Written by Chris Hine at Chicago Tribune.com
Almost every sportswriter I know loves to romanticize about the old days — when being a beat writer allowed you to get to know the people you covered on a meaningful level. You developed a good working relationship, a give and take. Maybe the player would get angry with you for something you wrote, but you would talk it out and move on.
I’m 29 and I have no idea what that era of sportswriting was like. The access we have to athletes is limited.
Teams control everything. They shut down interviews that go long, micromanage the image of their franchise and coach players on what to say.
Rarely do you get to have a real conversation. Andrew Shaw and I had one Wednesday.
It came after Shaw, visibly shaken, apologized for using a homophobic slur in the penalty box late in the Hawks’ 4-3 loss to the Blues in Game 4 of their playoff series Thursday.
“I’m not that kind of guy,” Shaw said in a broken voice.
It was raw and heartfelt.
Even with all the restrictions in place in the modern sports media landscape, I have a bead on what kind of guy Shaw is after covering the Hawks for a full season. He doesn’t hide when the media enters the dressing room. He will stick around and talk for a few minutes and seems to enjoy the interaction. A number of times this season, I’ve gone to him just to talk and see how he’s doing. I always look forward to seeing him in the room and chatting.
Certainly, I was disappointed when I saw video surface of Shaw using the slur. He was vilified on social media, but I don’t want to cast stones. He has a reputation around the league for being an irritant on the ice, but I don’t think he’s a bad guy. I also don’t think he hates gay people. I just want to help him understand why what he said packs such a devastating emotional wallop.
Shaw is not the problem. The fact he felt he could use that word like it was another four-letter word — and not remember saying it after the game — is the problem.
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