The Herald » Tim Devaney

World Journalism Institute a positive learning experience for Devaney

Tim Devaney — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:33:14 +0000

Before I really knew Manny Garcia, he pulled out his wallet and handed me one twenty dollar bill and one five dollar bill.

Then he asked for the five dollar bill back, and he gave me a second twenty dollar bill instead.

The money covered an expensive taxi story I was writing for the World Journalism Institute in Manhattan. I was the student reporter, he was the instructor. And Manny, a former Miami Herald editor, didn’t want me to go shorthanded.

That told me something about him from day one. It told me how much he cared about reporting. He was a nice guy, a gentleman, all that. But even more he had a fire for reporting, and he was passionate about passing that on to his students.

And that was true for all the professors and staff at the World Journalism Institute. WJI brought in the all the best speakers and teachers from CNN’s Clayton Sizemore to The Indianapolis Star’s Russ Pulliam. They went all out to give us first-class experience so we could succeed.

“My goal is to end up giving you the torch,” Garcia told us. “You move it forward and you keep it relevant from what you learn here.”

Anthony Bradley (Covenant Theological Seminary) taught worldview, and helped us incorporate our Christian faith in the workplace.
Michael Longinow (Biola University) was an outstanding encourager. He kicked off the journalism portion of the course with many smaller assignments to prepare us for the big project that we worked on throughout the course.
Manny Garcia (El Nuevo Herald) boosted our efforts with an investigative edge that gave more depth to our stories.
Clayton Sizemore (CNN) labored with us over our videos, as we filmed, logged, edited and produced video stories.
And Kenny Irby (Poynter Institute) placed the finishing touches on our projects by helping us complete photo stories.

Each of these professors are experts in their fields. So we learned from the best, ensuring top-notch quality. And they were constantly encouraging us to pursue excellence.

“You have to write better than they do. Not as good as, better,” Longinow told us about the fierce competition ahead. “You have to stay out on streets reporting longer than they do.”

“Come early, leave late. Be relentless,” he added. “Doesn’t mean you have to be a workaholic. Just means you have to be driven and passionate. That will gain the respect of people who don’t know Christ.”

They encouraged us to look for diverse perspectives to tell the story from different angles.

“When other people zig, you zag,” Longinow said. “The crowds going left, you go (right)….I bet there’s a story over there and I’m going to find it.”

It wasn’t easy. It was a challenge. But it was worth it.

“It’s long hours – this career is long hours – and it can be like a battlefield,” Garcia said. “It’s like a war. You’re in a war because you want to get the story. You fight the battle…It’s a battle you got to learn things. You got to learn it on the fly.”

“We’re in a tough (economic) time right now, but this is the key: People will always need information,” he added. “And that’s what you can report and give them.”

Lovejoy Scholarship Winner: Student aspires to follow Becker’s example

Tim Devaney — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:27:14 +0000

by Tim Devaney

It was really steamy in the locker room when Bob Becker waddled through the shower and sat down next to Joe Namath.

By the way, Bob was naked.

But that was the only way he could get the story.

Namath, a Hall of Fame quarterback, was devastated after a big loss, so he sat weeping in the shower for hours after the game. Bob waited until everyone else left, stripped and went in.

He could have been fired, maybe even jailed.

“What the (heck) are you doing here?” Namath barked at Bob when he saw him pop a squat on the floor.

Bob explained, and fortunately, they both laughed it off. Then they chatted for a while, and Bob got the story.

Not many reporters would have the guts to do that today. But then again, not many reports have the courage Bob had during his nearly 30 years as sports editor at The Grand Rapids Press.

I’ve learned a thing or two from Bob about courage. I don’t plan to strip naked and take a shower with Joe Namath next time I cover a football game, but I do plan to pave my own path with Bob’s footprints.

Footprints that taught me to do whatever it takes to get the story. Footprints that taught me to be bold. Footprints that taught me to trust myself more than the consensus opinion. And footprints that taught me the best move isn’t always the popular move.

I’ve been following Bob’s footprints to the “X” that marks the spot for two years, picking up pieces of treasured wisdom along the way.

And you won’t find anyone as passionate about sports writing as me. God touched my heart with a joy for writing I can’t explain, and I only hope you can taste my enthusiasm.

I live for this.

I live to break news. I live to paint features. I live to inject passion into my columns. And I live to be the best.

God’s given me the energy to sprint this marathon and I plan to win.

This determination is wedged inside my soul and it’s driving my efforts each day. It pushes me to go the extra mile, dare deadlines, discover ground-breaking stories and write emotional columns and jaw-dropping features.

I’m just now unwrapping God’s gift, and I haven’t fully discovered what’s inside yet. But I have a hunch it involves newspapers, and I’m excited to see how it plays out.

I’d love to write for USA Today or ESPN.com within the next 10 years and become a leading voice for sports writers in America. And it would also be exciting to write for a newspaper with regional significance to me, such as the Detroit Free Press or Boston Globe.

Journalism is still important in this nation. I believe people still want good reading, and as long as we keep it fresh, they’ll continue to read.

The newspaper is the friend people wake up with at the breakfast table. We’re the friend who delivers the bad news and comforts them while they cry. And we’re the friend who offers hope and sprinkles a little fun into each day.

We can make people laugh. What’s better than that? I love it when people start laughing so hard they can’t stop. In difficult economic times like these people need to let loose sometimes. And that’s what I provided in my “Need a side-bump?” story.

We can also share joy. That’s what I attempted in my “Katey Kingsbury Returns” column. The car accident tore apart the campus and the community felt it all – grief, shock, fear. And upon her return, I hoped to add joy to that list of emotions and spark campus-wide celebration.

I’m only one person, one journalist, one sports writer. But I’ll do everything in my power to be the best I can be for Christ’s Kingdom. And I believe He’s blessed me with the talents to do just that.

Tim Devaney is sports editor of The Herald and the winner of the inaugural $1,000 Elijah P. Lovejoy Journalism Scholarship & Commentary Writing Contest. The award is named after a pastor and newspaper editor who opposed slavery in the mid-1800s in the United States and was eventually shot and killed for his abolitionist

commentary.

Herald wins four ACCM awards

Tim Devaney — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:11:41 +0000

The Herald staff won four national journalism awards from the Association of Christian Collegiate Media today.

Katherine Wisen — Challenging Assumptions “We are all responsible for one another” (First Place).
Tim Devaney and Herald Staff — Digging Deeper “Series commemorating 10th anniversary of men’s basketball championship” (First Place).
Tim Devaney, Amena Anderson and Josh Lipe — Digging Deeper “Series investigating fan support at CU basketball games” (Honorable Mention).
Tim Devaney — Challenging Assumptions “Let the campus leaders lead” (Honorable Mention).

See the judges comments: “Multiple judges in this year’s ACCM (Assoication of Christian Collegiate Media) contest enjoyed your students’ work!”

“Awards will be given out at the ACCM awards ceremony during the fall convention of Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Advisors,” according to the ACCM press release. “All of the winners will be mentioned on the ACCM Web site soon — www.christiancollegemedia.org.”

To see the awards page click here: http://christiancollegemedia.org/media_contest.

Nationally acclaimed sports writers speak at Final Four seminar

Tim Devaney — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:40:22 +0000

by Tim Devaney

DETROIT — Friday morning of the Final Four weekend Detroit highways were jam-packed for miles as college basketball fans flooded toward Ford Field for a chance to watch Michigan State and the other Final Four teams practice.

And Bob Ryan could not have asked for a better opportunity to catch up on his reading.

Forget widespread panic about arriving at work on time and angry drivers honking their horns. And don’t give a second thought to the crazed cheers of thousands of Spartan fans stuck in traffic.

All Ryan needed was a pair of reading glasses.

“I almost don’t blame people who stop and read at stoplights,” said Ryan, a Boston Globe sports columnist. “I’m the one person who doesn’t mind traffic jams. I hate being the first person in line; I’d rather be the second.”

Ryan spoke the day before at a sports writing seminar hosted by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association at Detroit Mercy. Other speakers included Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com, John Feinstein of The Washington Post, Shannon Shelton of The Detroit Free Press, Steve Carp of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Dick Weiss of The New York Daily News, John Akers of Basketball Times and the moderator, Malcolm Moran, who has written for USA Today.

Ryan might be the face of several sports television shows, but he urged aspiring journalists to stick their heads in the books. He emphasized the importance of reading, suggesting a variety of news publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker.

“In order to be a writer, you have to be a dedicated reader,” he said. “You will never be able to compete with those people who are better-read than you.”

O’Neil said reading is a great tool for self-learners who can pick up tips from better writers and mold those ideas into their own writing styles.

The panel offered practical advice about entering the news industry to nearly 200 student journalists in Michigan, using stories from their own experiences as the selling point.

Feinstein recalled a time early in his career when persistence paid off. Running back John Riggins had been holding out from the Washington Redskins’ training camp. And after refusing to talk to the media, Feinstein showed up at his doorstep to find some answers.

“If you don’t talk to me, my boss is going to fire me,” Feinstein told Riggins. “He said, ‘Come inside and I’ll call your boss and tell him not to fire you.’ But I said that wouldn’t work. So finally he said, ‘OK, fine,’ and he talked to me.”

When all else fails, O’Neil preached persistence.

“Why, why, why why? — just ask it 47 times in a row until you get a good answer,” she said.

While Feinstein was persistent in breaking through to Riggins, he also used his relationship skills as a reporter to help Riggins open up. He pointed to the significance of building strong professional relationships with sources.

“Instead of saying, ‘How’s your family?’ you say, ‘How are John and Mike?’ so they know you’re paying attention,” Feinstein said about cultivating sources.

While the panel warned against developing friendships with sources, O’Neil did emphasize the importance of reaching out to them on a personal level.

“At some point, put the notebook down and just chat,” she said. “I was a person. I wasn’t just a reporter.”

Occasionally, reporters run into their best stories by simply chatting, Shelton said.

“If you get in very good, meet the parents,” she suggested. “They’ll love to talk about Junior. He has a fascinating story, but you won’t get it from him. But you might get it from his parents. Get close to the people around the athletes. They’ll always know you as the person who did the first story on them.”

Many times the best story is not about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, Feinstein said. It is about what’s-his-name on the bench.

“Look for the guys that aren’t necessarily the star,” he said. “Sometimes the best stories are about the offensive lineman. The best stories are about people, and people don’t have to be stars to make good stories.”

Editor’s Notebook: Minister through your life

Tim Devaney — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:07:05 +0000

As Christians, we should live and breathe Jesus, and we should confidently lift up the cross each and every day.

But that is a much different picture than most Christians paint in the workplace.

When I tell church friends I’m going into journalism, the first response I get is, “Great! We need Christian journalists.”

But that is because they either want me to write about the church for publicity reasons, or witness to the “heathens” at liberal newspapers.

I’ll never gain credibility at newspapers that way though, and if I don’t have their respect, how am I supposed to reach them for Christ?

I have a much different philosophy on how to best integrate my faith into the workplace.

Christ must be preached, and the truth must be known, but we can’t beat it into people. We can’t force conversions. That might be the traditional religious way of doing things, but I don’t think it is Christ’s way.

The people He saved knew Him by His love, just like the world should know us by our kindness and compassion.

“People are far more likely to respond to a kind act than a judging word,” Cornerstone junior Eric Hand said. “The workplace like, any situation, is an opportunity for Christians to show Christ by example through their good lives.”

But most of the time we take more of a religious approach than a Christian approach, because it’s been burned into our brains. We live holier-than-thou lifestyles. We focus too much on theology, and not enough on people. And our conversations always seem to drift toward religion.

Put yourself in their shoes for a moment: How would you feel if one of your friends constantly talked about you fixing failures that you don’t even think you have? He wouldn’t be your friend for very long.

Religion is an uncomfortable topic for many unbelievers, and unfortunately they will quickly dismiss us as friends if we try to push it on them. Then, how are we supposed to reach them for Christ?

Yes, they need to know the truth. But reaching them for Christ isn’t a simple and fast project. It is about building relationships. It takes time. It takes authenticity. And eventually they will know it by the way we live. Then they’ll come asking. Not through forceful religion, but through Christ’s kindness.

It is the kindness that’s seen in working that extra shift for a colleague so they can go home early and celebrate their kid’s birthday. The work ethic we put in each day. The honesty and fairness we display.

“You should live out your faith, but there comes a point when you do have to be vocal about it too,” CU senior Donny Irving said. “I don’t think living out your faith is enough, because then how would anyone hear the Gospel?”

That’s true. While we can’t be overly forceful, it does take balance. And Christianity can’t be contained to a box of do’s and don’t’s. It should flourish in our lives so vibrantly that people respect who we are.

That’s how we win souls. And that’s how I plan to integrate my faith in the workplace.

The mysteries of Wiffle Ball, faith and fun

Tim Devaney — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:04:57 +0000

The Wiffle Ball is a glorious toy, to be sure. I keep one on my desk as reminder.

For the unaware, Wiffle Balls are plastic baseballs with eight oblong holes on one side that allow anyone to break off nasty curve balls.

On one of my first days as a real, full-time reporter, I passed a small factory on Bridgeport Ave., in Shelton, Conn., with the Wiffle Ball sign in front. A magnificent discovery.

The epicenter of all things Wiffle was right there, down the street from the suburban bureau I was calling home.

And the factory existed in relative secrecy, too. I could never understand why signs at the city limits didn’t read, “Welcome to Shelton, home of the Wiffle Ball.”

The plastic spheres were an essential part of my youth. There aren’t too many places to do more than play catch with a real baseball in suburban New York, where I grew up.

But we could take full hacks at a Wiffle Ball anywhere in our small yards without fear of injury to person or property.

And the male contingent of the Valley Bureau took our Wiffle Ball seriously. We even mounted a poster for a community production of “Romeo and Juliet” on a back wall just low enough to serve as a strike zone.

Since I covered Shelton planning and zoning, I immediately started plotting for any excuse to write about the factory. I eventually placed the call and secured my invitation.

I was greeted by David Mullany, grandson of the inventor, who gave me a quick tour of the machines that pump white plastic into molds. The yellow bats and cardboard packaging were made somewhere else and shipped to Shelton.

I then dropped the burning question: What makes a Wiffle Ball curve?

And I couldn’t believe the answer: “We have no idea.”

David told me how his father, also named David, and his brother would play baseball with plastic practice golf balls and broomsticks in their backyard.

The boys were trying to break off deuces (curveballs) all day, and the grandfather — he, too, was named David — was once a semi-pro pitcher and worried the boys would hurt their young arms.

So he bought a bunch of the plastic golf balls, sat down at the kitchen table with a steak knife and started cutting patterns into the balls.

For some reason, and the family doesn’t know why, the version with the eight ovals on one side easily curved. Hold a ball so the ovals are on the right, ball curves right. Ovals on the left and you can guess what happens.

I think about the story of the Wiffle Ball when I ponder some of life’s big mysteries.

The Mullany family built their business on a product without knowing how it worked, but accepted that it just did and always would. Blind faith.

And we can’t explain why some things happen. They just do.

And so we must remember that God is in control, not us.

Accept that curves in life are coming for reasons we can’t — or aren’t meant to — understand.

I shared this story with students in my journalism class. I wanted to show them an example of the interesting people we get to meet as reporters, but also about placing our trust in the Creator whose timing and methods we don’t always understand.

I gave each of them a Wiffle Ball, too, as a reminder.

Plewes named All-American

Tim Devaney — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:50:06 +0000

Driving to the basket was Plewes' signature move during her time at CU.

After leading the Golden Eagles to a 27-8 record and the NAIA Sweet Sixteen, Jenna Plewes was named First Team All-American.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of Jenna, and I’m just so pleased that she is getting recognized in this way,” head coach Carla Fles said.

Plewes willed Cornerstone to win several games late in the season, hitting go-ahead baskets with the game on the line against Davenport in the WHAC Tournament Championship and against Aquinas during the final game of the regular season.

“She plays so hard,” Davenport coach Mark Young said. “I probably don’t have any more respect for any player that I’ve ever coached against than her. She brings it every single night.”

“She’s not a great shooter, and she’s not the fastest, but she plays so hard,” he added. “For someone to be as successful as she’s been it all comes down to her work ethic.”

Plewes averaged 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during the conference season, but Fles said it was her hustle plays that made the difference for the team.

“She’s a gamer,” Fles said, comparing her to North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough. “Sometimes we called her the one-man-full-court-press because she’d just stay back there all by herself, she’d pick someone off and score a layup.”

“She’s probably the hardest worker that I’ve coached here,” Fles added. “She just really loves to run and she works on her game all the time. She always puts her whole heart into every game and she hustles, and it’s great to see someone who works so hard get that recognition.”

Fles said she saw the All-American list when it was released on Tuesday night, and she was hoping Plewes, who received an honorable mention the previous two seasons, would make the second or third team. So she was “overjoyed” to learn Plewes was named to the first team.

“I just couldn’t wait to tell her,” Fles said. “When I told her she was really surprised.”

But Plewes, being the team player that she is, said she would trade her All-American status for a national championship in a split-second.

“For sure. Without a doubt. I just wish we could have went further,” Plewes said. “That would have been way more important than individual honors. I would’ve rather made a bigger run at the tournament.”

No one understands her devotion more than her teammates, who saw her hustle day-in-and-day-out.

“Jenna is a one-of-a-kind player,” teammate Krista Vink said. “She is constantly pushing and encouraging you. She led by example. I think she is a great player and person. She deserves the All-American nomination because she gives 110 percent all the time, and you can always count on her.”

Plewes praised her team, saying she wouldn’t have done it any other way.

“I can’t describe how much this team has meant to me,” Plewes said. “Everyone knows I love Cornerstone so much. The biggest thing is playing for God, and playing with teammates and coaches who just care about you, love you and represent God. That’s about the best feeling ever. I’ve absolutely loved it.”

Plewes was named to the All-American Team along with nine other NAIA Division II athletes around the nation, including Davenport’s Kallie Benike, who was the WHAC Player of the Year. Benike averaged 14.85 points and 7.38 rebounds per game.

The other All-Americans include Morningside’s Dani Gass, who was the NAIA Player of the Year, and Autumn Bartel, Ozarks’ Kayli Combs, Northwestern’s Becca Hurley, Concordia’s Whitney Stichka, Hastings’ Lindsay Ducey, Shawnee State’s Becky Babione and Dickinson State’s Kia Herbel.

Madonna’s Kim Olech and Aquinas’ Josyln Narber were named Third Team All-Americans. Davenport’s Kristi Boehm, Indiana Tech’s Hannah Thieke and Aquinas’ Carrie Abdo were named honorable mention.

Young hopes having two All-Americans in the conference will start to turn eyes toward the WHAC.

“It’s great for the present of our conference, and it’s great for the future,” he said. “People are starting to understand. We’ve got a legitimate claim…We’re becoming a legitimate No. 2 conference. It was great to see.”

Childhood sports memories with my best friend

Tim Devaney — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:31:23 +0000

A while ago I was cleaning out my wallet and I found a folded up piece of yellow notebook paper stuffed away in one of the back pockets. It was a Top 15 Memories list that my best friend and I created before I moved away. As I stumbled through it nearly six years later, the list seemed more like a comedy routine by Jay Leno. It’s hilarious. I was cracking up, and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Sports was our connection. We got together all the time to play basketball, wuffleball, football, pretty much any sport we could think of. And that’s where this list comes from.

1) “Grant beats Tim 102-98 in basketball after Tim had a 98-77 point lead.”

Yeah, that’s right. I blew a 21 point lead. How in the world did I let him score 25 unanswered points? All I had to do was score one stinking basket!

2) “Tim slams Bethesda kid’s (groin) with the basketball and everyone laughed, but the referee didn’t think it was funny.”

It’s not as bad as it sounds. I was just trying to save the ball from going out of bounds, so I jumped to save it, turned around in mid-air and chucked it off the nearest opposing player so we would get the ball back. The only problem is I didn’t have much time to aim, and let’s just say, it hit him where it counts. Almost everyone was cracking up. We were trying to hold back our smirks, but we couldn’t. It was just so funny.

3) “Franklin makes comeback while star’s on bench … star comes back in and scores on wrong hoop in fear of the stars Tim and Grant.”

This is pretty sad. Our team had a two-point lead with a few seconds remaining, and the other team’s superstar stole the ball and could’ve tied it up, but instead he scored on the wrong basket and sealed the win for us.

4) “Tim makes lucky, end-of-the-game-half-court shot to LOSE to West Highland”

I like to brag about how I made a half-court shot in a junior high basketball game. It’s one of the few bright spots of my basketball career. Unfortunately, it didn’t really matter, because we were down by eight points when I made it, so we lost anyways.

5) “Tim trash talks the huge Temple kid, and then gets body slammed.”

We were playing against Temple and they brought in a high school player to fill in against us on their junior high team. He was huge. Way bigger, and way stronger than me. So naturally I took on the responsibility of trash talking him during the game … until he undercut my feet when I went up for a rebound in the second half. I slammed down on the court head-first and blacked out for a few seconds.

6) “Tim and Grant stuff little Temple kid two times from half-court.”

Our team had built a huge lead, and right before the buzzer a kid from the other team, who was about two feet shorter than both of us, tried to throw up a desperation shot from half-court. But we weren’t even going to let him have the satisfaction of getting his shot off. Grant stepped in and blocked his first attempt. Then, the kid grabbed the rebound and tried again. So I followed behind Grant and blocked his second attempt right before the buzzer. It looked embarrassing.

Plewes named All-American

Tim Devaney — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:39:47 +0000