Syracuse Sports Media Adjusts Coverage During Pandemic Syracuse Sports Media Adjusts Coverage During Pandemic

By Brianna Liberman Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – Like most industries, the media has been hit hard by the pandemic. As the sports world shut down last March through early summer, outlets scrambled to come up with ways to do remote coverage. The Syracuse media is no different. 

From the Dome to the comfort of their home, Syracuse broadcasters and writers have adapted to the remote style of coverage for SU sports. For now, all they do is wait for the return to normalcy when they can travel with the team and talk to players like before.

“They [sports media professionals] want to be back in the arena, as desperately as I do,” said longtime Syracuse.com men’s basketball beat reporter Mike Waters. 

Writers like Mike Waters or Matthew Gutierrez from The Athletic still have court-side seats to the home games. But it’s the post-game that has seen dramatic changes. The locker room is no longer open to the media, and press conferences are held via Zoom. This makes it really challenging to get in a question or have any personal connection to the players. 

“So you know it’s twenty to twenty-five people on Zoom, instead of a one-on-one conversation in-person” Gutierrez said. 

With limited access to the players and coaches, it makes it more difficult to be creative in the stories they tell. They’re only given Coach Boeheim, and the player that gets selected to talk to the media. Often, this is the leading scorer or star of the game, but this isn’t always the story that writers like Waters want to tell. 

“Sometimes the best quote doesn’t come from the guy who made the shot,” Water’s said.“It comes from the guy, who delivered the pass, or set the screen or watched it from the bench, or it was the assistant coach who’s been working on him. You got to have different voices.” 

The majority of the post-game and nearly all away games are conducted remotely. Brent Axe is also a Syracuse.com reporter, and host of ESPN Syracuse radio. For him, the remote set-up is basic. 

“I got my laptop, and I got about 50 tabs open of live stats, and scoreboards, some behind-the-scenes stuff that I do for syracuse.com,” Axe said.

So, that’s it. Just a couple of items, and anyone can cover a game from their living room. Although the idea of working from home might appeal to some, for sports reporters, the fun comes from being at the arena. Broadcasters and writers are itching to get back to that atmosphere. 

“You know that’s why these guys and gals get into this, right,” says Axe. “You get into play-by-play, and you get into the media because you want to be there, you want to be a part of the action,” Axe said. 

Back in action, that is the ultimate goal. With expanded eligibility opportunities to get the vaccine, Syracuse writers and reporters might soon be in luck.