The Media Day Experience: Atlanta Hawks

On March 25^th a host of college students, including myself, all with dreams of becoming a part of the sports media industry, were invited to “Hawks College Media Day” at Phillips Arena where the Atlanta Hawks would face the Utah Jazz that night.  This unique experience presented us with the opportunity to mingle with like-minded individuals, listen to experts in the industry, ask questions, watch the game from press seating and attend a post-game press conference with Coach Larry Drew. Our day started off with a complimentary lunch amongst media professionals, then continuing into a conference room to listen to some individuals with a lot of experience.  Sam Crenshaw, sports reporter for 11 Alive News, Steve Holman, the voice of the Hawks, Jerel Marshall, a sports blogger, Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal

More Georgia State student representing for our university

Constitution sports writer and Jason Roose, Public Relations for the Atlanta Hawks all talked about their start in the industry, the ups and downs involved and  also gave great advice. All of the speakers mentioned these two things: “Be flexible and be ok with doing everything”; this is valuable advice and something to ponder on when considering pursuing a job in this industry. We listened to stories about late nights and missing family events because of the job, when getting into something like this you have to be okay with that lifestyle. You also have to be flexible within the field, for example: Knowing something about all sports shows your diversity and may make you stand out to a potential employer. As far as flexibility goes, as media for a day we got to experience the must of flexibility firsthand while waiting for the post-game conference to begin because the Hawks went into 4 overtimes which pushed the scheduled conference back. But we learned earlier that in this profession you really do have to be able to adjust and know how to practice patience. The Hawks played a great game and gave the fans and the city

Students from other universities talk with Sam Gaskin in media relations

of Atlanta a win by pushing through the Utah Jazz, final score 139-133.  Joe Johnson was the top performer of the night scoring 37 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Overall I must say that the experience was a great one. Coach Larry Drew was very open with answering questions from my fellow students during the post conference, we got a behind the scenes look of Phillips Arena and we also had a great host, Sam Gaskin, who also works in Media Relations for the Hawks. I really appreciate being given the opportunity; being able to network with professionals and other students like me trying to get to that point and beyond was definitely a motivating, inspiring,  and  worthwhile experience.

Dwight Howard….The Pressure of Loyalty?

On March 15th we all waited, watched and wondered about the decision that Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic would make. Howard was given the option to be traded and sign with another team, and he  had to decide by March 15th. Rumors were flying across the industry, maybe he would be a Laker, a Net, or even a Bull? Announcers at games before the deadline said things like: “This may be Dwight’s last night as a Magic” “That may have been Howard’s last shot as a Magic”. Who knows, but we were all waiting and some of us were hoping to see him another teams jersey on March 16th.

Dwight Howard wanted to be traded, anybody who is everybody that pays attention to sports knew that he wanted out. I personally could see it in his game, call me crazy but I felt like he was sometimes playing just to get by. In the NBA, franchises want to win rings, players want to win rings, fans want their teams to win rings… the championship is the ultimate prize! One day Dwight Howard looked around and thought to himself.. “Can I win here… maybe not… not anytime soon” So he wanted out and expressed such.

Then the media stepped in because Dwight had us waiting for that decision, sounds familiar? He was quickly becoming the bad guy, teams, players, fans and everybody else felt like he was jerking us around… playing with emotions. Orlando fans were hurt and soon broadcasters and sports analyst alike were saying “Dwight just decide”.

March 15th rolls around and well…. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic… decides to stay… a Magic. Ok.. and he waived his free agency for the end of the season which means that he will be a magic until next season… the beginning.

My first thought was why? Why did he choose to stay with the Magic and why did he take us on this ride if he was going to make this decisions! Then I thought about it and answered my own questions. I feel as though Dwight Howard decided to stay with the Orlando Magic because of the pressure from the media and fans to remain “loyal”. He saw what happened to Lebron James and the Cleveland situation, Dwight was already becoming the bad guy as the days went on and the date got closer. He couldn’t take the pressure so he took the short end of the stick for the moment. Now why did he put us through all this? I feel like he wanted to be in the media for a while, he got his moment, his shine, all eyes on him… but when it came down to it he stayed in Orlando… was it all for show?

So my question is…. why is loyalty such a big thing in a money driven business. Also, did Dwight decide under pressure? If Dwight did decided because of what everybody else was saying, what does that say about him, the league and even the media?

What do you think?