In last Tuesday’s class, we listened to Brandon Boyd of the Concussion Legacy Foundation present on the science of concussions and how they are often downplayed in the media. We learned several tips for reporting on concussions so that we can be more accurate and respectful in our commentary.

As part of the presentation, we watched and listened to several clips of concussions or potential concussions occurring live and evaluated how the announcers discussed the injuries. For homework, we were asked to watch and evaluate two more clips.

The first clip showed a head-to-head collision by two female soccer player, including Kelley O’Hara of the U.S. Women’s National Team. On the first viewing, without audio, the collision appeared to be pretty intense, as both players experienced whiplash after the initial contact. Then, they both seemed to be clutching their heads for a while afterwards. The U.S. trainer appeared to come out and give clearance for O’Hara to return, but the referee waived her off the field instead.

I was very disappointed in the announcers’ coverage of the injury for several reasons. First, they were pretty much silent for the first minute after the contact. Additionally, they seemed to lack specific knowledge of the concussion protocol. They didn’t mentioned the word “concussion” and didn’t explain the conflict between O’Hara and the referee. It left the viewer extremely confused on if the players were allowed to return to play and if they had been properly evaluated.

Also, the announcers appeared to be downplaying the severity of the incident. They referred to it as a “head injury” instead of a brain injury. They also mentioned several times how crucial of a situation this was and how key the players were to their respective teams. Finally, they even mentioned an incident that occurred previously, where a player had been escorted off the field on a stretcher but came back days later to score a goal. All of these small descriptions and phrases implied that the players should ignore the medical professionals and risk their bodies for the sake of the team.

I thought the announcers did a much better job in the second clip. The video showed an awkward play, where a defender jumped offsides, but the play continued and resulted in QB Case Keenum being thrown to the ground, causing his head to bounce violently off the turf. The one announcer properly states that this type of hit is still dangerous and can result in a concussion.

I would have preferred if they detailed the specific concussion protocol because it was surprising that the game wasn’t stopped and Keenum wasn’t looked at. As the game continued, Keenum made a few suspicious mistakes, but the announcers didn’t really mention the possible concussion. Although the initial statement on concussions was more accurate and respectful, the subsequent commentary largely ignored the issue.

This activity was very interesting and insightful because I wouldn’t have batted an eye at either of those clips previously. I was largely ignorant of proper concussion science and commentary. I think it is important to educate journalist and commentators about this issue, but I’m not sure if this will have any significant impact on how the leagues handle this problem.

During last Tuesday’s session of Sports Writing, our class had the privilege of listening to two guest speakers: Howard Bryant and Marisa Ingemi. Both speakers described their experiences in providing unique perspectives on the sports they covered: Bryant offered his view as an African American, and Ingemi discussed her experience as a female reporter.

While I had read some of Bryant’s work and researched his background online, I didn’t fully appreciate the unique path he traveled to reach his current position. He began his journalism career in California, covering mainly business and technology in the Bay Area. He was very thankful for his time here because it introduced him to several respected and intimidating politicians and businessmen. This allowed him to get comfortable interacting with prominent people, especially asking them challenging questions. While Bryant was certainly interested in certain sports topics, he said that he wasn’t fully enamored with sports and simply had a strong enough interest to tolerate a career in sports journalism.

Bryant eventually returned to Boston and spent time working for the Boston Herald before moving to D.C. to work for the Washing Post. Meanwhile, he wrote several books on baseball and the perspective of black athletes. Bryant was eventually hired by ESPN. The most important lesson I took from Bryant’s journey was that you must gain experience in the field, grinding out stories and interviews, before people can respect and value your opinion as a columnist. He said that he knew he had to gain this experience before making the leap to writing columns or books that people would actually read.

I think this lesson is valuable and applicable to many situations in life. In my business classes, we learn about and critique business executives and the decisions they make. It’s easy to fall into a trap of thinking that you are qualified or knowledgable enough to lead a company or make highly impactful decisions. While outsiders, like myself, often provide unique viewpoints and correctly critique those in positions of power, it is important to keep in mind that people would find it hard to take leadership advice from someone like me, when I don’t have the experience necessary to be taken seriously. Similarly, in journalism, journalists like Bryant had to gain valuable experience as a reporter before having the proper background and skillset to transition to a columnist.

Unlike Bryant, Ingemi knew very early on in her life that she wanted to be a sports journalist. She discussed how she began working for SB Nation in her free time when she was 14. From there, she began to take any opportunity she could get her hands on, covering lacrosse, hockey, water polo, etc. She attributes her luck in finding a job at the Boston Herald to developing connections and experiences by covering any sport imaginable.

She also discussed some of the obstacles she’s experienced in her career as a female working in a predominantly male environment. She received much hate and criticism from online Barstool fans, although she simply reported the Bruins’ statement on partnering with the company for a Bruins playoff game. She also credited some of her success to her unique utilization of social media to connect with potential interviewees and to maintain an online following despite the company she’s working for.

My biggest takeaway from Ingemi’s talk was that there’s always an opportunity to cover and an article to be written. Even in her time in quarantine, she constantly researched new topics and brainstormed new ideas. She had a great ability to make even the most mundane topic into a eye-catching storyline. This provided me inspiration for the next time I’m writing or reading about something I don’t find particularly interesting.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

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When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.