Wordy Gurdy Answer
1. Foes Woes
2. Park Mark
3. Grasp Rasp
4. Legal Beagle
5. Troops Scoops
6. Cavity Gravity
7. Slippers Zippers
3-9
Waiting for a “return to normalcy” has been the most-used sports cliche of the last year, followed closely by “out of an abundance of caution.”
The world turned upside down last March 11, when the sports shutdown began with the suspension of the NBA season, and despite the eventual return of games, the gradual allowance of fans inside stadiums and the national rollout of vaccines, COVID-19 remains a force that must be reckoned with for the foreseeable future.
There’s no arguing that the virus’ effect on society and our way of life dwarfs any of the inconveniences it has caused to the sports world.
But excuse us a minute while we stick to sports and discuss how it has changed the way we do our jobs — and perhaps how you consume sports.
Just before the shutdown, when the coronavirus was all over the news but still seemed unrelated to our everyday lives, MLB announced it had no plans to ban reporters from clubhouses, as the NHL and NBA were doing.
Baseball writers rejoiced. Most felt that once we were banned from clubhouses, we never would be allowed back inside. Interviewing players and managers is one of the most important parts of this job, even if some of them have little to say.
Everyone has eyes and can see what’s going on in the games by watching TV. But many like to hear the analysis of the ones who are playing the game or running the show. As writers, we’re there to fill in the blanks and make it entertaining.
We’re not deluded enough to think the games can’t be played without us (well, most of us aren’t), but we feel like we add something to fans’ enjoyment of the product, even those who don’t agree with our views.
After a Chicago Cubs-Cincinnati Reds spring training game last March in Goodyear, Ariz., I spoke with Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks about the growing concerns about the coronavirus and whether players were worried about media members
spreading it in clubhouses.
Hendricks said the concerns were minimal and that media access was important for the promotion of the sport.
“I know in baseball we have (media relations) guys with our club and behind the scenes that nobody really sees that do an amazing job and keep us in line and do it the right way,” Hendricks said. “You have to have access like that, and it’s for the fans. All this is for the fans, and it’s entertainment at the end of the day.
“There has to be a balance, and some (precautions) are necessary, but I think we do a really good job of balancing that in baseball.”
That was the last oneon-one interview I would have with a major-league player.
MLB switched gears and allowed only socially distanced interviews outside of clubhouses before camps shut down March 12 and we all went home. Since that day, I have spoken to three players — Rich Hill, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez — but only in passing. The rest of my interactions have been on Zoom.
Makes sense. You deal with what you have to deal with, and we all understood the necessity of Zooming. But now fans are being allowed back into ballparks on a limited basis this season, yet Zoom will continue to be the norm for the media until further notice.
I asked Tony La Russa about Zooming on Monday, and the White Sox manager replied that fans are part of the game and so are face-to-face interactions with the media.
“I think it’s an example of what we discussed with the (return of ) fans,” La Russa said on a Zoom from Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. “There are certain things that are part of the games. Up close observing it is part, and up close talking about it (too).
“There’s no way, no matter how hard we work this, that the Zoom is going to compare with being in person and watching reactions and follow-up questions, whether that goes in a good or bad direction. I look forward to a time we can all do it in person.”
La Russa is absolutely right. The players and managers need the media back — with social distancing, naturally.
The nuances of a media scrum with a manager are completely lost on a Zoom call in which every word is recorded for posterity. Sometimes a manager has something to say that’s off the record, perhaps explaining a decision he can’t divulge because of a player’s weary arm or maybe telling an old story that can only be told in private.
There’s a lot of laughing, a bit of screaming and plenty of give-and-take with reporters during preand postgame interviews.
Like many of his oldschool peers, former Cubs manager Joe Maddon’s greatest hits were usually told when the digital recorders were off. Building that relationship with the media no doubt helped Maddon deal with us during the tough times of 2019, when we wrote for most of the year he was likely out of a job after the final year of his contract. What could’ve been an awkward situation was alleviated by Maddon’s knowledge we all had a job to do. It was a professional atmosphere from Day 1 to the end.
La Russa has been in more media scrums than almost anyone in baseball history, and some have spun out of control, including a famous yelling match he had with Associated Press reporter Bob Glass at new Comiskey Park in 1991 after Sox reliever Bobby Thigpen beaned the Oakland A’s Terry Steinbach. If La Russa is eager to get back to dealing with the media up close and personal, you know it’s a necessity for baseball.
We’ve learned a lot during the past year about the need to put sports in perspective. We all may think of ourselves as sports junkies, but when there was nothing to watch, we got by. And though we missed the games, we knew it was too important to risk people’s health and safety by continuing to play them.
Now that things are getting better, there will be debates over opening things up too soon and how many fans should be allowed inside. When the White Sox announced they would open up to 20% capacity, I selfishly wanted fireworks at the ballpark to be part of the return to normalcy.
You can’t always get what you want.
But hopefully we’ll get back to the way it was, sooner or later.
On a personal note, I can hardly wait to be yelled at in a clubhouse again. A return to normalcy would be nice.