Wine writing yes, sports writing no

Northwestern? Ain't that in Oregon somewheres?

In one of his other lives, the Wine Curmudgeon was a sportswriter. At the time, it seemed like a good idea.

I mention this because my alma mater, Northwestern University, is enjoying an especially fine football season that the nation’s sportswriters could apparently care less about. The Wildcats, who started a record for hapless futility when I was in school in the late 1970s, are 5-0 and could win the Big Ten championship.

Yet the sportswriters who vote in the Associated Press’ college football poll apparently have little interest. They put Northwestern a grudging 24th this week, its first time in the top 25 this season despite its record and record-setting performances. Teams that have been in the top 25 include Baylor, which gave up 70 points last week, 1-4 Arkansas, and 2-2 Michigan.

In this, they remind me of all those wine writers who know everything there is to know about regional wine -- and they don’t have to taste it to know everything about it. Once, Northwestern’s football team was not very good, so the writers’ attitude is obvious: It’s Northwestern, so we can ignore it.

The difference between wine writing and sportswriting is that wine writers usually listen to reason. No doubt this is why so many fine wine writers, like Dan Berger and the late Joe Pollack, were once sportswriters. Pour a wine writer a glass of something, and they’ll almost always be fair about it. That’s why DrinkLocalWine has been such a huge success. Too many sportswriters, though, are a different story. The Winestream Media seems open-minded and humble in comparison.

So, if and when Northwestern wins the Big Ten, I’ll toast its victory with a bottle of Illinois wine – a chambourcin from Prairie State Winery, perhaps, or Lynfred Winery’s sevyal blanc. Know any sportswriters who might want to join me?

A personal note: The Northwestern alumni magazine recently did a story on graduates in the wine business and somehow managed not to include me (with a headline that never would have passed muster with the late, great Dick Hainey). Ordinarily, I let this stuff go by, but for some reason this slight really bothered me. I’d like to think my success represents the school well, but I’m probably just being sentimental.

Comments

[Harvey Posert]

And there is also Harvey Steiman; Mike Rubin, who was an AP sportswriter before going into wine pr; and me.
harvey

[Linda Murphy]

At the risk of forgetting someone, also count Bob Thompson, Robert Whitley, Bruce Schoenfeld, W. Blake Gray and Alan Goldfarb as sportswriters-turned-wine writers. Me, too.

I often wonder why sportswriter is one word and wine writer is two.

Linda Murphy

[Alan Goldfarb]

Let's not also forget that Paul Zimmerman NY Post), Linda Murphy (S.Diego Union), and yours truly (Newsday, Hearst SF Ex, AP), were sportswriters all. As for me, when I landed on SF's shores in '73, I quickly realized the No. 1 sport here was wine & food, so I crossed over.

[Jeff Siegel]

Thanks for the comments about sportswriters turned wine writers. I didn't mean to slight anyone; just didn't want to make the post longer than it needed to be. As Linda noted, the list goes on and on and on...

[Bill Ward]

I know it's often considered gauche to link to one's own blog post in comments, but I thought you'd enjoy my own take on the topic:
http://www.decant-this.com/2012/08/23/a-natural-transition/

[Linda Murphy]

Nice piece on your blog, Bill. Thanks for the reminder of your previous sportswriting career. I also listened to the "old guys" -- and they were all guys when I joined the SD Union sports staff -- and I learned a lot. One crusty copy editor was fond of saying to young hires: "I've forgotten more journalism than you'll ever learn." He never said that to me, though. So either didn't think I was worth the breath, or he appreciated that I appreciated experience.