo that you see pictured to the right, featuring my pasty whiteness, which keeps in mind an adage that is always true: cut-out heads with no necks are hilarious.
And third, a shout out to another of our very own, Nick Gerlach, whose band The Twin Cats (and their face-melting funk) provided the soothing, melodic saxophone tones you hear in the intro. Song credit:
- “Country Crock”
- The Twin Cats
- Album: United
- http://www.thetwincats.net/
Photo credits:
- Rick Telander headshot credit: Chicago Sun-Times
- Rick Telander sitting at desk credit: RickTelander.com
And finally, I will send you off with the YouTube video that Rick and I discuss at the end of the podcast. It features Rick’s band Del Crustaceans, and their guest soloist Bill Murray, rocking it out to “Hang On Sloopy.” Enjoy:
The post MSF Podcast: Rick Telander Can’t Help You Read (Clowns) and Curses the Blank Screen Like the Rest of Us appeared first on Midwest Sports Fans.
