Since this is our first newsletter, I thought I’d give readers insight into what it’s like on a typical gameday to cover the Wolves. This is how the sausage is made (journalistically speaking) and how I do my job to deliver articles on startribune.com.
Let’s use an example of a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Wolves usually hold a morning shootaround. Teams are required to make players available for interviews at shootaround, but the coach does not have to speak. Other reporters and I make the request for which players to speak to the media. For home games, media availability is at 10:30 a.m. On the road, a bit later.
Sometimes on the road, the Wolves are shooting around at all kinds of locations if the opposing arena is being used by the home team. I’ve traveled to high schools, colleges and local community centers all in the name of interviewing players either after practice or at shootarounds.
Two players generally speak at shootaround. Because I'm often the only traveling beat writer, I typically speak to the players at road shootarounds by myself, though I don’t have an unlimited amount of time. They’re eager to get to the team bus and back to the hotel to get lunch. ... The words, “First bus, five minutes,” always make me wince.
I’ll transcribe my interviews, maybe do a little writing before getting lunch, unwind a bit and take my own pregame nap. (Yes, even beat writers take pregame naps). I usually get back to the arena around 4:30 to watch some warmups.
The home coach speaks to the media at 5:15 p.m., and the road coach speaks at 5:30 p.m. Then at 5:45 p.m., locker rooms are open for 30 minutes.
This is an important 30 minutes for me in doing my job, even though most interactions here are very informal. It's my chance to just have one-on-one, off-the-record conversations with players about their lives, how things are going. We get to develop a rapport, and they get to know me and become comfortable around me.
There’s been some talk about wanting to take away locker room access out of (understandable) concerns about players' privacy as they get dressed. But I can tell you that I think this would not be a good idea for anyone involved. Locker room access leads to a better dynamic between players and the media members who cover them, and there are ways to accommodate players who might want that extra privacy without sending media out of locker rooms. I’ve written multiple stories in my seven years on the beat that have come from informal locker-room chats that then turn into articles or features.
When I saw Nickeil Alexander-Walker always reading at his locker, I asked him about it. That led to a feature I wrote last year in which he said reading helped him through a turbulent time in his career after he was traded to Minnesota.
It also helped me develop a rapport with Naz Reid. Reid then opened up about the death of someone close to him two years ago, Rudy Roundtree, who helped him make it in the NBA. Those interactions help us tell very human stories about the athletes we cover, and they feel like reporters aren’t out to “get” them with a gotcha quote.
After open locker room is over at 6:15 p.m., I go eat dinner. Not all arena media meals are created equal (something you’ll read about in a future newsletter!).
Most games end around 9:30, and I file a story at the buzzer that is posted immediately at startribune.com. Those can be a frantic couple of minutes, especially in a close game.
Wolves coach Chris Finch speaks about 10 minutes after the game ends, then the team opens up the locker room for about three players to speak postgame (with the media making the requests for which players). Players are contractually obligated to speak with the media, and the league can fine them if they do not (cue Marshawn Lynch: "I'm only here so I don't get fined"). The locker room time, outside of the media scrums that are recorded, can again be the place for a lot of informal interactions between reporters and players.
This process can take a while, depending on how quickly players get ready after games and whether they want to fulfill their media obligations before or after they shower. From our vantage point, we always root for them to do it before getting dressed. The quicker the better when on deadline.
I write from the media room as fast as I can for our copy desk and the editors waiting for my story. I try to get done between 10:45 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., then I might write a second story to go alongside it, so I could be in the arena until midnight or a little after. Then I go home or back to my hotel — and NEVER to a bar afterward.
Hopefully you enjoyed this first edition of the newsletter, and thank you for coming along for the ride!
