As I sorted through all the mail that came in while I was on vacation last week, I found my new Washingtonian magazine. I skimmed the first few pages, surprised to see a photograph of Nats beat writer Chico Harlan on page 13 with the headline “Harlan Would Rather Write About the Real Hot Dogs.” I’ll warn you now — the story is kind of soul crushing, especially for those of us that can’t dream of a more fulfilling job than covering baseball for the Post.
Here are some choice quotes:
“I don’t like sports — I am embarrased that I cover them.”
“I can’t wait to stop. It is a means to an end and a paycheck.”
Ouch.
Harlan goes on to describe the Lerners as “a mystery,” Stan Kasten as a “control freak,” and Adam Dunn as “Will Ferrell-ish.” The story, written by Harry Jaffe, also describes Harlan’s journey to the Post and his reunion with his college roommate and best friend, Eli Saslow.
I can’t imagine how anyone could do a job like that without loving it. The long hours, the travel, 102 losses…I’m sure the whole thing can be thankless. And it’s certainly not strange to lose your passion for something along the way. I lost my passion for politics about a month after finishing my MA…but still?
The article doesn’t appear to be available online, so pick up the April edition of the magazine to read it.
UPDATE:
March 21st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Given that his job isn’t unionized, that wasn’t a smart thing to do. Maybe he thought no one would find out about it, but, well, they certainly will, and I can’t imagine it will help his credibility or his access with the team, or his credibility amongst his peers.
Stupid thing to say. People are waiting in line for sports journalism jobs. I can’t imagine that his employer would want to retain someone who felt that way about his job.
March 21st, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Yeah, really dumb comments by Chico. Makes me think he might could be on his way out anyway. I’ve praised his work, but you just can’t reveal a disdainful attitude like this when you’re a reporter. It would be like a congressional correspondent admitting that they are bored by politics and wish they could cover baseball.
March 21st, 2009 at 8:58 pm
this sucks.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:27 am
On the other hand… he’s a professional journalist, and from the perspective of the editors at The Post, they probably don’t care (or maybe they do, and prefer that he’s dispassionate) that he doesn’t like sports.
The problem comes when you compare reporting - the way you might report on a building fire or a murder - with investigative reporting, where the process is as important as the results… and this is really what being a beat writer is about.
I don’t think Chico’s disdain for sports disqualifies him as a reporter following the Nats, but he may now be disqualified as someone I care to read when it comes to finding out what’s really happening with the team.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
Holy Crap.
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:36 am
Given the well-known disdain in which WaPo Sports Editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz holds the Nationals, I envision Chico Harlan’s job interview going much like George Costanza’s interview for the Yankees job did in Seinfeld. Chico probably laid out everything from the Washingtonian article and more, to which Garcia Ruiz, like Steinbrenner before him, yelled out “Hire this man!”
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Here’s hoping he gets his wish. Soon. Very soon.
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I personally don’t see what the big deal is, Chico does a good job and its even more impressive if he doesn’t have a passion for it. Baseball probably more than any other sport is so intense to follow and understand. Its not just the 162 game schedule, you have to deal with all the minor leagues, the draft, international scouting and the different schools of thought in terms of statisical anlysis. I’m impressed that Chico has done as good of a job as he has if he doesn’t love it.
While it may be true that this would be a dream job for any of us, you need to respect all the work that he does for something he doesn’t enjoy. I would much rather perfer someone who maybe doesn’t have a passion for his job but still puts out a good product than someone like Bob Carpenter covering my team. Carpenter cares more about talking about how cool he is and how much all the players like him than actually reporting and giving us insight to the team. And before any Carpenter apologist comes out remember that he is a big part of the reason why Don Sutton is no longer with this team.
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I didn’t know about the sporst editor didn’t like th Nat’s but that would also explain Barry whatever his last name is coering the Nat’s I have always felt he hated them. George Solomon was still the editor Harlan might be in for grief. Where are you George?
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I didn’t know the editor hated the Nats. but that explains Barry whatever his last name is is covering the Nats I have always felt he hated them. If George Solomon was still the editor Harlan might be in for grief. Where are you George?
Typos corrected
March 22nd, 2009 at 2:29 pm
As I’ve posted on my own blog (cheap plug there, sorry), I have more than the usual reader relationship with Chico. I was his “mentor” when he interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2002. This kid is insanely talented (as is Saslow) and he works very hard. This is not a dream job for him but that won’t keep him from doing it well because he won’t be able to take the next step without doing a quality job.
Chico is destined for big things. David Remnick is a Pulitzer Prize winner, editor of the New Yorker (I think). I’m pretty sure he used to cover the Wizards.
Was it a poor choice of words by my main man? Yeah, I have to concede that and I’ll tell him that if he asks. Will it keep him from working hard and doing his job? Nope.
Also, I love the folks at WeveGotHeart and their site. But covering big-time sports is more often closer to a nightmare than a dream, especially in the “modern” area that requires constant blogging as well as writing for the daily. The hours are terrible, the travel is difficult and the people you write about generally hold you in the same regard as they do dog doo on their shoes. In my beat days, I invited a number of people to join me for a week on the beat. None of them took me up on it. Football game ends, they go start the party. I’m four hours away from being done.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Mike, more than one reader of Harlan has observed that he just doesn’t seem to care very much, and these observations have been made long before his candid comments to Washingtonian. Nearly always last to break a story, the frequent vacations, seldom providing an insight that hasn’t been already made by other writers or on various message boards or blogs. And there’s another point to be made, and that is the larger issue of how the Post seems to treat fans of local sports with a kind of contempt, what with providing column inches to writers who also have little to no passion for DC sports. Wilbon, Kornheiser, Jenkins, Wise. Only Boswell seems to represent “our” viewpoint on a consistent basis, though I also enjoy Steinberg and Sheinin.
Poor choice of words? No, he should be commended for being honest. And, the Post should also do the right thing and find somebody with some fire in their britches, and a passion for their subject matter, someone not merely looking to punch a career path ticket. At times like this, I wonder “what would Shirley Povich think”, and shudder at the thought.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Shirley Povich didn’t have to blog!!
I think some of his “vacations” were actually assignments, like the thing he did for Post magazine.
Also, scoops are tough to get these days with all the Internet sites. Is anyone getting the majority of breaks on the Nats? I ask out of sincere curiousity - I truly don’t know. I got one earlier this offseason, probably the last I’ll ever get. I wear it like a badge!
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Of the Post writers, Sheinin is by far the best in my opinion - he seems to have some solid contacts around baseball. Many bloggers or message board weenies (such as myself) sometimes hear things in advance of it getting out but cannot post on them pending “official” news, lest our scant sources be compromised. Shawn Hill’s recent release, for example, made it to me and several other contacts of mine an hour or two in advance of it first being reported.
Generally the Washington Times does at least as good a job as the Post in covering the Nats, though I have my own biases in not warming up to their coverage.
I see you’ve been making the rounds in posting a defense of Harlan. Here’s a conversation in progress over at WNFF, which is (as measured by # of posts) the busiest Nats message board. http://www.wnff.net/index.php/topic,12444.0.html
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I agree with Mike. There are always all these complaints about the vacations on the blog but its not as though they aren’t sanctioned by the Post. And Mike I believe you are right that most of them are probably assignments. I think he’s done a very good job especially considering he came on board mid season. I guess I just don’t understand the big deal…most of us do jobs that we dislike and it is a paycheck for us. Its not like Chico has a job like a teacher or doctor and is saying its just a paycheck…he’s writing about sport teams. Every day plenty of sport writers and casters have to put their personal feelings aside and cover teams…is it that much of a difference that Harlan isn’t a sports fan, he still gets the job done and that is all that matters.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I tried to post several times on this thread but none of them have gotten through, which hasn’t been the case with my posts here in the past. At any rate, I weighed in over on Nationals Journal.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I don’t know about making the rounds - here, NJ, my own blog (ANOTHER shameless plug!). That’s it. Yeah, it qualifies as making the rounds. I haven’t tweeted or Facebooked on it yet, but it’s early. Of course, I’d need to learn how to tweet.
And we agree on Sheinin. He is as good as it gets.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:42 pm
NatsFan1a - There’s a new spam thing at the bottom… we were having a lot of issues. I don’t see any comments waiting to be approved. That typically only happens when someone adds a link. If you have any other problems, please let us know.
Thanks for all the discussion and for keeping it respectable. We certainly appreciate how difficult the job is…there is no doubt about that. I merely wanted to point you in the direction of the article so you could form your own opinions.
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Kristen, thanks for hosting our discussion!
Mike, if you want to take it over to Facebook, I believe there’s a DC Baseball History site that at least two of us here belong to (but I’m not posting the link ‘cause that’ll subject my post to “moderation”, and I tend to be quite immoderate, often.
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Agreed. Thanks Kristen. Very worthy of discussion and it is nice being someplace where you can disagree like adults.
Of course, now I have to find somewhere to go post “nanny nanny moo moo” and let my frustrations out.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Thanks, Kristen, for the heads up on the article and the update on the site. I hadn’t noticed the spam box when I tried to post earlier.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:41 am
ok
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:56 am
[…] Nats beat writer says he “can’t wait to stop” doing his job … [We’ve Got Heart] […]
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 am
An NJ commenter just posted a link to the full piece:
http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/index.html
May 16th, 2010 at 4:20 am
[…] Watch: Harlan Would Rather Write About the Real Hot Dogs – WashingtonianThe other day, We’ve Got Heart brought to the Natmosphere’s attention a Washingtonian magazine profile of Chico Harlan, […]