FIRST PITCHES: To inform and entertain … but maybe not in that order – atchisonglobenow.com

EDITORS NOTE: Some of the best sports journalists in the nation started their careers on the pages of the Columbia Missourian. To recognize and celebrate that legacy, we asked a number of notable alums to contribute an account of their favorite sports memory from their time at the Missourian. First Pitches is an occasional series written by the sportswriting progeny of the Missouri School of Journalism. This installment is from Aaron Reiss, Class of 2017, who covers the NFLs Houston Texans for The Athletic.

I logged thousands of miles during my college sportswriting career. Local star Sophie Cunninghams appearance in the McDonalds All-American game took me to Chicago. A seemingly never-ending drive to West Virginia came to a stop when I pulled into our motel and saw bikers partying in the parking lot. And at a Dairy Queen in southern Missouri, where I stretched my legs en route to Arkansas State, the Ten Commandments hung next to the register.

But one formative experience I had at MU occurred at something of a halfway point between the Missourian newsroom and my then-apartment: the Hampton Inn and Suites on Stadium Drive.

I was nearing the end of my first semester at the Missourian, and the sports editor, Greg Bowers, saw enough promise in me to keep handing me assignments beyond the high school basketball beat. First, I went to a mouse race in Kingdom City, and now here I was, in a humble hotel ballroom, preparing to interview former MLB pitcher John Rocker.

Former MLB pitcher John Rocker, right, chats with Daniel Espey and his grandson Isaiah Martin, 4, at a charity dinner held for Martin on May 11, 2015, at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Columbia. The event was hosted to support Martin, who has cerebral palsy.

No stranger to controversy, Rocker was a hard-throwing closer whose xenophobia and homophobia (and steroid use) outshined his arm. But he was in town for a good cause: signing autographs and taking pictures at a fundraiser for a local boy with cerebral palsy.

I dont remember another news outlet being there that night which is saying something in media-saturated Columbia but Greg thought there was a story in the bizarre juxtaposition.

Sportswriters jobs, he always said, are to inform and entertain. And if you can only do one, entertain.

People always rubberneck at car accidents on the south side of the interstate when youre going northbound, Rocker told me. It is what it is.

In between my questions, Rocker autographed memorabilia and met fans. One woman asked how much she needed to donate to see his abs. Another, holding three signed baseballs, said she was running out of room for balls.

+3

You got to stop saying that, Rocker responded, and somehow I got that in the newspaper (now for a second time!).

Former MLB pitcher John Rocker sits behind a table to sign autographs and chat with fans during a charity dinner in May 2015. The event was hosted to support Isaiah Martin, 4, who has cerebral palsy.

Reading the story today, I wonder if I let Rocker off too easily. In my attempt to entertain and hit an arbitrary deadline Greg seemed to set mostly as a challenge, did I fail to properly highlight Rockers history of deplorable stances, many of which came to light in an infamous Sports Illustrated profile?

Probably, but there are things Id change about every story I wrote for the Missourian. Thats the point. Take swings when no one is watching, and recognize that your embarrassment over something you wrote a month ago is a sign of how quickly youre improving, how rapidly youre learning that being a sportswriter rarely means covering Super Bowls or blabbering on TV like Stephen A. Smith.

I used to think Gregs directive to entertain above all else was mostly about getting inexperienced kids out of their comfort zone and pushing them toward stories that would help them grow as writers, which mattered more than teaching them how to report on a high school baseball game.

But the mindset which was formative for me and many others, some of whom have already participated in this First Pitches series has never resonated with me more than right now.

In this time without sports, there are journalists reporting on when games will return, but theres also a need for stories that offer readers a reprieve from so much gloom. When sportswriters beats hit pause, they can still entertain in fact, they must.

Sometimes, that means seeking out the bizarre.

As Rocker put it: Train wrecks always draw crowds.

Left, Aaron Reiss poses with his mother, Anh, and father, Josh, during the November 2015 Jim Murray Memorial Foundation scholarship awards weekend in California. Right, Aaron Reiss today.

Aaron Reiss is a 2017 Missouri J-School grad who spent a lot of time at the Columbia Missourian during his MU career. He served as one of the papers Missouri football beat writers during the 2015 season in which the team went on strike, Gary Pinkel retired and a guy named Drew Lock took over the starting job after four games. After college, Aaron covered Missouri athletics for The Kansas City Star. Two years ago, he moved to Houston to work for The Athletic, for which he now covers the NFLs Houston Texans.

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FIRST PITCHES: To inform and entertain ... but maybe not in that order - atchisonglobenow.com