By smarantz, on March 15th, 2011 | (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
On his way to founding the pre-eminent NBA blog, TrueHoop, Henry Abbott lived in a jungle in Ecuador and covered the Ecuadorian elections for CBS radio. But that was then. Now Abbott rules over a different kind of jungle – a network of bloggers in every NBA city that draws more than a million readers every month.
Founded in 2005, TrueHoop was purchased by ESPN in 2007, which makes Abbott an entrepreneurial model for bloggers who claw for scraps in a Darwinian cyberspace. In this interview, Abbott answers one question – about the human side of blogging – with a link to his own network, which not only saved him time, but drove SMG’s massive traffic to TrueHoop. Thus did Abbott demonstrate, with deftness, a practical skill that we can only envy.
The World-Herald has a pay-as-you-go firewall to Kelly’s columns. So here it is:
Book rebounds to timely topic: hoops, race
Michael Kelly
Omaha World Herald
March 11, 2011
More than four decades ago, a George Wallace speech at the Civic Auditorium ignited race riots and the sudden switch of the state boys basketball tournament from Omaha to Lincoln. This week, the news again was about race.
On the eve of the 2011 tournament, black referees objected Wednesday to the Nebraska School Activities Association board that only two of 22 eligible African -American refs were assigned to tournament games.
Journalist and author Steve Marantz, a 1969 graduate of Omaha Central High, delves into the question of race with a new book, “The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the ’68 Racial Divide.” Read more...(1006 words, estimated 4:01 mins reading time)
By smarantz, on February 12th, 2011 | (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
How many sports reporters check the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court for potential stories? How many have a law degree from Penn? As far as we know, L. Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated belongs to a club of one. A recent Wertheim story, “Wrongly Accused”, about an Omaha man wrongly convicted of murder puts both his legal acumen and writing skill on display.
Wertheim has trotted the globe as a tennis writer. His work has been cited in The Best American Sports Writing anthology four times, as well as Best American Crime Writing. He is the author of six books, including the new Scorecasting, which combines a bit of Freakonomics with a bit of Malcolm Gladwell.
He explained why his story opened and closed at Omaha Central High School, our alma mater, and offered some thoughts about punting on fourth down, in this interview.
By smarantz, on February 9th, 2011 | (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
Television tells stories with words and pictures, but sometimes there are too many words and not enough pictures. That’s where re-enactment and specialty ‘B’ roll come in – techniques to create images to cover the story. E:60 Production Notes: Part 1 tells how images were created for the story of Jordan Burnham, an 18-year-old athlete who suffered from depression, and survived a horrific suicide attempt.
Part 2 addresses the ‘fine line’ between enough and too much at E:60.
By smarantz, on January 26th, 2011 | (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
Check out the trailer below for an upcoming documentary on free diver William Trubridge, produced by Martin Khodabakhshian. Martin is one of ESPN’s most restless and creative producers, however, this work is an indie.
"Four decades after George Wallace ignited a race riot in Omaha, Steve Marantz goes home to tell the story of a high school basketball team and its tragic star. A heartbreaking look inside the lives of white and black students fighting and falling in love as they grow up amid historic upheaval." -- Ian Thomsen, Sports Illustrated
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