(Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
It hasn’t gotten a whole lot of play on this site, but CBSSports.com on Wednesday finally released the list of winners of the NFL Correspondent contest held a few months ago.
You might remember this contest raised the ire of a few folks when they found out that only half of the reporters selected were actually from Bleacher Report, when the initial expectation was that all 32 would be Bleacher Report alumni.
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news.
Good news: There are actually 17 of the 32 with Bleacher Report bylines in their history. So that’s 50 percent, plus one. Score.
Bad news: None of the guys who published on B/R and were chosen for the program had published on B/R prior to the contest. So as far as guys who had already made a commitment to Bleacher Report prior to this opportunity, there is zero representation.
Not a single one.
But don’t take this as a boohoo column. That’s not what we’re doing here. When you take a look at who these guys actually are, you can see how we got where we are. Though I have more pride than I have reasonable right to have, I probably would have picked most of them over most of us just like CBS did.
But before we get to that, let’s take a look at what these guys will actually be doing, because it’s an interesting concept.
Called RapidReports, each of the 32 correspondents will file “multiple bite-sized updates per day from each team's practice facility or stadium that will appear at the top of the CBSSports.com (www.cbssports.com) homepage,” according to a press release issued by CBSSports.com on Wednesday.
Some examples from Thursday:
“Bills first-round OL Eric Wood was thrilled to be back with his teammates for his first camp practice. ‘A little rusty out there, but I'm fairly pleased with the way I came out,’ Wood said. ‘It's been a long few weeks but I'm excited to get going.’”
“Like all undrafted rookies, Rams FB Jerome Johnson (Nevada) is a longshot to make the team. But the converted LB caught everything thrown his way in the first practice, including one ball that hit the back of his knee.”
“Bill Belichick was throwing the football with his son after practice. The 57-year-old Patriots coach has a pretty good arm and he dropped only one pass.”
Jason Kint, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CBSSports.com, insisted in a USA Today article that the updates weren’t like Twitter in any way other than length. He even went so far as to call it “the antithesis of Twitter.”
Well, the short length of posts is the hallmark of Twitter. That’s what makes it Twitter. Saying it’s only like Twitter because of the length of the posts is like me saying the only thing I have in common with a fat man is that we’re both overweight.
Okay. What else were you looking for?
In any event, it’s not too complex. Whether you want to compare it Twitter or not, basically these guys (and one woman) are being paid to go hang out at camp and be reporters, but only write a few sentences over the course of the day.
Not bad work if you can get it.
Of course, none of us actually did, but whatever. Check out this list of who got the gigs. It’s quite a roster of talent.
(Number of B/R articles in parentheses after their name. Remember, none were B/R writers prior to this contest, though a few have continued to publish on Bleacher Report since.)
Arizona Cardinals: Craig Morgan (1), formerly of The Arizona Republic and East Valley Tribune
Atlanta Falcons: Jason Butt (13), a recent graduate of the University of Georgia, where he was the sports editor for the school newspaper, The Red & Black
Baltimore Ravens: Jon Gallo (4), formerly the Assistant Managing Editor-Sports at The Baltimore Examiner and staff writer at The Washington Post
Buffalo Bills: Mark Ludwiczak (0), formerly associate editor of Bills Digest
Carolina Panthers: Steve Reed (0), current Panthers beat writer for the Gaston Gazette
(What happened with that whole “Can’t write about your team for any other outlet” rule? Did that get waived along with all those detailed application requirements?)
Chicago Bears: Gene Chamberlain (15), from his B/R bio, “Long-time Chicago Bears writer who has covered the team for Copley News Service, The Daily Southtown, Sun-Times News Group, the Associated Press, the Bear Report and PA Sportsticker.”
Cincinnati Bengals: Josh Katzowitz (0), freelance writer who used to work for the Cincinnati Post.
Cleveland Browns: Martin Gitlin (0), freelance book writer and journalist. From his Greenwood Publishing bio, “He has also written biographies of NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Gitlin worked for two decades as a sportswriter, during which time he won more than 45 awards, including first place for general excellence from Associated Press. That organization also selected him as one of the top four feature writers in Ohio.”
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