Of course you bite your lip a little bit when you congratulate Peter Vecsey for being named a recipient -- along with Doug Collins -- of the Curt Gowdy media award for 2009.Vecsey, the long-time writer for the New York Post, and Collins, NBA and Olympic television analyst, will be honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame during its enshrinement ceremonies in September.
You begrudgingly tip your cap to Vecsey because he was a beat writer's nightmare. And I was a beat writer for a while, covering the Golden State Warriors. As a national writer, Vecsey had a knack for interjecting himself into your team's beat every now and again, and in general, making a general nuisance of himself.
Vecsey seemed to have tons of sources and his stories were usually filled with tidbits and nuggets of information that you either had to acknowledge or follow up on. There was nothing worse than hearing from your editor: "You see what Vecsey had in the Post today?"
Yeah, I heard that here and there, even 3,000 miles removed from Vecsey, the Post and New York.
No point in getting into Vecsey's credentials right now, but not only was he breaking stuff back in the day, he was one of the first newspaper guys to make the crossover into television. The guy was tapped in.
Safe to say most writers envied Vecsey (OK, couldn't stand) and tried to detract from his work. No NBA writer's story came under more scrutiny than one written by Vecsey. And, no, he didn't bat a thousand.
Then again, John Stockton is in the Hall of Fame and he's the all-time turnover leader; Nolan Ryan is in the baseball Hall of Fame and nobody walked more batters; and Warren Moon fumbled more than any other pro football player in history and he's in the Hall.
Vecsey wasn't perfect. But he was a factor in the NBA media game. Actually, I'd better write: Still is. So, it's through gritted teeth I offer my congratulations to Vecsey.
And as for Collins, forget about the Gowdy honor. In my book, he's in the Hall of Fame for making the two most clutch foul shots in the history of basketball.
More Steinmetz on twitter: @matt_steinmetz
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Even this story is more nba related than the "two" dominating comments now, about Jefferson calling off his wedding and how he did it. I don`t want to know why anyone feels his private personal life is their business not his. Collins was a good basketball palyer, lousy coach, and is a very good basketball analyst. I`m glad for him and Vescey that if the media was going to self publicize its self congratulation, that they were two of the folks considered for the awards.
Matt.
You strike me as a person of integrity and one who has far more basketball knowledge than most of the writers. You must have to grit your teeth to write this story. It's just more evidence how ugly and twisted the NBA has become. I have followed basketball since I was 9 (1955). I am still following it because of three of the coaches--Pop, Sloan and Nellie. When they go, I'm gone. David Stern has made a carnival out of what once was a sport. Pete Vescey. Is TK from San Jose next. I mean we are already down the dredges of journalism. How low can we go?