By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:40 a.m. Monday
LAS VEGAS -- Greetings from this very strange place on the eve of the Winter Meetings.
There are few more misunderstood events in professional sports than this one, certainly from the reporter's perspective, so let me try to shed a little light on it based on the first four that I covered ...
Typical day starts around 7 a.m., getting to the main hotel -- the Bellagio, in this case, is a couple blocks away from the thriftier Marriott where I will be staying -- and setting up shop in a media workroom that is roughly the size of two football fields. Mostly, not much other than the clicking and clacking of keyboards goes on in there, though any actual news conferences will take place at a small setup contained there. For example, today will see Greg Maddux retire in that room, as well as the Veterans Committee's selections for the Hall.
From there, one is very much on his or her own.
There is not one main lobby at these things. There usually are two or there. But there is no rule that people have to go there to talk to anyone. They either gravitate or they do not. Sightings of actual general managers or upper team executives are very rare. Usually, it is assistants, scouts and the like. Players almost never come, though Jack Wilson will buck that trend. Mostly, it is a lot of reporters waiting, watching, whatever.
Truth be told, most of the communicating done at these Meetings is done no differently than if you stay home, which means phone, email or text. These can be used to arrange some face-to-face interviews -- always a good idea in a place so big -- or the communication can just stay electronic. Once a tip is had, it tends to be a really long walk from the lobby or lobbies back to the big media room if there is any urgency to get that information online.
Once a day, in the late afternoon, the local media contingent on hand -- there will be four from Pittsburgh -- will be ushered up to Neal Huntington's suite, but only after it is tidied up and all the relevant names have been erased off the big white board in there. I have seen those covered with blankets, too. He will chat for about 15 minutes, try like crazy to avoid giving out specifics of any potential personnel moves, and everyone goes right back to the whole lobby-then-type thing.
That is basically it. Even when one gets back to one's hotel room for the day, there is an understanding that the process here never sleeps. Baseball meetings, especially with agents, go on all through the night. Last year, I posted the item about the Pirates and Cleveland discussing Jason Bay at about 3 a.m., if memory serves, and that was because I heard about it at about 2:30 a.m.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
The biggest storyline could be among the first, as the Pirates and Tigers will meet early this week -- maybe as early as today -- to discuss Jack Wilson, I found out yesterday. Also in this report is word that the Pirates will have internal discussions regarding what to do about Denny Bautista and arbitration. If I were a betting man -- and Vegas would push someone to be exactly that -- I would not bet in favor of Bautista being tendered. But that is nothing more than a personal observation.
Also, know that the Q&A will come as scheduled this week, tomorrow through Friday. Here is the form.
And from other realms ...
Detroit did make a trade very early this morning, the Free Press reports, but it was for a catcher from Texas.
The Tigers' official site discusses Wilson.
This is Tim Dierkes' favorite week of the year.
PHOTO of Bellagio hotel: Me, sticking my phone camera out of the taxi window tonight
Posted
Dec 08 2008, 12:40 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic