The Shohei Ohtani watch that went off the rails last Friday will undoubtedly leave a mark on this city and its sports fans for a long while.
Despite the disappointment that rippled across Canada when Ohtani announced he was signing with the Dodgers over the Blue Jays, the build-up did create a “where were you when” moment while we all thought the most unique athlete in modern sports history was on a flight to Toronto.
When my Real Kyper and Bourne hockey show on Sportsnet was pre-empted so the network could cover the Ohtani story in real time, it brought back memories of all those NHL trade deadline and free agency shows I was a part of. It was the great Canadian race versus TSN to find out first which city players like Eric Lindros, Jarome Iginla, Steven Stamkos and John Tavares were headed to next.
I wish I could say they were fun, enjoyable memories for me, but they weren’t. 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.
When any reporter leaves his profession in the hands of a source, I can assure you it’s not a comforting transaction. For me, it was agonizing considering how young and inexperienced I was as a broadcaster — especially when you factor in that I had no prior training in broadcast journalism.
In 1999, barely a year into my Sportsnet career, Leafs goaltender Felix Potvin was back home in Quebec awaiting a trade out of Toronto. Sportsnet’s assignment desk grew frustrated after being repeatedly denied interview requests. Since Potvin was my teammate a year earlier it was strongly suggested to me that I fly out to his home and stake him out on the chance he’d see me and grant us the interview. I told them they were nuts if they thought I would ever do that. Thankfully Sportsnet never held that against me but it was my first test on what line I was willing or not willing to cross to get the story first.
Today that request would pale in comparison to the highest stakes and levels of intensity we witnessed last week.
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 onboard 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 that the free agent defenceman looked to have picked the Red Wings as his new home, only to find out later that 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.
Journalists like Frank Orr, Jim Proudfoot, Scott Morrison, Al Strachan and Tim Wharnsby would all break their share of Leafs news. In 1988, Gord Stellick found out he was going to be the next general manager of the Leafs by reading about it in Milt Dunnell’s column in the Sunday Star.
There was no wild west of internet updates, no checking phones every three seconds, no live tracking airplanes. I picture Stellick sitting in his pyjamas, finding out the big news by reading real journalism.
Man, I miss those days.
If Friday’s fiasco taught us anything, maybe it’s to have a better understanding that even reputable and reliable people like MLB insider Jon Morosi can have off days too. Whether it’s Morosi or any other reporter who’s built up over a decade of credibility, they should be judged on their overall body of work, and not one incident.
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