Neil Amdur, Dave Smith, George Solomon and Vince Doria discuss today's challenges.

By BARRY FORBIS
Rocky Mountain News

PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Dave Smith, George Solomon and Neil Amdur are sports editing legends who, in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, transformed the way newspapers cover sports in this country. And, though stuck in the '70s for about half of a nearly two-hour presentation on the Past, Present and Future of Sports Journalism, they offered plenty of ideas for the 21st century as well.

These are innovators, after all.

Smith made a name for himself by transforming the Boston Globe into what Time called the "best sports section in America" in 1976 and then by turning the Dallas Morning Snooze, as it was affectionately known in the early 1980s, into one of today's pre-eminent sections.

Solomon worked for Smith in Miami, found his way to the Washington Daily News and finally joined the Washington Post to cover the Redskins. He went on to become assistant sports editor and, finally, sports editor, a job he held for 2½ decades. His biggest accomplishment? Undoubtedly, running Smith, sports editor of the Washington Daily Star between his Boston and Dallas stints, out of town.

Thirty-five years ago, all three were in Miami — Amdur at the Herald and Smith and Solomon at the News. They could not have envisioned changes that soon would be taking place in their profession — changes that, in several cases, came about because of their creative thinking.

Dave Smith

Smith created the first live special section in covering the 1975 World Series. Amdur put the first African-American players on an all-city football team in Miami, a bold stance in those days. Solomon gave us Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, the PTI guys.

In the 1970s and '80s, the rising prominence of sports on TV, the emergence of sports talk shows, a toughening of ethical standards among sports journalists and TV's raid on papers' top sports reporters dramatically affected the way sports editors ran their departments.

Smith, Solomon and Amdur — and their host, Vince Doria of ESPN (and formerly of the Boston Globe) — don't direct newspaper sports departments today, but they agree that this, too, is a time of exciting challenges for sports editors. Among topics they addressed in their view of the future:

The Internet and convergence of media outlets. "Most of you work for media companies that have TV stations or Internet sites," Smith said. "If we have a sports story, it has to go on TV or on the Web site immediately. You're not going to break stories in the paper."

Shrinking budgets. "You're going to have to become more cost-conscious," Amdur said. "Anticipate this. I think you have to sit down with your editor and talk about what to do about it."

Shrinking space. "During the next three, four, five years, (shrinking space) is going to affect where this industry's headed," Doria said. "I don't know how you're going to solve that, but it has to involve the readers."

Emphasis on local news. "If you're a small paper, you're in a good situation," Smith said. "You own the local news. Larger papers have to narrow the focus. If you have a predominantly Hispanic community, you're going to have to cover things of interest in the Hispanic community. Or the Asian community. Or the young. Or the old."

More integration of sports departments. "It's getting harder to sell them on the sports business," Doria said. "They come, perhaps, with greater social conscience. Sports is not enough for them."

The continuing battle against TV's raids. "You can play hardball and say, 'Do you want to work for the Post or do you want to make $2 million with ESPN?' " Solomon said. "With Kornheiser and Wilbon, I felt like we should do whatever it takes to keep them in the Post. ... Did it hurt at times? Yes. Are we better with them? Yes."