Every now and again, I’ll be catching up with those who call sports or elements of sports their job, profession, livelihood — to help give those outside of the business a better understanding of what goes on around the game.
Tommy Beer hugged me one time during a New York Knicks game, but he will do everything in his power to try and convince you otherwise.
While it has become a running joke between us, “the hug” has also led to some foreshadowing of Tommy’s career and life. It was back during a Knicks/Denver Nuggets brawl at Madison Square Garden in December, 2006, when we both worked for HOOPSWORLD. Punches on the floor. Hugs in the pressbox.
All of these years later after “the hug”, I couldn’t be more proud of Tommy and how he’s been firmly embraced around the basketball writing game.
From Action Bronson bantering on his Twitter timeline, to becoming a frequent contributor to Sports Illustrated – The Cauldron, and a main-stay with Basketball Insiders on the Knicks beat and in Fantasy basketball, the guy holds tight to loving what he does and being engaged with fans, other writers and celebrities alike every step of the way, even while giving and taking giant hugs as a proud new Pop.
I don’t think many people know about your days playing basketball while attending College of the Holy Cross. What lessons from that time have you carried over to helping you cover the game for a living?
Yeah, I played on the JV basketball team while at Holy Cross. Our real team made a few runs to the NCAA tournament during my time there, including taking Tayshaun Prince’s Kentucky team to the wire one year.
As for the JV, we got to play all of the top prep school in the area. And New England is the prep school capitol of America. So kids that didn’t have the grades to go straight to top D-1 programs would go to these schools for a year. Thus, we ended up playing some top prospects in the country and some kids that eventually made the NBA. (Caron Butler once dunked on John Hanna, one of my best friends.)
As far as lessons learned, I think it served as a reminder to respect the time and effort that goes into playing sports beyond a recreational level. I mean, we didn’t have any real commitments, but being around those that did was eye opening.
We have known each other for about 12 years now, but I never knew how you went from Holy Cross to covering the league and primarily the New York Knicks. How did you get started coming out of college?
It was a circuitous route.
I majored in economics at Holy Cross, with a concentration in Sociology. Econ classes were tedious and boring. Sociology studies were fascinating and engaging. I never took a journalism course.
After graduation, I accepted a job in the mutual funds division of a large bank in South Quincy, just south of Boston proper. I realized that wasn’t the life for me. After a few enjoyable years in Beantown, it was time to move back home to New York. I got an apartment in Queens and job with an insurance company.
Sports had always been a passion. Whether it be playing, watching, reading… sports was a lifelong obsession. It was around that time I decided to see if I could somehow get closer to the games themselves. I knew I had a fairly educated opinion, especially about basketball, and wanted to share my thoughts with more than just a few friends on random email threads. One of the sites I read a daily basis was Hoopsworld.com. One day they posted, in effect, a “help wanted” sign on the site. The job was essentially unpaid, grunt work; similar to what an intern might do. I sent in some writing samples and had a few phone interviews (the site’s founder lives in Florida). They gave me a shot. I had a full time job at this point, so I’d wake up a few hours early three days a week and basically just copy and paste links into an easy-to-read morning aggregation of NBA news content. Eventually, they allowed me to start pitching and contributing my own work.
That’s when I started writing about the NBA, and the Knicks specifically.
That’s when I fell in love with writing.
You’ve gone from HOOPSWORLD to the transition with Basketball Insiders and truly are a veteran in everything from fantasy basketball to being a mainstay at MSG with your Knicks coverage. How has your approach to writing changed over all of these years and is it harder or easier as the years have gone on?
Hmmm… Well, for starters, social media has changed everything. Twitter didn’t exist when I first started covering the league.
I’d say it’s easier to get your work read nowadays because of social media. The ability to tweet a link out on Twitter means there’s a decent chance a story will gain traction if it’s interesting and/or well-written etc.
However, the downside is that there is so much competition. So many people writing about the same damn thing. 10 years ago, there were basically just the beat guys and a couple of on-line bloggers writing about the Knicks. Today, there are many, many talented writers writing about the Knicks every day. A decade ago, you had to read what the beat writers wrote in newspapers to gain information about a team. Today, I rarely read newspaper guys at all. There are a ton of talented internet writers for various sites that produce important, interesting content on a daily basis.
As a result, it is a challenge to come up with unique content. If you write about the same subject matter, you have to write about it in a way that differentiates yourself from others.
Who are some writers on the Knicks beat who helped you along the way and do you feel compelled to now pay it forward with other younger writers?
Alan Hahn was the beat writer for Newsday at the time, he was great. Howard Beck, who covered the Knicks for the New York Times, was helpful as well. Interestingly, both of those guys no longer work for newspapers. Hahn is a super successful TV/radio personality, and Beck works for BleacherReport.com.
I probably should have been more assertive in requesting guidance/advice from vets, but unfortunately that is just not part of my personality.
Yes, I am absolutely always willing and happy to chat with any up-and-comers who might have any questions.
Is it possible to develop an actual relationship or rapport with any of the players/coaches you cover these days, because back during the Larry Brown, Isiah Thomas it was beyond difficult. Has that aspect changed with a new front office and roster turnover?
Eh, not really. The same power structure at the top is still in place. Jim Dolan’s MSG hasn’t changed all that much. The team hierarchy has a mostly cold relationship with the press corps. As a result, players follow their bosses lead and appear untrusting of the media.
Most players and kind and polite, but in a place like New York, with swarming media coverage on a nightly basis, it’s very unlikely that players would develop genuine relationships with a writer.
What is the key to a strong Twitter game as an NBA writer?
I believe Twitter is so popular right now because it feeds America’s need for quick information. So many of us have developed such a short attention span. We want information instantly at our fingertips, but without having to read and read. We just want the key talking points. The scroll at the bottom of the screen… Twitter is only 140 characters, which forces you to get right to the point.
Thus, I try to tweet out interesting stats and facts that are quickly transferable. I think interesting stats are ideal in this medium.
What did you think back on Draft night when the Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis…be honest, compared to now that he’s two months into his NBA career?
Listen, I never, NEVER thought the kid would be this good, this soon. Even if he was playing this well at this time NEXT season, he’d be way ahead of schedule.
That said, I was happy with the pick when they made it on Draft Day. As I wrote previously, I thought the top 3 picks were no-brainers. Towns, the consensus top prospect, would go first. D’Angelo Russell and Jahlil Okafor would follow, in some order. Then the consensus ceased. Most believed it was at that point where the draft diverted from “sure-fire stars” to “promising prospects with question marks.” Different scouts and pundits predicted the Knicks would take any number of players available. Some suggested it would be in the Knicks’ best interest to move down and acquire assets.
Of the players left on the board, I thought Porzingis was the play. He, undoubtedly, had the highest upside. And, strictly from a journalistic standpoint for a guy writing about the team 12 months a year – he was the most interesting story. So much intrigue.
Maybe the most amazing thing about Porzingis may be the way he’s handled his fame and success. For a 20-year old from Latvia, it’s ridiculous how well he’s dealt with the media crush from the NY and national media.
Where do you think his growth will come?
The crazy thing about KP is that even if he never scores another point in the NBA, he’d still be a solid rotation player because he is that good defensively. The guy has blocked at least 6 shots in three games already this season. His agility is remarkable for a man his size. And he is incredibly patient, never lunging for blocked shots, simply going straight up. Better yet, Bill Russell would approve of the way he blocks shots – keeping them in bounds the majority of the time.
When you factor that with his incredible versatility (he is the only player in the NBA this season with at least 50 blocks and 20 three-point makes), the sky is the limit.
In terms of growth, I think it will just come with experience as he adds weight and strength while also gaining knowledge.
You recently became a Dad. How do you juggle life as a writer and fatherhood?
It’s been a remarkable experience. Obviously, being a dad is priority #1 in my life. However, I happen to be married to superwoman, which makes everything much easier.
Jokes aside, my incredible wife has been such an amazing mom, so I’ve been lucky enough to carve out enough time to write. In addition, being a dad does make one view everything through a different prism, including sports. That’s been weird, and fun.
And lastly, if you could give young Tommy Beer from back at Holy Cross any words of wisdom, what would it be?
Wow. Good question. Important question.
I’d tell him to listen to a great piece of advice my dad gave me recently: “If you work really hard, folks will notice.”
I’d tell him not to be so afraid to make mistakes.
I’d tell him to make sure to play a lot of basketball now that you have so much free time!!
I’d tell him do the things that scare the shit out of you. I’d tell him that it’s impossible to grow significantly if you stay stuck in a comfort zone. “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
I’d also tell him not to worry so much about what other people think.
… Well, you know what… If that knucklehead college kid listened to all this sage advice, maybe he wouldn’t have made all those mistakes. And if I didn’t make all those many mistake in my 20’s and early 30’s, maybe I would have ended up somewhere else? And, flaws and all, I now get to come home the greatest wife, life and baby girl ever. A young Tommy Beer could never have imagined he’d end up so truly blessed. So, maybe I’d just tell him to have fun and enjoy the ride…
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