DURATION/TIME Tuesday, April 24, 7-9 pm LOCATION Small Press Center 20 West 44th Street New York, NY 10036 (additional $5 fee when paying at the door) PRICE $20 ($15 for ) more info

Course Details

Sports writing is a genre that can easily go from rote reporting to epic narrative. By homing in on a compelling human interest story or larger cultural or political issues, you can go from being the schmuck an editor sends to round up scores and stats to becoming a star reporter. But how do you even get started as the schmuck sent to the game?

Hang on. With the rise of fan sites, blogs, and podcasts, is it even necessary to work your way up through established channels? Can't you just write your own ticket? And if you are already working in another area of the media, how do you establish your sports cred and get in the game?

Our panelists will tackle these and other questions in a free-wheeling discussion: Is it easier to get your foot in the door through newspapers, magazines, TV, or the web? Does a blog work as well as clips to showcase your writing skills? Do you need a J-school degree to be a sports journalist? Do anchormen wear pants?

-- Will Leitch, editor of Deadspin.com and author of two books, Life As A Loser and Catch, with two more on the way. He has written for The New York Times, Slate, Playboy, and various other publications.

-- Robbyn Footlick, executive editor in charge of all multimedia initiatives for ESPN The Magazine. She was formerly sports editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she ran the daily section and website, which she developed and launched.

-- Steve Friedman, whose essays have been selected for inclusion in The Best American Sports Writing six times. He is a writer-at-large for the Rodale Sports Group of magazines and his work has appeared in Esquire, GQ, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Ski. His third book, The Agony of Victory, will be published in November.

-- Sam Walker, senior special writer and sports columnist for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic Fringe, now out in paperback.

-- Seth Wickersham, senior writer covering the NFL for ESPN The Magazine.

-- Alison Overholt, moderator, senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, manages investigative features and sports business coverage in addition to working on multimedia initiatives. Before joining ESPN, Alison was a writer and editor at Fast Company.

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