I used to think that when I saw sports reporters on the sidelines with their laptops open during the games they were cranking out stories on deadline. Some editor somewhere was demanding that they turn in a complete story with quotes and a final score, even if it was the first quarter. That’s not true. We’re just on Twitter.
Regardless, you can learn a lot just sitting on press row or in the cramped back section of a press box.
Since Mustang Daily and the San Luis Obispo Tribune cover essentially the same Cal Poly sporting events, I get to spend quality time with the Tribune’s lead sports writer, J.D. Scroggin. Although we are technically competitors, the extent of our rivalry mostly extends to the Twitter-sphere.
While I attempt to find obscure stats or interesting insights, Scroggin cleverly narrates the game while we exchange (hopefully) witty banter from our respective handles. The first event I covered alongside Scroggin was a wrestling match last year, and oddly enough, the 18-year-old newbie had an advantage over the veteran reporter.
Having wrestled for a couple years back in my high school days, I knew the name of a back-breaking move one of the Mustangs was executing: a not-so-subtly named “Saturday Night Ride.” He found the name pretty entertaining and has been paying me back with obscure references from the 1990s ever since.
Last year, Cal Poly’s star closer was named Jeff Johnson who Scroggin referred to as “The Name You Know,” and I had no idea why. He referenced “The Name You Know” a few times before he finally let me in on the joke: Jeff Johnson was the name of a character in the movie, The Distinguished Gentleman, who ran for Congress because he had the same name as former representative who had recently died. His campaign slogan was, of course, The Name You Know.
During lulls in various games Scroggin has engaged me in intellectual arguments about the legitimacy of rappers, such as T-Pain, who use autotune. He said they deserve credit because they are the best at what they do while the only autotune I like is AutoTune the News … and some Kanye.
Most recently, Scroggin Tweeted to Cal Poly baseball player Nick Grim that his walkout song (which plays when the pitcher goes to the mound) should be “Situation: Grimm” by rapper Mista Grimm. Again, the song was released in 1994— while I was learning to walk.
Thankfully, I am fortunate enough not to remember ’90s pop music, and no one will convince me the ’90s were a good decade for popular culture. When the most popular piece of clothing from a decade is a glorified denim onesie, it has no chance.
For each pearl of ’90s insight I get in the press box, at least one diamond of journalistic insight comes my way. In the end, between Tweeting and debating the politics that is Cal Poly athletics, we find time to watch the game and whip out articles for our angry editors back in the newsroom. Hopefully, they’ll stop taking out our complex rap metaphors now.