The life and ‘Times’ of Bill Plaschke

Besides writing for the LA Times he is also a panelist for ESPN’s Around the Horn. Around the Horn “is like watching your crazy uncles yelling at each other”, said Plaschke.

 

Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky he loved sports and to write. He began to write for his high school paper, Ballard High School.

 

For the high school paper he wrote a story about his friend who was on the basketball team and was the “worst kid on the team”, according to Plaschke.

 

After writing that story he got comments from his peers about how much they enjoyed his article and for the first time he began to feel like he was part of something.

 

After high school he attended Southern Illinois University and got his bachelor’s degree in mass communication according to Bill Plaschke’s biography.

 

While attending the university he applied to 50 places for an internship during his senior year and only got one reply. “You go through a million no’s and all it takes is one yes”, said Plaschke about applying for an internship.

 

To get noticed Plaschke began the search for an award. He felt that the only way he would get his foot in the door is if he won an award.

 

He found a story about an Indian school with a coach from Miami that were practicing with a shoe. It turned out that someone had recently died and there custom didn’t allow them to play with a ball. He ended up winning an award for writing this story.

 

 “The amazing thing about journalism is that you don’t have to be rich or influential to be a journalist”, said Plaschke. “If you like to write and touch people you can be a journalist.”

 

Plaschke also commented on how there is always a future in journalism. “Don’t give up hope and think this business is dying”, he said.

 

Plaschke enjoys writing about regular people who he considers as “the people in the shadows.” He writes stories about people who aren’t the stars and about the people who finish last in the race.

 

He writes about the pregnant homecoming queen or the athlete who needs to leave practice early to take care of a sick mom.

 

He likes writing about them because he feels these types of people are the best to write about.

He also discussed about how great writing is great details and great reporting. To be a great journalist you need to follow these steps: ideas, ideas, reporting, reporting and writing.

 

When asked what story was his favorite he described a story about Sarah Morris, Dodger fan, who wrote a story for every Dodger game and was disabled.

 

This Dodger fan e-mailed Plaschke regarding some concerns about his stories towards the Dodgers and he replied back telling her that she should become a sports writer.

 

Plaschke got a reply back from Morris saying that she can’t become a sports writer because she is disabled.

 

Morris is in a wheelchair and isn’t able to move her arms so she writes with a head pointer attached to her head. The Dodgers is what keeps Morris going; “sports is this person’s life” said Plaschke. Sarah Morris was hired by the Major League Baseball and has her own website, Sarah’s Dodger Place.