The Other 51

Latest Episodes:

Episode 61: My Parents' Pasture with Tim Bontemps Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

Tim Bontemps got his first break in journalism while he was standing in his parent’s pasture.

Tim tells that story, and more, as he and Brian catch up on writing, the NBA and all things St. Bonaventure.

Tim describes his career path from St. Bonaventure University (where he and Brian met in 2004, when Brian was an adviser to the school newspaper’s sports department) to his current gig as the national NBA writer for the Washington Post. Tim talks about where he gets story ideas, the difference between covering a team vs. covering an entire league, and how LeBron James is so good in the media. Tim also talks about the differences between college and pro basketball.

There is also a lot of Bonaventure talk. Tim describes what it was like to be at the Bonnies’ first-four victory over UCLA in this year’s NCAA tournament and why that game meant so much to us.

Tim Bontemps on Twitter

Tim Bontemps at the Washington Post

St. Bonaventure, scandal and snub in the past, can finally move on Tuesday night

How LeBron James fixed his back and is on track to play all 82 games

The penance of John Calipari

UMBC proved again that in sports, not even history goes undefeated

Selection Sunday anything but a day of rest

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Episode 60: That's How Jobs Work with Shea Serrano Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

Shea Serrano, the author of the NY Times bestsellers “The Rap Yearbook” and “Basketball and Other Things” and a columnist for The Ringer, joins Brian this week.

Shea talks about why writing books isn’t much fun, but why he does it anyway. Shea talks about how the way he writes is influenced by his time as a teacher, how researching books is a lot of fun but the actual writing of a book is a lot of work, and how he goes from column idea to execution. Shea and Brian talk about who would win in a one-on-one basketball game between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, why they love 1990s NBA basketball, and why Coco was such a great movie.

Shea also discusses the many successes of the FOH Army.

Shea Serrano on Twitter

Shea Serrano at The Ringer

Basketball and Other Things

The Rap Yearbook

The Game When Kyrie Irving Scored Every Different Way

A Whole Ocean of Oil Under Our Feet”: ‘There Will Be Blood’ at 10 by Sean Fennessey High Dive by Jonathan Lee

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Episode 59: What They Don't Know with James Mirtle Mar 08, 2018

Show notes

James Mirtle, the editor-in-chief and columnist for The Athletic, joins Brian this week to talk about business models in sports journalism.

James talks about The Athletic’s business model and its approach to sports journalism. He views the site as one of the feel-good stories in media these days and explains to the skeptics (like Brian) why their subscriber-funded approach can work. He also talks about why it is freeing for journalists to not have to chase page views as a primary metric.

James, who wrote about Toronto sports for the Globe and Mail before moving to The Athletic, also discusses what he looks for when he is hiring journalists; why columnists have to tell readers something they don’t already know, how the Leafs have rebuilt their organization and what makes a good Toronto story.

James Mirtle

James Mirtle at The Athletic

The Athletic

In one: My four wild days trapped in minor-league hell with the Brampton Beast

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Episode 58: Seven layers with Mike Harrington Mar 01, 2018

Show notes

Fifteen years ago this week, Brian broke the biggest story of his career. As a reporter for The Times Herald in Olean, N.Y. covering St. Bonaventure basketball, Brian was one of the outlets breaking the ongoing news about a player-eligibility scandal with the Bonnies and an ensuing player boycott of two games. His main competition on that story? Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. This week, 15 years after that story broke, Mike and Brian reunite to reminisce about what Mike calls “the weirdest story” of his career. They look back at how the story unfolded, how they reported it, the mistakes they made along the way. They talk about Jamil Terrell, Jan van Breda Kolff, Robert and Kort Wickenheiser and more. They also talk a lot about how sports media has changed in the past 15 years, and how this story would be reported if it happened now. Mike also takes us behind the scenes of the most infamous Atlantic 10 conference call ever. As a bonus, Mike tells us if there is any hope for the Buffalo Sabres.

Episode 57: Untold Stories with Baxter Holmes Feb 22, 2018

Show notes

The strange connection between a small town in North Carolina, a near nuclear disaster and the NBA. Pro basketball players’ love affair with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Carmelo Anthony’s obsession with wine.

Baxter Holmes has a knack for finding the untold stories in pro basketball, the ones that are kind of hidden from plain view but emerge through his tireless reporting.

Baxter joins Brian this week to talk about his recent story about Kinston, N.C. and the unlikely pipeline that town has to the NBA. Baxter talks about how he followed the threads of this story, how he decided what to lede with, and how he handled the emotional nature of the story. Baxter also talks about his reporting process, how his editors have helped him find and shape stories, and why listening is such a lost art.

Baxter Holmes on Twitter

America’s Basketball Heaven

The NBA’s Secret Wine Society

The NBA’s Secret Addiction

Steve Padilla: 21 ways to find story ideas

The White Darkness: A solitary journey across Antatctica by David Grann

A Kingdom from Dust by Mark Arax

Lost, Almost by Amy P. Kngiht

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Episode 56: Coming Out with Cyd Zeigler Feb 08, 2018

Show notes

Cyd Zeigler, a writer, activist and founder of Outsports.com joins Brian this week. Their first order of business is, naturally, defining what makes a catch. It makes sense. Cyd is a high school and college football official and has written a lot about why the much-maligned NFL catch rule actually makes perfect sense. Cyd and Brian talk about the founding of Outsports.com, why no athletes in the major U.S. team sports have come out in the past few years, the way the mainstream media covers gay athletes, and how that has and hasn’t changed. Cyd recalls Michael Sam’s coming out and the ESPN “report” that undid so much of the positive aspects of that story.

Episode 55: It's A Lot with Stephen Cohen Feb 01, 2018

Show notes

What’s it really like to cover the Super Bowl? Stephen Cohen go first hand experience in 2015 as a sports writer for the Seattle Post Intelligencer. At the time, he was the paper’s Seahawks beat writer and he covered the team’s loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 49. With this year’s Super Bowl between the Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles just a few days a way, Cohen — now a general assignment reporter for the paper — joins Brian this week to talk about his Super Bowl experience. Stephen talks about what it was like to be at media day and on the Marshawn Lynch “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” beat, how the Super Bowl is really all about formal logistics, and what makes the event so overwhelming. He also talks about the actual game, how the reporters in the normally staid press box lost their minds at the end of that game, and how the Seahawks locker room provided some real human moments at the end of a surreal week. Brian and Stephen also trade craft beer recommendations.

Episode 54: Question Everything with Lisa Wilson Jan 25, 2018

Show notes

In the summer of 1998, Brian was a summer copy editing intern at the Buffalo News. During that summer, Lisa Wilson came on these copy desk for a tryout and eventually a job. Since then, Lisa became the sports editor for The News and is now the senior editor, sports, at The Undefeated. Lisa joins Brian this week, and they Share memories of that summer. Lisa talks about working with Milt Joffee, Milt Northrup and Bill Wolcott and what she learned from working with old-school veterans like them. Lisa describes what diversity means to her, why it is so important and how sports journalists can get better at it. She also tells us what makes as good story two her, why descriptive writing is so moving, and why trust between writers and editors is so important. Lisa also gives advice for young writers and editors, and reminds them that you never know who’s watching you.

Episode 53: I Remember Getting an F with Jesse Dougherty Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

Jesse Dougherty was Brian’s student back in 2014, when he was a sophomore at Syracuse University and Brian was a doctoral student. The student has become the master. Now, Jesse’s a sports writer for the Washington Post, and he joins Brian for a fun and wide-ranging conversation. Jesse talks about how the first hockey game he ever saw in person was the first one he covered for the L.A. Times, and how Hall-of-Famer Helene Elliott gave him a crash course in the sport. Jesse also talks about what it’s like to work at the Washington Post at this point in journalism history. Jesse and Brian do a deep dive into Jesse’s recent feature story on Mya Fourstar, a star high school basketball player living on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Frazer, Montana. Jesse describes about how he found out about the story, how he spent his four days on the ground in Montana reporting it, and how he wrote it very quickly. Jesse talks about picking the right details for the story, how the reporting he did before he got to Montana informed his story and the challenges he faced as an outsider trying to report on this world. They also share their best Jim Boeheim stories.

Episode 52: Hating Kylo Ren with Alysa Auriemma Jan 04, 2018

Show notes

In what may be the back-door pilot for an upcoming podcast about nerd and comic culture, University of Connecticut professor Alysa Auriemma returns to The Other 51. She and Brian do a deep dive into The Last Jedi (if you haven’t seen the movie, it will be spoiled for you) and what the Star Wars fanboys dislike about the movie. Alysa talks about how much she loved the story of Rey’s parentage, how great Mark Hamil was in this movie, and how much she hates Kylo Ren.

This leads to a greater discussion about diversity in comic culture. Why is it so hard for a certain population of fans to accept women or people of color as superheroes?

Also, how it is that the guy who plays Bill Weasley is also General Hux?

Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

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