In continuing our efforts to bring us all a bit closer to the behind-the-scenes action, we scored another interview; this one with Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News Sentinel (KNS).  In addition to covering the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team as a beat writer for the KNS, Mike is a voter for the men’s college basketball AP Poll, the Heisman Memorial Trophy, the Doak Walker Award, and the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.  We’d like to thank Mike for his honesty while taking time out of his busy schedule to candidly give us more of an inside look into the world of sports journalism.  Observe…

Your bio on the Knoxville News Sentinel’s website says that you graduated from Michigan State and have previously been a beat writer for the football and basketball programs at Idaho, Auburn, and Alabama.  Does that basically sum up your professional sports-writing time before landing in Knoxville?  What inspired you to become a sports writer?   Having covered sports and attending school outside of the southeast, do you see a difference in the passion/wackiness between fanbases in different regions?

That’s Idaho State, as in Pocatello, as in 45 miles south of the Idaho Falls Post Register, where I worked right out of college. While in school at Michigan State, I was a stringer for the Lansing State Journal. My first story came my sophomore year when I guy couldn’t cover the Michigan-Michigan State game — rugby, that is.

From there, it was on to a variety of high school sports, then bowling, then golf, then boxing and Lansing Community College men’s and women’s basketball. My last two years I covered Detroit Lions home games.

In Idaho, I covered high school sports in addition to ISU, and got to do some unique event coverage from pro rodeo to snow-mobiling. Glad I got to do different stuff. In Mobile, I covered a Davis Cup tennis match and got into motor sports writing. I still do some stuff with NASCAR from time to time. But yeah, SEC sports has become my niche.
 
My inspiration to become a sports writer came when I was a senior in high school. My grandfather was an advertising ace for the Waukegan (Ill.) News Sun, and took me on a tour of the building. As we walked by the sports section, a guy said, “Anthony Carter will play for the Michigan Panthers next year.” I was like, when did that happen? While looking at his computer, he replied, “Five minutes ago.” That was that. I knew I was headed to the 82nd Airborne for three years after high school, but after that I decided I was gonna use my college money to get a communications degree of some sort. I had just gotten out of the Army and was working at American Eagle selling clothes and shoes. By luck, I met the sports editor of the Lansing State Journal. He liked my attitude and enthusiasm, and pretty much offered me a job on the spot.
 
A different passion in different regions? You bet — when it comes to college sports. In Michigan, it’s mostly all about the pro teams. Down South, it’s SEC!

So, you’ve been around and covered football in the Big 10 and SEC.  Which rivalry would you consider more heated/passionate:  Auburn vs. Alabama or Michigan vs. Ohio State?

Auburn vs. Alabama — it’s not even close. I can think of about six SEC rivalries with more passion that Michigan-Ohio State. That game up north is a novelty, a break from the pro sports. In the South, the rivalries are talked about all year.
 
Being a Vol fan, I’ve read your work many times in the KNS but was unaware that you are a voter in the men’s college basketball AP Poll until just a few days ago.  How long have you had your vote and do you lose it after a certian period?  When you are filling out your ballot, how do you decide your rankings?  Do you employ the generally percieved common practice of poll inertia (i.e. two teams ranked close to each other both won their respective games and even though the lower ranked one looks/plays better than the higher ranked team, you won’t jump the lower ranked team over the higher ranked team since the higher ranked team didn’t lose)?  How much basketball do you feel obligated to watch to justify your rankings?  How important and/or fair do you view preseason rankings?  Do you ever feel pressure to vote hometown teams, whether it’s the Vols or Spartans, just a little higher than maybe they deserve?
 
I got my AP basketball vote in Tennessee this year — it’s a cyclical deal. I think they rotate from paper to paper every couple of years. The state of Tennessee has two votes in the poll. I voted on the AP hoops poll when I was covering Alabama from 1995-97, too. I decided my rankings based on a mix of record, quality wins, quality losses, ugly losses and schedule strength. I look at a lot of head-to-head results, and if two teams are relatively close, I vote the one that won the head-to-head game higher. It gets tough remembering who beat who this time of year, though. I don’t feel any pressure to vote on anyone, any time. I gotta sleep at night, and that requires complete truth at all times. I watch as much basketball as I can.
 
Tennessee’s basketball team is struggling offensively and defensively this season.  Do you have a general assessment?  Did we all underestimate the losses of Chris Lofton, Jujuan Smith, Duke Crews, and Ramar Smith?  The Vols and Tigers play this Saturday (January 24th @ 3:30 pm) in Knoxville.  Your thoughts? 
 
I don’t think we underestimated the losses — we may have overestimated this team’s ability to shoot from the perimeter, though. I think it’s playing out well for the Vols. Pearl said this team’s youth would lead to inconsistency. We’ve seen some good, though, with those wins over Georgetown and Marquette. I think Tennessee will beat Memphis, but like the Vols, the Tigers will be mighty tough by the end of the year and have lots of talent.

Do you still follow Michigan State basketball (moreso than just a typical AP Poll voter might since you graduated from there)?  How do you think they’ve improved since seeing them lose to Maryland at the Old Spice Classic?  How much better would you describe the Big 10 as a whole than from the last several years and do you think the Spartans are basically the class of the conference?

I don’t follow MSU any closer than any other ranked team. Obviously they are a lot better since Orlando. They were an embarrassment to Tom Izzo in that tournament. I don’t think the Big 10 is any better this year than past years. Michigan State does appear to be the class of the conference, but Illinois looks sneaky good to me.

While I’ve got the attention of your ear and pen, what are your thoughts about the coaching transition concerning Tennessee’s football team?  I personally have no idea what to expect next year.  I keep asking myself questions like, “should I expect improvement in the win-loss column…how long is an appropriate amount of time to expect improvement…should I emotionally convince myself we’ll be better…is Monte Kiffin that much of an improvement over John Chavis that I should be impressed…will this NFL-heavy staff really be able to pull recruits to rival our SEC competition?”  What are your thoughts about my inner Big Orange struggles?
 
I personally have no idea what to expect from Kiffin, either. I think Fulmer did a pretty good job, but “pretty good” isn’t good enough anymore. I think the team will win 7 or 8 games next year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they only won six or won as many as nine. There are always four swing games where calls, turnovers, weather, can be a deciding factor. I don’t think Monte Kiffin will be an improvement over Chavis — he may have NFL experience, but knowing college football is different. When I talked to Nick Saban in Fort Lauderdale he pointed out Monte will have to adjust to coaching against different types of offenses. Another thing, Chavis’ had a full staff in sync for about 10 years, and those players worked hard for the Chief. I think Monte can develop that kind of relationship, too, but it will take time. My advice to Vols’ fans: TRY to be patient, and TRY to enjoy the process. Alabama and Florida are way ahead.
 
Your bio also noted that you are a voter for the Heisman Trophy, Doak Walker Award and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.  Can you tell us how you voted this past season and why? 

I voted Tebow for the Heisman, I can’t remember who I voted for Doak Walker — not the guy from Iowa who won it — and I voted for Urban Meyer or Nick Saban for the Eddie Robinson. Tebow was the best player in college football, as we all saw in the BCS title game, and the SEC was the best conference, as we all saw in the bowls (Ole Miss, Vandy and Kentucky all won — over Texas Tech, Boston College and East Carolina).
 
Have you ever been wrong in news you reported or found out later that you didn’t have all the facts when constructing an opinion on a subject?  What do you feel are your responsibilities in situations like that?  Do you have a biggest regret or mistake that you wouldn’t mind sharing with us?

Sure, there have been times when I have learned more information after a story was written — my responsibility when that happens is to follow up with the “new” news. My biggest regret occurred about four or five years ago, when I agreed to do a radio show in Memphis with an old buddy, Geoff Calkins. I went a little overboard ripping the Ole Miss culture, and, unbeknownst to me, Cutcliffe — then coach of the Rebels — got a tape of that show and played it for his team to fire them up for the game with the Vols. A reporter isn’t supposed to become a part of the story, and a lot of the stuff I was saying, I was going overboard to be dramatic and entertaining. I learned not to say anything I didn’t mean on radio. I still have fun from time to time with some subjects, and get a little sarcastic, but not to the extent I did that day on the Memphis station.

In your time covering sports, have you had any funny, surprising, or even worrisome experiences you wouldn’t care to pass along?  Have you ever had any confrontations with players, management/administration, or fans because of something you’ve written?
 
There are tough situations all of the time, and of course you catch some heat from time to time when you write things. But most coaches and teams I have covered respect me enough to know that I am as thorough and objective as possible, and I am always fair about giving them a chance to tell their side of the story.
 
Do you have any favorite sports or non-sports writers?  Do you have a daily must-read newspaper, website, or specific writer?
 
I like James Patterson novels — I like most sports fiction. Mike Strange of the KNS writes the best game stories I have read, John Adams makes me laugh every now and then. I always liked Mike Bianchi in Orlando, Rick Bozich of Louisville and Pat Forde with ESPN.com. Monte Dutton and Ed Hinton are the two best motorsports writers in America. The best overall sports journalist in the country, IMO, is Ivan Maisel. I have read Ivan for years, and he is even better in person. That’s the guy I look up to most in the business, but there are scores of others, just for the way they do business: Tony Barnhardt, Dick Weiss, Malcolm Moran (now at Penn State as a professor). Jack Ebling, who is now in radio, was my mentor when I worked at the LSJ, as he was the consumate beat writer and an incredible guy. Jeff Rivers, an editor with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, taught me a ton in Lansing and Steve Klein (now at USA Today.com) gave me my start. I know I’m leaving some good guys out, but those come to mind off the top of my head.
 
What was your best athletic achievement?  When was the last time you played a sport?  What was it?
 
Best athletic achievement? Probably running 2 miles in 9:50 when I was in the military and doing a 10K in 36 minutes. I rushed for 185 yards in a football game my sophomore year — as a fullback. Played some pretty mean softball throughout my life. I have coached my daughter’s travel softball team for six years, and we won a national world series and a couple of state titles.

You mentioned that you rushed for 185 yards in a game your sophomore year. High school or college? 

High School. I was in college to get an education and a job — there was no time for anything but working 40 hrs at the Lansing State Journal and taking a full load of classes.
 
If you could cover any athlete/team/game/season throughout the history of sports, who/what/when?
 
I can’t complain: I’ve covered some great Daytona 500s, covered the Masters and played the course on Monday, covered an undefeated Auburn football team in 1993, a national title UT team in 1998, and some good teams at Alabama when Gene Stallings was there. I guess I’d have liked to have covered the Broncos Super Bowl win over the Packers — Elway was the last athlete I was a “fan” of. After that, it’s just like covering regular people.
 
Is there anything you would like to specifically share with us in closing?
 
I just think if you want to write sports, you have to have an understanding and an enthusiasm for it, because it’s a lot of thankless work. If you want to be a professional journalist, you better be honest and driven for the truth. You’ve got to sleep good at night.

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