[00:00:00] Ryan Hunt: My first job was writing photo cut lines and editing photos for the website. I wanted to write the best photo cut lines I possibly could. Never turned down an opportunity. My bosses came to me and said, I want you to do this. I always said, yes. I'm just gonna try to do it better than anybody else. More thoroughly and more comprehensively quicker, and with no mistakes.

[00:00:19] Ryan Hunt: If you can connect with somebody on a human level. Build that rapport, build that trust with them, you're probably gonna get them to open up a little bit easier.

[00:00:26] Michael Oved: What to you is the art of storytelling and how can one properly develop that

[00:00:30] Ryan Hunt: way? Easier said than done, the number one trait.

[00:00:35] Michael Oved: Welcome back to 30 years in 30 minutes.

[00:00:37] Michael Oved: I'm your host, Michael Ovid, and we've got a great episode for you today. With that, it is my pleasure to introduce to you today's guest. Ryan Hunt is the former co-editor in Chief of Sports Illustrated, where he managed the magazine's editorial staff, leading a team of experienced reporters and editors, and overseeing digital strategy from daily content planning to major event coverage to franchise development.[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Michael Oved: Hunts won a sports Emmy in 2017 for outstanding digital innovation. First involvement on the Capturing Everest Project, the first ever bottom to top climb of Mount Everest captured in virtual reality. Under his leadership, sports Illustrated also launched multiple digital franchises, including the Daily cover, their signature premium piece.

[00:01:19] Michael Oved: Ryan is now a lecturer in the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Ryan, thank you again for joining us today.

[00:01:26] Ryan Hunt: Thanks, Michael. Happy to be here.

[00:01:27] Michael Oved: So we'll start off with your childhood. Ryan, what about your childhood? What about your upbringing piqued your interest in journalism, specifically in sports journalism?

[00:01:35] Ryan Hunt: Well, I grew up. A big baseball fan I grew up in, in the Tampa Bay area. So in those days, the rays didn't exist, the lightning didn't exist. It was just the buccaneers down there. Uh, there's a lot of transplants in the state of Florida, so everybody was a fan of, of every different team. If you grew up in New York, you came down, you're probably still a Yankees, a Mets fan.

[00:01:57] Ryan Hunt: You grew up in the in. [00:02:00] Boston, you came down, you're still a Sox fan. My parents grew up in Chicago, so I was, I was a Cubs fan. And you know, in those days, Wrigley's Wrigley Field didn't get lights until 1988. So like, you'd come home from school every day and the Cubs are playing at two 20 and WGN It was like, like, that was like my, my ritual is get off the bus, come in, play a little bit outside and then watch the Cubs game.

[00:02:25] Ryan Hunt: Uh, so like that connection with baseball was, was built. Really in my childhood, played a lot of baseball growing up and also collecting baseball cards. It's, it's really, that's where I kind of, there's a lot of analy, analytically driven sports journalists, like baseball cards were our analytics back, back in the day.

[00:02:44] Ryan Hunt: So, you know, I lived and breathed stats, so knowing that, you know, hey, Dwight Gooden went 24 and four in 1985 and Wade Boggs led to the league in hitting in, in 86 and Andre Dawson on the Cubs. Uh, you know, was the MVP in 87 hit with 49 [00:03:00] homers. Like, you know, you kind of lived stats through collecting baseball cards.

[00:03:05] Ryan Hunt: So, um, that was kind of my first entry into, or where, where my love affair with sports came. I read a lot. That's kind of Laura. It all began and kind of manifested itself through my whole career.

[00:03:16] Michael Oved: Once you realized you were interested in journalism and sports journalism in particular, how did you develop that skill?

[00:03:23] Ryan Hunt: Just trying to write, I mean, there was no internet like in those days, so it really was writing for either your high school paper. I. Or you're, you know, I was on both that and the yearbook, so I was the sports editor of our yearbook. I re look back and actually reading some of the things that we wrote back in.

[00:03:39] Ryan Hunt: They're just not good. They're pretty bad. Like any, like anything, it's rep. The more reps you get, the more practice you get, the more you read, like the better you get. I was the best way to, to try to approach it because you know, you like. You couldn't just start your own personal blog or, or your own podcast.

[00:03:57] Ryan Hunt: Um, in those days, you really had to just, [00:04:00] you know, just try to write and read the paper as much as you could.

[00:04:04] Michael Oved: Wow. And I guess obviously like anything else, at first, when you're first developing a skill, you're not good. I didn't. As you progress, as you develop it, you get better for people who were your age around the time when you discovered your interest in journalism.

[00:04:15] Michael Oved: What advice would you give them if at first they're not a good writer, but they're interested in journalism?

[00:04:20] Ryan Hunt: It just takes reps. Um, even for, for, uh, four professional journalists. I, one of my close friends is Andrea Adelson at ESPN. I had her at, into my class on Tuesday just to talk about her career trajectory.

[00:04:35] Ryan Hunt: And she was, I was curious about how she got into. Uh, on camera work. Um, 'cause that was a, a kind of a, a lesson for some of our students. We weren't even thinking about that when we were in college. You know, we were just writing, writing, writing. But even for her, in, in, as she got into ESPN, she was saying that, oh, you know, they asked me to, to do some on air spots and [00:05:00] they, I had no training.

[00:05:01] Ryan Hunt: Uh, they just kind of put me in front of a camera and said, do it. And I was terrible, and like I couldn't get the, you know, I wa I wasn't getting it much actionable feedback, you know? So I think it, it, it, in all stages of this business, it, it's just really trying to understand how to reach an audience, looking at how other people are doing.

[00:05:22] Ryan Hunt: I, I personally looked at other journalists, see how they approach their jobs, the, the questions they were asking. How they structured their stories. You know, seeing what the questions I asked and reading what their end product was seeing. Okay, well here's, here's how we asked that questions. Here's the response he got, and here's how we structured the story within it.

[00:05:41] Ryan Hunt: So I was a, you know, afforded the opportunity to, to be able to watch some really good journalists at uf. Um, so that kind of, it was a, a, a benefit that I didn't really even realize at the time. But like, I, like I was saying, for anything. It's just doing it, like, just trying to practice and get [00:06:00] reps, whether you're writing, whether you're recording your own podcast, whether you're on trying to get on camera, where at work you're gonna get better with reps.

[00:06:08] Ryan Hunt: And also knowing how to take feedback. 'cause sometimes the feedback in this, in this industry can be harsh, um, can be, can be rough. Have to have a thick skin and, and, but also have, have a drive internally to say, okay, well that's, that was terrible. I'm gonna try to figure out a way to, I'm gonna make it better.

[00:06:28] Michael Oved: You mentioned your time at at uf, and I know in college you wrote for the independent Florida alligator for those in college now, what do you think is the best way to prepare them for a career in journalism?

[00:06:39] Ryan Hunt: We tell this to our students all the time, like get involved. Just get in the mix, like. I would not trade my experience at the alligator for anything.

[00:06:48] Ryan Hunt: Like I had a chance to work with some really great people on the staff there. I mean, many of the people at the Alligator who I, when I was there, went on to do great things in this industry. Andy Staples, I mentioned. Andrea Adelson. [00:07:00] Mark Long writes for, for the AP Israel Gire is on. Uh, pardon my, what was that?

[00:07:06] Ryan Hunt: Uh, that ESPN show. Uh, he's, he is, he is a, uh, an analyst on ESPN. Um. And Staples, like the list goes on and on. Like how at the same time we were also getting to watch, this is when also when I was in with school, Florida was one of the best college football programs in the nation. So there was numerous journalists covering every thing about Florida football.

[00:07:31] Ryan Hunt: Gatesville Sun was there every day. The AP St. Pete Times, Orlando Sentinel, Jacksonville Times, union National Journalists, all wanting to. You know, to, to ask Spurrier any question they could and, and get any morsel, um, you could from the football program. So, like I was saying in my, in the last question, I watched a lot of how those journalists approached their business, how they asked questions.

[00:07:55] Ryan Hunt: When they asked questions, why, what, what were the right questions to ask, questions to [00:08:00] ask, studied like their behavior and press conferences and, and in one-on-one settings, that was what we were, how we were trying to approach it. But. Don't also wait, like, I think one thing that co, that hiring managers look at, that's one thing that I looked at when I was hiring either interns or or entry-level staffers, was, was, did you make the most of your time at college?

[00:08:23] Ryan Hunt: I know a lot of people, you know, it is, it can be a balance between. You know, trying to get good grades and, and doing all the extracurricular activities and just having fun college they say is your, the best four years of your life. And, um, but also there's a way you can make the most of it, um, professionally.

[00:08:43] Ryan Hunt: And that's one thing that I, I actually didn't even start in the alligator until my, the, my third year. I waited a little bit. Um, however, I stayed an extra year because I wanted to try to get as many. As many opportunities as I [00:09:00] could. Florida was also, like I said, they won an action championship in 96, so I stayed until, uh, to cover the nine, seven season.

[00:09:06] Ryan Hunt: They were gonna be number one again, so there's no better beat to cover. I actually hope to parlay that into a full-time job.

[00:09:13] Michael Oved: The beautiful part of the story is just that you didn't start. Working at the alligator until later and And that really is just a testament to the fact that it's never too late.

[00:09:22] Michael Oved: It

[00:09:22] Ryan Hunt: is never too late.

[00:09:23] Michael Oved: There's so many students at college who come into college. They're juniors, they're sophomores, even seniors, and they say, I'm not involved with journalism. I have a passion for it, but it's too late for me to pursue it. What would you tell them?

[00:09:36] Ryan Hunt: It's never too late. I actually have a printout of a frames copy of the first article.

[00:09:42] Ryan Hunt: I, I wrote for the alligator, um, it is from March of, of, uh, of 95. It was on a, a Florida baseball player. It was just a, a feature article that they assigned it to me and I was like, I'm gonna make the most of this. I'm gonna try to tell the best story about Jack I, on my, I could, could possibly [00:10:00] find. I called his dad.

[00:10:00] Ryan Hunt: His dad listened to all of his games on the radio and like I was, and I was like, I wanna try to make an impression with that. We try to en encourage our students to get involved. Many different ways that they can, because in this industry you have to be versatile and you have to show that you can do more than more than one thing.

[00:10:20] Ryan Hunt: You know, whether that's being good on, on camera, you know, being able to, to host a your own show or whether it's on, on audio or a podcast, and I'll be being able to write and those, the common denominator for, for the three. But versatility is, is, is so important. So we, that's what we, that's what I'm telling our students is like.

[00:10:39] Ryan Hunt: You've got to try to be as versatile as possible, but also make the most of every opportunity and, and don't shy away from a challenge.

[00:10:46] Michael Oved: And so you graduated from the University of Florida in 1997. You got a degree in journalism, and then in 1998 you started at Sports Illustrated. How and why did you get a job there?

[00:10:56] Ryan Hunt: It was a little bit of luck, number one, like I said, I was, [00:11:00] I was hoping to, uh. To get a job at the Bradon. That was my goal. I thought I was like, I, I've covered the, the football team. For them, it's, it's a no brainer. They kind of drug their heels and like, oh yeah, we got a role, but we're waiting for approval from corporate, blah, blah, blah.

[00:11:15] Ryan Hunt: And at the same time, the, this is when digital was also starting to emerge. Almost all of the, my, my alligator colleagues went print, went into newspapers. C-N-N-S-I launched in the, at the end, uh, of 1997. So they were still building out their staff entry level. Uh. They were like looking for people just to help build out their website.

[00:11:41] Ryan Hunt: I didn't know anything about it. What I learned in, in college and what I ended up doing for my first job were, were two completely different things. You know, my first job was, was writing photo cut lines and editing photos for the website. Uh, and these photos were the size of like postage stamps, right? I didn't, I spent [00:12:00] three years at the alligator busting, busting my ass, trying to, you.

[00:12:05] Ryan Hunt: To, to find a beat job, and I ended up doing something completely different. Having said that, I also wanted to try to bet on myself and get in at the, at the ground floor of a really, of, of a prestigious organization. So I was working in the CNN Center working, we were collaborating with the people at CNN Sports and also with the, the group in New York, um, at the, at, at the magazine.

[00:12:28] Ryan Hunt: You know, they were still fi trying to figure out what their digital strategy was too. In, in, in the late nineties. People had it figured out, and I think if a lot of people had to do it over again, they would do things very differently given what we've seen over the last 25 years. But I, I wanted to bet on myself and, and try to, to.

[00:12:48] Ryan Hunt: Take a chance in a, in a role that I thought was, was emerging. Not that I was thinking that Prince was, was gonna be, was gonna do what it was over the, over the next two decades. But I was like, uh, you [00:13:00] know, this is a, this is a cool opportunity. Let me get in on the ground floor and, and try to make the most of it.

[00:13:04] Ryan Hunt: It was entry level, so we were all starting at basically the same place. Within the organization. So it also give me the opportunity to try to, to make a, a name for myself.

[00:13:15] Michael Oved: What would you do all over again?

[00:13:16] Ryan Hunt: No, I'm saying what the industry would do all over again. I think the industry, like giving everything away for, for free at the beginning of the internet, kind of set the course for where we are now in the industry.

[00:13:27] Ryan Hunt: Everybody expects to get journalism for free or especially on the web. You know, everybody would, would happily pay for a Sports Illustrated magazine or you're paying for. You know, today you're paying for Netflix and Hulu and Peacock and Paramount, but for great journalism, people are still unwilling to, to support, uh, journalism outside of maybe the like, stories like the Athletic, but I like, I think if, if everybody who was a decision maker.

[00:13:57] Ryan Hunt: Had to go back in time, they would've made [00:14:00] a more concerted effort to, to actually try to monetize content on the internet a lot more aggressively than they did because by giving away for free for so long, everybody just expects it. And here we are trying to make a, make hay on a, on an ad supported model.

[00:14:17] Ryan Hunt: Which isn't working for almost anybody at right now.

[00:14:21] Michael Oved: And so going back to your, starting off at Sports Illustrated, your first job there was an associate producer. You spoke a bit about that, and then you worked your way up to become editor in chief. What did you do that set you apart from the rest of the people you were working with, from your colleagues and, and how do you recommend that other people do the same thing?

[00:14:37] Ryan Hunt: Never turn down an opportunity. So if, if my bosses came to me and said, I want you to do this, I always said yes. Didn't matter what it was. Because the, the one time, if you're, if you get a reputation for. For saying no to things, they're gonna stop asking my, like I said, my first job was, it was editing photo cut lines.

[00:14:56] Ryan Hunt: It was writing photo cut lines. And, you know, working in Photoshop and adding photos [00:15:00] to the story, I wanted to write the best photo cut lines I possibly could. I'm like gonna research stats, I'm gonna write, try to find, and like I said, mind you, these, these things were that big at the time. It's not like these giant images that you know, that are beautiful, that are top of.

[00:15:13] Ryan Hunt: Stories now, even on mobile, like they're, they're much bigger than they were, uh, back in the day. Uh, but like the, the approach that I had was, I always say yes to every opportunity. And then, you know, even if they, if they asked me to do, you know, grunt work, I was gonna, I was gonna do it. I was just talking to one of the GMs of the, uh, of the g of, in the G league, um, at the college park Skyhawks, his, his name's Dan Starkman, uh, he was actually a former team manager.

[00:15:41] Ryan Hunt: On the University of Florida basketball team, and he kind of, he told me the story about if Billy Donovan asked me to, to mop the floor, I was gonna mop the floor as best as I could. I'm gonna, I'm gonna make this the, this Chinese floor you could possibly have. And I kind of had that, that same mindset of I'm just gonna do it.

[00:15:57] Ryan Hunt: I'm just gonna try to do it. Better than [00:16:00] anybody else here could I, I was competitive, uh, in my own right. So, not that I was saying that I, I was better than anybody else, but I wanted to try to do the job more thoroughly and more comprehensively quicker, and with no mistakes. Uh, so that, that was gonna be something that the, the higher ups noticed.

[00:16:20] Ryan Hunt: I then went on to, uh, I was the homepage editor, uh, for a. A decade. Uh, that is where I really learned about audience behavior. Just the, the stories that worked, the headlines that worked, how photos made a difference. Understanding how an audience, how somebody's a user thinks. Little tweaks that you can make to, to potentially get them to, to be interested in a story.

[00:16:46] Ryan Hunt: Like that's where I learned. I think that this is the one thing that really made the biggest difference for me is having a, an understanding of. What a, what a sports fan is going to gravitate to and click on [00:17:00] on the internet.

[00:17:01] Michael Oved: So then what is the key to getting readers to be interested in the story?

[00:17:04] Michael Oved: What's the key to grabbing their attention to crafting a story that they're going to wanna read?

[00:17:09] Ryan Hunt: We try to, to make it actionable for our readers. Like it, you know, not just for people who are sports fans. You know, one of the things that I would always. Kind of ask is, Hey, would, would my mom be interested in this story?

[00:17:24] Ryan Hunt: Like she doesn't like sports. Um, is this a headline and or story concept that would resonate with someone who isn't? Like, if it's a, like a, using the next example, like all next fans are gonna be looking for, for that. But how can you, how can you make an SEC fan care about a big 10 story? How do you make somebody who looks.

[00:17:44] Ryan Hunt: The Patriots care about, uh, the Seahawks head coach, um, or what's happening in the, in the NFC South. Sometimes it's just really about trying to focus on a point within it that you think is like, okay, well this was, this was interesting. It really [00:18:00] encapsulate what the entirety of the thing is, whether it's one specific quote or one specific theme.

[00:18:06] Ryan Hunt: If you have 15 seconds to tell, tell me what this podcast, what this story. Is about what are you gonna tell them? If you can't tell 'em in 15 seconds, it's probably not a good story. Um, if you, if you can make sure that your headline or the way you're selling it incorporates and encapsulates that element, whether it's humor, emotion, things you can learn, all of those things are, are elements that help drive.

[00:18:34] Ryan Hunt: Curiosity.

[00:18:35] Michael Oved: So it's really just a matter of understanding your audience. It's a matter of tailoring the headline to what they want to see and giving them an actionable item, something that'll really excite them.

[00:18:44] Ryan Hunt: Yeah, I tell people all the time, put your, you need to look at sports media, not as just. As somebody who is in, is who's, you know, interested in the, the media side of it.

[00:18:56] Ryan Hunt: Put yourself in this, in the, in this, the shoes of a fan, of somebody who's [00:19:00] looking for this content. Where would you look for it if you're, if you're searching for something, you know, on Google and you can't find something about it. Maybe it's an interesting story. Uh, yeah, like curiosity and understanding.

[00:19:12] Ryan Hunt: You know, we look like, like I said, this, this kind of plays into like the baseball card story, but like looking back at, at the back of baseball cards to see stats, like we would look at the stats, stats element. We kind of, kind of shaped how I approached my, our journalism. Like, here's where and when and, and how people were reading this story.

[00:19:32] Ryan Hunt: Um, 56% of it came at after 6:00 PM meaning, okay. They wanted to, they wanted to sit back and read. They're not gonna be. Reading it during their workday. Um, trying to, that also helps, uh, kind of shape when and how we were sharing the story. Like if, okay, maybe let's push this one on weekends because it's a longer read and more people have time to, to lean back and kind of dig into a, a weightier heavier story as opposed to [00:20:00] something that's more news driven that can, that speed is, is a factor.

[00:20:04] Ryan Hunt: So yeah, understanding the audience and kind of digging into the data helped us. Formulate our plan for how we were approaching everything that we were doing

[00:20:15] Michael Oved: beyond the headlines. As editor, chief, you've. Seen many journalists. You've mentored many journalists. You've encountered many of them. What is the biggest mistake you see young journalists make, and what is the biggest mistake you think young people make when they're first coming into a company

[00:20:31] Ryan Hunt: trying to find the perfect opportunity and saying, no, get your foot in the door somewhere.

[00:20:37] Ryan Hunt: It's easier to find a job when you already have one by and large, but if you're gonna wait to try to like, whether it's a, if you're a student and saying, well, I love. Baseball, and I wanna make sure I stay in the southeast and I wanna cover the majors at least three jobs, credentially, um, or three markets, I should say.

[00:20:59] Ryan Hunt: Um, [00:21:00] that you're, that you're painting yourself into a very, very limited corner, right? So I think the, the, the biggest mistake that people make is. Is trying to be too fine with their search. But also, uh, as I mentioned, when you get in the door saying no to opportunities, like you, you have to take every opportunity when your boss is asking you something to jump onto some a story because you never know, uh, what it could be.

[00:21:23] Ryan Hunt: Uh, here's a good example of that, and I was a correspondent for the Orlando Sentinel in college. My boss at the time, Chris Harry, when you're a correspondent, you usually had to do things that the, the main beat writers didn't wanna do. Uh, if you had to go to practice every day, you had to run quotes, you had to do all the, the grunt work, but sometimes it was also covering things that, you know, the beat writer's, like, ah, you, you go do it.

[00:21:46] Ryan Hunt: I, I've, I've, you know, I've got all the things on my plate. So they signed me to cover Gator Nationals, which is A-N-H-R-A. Top fu, top fuel, funny car, car racing circuit. I knew absolutely zero [00:22:00] about it, less than nothing, but I wasn't gonna turn it down, you know? I was like, okay, well I gotta figure out one, like what am I gonna do?

[00:22:07] Ryan Hunt: Like, I have no idea who any of these people are. I don't know other stories, I don't know how it works. I don't know what the, the format for any of the tournament for, for any of the racing. It's not like the NDY 500 where you're, you're, you're driving around in 500 laps and that's an easy concept. A an in HRA events, there's a lot, you know, there's, there's a structure, there's formats.

[00:22:27] Ryan Hunt: But I started doing a little bit of research. One of the things I noticed was Larry Nance was on the roster of drivers. Larry Nance was the 1984 Slam junk Champion. So. I was like, well, that's weird. Like for one, like how did Larry Nance, who used to play for the, uh, the Cavs and Phoenix Suns, like get into an HRA racing and he's six 10.

[00:22:50] Ryan Hunt: Like, how does somebody like who's six 10 even fit into a one of these top fuel funny car machines? They, they built a [00:23:00] very specific way for him. I mean, he was, it was basically like, if you'd seen, was some of those commercials about like George who's seven seven and trying to fit into a one, those, those smart cars.

[00:23:11] Ryan Hunt: It was exactly like that. He's. Just kind all wedged in, even like small drivers are kind of wedged in, but just the whole like, like, so the curiosity about like, oh, how does, how does this even work? So I went there and actually that was the story I, I wrote from Gator Nationals. Sometimes when an opportunity presents itself, you never know, even if you know nothing about it, embrace it wide with your arms wide open.

[00:23:36] Ryan Hunt: You never know what you're gonna get, and you might even have something that turns out 30 years later to be. Uh, memorable story that you can cite about your, how you approached your know your job. So, uh, that's kind of one of the things that, that I say to students about the how not to, to make a mistake is.

[00:23:55] Ryan Hunt: Just embrace every opportunity because you never know might when you might not get the next one. [00:24:00]

[00:24:00] Michael Oved: And, and I think that's a wonderful theme really, that you've had throughout your career is just never say no, never say no. And, and I I like to say that this year is the year of Yes. And every year should always be a year of Yes.

[00:24:11] Ryan Hunt: Yeah. I mean, I, I think like, I'll, I'll couch that by saying you don't want to be taken advantage of, but it also like. You want to just develop a reputation to be someone who's reliable and who, who will go after it and try to do, be curious and creative about the way they approach it, like we'll do the best job that they can.

[00:24:29] Ryan Hunt: You can develop that reputation, which is how I think I emerged. Throughout the and and grew at si like you're gonna be asked to do more things, you're gonna be given more responsibility. If they see you can handle it, then that with that becomes more responsibility and that's how you grow. You also might, you never know who you might run, run into on the outside.

[00:24:48] Ryan Hunt: You could make an impression on somebody else who's. You know, from another organization who was at that, you know, at a game or or event that sees how you're handling your business, reads the, the, the [00:25:00] work you do and says, oh, that's a name I need to keep track of. And uh, you know, if we have an opportunity to hire down the road, that's somebody I might be interested it.

[00:25:07] Ryan Hunt: Athens, when, for me, all the time when I was in a hiring position, I would see how people approach their work and kind of, you know, work ethic is the hardest thing to see. From a resume you that doesn't, it's not palpable. So, but when you're watching people in the field and how they, how they handle their business and how they approach assignments.

[00:25:25] Ryan Hunt: Or shy away from them, that's when you, you, you get to see, um, who potentially is somebody you might be, uh, to look into, bring into, into your organization.

[00:25:36] Michael Oved: I think beyond that, and this is something we spoke a lot about with Nancy Gibbs, the the former editor-in-Chief of Time Magazine. Journalism is all about storytelling.

[00:25:44] Michael Oved: Success is all about storytelling. It's about pitching yourself. It's about pitching your story and letting the world see for themselves. Who you are. What to you is the art of storytelling and how can one properly develop that [00:26:00] skill?

[00:26:01] Ryan Hunt: I mean, I think you have the number one trait that all journalists should have is curiosity, right?

[00:26:08] Ryan Hunt: So if you have that to, to find the stories that aren't being told. That's, that's, that's a very tough, that's e way easier said than done, is trying to get at the crux of what's a good story. You know? I, so I think that's like, that's the challenge, right? Like not just knowing what a, what, you know, how to find a good story, but an interesting way to tell it how to get it.

[00:26:30] Ryan Hunt: How this is where interviewing comes into play, like the best interviewers are, are really good listeners. Um, uh, a story that we told at SI that was really impactful was the one about, uh, Sean Bradley, uh, the former 76 ER center, seven, six, uh, he got into a, a bike crash in, in Colorado and now is spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

[00:26:54] Ryan Hunt: Um, so he is a paraplegic. And how even a person who's seven [00:27:00] six like gets about like tries to function in, in, you know, without, in a wheelchair. It's, it's that, that just the logistics of that was, was, is, is complicating, so like, but then also getting, being able to get Sean to open up and kind of tug on those heartstrings.

[00:27:19] Ryan Hunt: I think the best stories in sports are really the ones that, that are either funny or emotional or. Or you learn something. Um, you know, we've always told people to take, take people where they can't go or tell 'em what they don't know. So how do you do that? Like, that's where the, uh, you know, that's where the science of journalism comes into play.

[00:27:38] Ryan Hunt: And, and I think it starts with, like I said, curiosity. Interview and listening. Um, if you, those three attributes will actually probably open, open the doors to, to more stories that are worth telling that you might not even know about.

[00:27:53] Michael Oved: I think even going beyond journalism life is all about pitching yourself.

[00:27:57] Michael Oved: It's all about. Telling the story of [00:28:00] yourself. Do those traits also apply to the art of storytelling within our general lives beyond journalism And, and how can we properly pitch ourselves to other people, tell our story to other people? What is the best way to do that?

[00:28:13] Ryan Hunt: Like, so you really have to sell yourself.

[00:28:15] Ryan Hunt: Um, if you can't tell yourself, like how are you gonna be able to, to sell your stories, right? So it starts with that, like the confidence you have to have that innate confidence. To be able to go up to, to somebody, look them directly in the eye and say, Hey, you know, this is what I can do. This is some of the work that I've already done.

[00:28:34] Ryan Hunt: Um, this is what I can bring to your organization. When you are in the, the role of being able to tell stories, if, if you can connect with somebody on a human level, build that rapport, build that trust with them, you're probably gonna get them to open up a little bit easier than you would if you're just coming in hot and just saying, Hey, tell me about.

[00:28:52] Ryan Hunt: And you ask kind of a general question that leads to a really nonspecific answer, and you go nowhere, right? So [00:29:00] yeah, I think the other factor that I think is really important for any journalist is empathy. But having that goes a long way, whether you're. In a newsroom, um, as a leader or if you're trying to, to find ways to connect with, with someone, you want to tell their story and building that trust.

[00:29:19] Michael Oved: And so based on all of your successes, all of your experience, I. If you were speaking to somebody right now who wants to be successful in journalism, successful in life, successful in any area of the world, what would you tell them?

[00:29:32] Ryan Hunt: I to have these conversations every day, you know, and this is what I love about it, this is why I actually went, got back into, into teaching.

[00:29:39] Ryan Hunt: Um, I never taught before. It was something that I wanted to, it was a wild career change. But I think the, the one thing about being an editor in chief is I was doing less of the, of the actual. Hands-on journalism, more of the, the p and ls and all the, you know, and the, the big picture strategy. I like the, [00:30:00] you know, getting my hands on, you know, dirty and, and working with people.

[00:30:04] Ryan Hunt: And that's what appealed to me about this role at, at uf. So like, we get those questions all the time, like, like, what do, what do I need to do? It's confidence, it's bet, you know, knowing how and when to, to bet on yourself, but also making sure you're, you know, this is not a nine to five profession. Like, if you want to do that, go work at a bank.

[00:30:27] Ryan Hunt: You have to be willing to, to grind in the corners. You never know when you know your phone will ring and you gotta be ready and, and able to, to jump on something at.

[00:30:42] Ryan Hunt: Everybody, all our students, uh, is to know how to write on deadline. Like, like you gotta be really clean, succinct, like prioritize your story, whether you're in journalism, whether you're in public relations, whether you're in television, [00:31:00] like you can write clean, you can write fast, and you can be accurate.

[00:31:05] Ryan Hunt: Those traits will resonate. Beyond, uh, just journalism.

[00:31:11] Michael Oved: And so onto the rapid fire questions, what is your favorite and what is the best rivalry in sports?

[00:31:16] Ryan Hunt: Well, as a Florida person, am I contractually obligated to say Florida, Georgia, Florida State? I actually think it's Auburn, Alabama. I think that's because there's the pure hate that comes for those.

[00:31:28] Ryan Hunt: They're, they're, they're. Poisoning trees. I don't know. Not that I condone that, but like Auburn, Alabama, like in terms of there's no pro sports in, in the state of Alabama that you are either one side, you're either crimson or you're orange and blue and there's nothing else. So the, I think there's all, I mean obviously Duke, Carolina and I tend to to, to lean to the college robberies more so than the pro ones, just because it's deep seated and.

[00:31:59] Ryan Hunt: [00:32:00] Franchises and the pros can, can get, vary in quality and if, you know, like Bears Packers, like great rivalry, like, but it's never gonna have like the same pomp circumstance that a, that a college football rivalry has. Having said that, I love the, uh, if you have never been to the, the, to Jacksonville, to the world's, our out largest outdoor cocktail party, I highly recommend it is one of the most unique games in sports because it's half red and black, half orange and blue.

[00:32:27] Ryan Hunt: It's a spectacle. Same thing with Texas, Oklahoma, which has the same kind of vibe. Those are the unique ones, and I hope that with all of these realignment and the way conferences are, are expanding that. That college football doesn't lose its soul, which is the rivalries, which is, which is games like this.

[00:32:46] Ryan Hunt: That's what makes college football great, in my opinion. And I hope that college football doesn't lose that.

[00:32:52] Michael Oved: Uh, I mean as, as a Harvard and I like to think the Harvard, Yale rivalry is, yeah, that's another great one. Yeah.

[00:32:57] Ryan Hunt: Like, and there's, I mean, life, I think if you have [00:33:00] passion and there's, there's that, that kind like.

[00:33:06] Ryan Hunt: There's, there's so many of 'em. I, I think that, like, I, like I said, that's what makes college sports great. I don't think you, you get that in Laker Celtics or, you know, any of the other like professional rivalries. Yeah. Like there, it's probably a little bit of rangers, islanders, like college football for me.

[00:33:24] Ryan Hunt: College sports for me.

[00:33:25] Michael Oved: And so what is your favorite and least favorite sports team?

[00:33:28] Ryan Hunt: I grew up in Tampa, so I've, I followed the Buccaneers the longest. They were terrible when I was growing up. You know, it was either two and 14 and the, the year they, you know, the years they got to six and 10 were, were good years.

[00:33:42] Ryan Hunt: So that's the, the, the, the team I've followed, I, I mean, not being at, at uf, like, I'm obviously helping students cover all of the, the University of Florida sports teams and it's, it's not what it was. When I was a, was a student, that's for sure, especially in [00:34:00] football. But, uh, but yeah, like I think the, you know, the, I tend to, to watch the Tampa team's closest.

[00:34:05] Ryan Hunt: Um, I'm a big Liverpool fan. I have a close, uh, close friend of mine is in their, is in their international development, the department. So we've over the past. 10, 15 years or so, uh, like that's been a big part of like our relationship. And I went to Kaku, got to go to the champion league final when Liverpool played Spurs in, in Madrid.

[00:34:25] Ryan Hunt: So those were like really cool experiences and, and like I said, as least favorite team I like as a University of Florida alum and a faculty member, I've contractually obligated to say either Georgia or Florida State.

[00:34:37] Michael Oved: Um, what is your biggest regret?

[00:34:40] Ryan Hunt: I don't have one. I don't think I always tell Blake.

[00:34:44] Ryan Hunt: People to focus on what they could control and like, that's the kind of, uh, mantra I live by. I, I I can't go back and, and change anything. I don't, I don't live with regrets. I bogeyed number, uh, number 18 today, that, that. That, uh, [00:35:00] kept me from shooting, uh, under 80 for the first time. So maybe I'll go with that, like bogey 18 this afternoon, this morning.

[00:35:07] Michael Oved: Got it. And, uh, what book do you recommend?

[00:35:11] Ryan Hunt: The one I'm reading right now is, uh. There's a book called Intangibles by Joan Ryan. She was a long time, one of the first female columnists in the country. Uh, she worked for the San Francisco Examiner. Joan is gonna be in the inducted into the UF Hall of Fame, uh, co UF sports, CJC, uh, ring of Honor.

[00:35:31] Ryan Hunt: So it's our sports, uh, ring of Honor, along with, uh, George Solomon, who is the, uh, former, uh, force editor of the Washington Post and Red Barber, who was one of the. One of the iconic baseball announcers, uh, from the Yankees back in the, in the mid fifties. So Joan, her, her most recent book is on the, on the psychology of a locker room.

[00:35:54] Ryan Hunt: So, like I always find though that fascinating too is like just how [00:36:00] locker rooms tick. You always hear about like, oh, this person's gonna be a problem for the locker room. That's why we don't need to add this, you know. Somebody of this who, who has bad attitude or something like that. Just how the psychology of locker rooms tick.

[00:36:14] Ryan Hunt: So that's one that I'm reading right now. Favorite book of all time. Just depends on the day, I guess.

[00:36:21] Michael Oved: And what is the quote that you live by?

[00:36:23] Ryan Hunt: So, you know that scene in the office where Michael Scott's got it on the, on the board, like you miss a hundred percent of the shelf. You don't take Wayne Gretzky, Michael Scott.

[00:36:32] Ryan Hunt: Like, so it's that like, like, uh, with the Michael Scott flare to it, like, but it's true. Like if, like that's one of the things that we. Writers all the time. You literally miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take. If you're saying no, it's just something you never know what could have come from it.

[00:36:49] Ryan Hunt: So yeah. Michael Scott,

[00:36:51] Michael Oved: by the way, is my favorite TV show of all time, the Office. The last question is, what is your fondest sports memory?

[00:36:58] Ryan Hunt: Well, I've had the good fortune of [00:37:00] seeing my alma mater win a national championship in person, in both for the first time in both football, the 96 National Championship when they beat Florida State and basketball when they won in 2006 against UCLA.

[00:37:14] Ryan Hunt: Got a chance to cover seven Super Bowls, go to the Masters. Um, the, the coolest thing I've ever seen was I got to be at game 1 62, uh, when the rays rallied. To beat the Yankees and, uh, make the playoffs in the last day of the season, uh, in the 13th. And they, they homer with two outs in the ninth to tie the game.

[00:37:36] Ryan Hunt: They wrote rally from seven oh deficit in the eighth inning. The Dan Johnson homed with two outs in the ninth, and then Evan Longoria hit the, uh. 315 foot, like little line drive over the short wall at Tropicana Field to knock out, sorry. The Red Sox from the playoffs and the, that were raised made the, uh, the wild card.

[00:37:54] Ryan Hunt: That was 2011. I, it was like one of the coolest things I've ever had a chance to, to be [00:38:00] at. I think that's a memory that I got to go with my dad, and that's a memory that I'll, I'll have forever.

[00:38:07] Michael Oved: As a Yankees fan. I don't know if that makes me too, um, too excited. But

[00:38:13] Ryan Hunt: the Yankees ended up, had already made the playoffs that year.

[00:38:15] Ryan Hunt: This was for the, the last wildcard, so it knocked the Red Sox outta the playoffs. But yeah, like, and, and the Rays at that time too, weren't. They weren't on the run, like they're on, they've been now where they make the playoffs consistently, pretty much over, over the last few years. In 2011, they, they weren't making the playoffs that regularly.

[00:38:32] Ryan Hunt: It was a rarity. So it was like this, the, the special moment of seeing an epic comeback last game of the season, plus making the playoffs for one of the rare times in franchise history. That was awesome.

[00:38:44] Michael Oved: I mean, knocking the Red Sox out. You, you got me. This has been an absolute pleasure to speak with you.

[00:38:50] Michael Oved: Uh, thank you again for your time, Ryan. Your words of advice and, and your trajectory of your career has been so inspirational, so we really appreciate you taking the time.

[00:38:58] Ryan Hunt: Thanks, Michael. I had a fun. Of

[00:38:59] Michael Oved: course. [00:39:00] Thank you for listening to 30 years. In 30 minutes. Don't forget to like and subscribe and let us know in the comments if there's anyone else you want to hear from.