my k-state writer big board ...
1. jeffrey martin - the k-stated blog and the Q&A at the eagle site was consistently the most informative read. i think it is fair to say that he mostly owned that beat. i used to set my alarm clock at 1:59 am and read his stories when they were posted at 2 a.m.
2. austin meek - in 2007, literal seconds after okla st beat k-state in stillwater, austin asked if i was ready to send my story. he had just sent his. something about a "push-button deadline." all i had written was my byline. it was at that moment that i knew i would never make it in sports journalism. austin, however, was very good. broke some stories, reliable reporting, respected by all.
3. rob cassidy - better reporter than writer. always found good stories, asked a bunch of questions, had semi frequent scoops (typically with recruiting, but not always). in 2008, the night before a k-state practice, i was out drinking with rob and we both agreed we were going to lay into prince and ask him tough questions: ron, are you a micromanager? ron, why can't you get along with anybody? ron, why do you keep running off good coaches? the next morning came, and there were only a handful of reporters there. i rarely (almost never) asked questions at press conferences (there were real reporters trying to accomplish things, and i was a nobody), but in these small settings i often would. anyway, as was typical, prince got several softball questions and it was predictably boring and useless. rob looked at me. i looked at him. he looked at me. i took a deep breath and went for it. "so, ron, do you consider yourself to be a micromanager?" he looked at me like i was satan. "what do you mean by micromanager!?" it went downhill from there and got very contentious. i remember thinking afterward that my career was over before it started. that night, i had to write a story for the topeka paper, and i didn't address any of this exchange. i just wanted it to go away. meanwhile, d scott posted the transcript at GPC. a few posters at GPC read it and wanted to know who asked these disrespectful questions to prince. "this writer has a clear agenda!" rob never told anyone at the forum it was me, and i was appreciative.
4. howard richman - worked at the star for 25 years, and to my knowledge spent most of it covering k-state sports. it seemed like he burned out near the end of his run, but he was a good, steady reporter, and one of the coolest guys you could ever meet. i didn't talk to him much, but he was very approachable.
5. kellis robinett - he cracks the top five simply for longevity. never would have guessed he'd survive the first month on the k-state beat, let alone seven or eight years. people were so mean to him. he couldn't post a story without someone asking about his wife's jayhawk cookies. he's become a pretty solid writer and reporter. i read his stuff as regularly as anyone else's when searching for k-state info.
6. tim bisel - many forget, but he was the beat writer at the CJ pre austin, before becoming the sports editor. always enjoyed reading bisel's stuff. early in his tenure as sports editor, he occasionally wrote critical columns about the inept k-state athletic dept. i always loved to read negative k-state sports articles because they were so so so rare. those were the stories that excited me.
7. cole manbeck - used to refer to him as Fanbeck because he often griped in the press box when k-state made a bad play. can't really fault him for that though. others in the press box were also big fans, they just did a better job hiding it. cole took over the mercury beat after jannssen left, and it was a definite upgrade (more on that later). he had clear ambition and was hard working.
8. levi wolters - it is a tragedy that levi never became a k-state beat writer. but he was good enough as a correspondent to be added to this list of beat writers. my first year at k-state, i covered volleyball for the student paper. levi covered it for the eagle. problem is. i didn't know a rough ridin' thing about volleyball, and levi seemed to know everything. since my stories for weekend games didn't have to be filed until late sunday night, i could always open up levi's stories and steal all his details and observations. kidding! (kind of).
EDIT: levi might have only covered one game, Wichita vs K-State, but it was my first, and i definitely read his story six or seven times before writing mine. i didn't take journalism ethics until two years later.
9. any collegian writer, past or present.
10. mark jannsen - don't know if i spelled his name correctly, and frankly don't care. he was respected by almost nobody, he was rude and dismissive and needy, had a crusty personality and writing style, and often lifted quotes from others without attribution. his LHC Bill Snyder book was one of the most poorly formatted books i've ever read.