One of my biggest peeves regarding modern sports media is how they formulate questions for interview subjects. In ancient times, we asked questions for two reasons: 1) To get an explanation or ascertainment; or 2) To get color. In “Bull Durham”, Crash Davis taught Nuke LaLoosh to expect nothing but the second type of question. (They think they’re throwing hardball when they ask “what was the gameplan?” or “what was the mindset?”, but those are from the LaLooshSpeak playbook, total bullshit because the answers never change.) While the conversations got as soft as ice cream in the sun, media also …
Welcome to downtown Los Angeles
Hal David was right to write that Los Angeles is a great big freeway. From the airport to downtown, nothing but steel, glass, and concrete. San Francisco and Los Angeles pose as competitors in so many ways. When the Big One finally comes, I think Los Angeles will handily win when comparing values of property loss. I didn’t believe Google when it said some hotels were spitting distance from crypto dot com arena, but from my window less than half a mile from Crypto, I can see two hotels in between. Years from now — or tomorrow — I’ll ask …
At the airport
Sitting in airports gives me more pause for thought, literally and figuratively, than anything else during my basketball travels. I’m always traveling alone. Occasionally, one of the teams I’m covering is also at the airport, but never the same gate. Once I took a cab to the airport, and arrived at the same time as the bus carrying the UC Davis Aggies. I ran into a referee in Burbank (or was it Denver?). She said: “Are you following me?”. “Yes”, I said. Coincidentally, I was at the last two games she’d worked in northern California. I used to think airports …
Even travel is different now
The Los Angeles Sparks approved my credential request for Friday’s visit from Golden State, which was kind, considering I haven’t had anything nice to say about the league lately. (Atlanta is an interesting team. How’s that.) But how much time am I spending away from my needy cat, and who’ll see to His Highness’s demands? We were separated for about 12 hours once, and I think he was sure I’d been devoured by predators (though didn’t care beyond who would then play with him). In the old days, I would’ve taken my car on the slow route down the coast, …
The spirit of Howard Cosell lives on at ESPN and during WNBA broadcasts
I applied for a press credential for Golden State at Los Angeles three nights from now. The application form was autocompleted with my publication’s name as Flack the Pac, from the days when there was a Pac to flack. A new field asked for a description of the work the application would do. The example provided was: “I will write game preview”. I filled it with: “Post-game reevaluation of my life decisions”. Which is true, because the WNBA isn’t an environment for reflective writing. The Valkyries use fireworks during their player introductions. People are generally dumber than they were 20 …
I just ask other people’s questions now
A chessplayer asked me if I thought Los Angeles coach Roberts would retire Saturday as the only WNBA coach in history with a spotless WL record. Roberts and the Sparks are 1-0 following their 84-67 win at Golden State Friday. Chessplayers have a strange sense of humor about such things. When the “rapid” time control became a thing in international chess around the turn of the ’90s, my first rating at that time control was 2560, and some friends said I should quit. I said about Roberts: “She’ll think about it, because it’s funny, but she won’t.” What I left …
How’s that wine bottle? 18604?
CalTrain was packed with baseball (A’s visiting the Giants is a bigger occasion than it used to be, since Oakland ate shit again at keeping a sports team) and basketball goers, which makes it tough to disembark. A fellow said to his mate: “When those people go, follow them. That’s our strategy.” “Their strategy should be to follow a big guy like you”, I said. He didn’t get that, if his first idea didn’t clue you in to his savvy. “Why do you have a sign that says ‘Media’?” he said. “I was working the Valkyries game”. “That’s the women’s …
The hottest ticket and media credential in this town or any town
The organizer of the 2025 US senior open for chess fell ill. The usual path these days is to launch a pleasehelpme page, but this chess organizer said: Please play in my tournament. It’s in Illinois, weekend of July 25. So I’d miss Dallas at Golden State, but the Wings visit again in September. And there’s a Sky game I could do on the 27th. Only trouble is, it’s Indiana. Before I ask Sky media for a credential, maybe Golden State can find a job (and accreditation) for me.
The Caitlin Clark Effect reaches the magazine racks
I don’t care if it’s good or not — the fact that it exists means having to put my $16 in, so there’ll be more like it in the future (and if I’m writing it, then it’ll be better). Wait. $16?! Yeah, said the kid. Magazine prices are going way up. Maybe it’s the cost of the paper, some think it’s the inks, I dunno. But graphic novels, they still cost the same. Graphic novels cost too much 10 years ago, I said. The other things are just catching up.
Valkyries cut to final 12, keep savvy forward Linskens
The Golden State Valkyries made their final cuts Wednesday, waiving guard Kaitlyn Chen, and forwards Laeticia Amihere, Chloe Bibby, Mamignan Touré, and Elissa Cunane. Valkyries followers objected because they saw Chen on TV during the NCAA championship game, so she must be worth keeping. And Amihere scored 20 points in the first exhibition game! NBA observers used to joke during the ’90s, when Jordan was making the NBA product a household object, that inexperienced NBA coaches formed their draft strategies solely from watching the Final Four. The Chen supporters display that sort of judgment. Amihere’s 20 points against Los Angeles …