Wideleft

Scott Oake is the first sports guy I remember not taking sports too seriously and it was so refreshing. 
 
I know people who have worked professionally with Maclean and my opinion of him has dropped accordingly. 

The great interviewers actually listen to the answers and are willing to allow their interviews to go off course.  Nothing worse than interviewers ignoring answers that have obvious follow up questions. 

Research, research and then more research. A guest respects someone who has taken the time to learn something about them and their work. 

All I can say is my favourite sports writer ever is Ed Tait. In terms of on air conversation, Bob Irving and Ron McLean are my personal favourites. I always felt like Cory Woron has been criminally underrated over his career. I'm likely the only guy here that listens to Sirius XM Prime Country channel, but there is a guy on there named Mike Terry that is spectacular.

You’re not asking me, but there’s a world of difference between talk shows and interviews that really matter. 
 
Letterman in the Netflix format is far superior to the old days because he has all the time he needs now. 
 
As far as serious reportage, it’s hard to beat Maddow or Mehdi Hassan. They obviously put in the work. 

In your opinion, looking at talk shows specifically, is there anyone out there who does anything resembling a good job?
Those agenda driven non-questions drive me bonkers. And now when you hear players interviewed (as a result of their aforementioned “media training”, I suspect), whenever they are asked a legit question that is not just a “do you agree with me that” but asks “how do you……” they are conditioned to answer “yeah” as their first word, when it makes no sense to answer the question that way. Like they aren’t even engaged in a proper answer. A pet peeve of mine. 

You’re not asking me, but there’s a world of difference between talk shows and interviews that really matter. 
 
Letterman in the Netflix format is far superior to the old days because he has all the time he needs now. 
 
As far as serious reportage, it’s hard to beat Maddow or Mehdi Hassan. They obviously put in the work. 

Scrums are rarely meaningful. Proper interviews take 15-30-60 minutes and there are very few orgs that even afford that opportunity anymore. One of the reasons I like Sirius/XM so much. 

Glad you answered anyway. Appreciate it!

He’s not wrong!

You’re not asking me, but there’s a world of difference between talk shows and interviews that really matter. 
 
Letterman in the Netflix format is far superior to the old days because he has all the time he needs now. 
 
As far as serious reportage, it’s hard to beat Maddow or Mehdi Hassan. They obviously put in the work. 

Had an NI playing as a DA all season..... Hilarious.

Jackson pulls off his mask to reveal Miller underneath, Scooby Doo style. Booch's head explodes.

O'Shea still has him listed as doubtful for tomorrow. lol

Which caused my brain to have a thought (damn you!).
Why don't imports who have moved to Canada for a number of years and gained citizenship (I'm assuming) count as Nationals?  Don't know why that can't be a thing given the loose rules that allow the Cahoons and Wolitarskys to be called Nationals.
Seems like the rule as it stands is a little outdated and actually discourages American stars from putting down roots up here.
I mean, Zach's lived in Canada for quite some time now.

And there are so many hosts who half ass it and make the rest look bad. So you get guests who come in jaded from previous bad experiences and expecting the worst, so it's that much harder to get them to open up. 

Research, research and then more research. A guest respects someone who has taken the time to learn something about them and their work. 

Research, research and then more research. A guest respects someone who has taken the time to learn something about them and their work. 

Getting good answers is on the interviewer to ask good questions. There are some guests that are new to the conversations and it can be a bit like pulling teeth, but I think the key is in your research. Learn as much as you can about your guest ahead of time, and then know the kind of things that interest them, and you lead with that. Gets them comfortable and allows them to open up a bit, then you ease your way into the stuff you want to know about. Don't just dive into the deeper stuff.
Of course, this is just my thought process and it's more about longer form chats, and not necessarily for media scrums. Scrums can be tough. The other thing is, today's athletes are media trained coming out of minor sports (seemingly) which has them giving the same generic soundbites that don't really give a whole lot away... It's innocuous and meant to not say anything that will rock the boat. It is almost impossible to get Connor McDavid to say anything "real"... Just how they are now.

I could tell you how it ends if you want to save time.

#randallisland 

Rod Hill, Less Browne too. 

Stern is a really good interviewer, but there are better interviewers on NPR who do it for less than 1/100th the cost. 

One of those obviously “too good for the CFL” guys.