The stress and tension to get the news first all came back to me in waves on Friday during the Ohtani chaos — and I don’t even cover baseball.
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From a Los Angeles writer reporting Ohtani to Toronto was a “done deal” to the most-watched flight in the world that Ohtani was incorrectly confirmed to be on to a rumoured celebratory dinner reservation at a posh Toronto sushi spot, Friday was a key reflection of where the news breaking part of sports journalism sits today.
Frankly, I wouldn’t want to be a young journalist trying to make a name for myself as a news breaker these days. Clearly the job has never been tougher. And what makes it worse today is the people who want to pounce and pile on when a reporter is misled, as if it was done with malicious intent.
Once upon a time, I was that guy at Sportsnet looking for morsels of news in an effort to last longer than a cup of coffee in the broadcasting world.
I never sought out to be a hockey “insider” but was guilted into becoming one by my superiors as a necessary tool to help me and Sportsnet build credibility in proving we both belonged with the big boys at Hockey Night in Canada and TSN.
One of the earliest trades I broke first was when the Maple Leafs traded Jyrki Lumme to the Dallas Stars for Dave Manson. Both teams agreed to wait one day to announce the deal, so imagine their surprise when I reported it on Sportsnet the day before. In an effort to throw off the scent of my reporting, the Leafs made Manson take warm-ups before a game against Buffalo despite knowing he was already property of the Stars.
How would social media have treated me back then in 2001, witnessing that in real time? I had to stick to my guns on that story while the team I recently played for screamed at my new bosses: “Kypreos is full of crap.” They announced the trade the next day.
More recently, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin sent me an email wanting a public apology for my “devastating rumour” that Shea Weber’s career was in jeopardy due to his foot injury. History is on my side there, too.
In over 20 years on the job I definitely had moments where I didn’t quite get the story straight. I once had a source text me “Ryan Suter to Detroit” so I strongly suggested in a tweet the free agent defenceman looked to have picked the Red Wings as his new home, only to find out later he signed in Minnesota.
I asked my source, “What happened? You sent me Suter to Detroit.” He said, “No I didn’t, I was asking you … ‘Suter to Detroit?’”
I told him there was no question mark at the end of the text. And that’s when I learned punctuation matters in breaking news.
I’m old enough to remember the simpler days when breaking news in Toronto solely belonged to reputable newspapers.
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