Q&A: Tim Kawakami from the San Jose Mercury (Part 5 of 5)

by Atma Brother ONE on Feb 14, 2008 6:00 PM PST in Interviews

In the final part of our Q&A with Tim we look at one of those topics you're not going to find on too many sports blogs other than GSoM.

1... 2... 3... JUMP!

**********

Golden State of Mind: There doesn't seem to be that many Asian Americans writing or covering sports whether it be as professional journalists or blogging for a hobby outside of the Bay Area and California. Do you think that is indeed the case or a misperception? If there are many Asian Americans in this space is this just a case of them not being visible and getting enough credit as trained professionals and hobbyists? Or are there certain internal or external barriers that keep Asian Americans out of this space or make it hard to enter? Do you have any experiences or advice that you'd like to share with Asian Americans trying to make it in this field?

Tim Kawakami (2/5/08): First off, the digital world is so new that I can't speak to the demographics of who's writing on it, who's not, who's successful, who's not. I know I write my blog and I read other blogs but part of the democracy of the web is that we often don't know who's writing what we're reading--which is excellent, if you ask me. You just go find what you like and you ignore what you don't. Part of the decline of newspapers is that we've just assumed you'll read what we give you. Wrong. I read what I like and the web gives me enough options to go find a hundred things I like--and a million things I don't--regardless of the newspaper's history or the author's race, creed, experience, sex, nationality... I love that. I'm part of the old world, but that's a terrific facet of the new world.

I'd love to see Asian-Americans everywhere in every part of journalism. There are a few. There are more coming, I'm sure. Janny Hu has a huge future, for instance. An intern at the Chron, Bryan Chu, is writing some noteworthy stuff. But no question, there aren't teeming hoards of us in sportswriting. I can't entirely explain it since I never thought about it when I was starting--I just assumed I could do it if I was good enough, so the question was to get good enough. If I was good enough and nobody hired me, then I'd be doing some yelling. But somebody did hire me. I was OK. I kept doing it. I liked it. Haven't quit or been stopped yet, so we'll see.

That's the most important thing I'd tell any aspiring sportswriter, and maybe even more so for Asian-Americans: You've got to be stubborn about this. Well, first you've got to prove to yourself you can DO IT. Maybe you can't. But if you know you can... Then you've got to be a bullheaded fool who is going to get the damn job because there's nobody better than you to do the damn job. I think you can tell I've never been too bashful. Wrong, silly? Yes. But never bashful.

And I'll repeat this because I really believe: The digital world is opening all avenues and erasing whatever barriers that may or may not have existed. The old, established guys have to adapt MORE than the young people. Not the other way around. I ain't a young person, but I know where this is headed.

Your site came out of nowhere. I don't know if you're making money, but I sure hope so. Did you have to win over an old established company to do this? I doubt it. You just did it. You did it because you knew you could do it. You could've been a bunch of 60-year-old Antarcticans or 12-year-old New Zealanders and IT DIDN'T MATTER. If it's good, it's good and people will read it.

Now I'm guessing there are 5,000 other guys and girls who might look like me or might not... but they're going to jump into this world and they're going to be more powerful than any of the old clunkers. That's what I love about this time and space, though I must admit, it's scary for me, too.

**********

Also see:

Q&A: Tim Kawakami from the San Jose Mercury (1/13/08 - 2/5/08): Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V
Pre-2007 NBA Draft Q&A w/ Tim Kawakami (6/26/07)
Round 2 Playoff Q&A w/ Tim Kawakami 5/7/07: Part I | Part II
GSoM Playoff Q&A with Tim Kawakami 04/20/07: Part I | Part II
GSoM Q&A with Tim Kawakami 11/15/06: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V
Golden State of Mind Q&A with Tim Kawakami: Part I | Part II

All of us at GSoM wanted to thank Tim for all his continued support. Definitely make Talking Points a daily visit to stay up on everything that is Bay Area sports. Whether you're a 49ers, Raiders, Giants, or A's fan- Tim's got something for you.

0 recs | Comment 16 comments

Read Related

Story-email Email | Print |

Comments

good read

I personally liked how Tim stated that in this digital age, you get out there just by doing it because you want to. There isn't somebody that needs to hire you or a workplace environment you need to navigate.

by q00pster on Feb 14, 2008 9:34 PM PST 0 recs

Definitely

I'd agree on that point to a large extent. It's amazing how low the barrier is set right now to have your own "media outlet" up and running in the matter of minutes. This simply wasn't possible in the 80's and early 90's, but now the media landscape with blogs, online videos, etc is much more opportunistic.

But I will contend that the web/ blogging aren't as accessible as we'd all like to think. It's still dominated by a certain segment of the population and there are still enormous barriers which are insurmountable for many.

Why is it that sports blogging is still dominated by white males in the 22-35 year old category? The primarily East/ South Asian ethnic makeup of the GSoM Crew is actually an oddity in the sports blogging world. Let's also remember that unfortunately we don't have a single female writer on the team. There are still enormous barriers that really restrict what's out there and even GSoM's blog content.

As far as the barriers:

You have to be a really skilled writer (which not everyone is as writing, especially daily is much harder than people lead on). All it takes is one off day or night of fatigue for people to jump all on you. Regardless of how sharp your insights are- if you can't write well, no one's going to read them. Similarly, no one wants to read daily rants (what most of the independent sports blogosphere is composed of and what gives it such low credibility) or poorly thought out thinking. Stay in school and never stop writing. Regardless of what you do (even engineering)- writing ability is going to be one of those critical elements that really separates those who move up and those who hit the glass ceiling fast.
You have to have a certain level of knowledge about your domain- higher the better of course.
You have to be an interesting person who has experienced and is constantly experiencing interesting things.

(Those 3 are based on what my man Dan Turman from the mighty Fear the Beard: http://www.fearthebeard.org/ broke down when we were chilling once last spring)

You to have enough free time or be willing to lose some sleep. Who seriously has the time to do this sort of thing?
You have to be willing to work extremely hard at it. If you're not willing to evolve, innovate, and try new things out for your blog (regardless of what it's covering) it will get stale and people will lose interest.
You have to have an incredible passion for what you do. This game will pay NONE of your real world bills and does not make any sense financially for about 99.99% of blogs out there. If you're in it for the money, you're not going to be in it that long.

(Haha I'm not sure how we of all people were able to overcome some of those obstacles.)

None of these are givens and they're all HUGE obstacles in their own right. The digital age is indeed special and opens up opportunities, but it is by no means a truly free/ open perfect space without it's own issues.

by Atma Brother ONE on Feb 15, 2008 11:21 AM PST up 0 recs

For sure

I completely agree that there are still barriers out there but these barriers are more rights of passage than of social barrier ( I cant do anything about it ) types.

For example the ones you listed are all related to quality of the body of work one puts out on the web.

I think these barriers are good to have and allows a dedicated soul to work hard at it without expelling effort on trying to conform to social standards (assuming there are little/no digital age social standards/barriers).

The issue of finding out where the barriers lies within TK's comment of choosing what to read and choosing what to ignore. On what basis do people choose what to read or what to ignore? Too many reasons to list, people are really quite complicated.

Three words... Can of worms.

by q00pster on Feb 15, 2008 6:10 PM PST up 0 recs

No waaayyyy....

Tim Kawakami is Asian?

by STIX on Feb 14, 2008 11:37 PM PST 0 recs

hehehe

good one

Proud Sponsor Of: The San Jose Giants Baseball Team 2008 is gonna be big! http://www.greenlightjerky.com

by GreenLightJerky on Feb 15, 2008 6:02 AM PST up 0 recs

It was a legit question

and an even better answer. When he asked Janny Hu that same question, she was somewhat evasive/dismissive.

The reason, IMO, it's a legit question is that there are very few Asian sports writers, the site is run by aspiring Asian sports writers and, I don't know if you've been to a Warriors game lately, but there are a lot of Asians Warriors fans.

So, I think it's an appropriate question because:

If there is a lack of minorities in any field, then someone should at least ask why. Who better to ask than someone with personal experience.
It is a question, I assume, of personal interest to those who run the site.
There are a lot of Asian Warriors fans so it would stand to reason that there are a lot of Asian readers of this blog so the answer would be of interest to a large segment of the people who would be reading the answer.
He asked a similar question to Marcus Thompson II and got a similarly, if not more, insightful response. It's not an Asian thing so much as it's a "sociological realities of America" thing.

by bloodsweatndonuts on Feb 15, 2008 9:56 AM PST up 0 recs

The question

If I remember correctly I came up with all 3 of the questions you're referring to- although it might have been Fuzzy for the question for Janny Hu.

You're right on the money though. This isn't an "Asian thing", this is about trying to investigate why there are such huge racial and gender imbalances in this aspect of the media. We are blessed to have such a diverse set of pro's covering the Warriors. I think that deserves being highlighted and lauded. It's also a great opportunity to reflect more deeply about this topic.

Also, to tell you the truth unfortunately I don't think any of the GSoM Crew members are really "aspiring Asian sports writers". This is our hobby and what we do in our extremely limited free time. It is not our profession. There are of course plenty of side benefits in our professional lives (plenty of writing practice, etc) and we're having a great time out here for the most part.

But I do feel a certain sense of responsibility here to aspiring writers/ sports writers of color and in general. I've talked with several over the years who want to get into that game and it's very admirable. I think topics like these help open up doors for them and encourage them to pursue their dreams.

I also think it's critical that the American media landscape in general whether it be TV, radio, print, or web have more diverse voices, viewpoints, and backgrounds. Media shapes and frames a lot of our views on the world and that's a big deal. Case in point when I was growing up there wasn't a single Indian or broader Asian sportscaster that I could look up to. I could always say "I want to be like that guy", but I could never say "Hey that guy is like me. If he can do it, so can I." Times have really changed here in the Bay Area sports landscape and that's really exciting. (Shout out to Raj Mathai who dropped by my B-school class the other week by the way!)

by Atma Brother ONE on Feb 15, 2008 10:57 AM PST up 0 recs

ALERT: KOBE TRYING TO WITHDRAW FROM ALL STAR GAME!

Finally, the Warriors have recieved a ray of hope that the All Star Drought could soon be over!! REPEAT, The All Star Drought could soon be over!!

Kobe is trying to get out of the All Star Game due to torn ligaments in his right little finger. The league still wants him to start and make a cameo appearance, however he wants to go see a specialist instead.

This should open the door for Baron to go to the game. If the league allows Kobe to miss the game, then Baron should be choice #1. For those out there that want a 2 guard to replace Kobe, I say forget that, but if it has to be a 2 then it should be Jack or Monta.

Keep your fingers crossed and pray.

OakFoSho

by Sneaky275 on Feb 15, 2008 12:59 AM PST 0 recs

actually

you can make a case that deron or manu is doing better than davis recently. Manu is on a shooting streak and Deron is leading the Jazz on a hot streak. Meanwhile Davis has been overshadowed by the playing of Monta Ellis.

by saintdee on Feb 15, 2008 1:52 AM PST up 0 recs

Atma Brother

I had my post immediately removed from the site today. Did I break some copywright laws (referring to an article in a magazine from our national sports authority) or is that the sort of post you don't want up.

The post was Clean Slate. Not pissed just want an explanation. I checked in the community guidlines and couldn't find anything I did wrong.

by WilliamVanLandingham on Feb 15, 2008 9:57 AM PST 0 recs

You're def right

You did not break any copyright laws by any means. However given it's shortness and lack of any real in-depth discussion it would have been better served as a comment. No big deal. Again it was not deleted. It was hidden.

(Also, I'm not the only one trying to pitch in with regards to diaries, comments, etc. I just happened to hide this one.)

by Atma Brother ONE on Feb 15, 2008 10:21 AM PST up 0 recs

So

my comment regarding that I could see a reason why he would follow Artest into the stands on that fateful night isn't one that would spur on some discussion. I started the post because I didn't see another post that had the information and I didn't want to do a diary hijack

The article was good and shows a side of Stephen Jackson that the rest of the nation should see. I figured those who don't subscribe to this magazine should have the oppurtunity to go out and buy it and read the article.

But going forward, how does one see a post once it's hidden. I have been checking out this blog for about a year now and haven't figured it out yet. I take it that is where all the ridiculous trade posts have gone, Stay on top of that those things are like Spam

by WilliamVanLandingham on Feb 15, 2008 10:45 AM PST up 0 recs

Obviously we appreciate that sort of discussion

That's a rich topic, but 2-3 sentences is what you find on a message board, not a high quality blog piece. Again it's fine for a comment, but not for a diary here. I really want to encourage you to put it up again with more insights and thoughts, which you're obviously capable of. That's much appreciated.

As far as retrieved it- trying clicking your name and poke around in the Info/ Comments/ My Profile. We unfortunately can't see what your view is. Our site view is different. Let us know.

by Atma Brother ONE on Feb 15, 2008 11:02 AM PST up 0 recs

Nice read

I have never met Tim K., but he comes across as such a nice guy. For the diversity of sports writers I agree in general. Tim is Asian and writes about sports at large, not just basketball. Cool. However, if one is in the sports media reflecting a paticular sport, I prefer (if I have to think about it) they represent the make up of the athletes in the sport, not the fan base. since bball is mostly represented by black atheletes (guess 75%+??), I would prefer that a majority of coaches, announces, commentators, etc be black - not talking former players, but black. I like that the TNT crew is mostly black (altho I think Kenny and Reggie are a bore, but so is marv albert). There should be more hispanic baseball writers for example. pretty amazing that there are not with the amount of hispanic players in the league.

In the end, Tim is correct, if you are good you'll float to the top and this site is a great example. I didn't come here because the crew is Asian, I come here because it's a good site and community. If the crew didn't state they are Asian, I don't think I ever would have known?

by oaktownchicken on Feb 15, 2008 1:00 PM PST 0 recs

this guy

is dope

by Proof on Feb 17, 2008 2:23 AM PST 0 recs

Tim Kawakami is Terrible.......

Here is more proof that Tim is a hypocrite with no backbone whose predictions can be taken with the grain of salt. He has consistently badmouthed the Warriors and Don Nelson, especially lately with the acquisition of Webber. He carelessly made the prediction that the Dubz would not win 50 games, but wait look what he wrote in todays Mercury News.....

"I can't believe I'm the one who keeps saying it. Even in the loaded Western Conference, the Warriors are playoff-caliber, have proven playoff performers, might fly over the 50-victory mark and have a mental edge over two or three of their possible rivals."

Actually Tim you haven't been saying this. You predicted the exact opposite. Again, you have shown us that your so called journalism is not worth the paper its written on. This is the biggest flip-flop I have ever seen; You are like the male version of Nancy Gay, making up Terrible stories from supposed sources, and making terrible predictions, which you then throw out the door while claiming the exact opposite.

You can take all the credit for `calling' whatever you want, but we real Dubz fans know whats up. Oh yea, and writing on GSoM isn't gonna make up for all the crap you push about the Warriors. KG Anyone? Ahem!

OakFoSho

PS-Props for the whole breaking down barriers thing, but I'm a white guy, so I don't know much about it. Just thought I would be truthful.

by Sneaky275 on Feb 17, 2008 10:12 PM PST 0 recs