If you're even reading this column, you're probably a sports fan. I'd bet you've been to the Duke Soccer Stadium once or twice, and I'm sure you've sat on the hill at Jack Coombs Field to catch a few innings of baseball on a Sunday afternoon. Without question, you're among those dubbed the Cameron Crazies. And, if you aren't yet, you'll soon also be a Wade Wacko.
But if you've been to even a handful of Duke sporting events, you must have noticed some of the key distinctions between the revenue sports--football and men's basketball--and the non-revenue sports--"the rest." Surely you can attest to the difference between 9,314 standing psycho-fanatics and 150 bleacher-bound onlookers. I'm here to tell you, however, that there's more to it than that. I'm here with an insider's guide (also known as my Chronicle-tainted opinion) to the differences between revenue and non-revenue sports at Duke.
As a sports staff numbering roughly 20 people in size, we have fairly limited resources. We do, however, have a budget (thanks to devoted advertisers like Domino's) that allows us to send at least one, usually two reporters to every single football and men's basketball event. So even if it's a matchup at UCLA, we have someone there, frolicking along Sunset Boulevard, with notepad and pen in hand.
We don't have quite the same budget for non-revenue sports. And it can be pretty tough, without making threats at gunpoint, to get someone to volunteer to take a four-hour drive to Clemson to cover a volleyball match. So, we try to arrange for a "call-in" by asking the Duke coach to give us a ring when the event is over. That way, we have a first-hand account on which we can base our story.
Unfortunately, however, there is a certain syndrome that occasionally accompanies call-ins after a particularly tough or embarrassing loss: coaches sometimes "forget" to make the call (can you say, "From staff reports?").
But the differences between revenue and non-revenue sports are not limited to tight travel budgets and missing telephone calls. There is a fundamental difference in recognition. Revenue athletes often get profiled in major publications like Sports Illustrated or the Washington Post. As a result, they probably couldn't care less when they get featured in The Chronicle.
For non-revenue athletes, however, even things like The Chronicle's (cheesy adjective goes here) Athlete of the Week (AOW) award can be big deals. Believe it or not, the sports office has received faxed nominations from certain Duke coaches after members of their teams have had a particularly solid week--you'd think we were giving out some sort of Grammy. And during a recent stretch of close calls for the AOW, we considered installing a 1-900 phone line to accommodate the flow of suggestions.
There is also a big difference in the way in which revenue and non-revenue sports handle coverage and criticism. For the most part, the revenue sports appear oblivious to our stories. That's not to say Coach K has never called with an objection to a Chronicle column--in fact, he has--but it's a pretty rare occurrence.
For non-revenue sports, however, The Chronicle can be the primary source of publicity. And from them, we have received headline suggestions, feature ideas and an occasional phone call insisting on increased coverage. It seems ironic that varsity athletes, who certainly understand the difficulties of juggling busy schedules, are often quick to complain when a sports writer has a bad writing day or begins to "neglect" them.
But I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. I don't mean to bash non-revenue sports. Let the truth be known: They can be a lot of fun to write about. Since I arrived at Duke three years ago, both soccer teams have played in the Final Four, the tennis teams have been perennial top-10 squads, the volleyball team has become a staple in the top 25, and the list goes on and on.
The non-revenue players are also more like "normal" students and are infinitely more accessible. Members of the media are supposed to call Duke's Sports Information at least a week in advance to arrange an interview with a revenue athlete. There have been times, however, when I've called a non-revenue athlete at home at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, and by 9:31 p.m. we're having a down-to-earth chit-chat.
It's also not fair to lump all the non-revenue sports into the same category. There are some great teams with accessible players and thankful coaches that are a pleasure to cover.
So here's the bottom line: There are stories in the Duke Review that might actually have greater readership than an average Chronicle piece on the track team. But know this: If we as sports writers didn't like covering everything from field hockey to fencing, we just wouldn't do it. After all, ours is a volunteer job--and an enjoyable one.
Jeremy Levine is a Trinity senior and assistant sports editor of The Chronicle.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.