Tag: college football

Tony Barnhart: College football is a way of life

Posted on by Don McClain

This is the fourth in a four-part series about Grady College alumni who cover college football.

           Sarah Spencer: The pull of college football

          Mike Reiter: College football is the best sport in the world to follow

         Benjamin Wolk: The passion of the fans

Tony “Mr. College Football” Barnhart is in his 42nd year of covering college football for newspapers, radio, television and the internet. Barnhart, a former national college football writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is currently a college football analyst on the SEC Network and is an active blogger with Gridironnow.com and through his website TonyBarnhart.com.

Barnhart (second from right), joined retired UGA Architect Danny Sniff, legendary football coach Vince Dooley, and retired football broadcaster Verne Lundquist to talk about the Heritage of Sport in April 2016.
Barnhart (second from right), joined retired UGA Architect Danny Sniff, legendary football coach Vince Dooley, and retired football broadcaster
Verne Lundquist to talk about the Heritage of Sport in April 2016.

Among his numerous honors are the 2009 Bert McGrane Award given by the Football Writers Association of America, the 2009 Edwin Pope Vanguard Media Award presented by the Orange Bowl Association and the 2002 Furman Bisher Award for Media Excellence given by the Atlanta Sports Council. He was inducted into the Grady Fellowship in 2016.

He is a product of the journalism program at Grady College and is a regular speaker in Grady Sports Media certificate classes, as well as on campus.

Grady College: What skills did you learn at Grady College that helped you get to where you are today?

Tony Barnhart: At Grady, I learned the basics I needed to be a sports writer. Gathering the facts. Being accurate above all else. But my professors also stressed giving the reader something more than the obvious. Dig a little deeper in your reporting to find the story behind the story. Grady made me think broader about the subjects I was covering, and that included college football.

GC: What about college football keeps you motivated through the years?

TB: I have loved college football since the first time I walked into Sanford Stadium in 1965. The great sportscaster Chris Schenkel would talk about the color and pageantry of the game and that is what drew me to it early. College football, especially in the South, is much more than a game. It is a way of life. Every week it’s a new story and every Saturday you’re going to be surprised by something. It is never, ever boring.

GC: What is your biggest challenge when covering college football?

TB: The biggest challenge in covering college football today is to give the reader something relevant about the game in the new world of a 24-hour news cycle and social media. Consumers of college football immediately have the news and the highlights of the game at their fingertips. Our challenge is to give them something they don’t have—to put the game into context and explain what’s next.

 

“My advice for young reporters never changes: don’t limit yourself to writing. Use all your creative muscles and try radio and TV and podcasts and social media.”

–Tony Barnhart

GC: What is your favorite college football memory?

TB: My favorite college football memory was the 2005 BCS National Championship game between Texas and USC at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. I was covering the game on a tight deadline for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and my desk expected me to file the first edition of my story immediately at the end of the game. So, I had to write two versions of the story—one with Texas winning and one with USC winning.  The best of the two stories by far had USC winning. But Texas, as we now know, came back with a late drive to win 41-38. So, I sent in the Texas story and trashed the USC story which I thought was one of the better game stories I had ever written.

Barnhart was inducted into the Grady Fellowship at Grady Salutes in May 2016. Ernie Johnson (ABJ '78) and Maria Taylor (ABJ '09) were also honored. The event was emceed by Julie Moran (ABJ '84).
Barnhart was inducted into the Grady Fellowship at Grady Salutes in May 2016. Ernie Johnson (ABJ ’78) and Maria Taylor (ABJ ’09) were also honored. The event was emceed by Julie Moran (ABJ ’84).

GC: What advice do you have for students who aspire to cover college football?

TB: My advice for young reporters never changes: don’t limit yourself to writing. Use all your creative muscles and try radio and TV and podcasts and social media. I have been able to have a long career by trying new things. Be willing to listen. And by all means, make sure this is something you can’t live without. You have to feel passionate about this business. It’s too hard not to be completely emotionally invested.

GC: What are your thoughts on the Auburn/Georgia match-up in the SEC Championship game this weekend?

TB: In the first meeting on Nov. 11, Auburn completely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Georgia will have to match Auburn’s physical play up front to have a chance on Saturday….Another key will be the health of Auburn’s running back, Kerryon Johnson, who injured his shoulder against Alabama. If Johnson can’t go or is limited, Auburn is a different team.

The Auburn defensive front is one of the best I’ve seen in a long, long time….

 

For more of Barnhart’s thoughts on covering college football, please view his acceptance speech from the DiGamma Kappa Awards in February:

Benjamin Wolk: The passion of the fans

Posted on by Don McClain

This is the third in a four-part series about Grady College alumni who cover college football.

Sarah Spencer: The pull of college football

Mike Reiter: College football is the best sport in the world to follow

Tony Barnhart: College football is a way of life

Benjamin Wolk is a 2014 Grady College journalism graduate. The Grady Sports Media Certificate program was introduced as he was completing his degree and he was able to take a few classes on his way to graduation. Wolk currently covers the Auburn recruiting beat at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s SEC Country. Prior to that, he covered football at The Brunswick News, The Oconee Enterprise and the Macon Telegraph. He was a football beat writer and Sports Editor for The Red & Black during his time at the University of Georgia.

Wolk incorporates several tools of the trade when covering college football including photography and Facebook Live.
Wolk incorporates several tools of the trade when covering college football including photography and Facebook Live.

Grady College: What do you enjoy the most about covering college football?

Benjamin Wolk: The passion of fans. There are so many fans out there who are checking by the hour to see what’s happening in the college football recruiting world. That’s what makes it so fun for me is just knowing that I am recruiting to a fan base. It’s not just Auburn, but any fan base you find in the SEC, they are just going to be so crazy about their school and are so passionate about what’s happening with their program.

GC: What is the biggest challenge covering college football?

BW: Fans love a night game, and when I’m a fan, I love the night game, too, because you have a little more electricity with a night game atmosphere. But, as a reporter, I’m always fan of the noon game. As a reporter, you may not get out of the stadium until 2 in the morning with a night game, whereas a noon game, I might be home by 8 p.m. There are certainly times on Saturdays at 1:30 in morning where I’m writing my third post-game story, and I’m like ‘oh man.’ People don’t realize some of the rigors that go into this. It’s part of the fun. It’s why you love sports.

GC: Tell us what a typical game day is like for you?

BW: A home game starts with the Tiger Walk. I’ll do a Facebook Live, which is the perfect example of how new age media is growing, because Facebook Live wasn’t even a thing when I was in school. The Facebook Live is about bringing in an audience that maybe wasn’t already there and developing that personal relationship.

Then I will usually wait until the players start going through the Tiger Walk and I will just flip the camera around and let fans who aren’t in Auburn be part of one of Auburn’s traditions and that’s a way to interact with fans.

Then I’ll go into the stadium. Since my focus is on recruits and they host a ton of recruits at these events, a lot of my pre-game activities are talking with recruits to get a better idea of what schools they are interested in and what they think of Auburn.

My attention then turns to the football game. I take photos. I am up in the press box while we do live blogs throughout the game interacting with the fans and keeping them up-to-date. I do some live Tweeting. You are just constantly doing stuff throughout the game. After the game, you go to the press room and talk with the coach and with five to 10 players. From there you pow wow with the other people you cover the game with and we outline all of the storylines we need to write about over the next couple of hours and also the next couple of days to set the stage for the game next week.

Grady College: How did Grady College prepare you for what you are doing now?

“Whenever you meet someone, always assume they are going to be able to be useful as a story down the road or a contact for anything you are trying to do.”

–Benjamin Wolk

Benjamin Wolk: My Introduction to Sports Journalism course gave me an idea of what to expect from a career path. When you’re 20 years old you want to work for ESPN and be on TV, but the reality is that journalism is an industry where you really have to pay your dues and work your way up. Professors Michaelis and Suggs did a good job of telling you that if you want to get to point D, you have to go through points A, B and C first to get a grasp of what you want to do in the sports journalism industry.

Grady College does a good job of preparing you for a new media workplace where everything is not about interviewing someone and writing 300 words, but it’s about figuring out how you can craft complementary content for the things you are writing, whether that’s video, podcasting…whatever it may be. Grady College does a great job setting you up to have multiple skills in the journalism business.

GC: Is it hard remaining impartial covering Auburn knowing that you have an allegiance to Georgia football?

BW: As a Georgia grad, there will also be a big special place in my heart for Georgia. But, Professors Suggs and Michaelis were very adamant in their classes that we were in that we were in a no fan zone. It really set the tone for how I approached my journalism career. I want to see Georgia do well, but at the same time I’ve been in Auburn now for a year and I’ve gotten to know coaching staff and players. Once you develop relationships with the people that you cover, it’s pretty easy in my mind because my world became me covering Auburn. It has nothing to do with me being an Auburn fan or me being a Georgia fan, it has to do with me being a sports reporter whose job is to be to relay the facts about Auburn football and Auburn football recruiting. I have a duty and responsibility to the Auburn fan base to provide them the true information.

GC: What advice do you have for current Grady Sports Media students? 

BW: My best advice would be to get as much experience as possible. There is no such thing as too much experience. At the same time, it’s not just about getting the resume to where you want it. Make sure you are networking, and not just with people in the journalism industry, but network with coaches when you are covering high school. Whenever you meet someone, always assume they are going to be able to be useful as a story down the road or a contact for anything you are trying to do. It’s about not just getting your resume right, but about the relationships you build through that resume experience that can go even further than the listing of the information on the resume itself.

Mike Reiter: College football is the best sport in the world to follow

Posted on by Don McClain

This is the second in a four-part series about Grady College alumni who cover college football. Read the other features in the series:

Sarah Spencer: The pull of college football

Benjamin Wolk: The passion of the fans

Tony Barnhart: College football is a way of life

Mike Reiter is a 2013 digital and broadcast journalism graduate of Grady College. He currently serves as a production assistant for the SEC network where he supports the studio shows by pitching segment and feature ideas, producing video elements and creating graphics. This fall, he has worked on “SEC Nation” as the graphics producer. Prior to the SEC Network, Reiter worked as a seasonal production assistant at ESPN.

Reiter poses for a picture at the SEC Nation desk when the network visited campus before the University of Georgia vs. University of Kentucky game.
Reiter poses for a picture at the SEC Nation desk when the network visited campus before the University of Georgia vs. University of Kentucky game.

Grady College: What is the best part about covering college football?

Mike Reiter: The best part of covering college football is that following it is something I would be doing even if I didn’t have the job that I do. For me, there’s nothing better than college football. The games, fans, traditions, etc. make it the best sport in the world to follow. The fact that it’s part of my job to follow it is a blessing. Being able to produce content for the fans of the SEC is awesome, and it’s great to see the reaction to different elements that you produce.

For instance, last fall I worked on elements celebrating the 25th SEC Championship Game. There were many different types of elements (montages, vignettes, essays, features), but one series were essays about different topics that were voiced by Brent Musburger. When we were in Jacksonville for the Georgia-Florida game, one of those elements ran about the impact that Florida’s three Heisman winners had on the SEC Championship Game. Getting to see that element played through the truck, and watching Steve Spurrier, Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel watch that element was a pretty cool feeling, even as someone who went to Georgia.

GC: What is the biggest challenge of covering college football? How can you be impartial when you’re a fan of a team?

MR: I’d be lying if I said that there was anything that was truly difficult about my job. I get to cover college football so any issues or problems that I might have would seem silly if you compared them to other professions. With that being said, I don’t want to be labeled as the “Georgia guy.” I went to Georgia and they are the team that I root for and the team I know the most about, but I don’t want to limit myself to just doing Georgia elements, or pitching Georgia ideas because I know that will limit me going forward. The SEC Network covers all 14 teams, so I try to be equal in trying to pitch ideas and features for all 14 of our teams—that includes Florida. It sometimes can be difficult because I’m not as familiar with the traditions of other teams, but that is something I try to learn more about. As for trying to be impartial, when it comes to watching a game, I will always root for Georgia. I might not be able to outwardly express it like other fans do, but I will always root for the Dawgs, and that will never change.

GC: What is a typical fall game day like for you?

MR: This fall I have been working on SEC Nation doing the graphics for the show. We typically arrive on site Thursday evening or Friday morning so I’m able to spend all of Friday getting ready for the show. A typical Saturday starts with waking up between 3 and 4 a.m., depending on what part of the country we are in. After getting ready, I’ll head to the truck between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m.

When I get there, I pretty much have all the graphics built for the show that I need to have. There might be some last-minute graphics that I have to build, but it’s normally not that much. I have a graphics operator who plays out all the graphics during the show. Either late Friday or first thing Saturday morning, we stack the graphics for the show. In simplistic terms, we go through the rundown, and put all the graphics in the order of which they appear in the show. This is also a time I can double check and make sure that I have all the graphics that I need.

“As for trying to be impartial, when it comes to watching a game, I will always root for Georgia. I might not be able to outwardly express it like other fans do, but I will always root for the Dawgs.”

–Mike Reiter

Once all of that is finished, we do a Graphics Check with the CP/Producer of the show. We will go through every graphic in the show, and make sure that everything is correct, and it’s what the producer/CP want for that particular graphic. We normally do this two or three hours before the show.

When the show starts, I follow the rundown, communicate with the producer/director and listen to what our talent our talking about.  Most of the graphics are scripted, but I also sell different graphics to the producer/director during discussions that fit what our analysts are talking about.

Our show goes off the air at Noon EST and at that point, I either head to the airport to get back to Charlotte, or I stay on campus and watch the game, which I prefer to do that if I can.

GC: What advice do you have for current Grady College students?

MR: The advice that I’ve always followed is, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I know it’s a cliché, but since I’ve started at ESPNU/SEC Network, the saying has been true. There hasn’t been a single time I’ve regretted going to work. I understand that this might not be the case for everybody, but my advice is to find something that you enjoy doing and do whatever you can to pursue that.

GC: Do you have any comments on the upcoming SEC Championship?

MR: In terms of the SEC Championship, Georgia will look to avenge their loss from a couple weeks ago, a game that Auburn dominated. But even in that game, UGA had a couple of missed opportunities early where they could have put up some points. If those would have gone the other way, that’s a much different game. Auburn runs the ball extremely well so Georgia will have to defend that well. Along those same lines, the offensive line will have to dominate the line of scrimmage because Georgia has to be able to run the ball, which they weren’t able to do against Auburn.

Sarah Spencer: The pull of college football

Posted on by Don McClain
Sarah Spencer covered UGA football for the Red & Black when she was a student. She is pictured with other Red & Black writers (l. to r.) Connor Riley (ABJ '16), Nick Suss (ABJ '15) and Cody Pace.
Sarah Spencer covered UGA football for the Red & Black when she was a student. She is pictured with other Red & Black writers (l. to r.) Connor Riley (ABJ ’16), Nick Suss (ABJ ’15) and Cody Pace.

This is the first in a four-part series about Grady College alumni who cover college football. Read the other features in the series:

Mike Reiter: College football is the best sport in the world to follow

Benjamin Wolk: The passion of the fans

Tony Barnhart: College football is a way of life

Sarah Spencer is a 2016 Grady College journalism graduate and one of the first students to earn a Grady Sports Media certificate. Spencer covered the University of Georgia football team for the Red & Black when she was a student, and wrote for college football through her job as reporter for the Index-Journal in Greenwood, South Carolina. She has previously worked at Rivals.com and MLB.com and is currently a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, writing about a variety of high school, college and professional sports including baseball, basketball and football.

Grady College: What makes college football different to cover than other sports? 

Sarah Spencer: College football is a marquee sport and there is a different kind of loyalty fans have. Pro teams move. You can be a fan of the Baltimore Colts and they move in the middle of the night. But, there is a different kind of loyalty and steadiness with college football and therefore it shapes culture a little more. There’s that pull to it because it’s always going to be there.

GC: What is the biggest lesson you learned from Grady Sports?

Grady Sports prepares you a lot and I am really glad I got to do it. There are so many lessons. You learn so much in classrooms from Professors (Vicki) Michaelis and (Welch) Suggs, but you also learn so much sitting in their office for an hour or two. I think the biggest lesson I learned was to not be afraid, especially as a young reporter getting into the field. People our age are hesitant to pick up the phone and call someone because we have been texting since we were young. One of the biggest things that will behoove you is not being hesitant because if you are hesitant you aren’t going to ask that extra question. Professors Michaelis and Suggs really pushed me when it came to story ideas. Don’t do the most simple and obvious one. Challenge yourself and really dig and try to figure out what’s happening because we need people uncovering things in this world. It sounds so simple, but Grady Sports and Professors Michaelis and Suggs tell you that you need to go do that extra interview and go the extra mile.

“You have to be avidly pursuing internships, avidly pursuing good stories in whatever field you want.”

–Sarah Spencer

GC: What is your best advice for Grady Sports Media students?

SS: A problem is that sometimes there is a disconnect with where people want to go and how much work it takes to get there. If you want to be working at a higher level in this field, you don’t just get plopped there. You have to be avidly pursuing internships, avidly pursuing good stories in whatever field you want. You need to be doing that pretty much every day as an undergrad and opportunities will come. The biggest advice that I could give is if you are not working right now, go over to the Red & Black. A lot of the things I learned I credit from the Red and Black. It was trial by fire, learn as you go and it made me a lot better and it gave me my start. Start working and keep working and opportunities will come. Chase things down. A lot of people want to do this because it’s such a cool field. You’ve got to really, really pursue it wholeheartedly.

Spencer attends a press conference with Washington Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden.
Spencer attends a press conference with Washington Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden.

GC: How to you remain unbiased when covering sports?

SS: You have to remove yourself to be unbiased, which is really important in sports. If you want to have good coverage, you have to be unbiased. College football athletics is meant to build up loyalty and Professors Michaelis and Suggs will knock it out of you pretty quick. I felt like such a veteran walking into my first games because of the experiences I have had. Other schools have great programs, too, but one area I will always pretty loyal to is Grady Sports, because it was my springboard to what I am doing now.

GC: How do you prepare to cover a college football game?

SS: There is always more stuff to know about a team because football rosters are so big and every school is so different with how interviews are structured…where you sit…what you do…how you get on the internet. There are all these logistics to figure out, as well as ‘how do I write the best stories?’, ‘what do I want to research ahead of time?’, ‘where am I going to park?’ Do the research ahead of time and try to make it easy on yourself, because the more that you know ahead of time, the less you have to scramble to find once you’re sitting down. That is something that Professors Suggs and Michaelis taught me, too: make it easy on yourself. Do what you can do ahead of time and try to have a couple graphs typed up before the game even starts. Work smarter not harder.  Do what you can do ahead of time and try to have a couple graphs typed up before the game even starts.