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Zuri Berry
The biggest dilemma any sports writer can go through nowadays — besides facing the chopping block — is figuring out whether or not he or she should draft the local star on their fantasy sports team.
Hell, figuring out if the writer even wants to put some money in a fantasy sports league in the first place is a situation in need of conflict resolution.
I’ve discovered very simply that it’s easy to bypass the ethical boundaries of the job at hand when you’re somewhat distant from the subjects in which you “fantasize.” But the worry that folks like myself, beat writers and others in the industry should have is considering when the fun ends and when the price of playing the games affect the way the sport is covered.
The honorable answer is that journalists, particularly those in sports, should hold themselves to high standards and forego the urges of taking part in the office Super Bowl pool, March Madness brackets and withhold from gambling on the sports books— especially when it comes to teams which the writer may cover.
From my standpoint, not playing is killing the golden goose and that just sounds crazy to me. I’m having way too much fun playing fantasy football, picking the over-under on the Super Bowl and putting my two cents (literally) on who’ll win the NCAA championship. This year, I’ve expanded to fantasy baseball and I’m planning on taking all of my friends money. What other way can a sports writer make extra dough in these tough times?
But my conscience eats at me.
I twittered during my fantasy baseball draft how I drafted Tim Lincecum fourth overall, No. 1 on my team. Lincecum, the defending National League Cy Young winner and the San Francisco Giants opening day starter, is more than deserving of the generous draft position. But he’s also a guy I’m more than likely going to write about 15 to 20 times this year. And if I’m not going to be writing about him specifically, I’m going to be diving into the great and terrible underbelly of the Giants clubhouse. It’ll be magnificent. And it’ll be a quandary.
Herein lies the dilemma: Am I rooting for Cy Young Tim, or am I providing commentary on the Giants? As I noted before, distance is a factor. I’m not writing 162 gamers on the team, therefore I have no issue that a Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle might, but the worry is that it may affect what little I will write about the team and even the pitcher.
After consulting with the Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee, there are lines that need to be drawn in the sand. The first starts with transparency. Readers should know who a writer is betting on, whether it’s on the hometown team or against it. I think you would want to know if I dropped a grand against the Sacramento Kings. Even if it were the smartest bet in the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if it offended our readership. It would be best to not go down that path.
The fuzzy area is how the betting and fandom trickles down to the pools, particularly fantasy sports. As a sports writer, do you root for Manny Ramirez because you have him as your left fielder? When the Dodgers play the Giants, do you secretly wish he homers off of the hapless Barry Zito? Do you feel guilty collecting the money, knowing you didn’t take any Giants or A’s on your team? Do you feel like a cheerleader, knowing you have five Giants or A’s on your squad? (I’ve got three.)
Andy Scholtz of SPJ’s ethics committee told me in short, there needed to be a separation of church and state, although there’s wiggle room depending on position and proximity to the coverage.
“Can you separate your rooting interests from your profession,” Scholtz asked. “A columnist is paid to have opinions. You want to let people know if you have a particular interest.”
My interests are simple: Go Giants; go 49ers; go Warriors. Any questions?
I work in the belief that being a fan makes me a better sports writer and that influence will undoubtedly make me a more interested and gracious person to cover our professional sports teams. It undoubtedly keeps me sane.
Whether I make money off of it in the extracurricular, is just icing on the cake.
---
Zuri Berry is a sports writer for The Union. His column usually appears Wednesdays. You can also read his blog online at www.theunion.com/blogs/sports. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or call 477-4244.
Hell, figuring out if the writer even wants to put some money in a fantasy sports league in the first place is a situation in need of conflict resolution.
I’ve discovered very simply that it’s easy to bypass the ethical boundaries of the job at hand when you’re somewhat distant from the subjects in which you “fantasize.” But the worry that folks like myself, beat writers and others in the industry should have is considering when the fun ends and when the price of playing the games affect the way the sport is covered.
The honorable answer is that journalists, particularly those in sports, should hold themselves to high standards and forego the urges of taking part in the office Super Bowl pool, March Madness brackets and withhold from gambling on the sports books— especially when it comes to teams which the writer may cover.
From my standpoint, not playing is killing the golden goose and that just sounds crazy to me. I’m having way too much fun playing fantasy football, picking the over-under on the Super Bowl and putting my two cents (literally) on who’ll win the NCAA championship. This year, I’ve expanded to fantasy baseball and I’m planning on taking all of my friends money. What other way can a sports writer make extra dough in these tough times?
But my conscience eats at me.
I twittered during my fantasy baseball draft how I drafted Tim Lincecum fourth overall, No. 1 on my team. Lincecum, the defending National League Cy Young winner and the San Francisco Giants opening day starter, is more than deserving of the generous draft position. But he’s also a guy I’m more than likely going to write about 15 to 20 times this year. And if I’m not going to be writing about him specifically, I’m going to be diving into the great and terrible underbelly of the Giants clubhouse. It’ll be magnificent. And it’ll be a quandary.
Herein lies the dilemma: Am I rooting for Cy Young Tim, or am I providing commentary on the Giants? As I noted before, distance is a factor. I’m not writing 162 gamers on the team, therefore I have no issue that a Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle might, but the worry is that it may affect what little I will write about the team and even the pitcher.
After consulting with the Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee, there are lines that need to be drawn in the sand. The first starts with transparency. Readers should know who a writer is betting on, whether it’s on the hometown team or against it. I think you would want to know if I dropped a grand against the Sacramento Kings. Even if it were the smartest bet in the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if it offended our readership. It would be best to not go down that path.
The fuzzy area is how the betting and fandom trickles down to the pools, particularly fantasy sports. As a sports writer, do you root for Manny Ramirez because you have him as your left fielder? When the Dodgers play the Giants, do you secretly wish he homers off of the hapless Barry Zito? Do you feel guilty collecting the money, knowing you didn’t take any Giants or A’s on your team? Do you feel like a cheerleader, knowing you have five Giants or A’s on your squad? (I’ve got three.)
Andy Scholtz of SPJ’s ethics committee told me in short, there needed to be a separation of church and state, although there’s wiggle room depending on position and proximity to the coverage.
“Can you separate your rooting interests from your profession,” Scholtz asked. “A columnist is paid to have opinions. You want to let people know if you have a particular interest.”
My interests are simple: Go Giants; go 49ers; go Warriors. Any questions?
I work in the belief that being a fan makes me a better sports writer and that influence will undoubtedly make me a more interested and gracious person to cover our professional sports teams. It undoubtedly keeps me sane.
Whether I make money off of it in the extracurricular, is just icing on the cake.
---
Zuri Berry is a sports writer for The Union. His column usually appears Wednesdays. You can also read his blog online at www.theunion.com/blogs/sports. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or call 477-4244.
