Story by Jacqueline Mundry photo courtesy bostonglobe.comSYRACUSE N.Y. -- Dan Shaughnessy is a household name in New England. Sports fans know him because they have likely read something he's written during his over 30 years as a Boston Globe columnist.
Shaughnessy has spent his whole career in Boston. Born in Groton, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross and covered high school sports when he started at the Globe after college. From there, he's worked his way up to become one of the most well known writers in New England.
Shaughnessy didn't get to this position overnight, he says he began working towards his dreams at a young age and never stopped. He's worked his way up to a point where he now gets paid to write his opinions, a luxury many people don't have.
What he doesn't like, is people that think they deserve that luxury when they haven't proved themselves yet.
"I don't like kids your age writing and sending me their stuff on their opinions of the Celtics." Shaughnessy said in a telephone interview. "I don't really care. I don't like the Bill Simmons thing where you just stay home and watch TV and write your opinions. It's just, I have no interest in that."
Though Shaughnessy is a columnist and writes his opinions on an assortment of things, he has also covered many historic games in Boston sports history.
"When the Red Sox won in '04 that was a pivotal story and everything changed in the landscape here and that's one of the greatest narratives of all time for us," he said. "I mean there was just the '84 Celtics with Larry Bird and Magic. The first Super Bowl when the Pats won in New Orleans, you know it was great. Those kinds of things are the top."
Shaughnessy, who has appeared on many TV and radio shows where he talked about sports, said that aspiring journalists have to get out there and do the work before you can write columns on their opinions.
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Transcription:
Mundry: Thank you so much for getting back to me, I know you are really busy I really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule. I just have a few questions for the class I'm in this semester at Syracuse. Just to start, how'd you get into sports journalism to begin with?
Shaughnessy: Oh my god, um, you know I played through high school and I was always an avid reader of sports and I wrote for the town paper and then when I got to Holy Cross I committed to the student paper which is not as great as yours it came out once a week and I was sports editor sophomore year and sort of never looked back. I knew that was what I wanted to do.
Mundry: Did you start at the Globe right after school or did you work elsewhere?
Shaughnessy: I was a stringer for the Globe while I was in school. I did a summer here, the summer of '70, the summer after my junior year and then after my senior year graduation they allowed me to stay around and do high school. I did high school for a couple years as a part-timer and then I got the first full time gig in Baltimore when I was 23.
Mundry: Do you have any advice for an aspiring sports journalist? I know the industry's changed quite a bit.
Shaughnessy: Yeah it's really, I'm not sure the path we chose is one to recommend. I just don't like the short-cuts. I don't like kids your age writing and sending me their stuff on their opinions of the Celtics. I don't really care. I don't like the Bill Simmons thing where you just stay home and watch TV and write your opinions. It's just, I have no interest in that. So, it's changed and if that's what works now, I'm not sure how many people monetize that model but we're always gonna have need for content and storytelling and news gathering and hopefully you guys can provide that.
Mundry: Do you think there's a way to present your opinion, I know you said you don't necessarily like that, but do you think there's a way to present it in a different way than a lot of 20-year-olds are doing now? In a more professional way?
Shaughnessy: I don't, I mean again, your opinions don't mean anything to me until you've been out there talking to people and doing things. Everybody has, that's what talk radios for, call in and just bitch about what you think is wrong with the Celtics or whatever. But if you get out there and tell me something about, do the reporting and get some fresh information other than what they're telling me on TV. I don't understand that model.
Mundry: Right, I understand that. So during your time at the Globe, what has been some of your favorite stories you've worked on.
Shaughnessy: Well I mean when the Red Sox won in '04 that was a pivotal story and everything changed in the landscape here and that's one of the greatest narratives of all time for us. I mean there was just the '84 Celtics with Larry Bird and Magic. The first Super Bowl when the Pats won in New Orleans, you know it was great. Those kinds of things are the top. And I'm sorry I sound so flat now, I'm truly excited about those things I'm just absolutely exhausted I just spent four days in Cooperstown and I have like 500 emails so I'm not as on top of my game but I knew you had a deadline so I figured I'd try to help you out here.
Mundry: No, don't apologize I understand I saw that you were in Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame inducting which must have been awesome.
Shaughnessy: It was great.
Mundry: I'll try not to take up too much of your time. Of the teams you cover, do you have a favorite? I know you have all the college teams in New England as well.
Shaughnessy: I mean I do more baseball and that's fun for me because it's daily. The daily story of ups and downs of the team and we have all the tradition. Obvisouly the Patriots thing has taken off with the team now, we understand that they're the favorite. Yeah, I'm still a baseball guy more than anything.
Mundry: And how, what do you think the biggest thing that has changed in the industry since you began?
Shaughnessy: Well I mean social media, the internet, that's the death of the print model. People don't read the printed paper anymore, I understand that, but I think it's a better universe when people are reading that because they discover more things and they learn more things as opposed to the self selection audience of the internet where you read everything you already believe and post your Tweets.
Mundry: Right, do you prefer to write for the web over print?
Shaughnessy: No, no I am, I prefer to write for the print over the web. I'm fast so I'm good with the web 'cause they, I'm fast and I can get stuff out there as fast as anybody.
Mundry: Do you get to write for the print every day still?
Shaughnessy: No, you know, I'm in there like three times a week because I'm traveling pretty much every day.
Mundry: Well like I said I don't want to take up too much of your time but I do really appreciate you getting back to me.
Shaughnessy: Thanks, I hope that helps you out and good luck to you you're in a great school you must be really good.
Mundry: Thank you I'm excited. Thank you again.
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