Okay so you remember last week when I said that the Mitch Hilligoss interview was the last of our Throwback Thursday posts? Well apparently I am a dirty rotten liar because I ran across this interview with now former Trenton Thunder beat writer Mike Ashmore and wanted to share it again with the readers. Enjoy and wish Mike a farewell as he will not be covering the Trenton Thunder anymore this season.
The Greedy Pinstripes: Where did you get your start in writing and journalism?
Mike Ashmore:
I always wanted to do this, I just never really knew how to get into
it. Always liked sports, always felt like I was a good writer...just
never knew how to put the two together. Anyway, I was taking some
journalism classes at Raritan Valley Community College with the
Somerset Patriots beat writer for the Hunterdon County Democrat at the
time, Scott Stanchak. I happened to be looking at some photos I'd
taken at a Patriots game, and he asked me if I'd be willing to help
him out during the season...so I got my start doing photos for the
original PatriotsBaseball.com, and branched out into features late
during my first season in 2003.
TGP: Did you always want to be a journalist/blogger?
MA:
Kind of addressed this in the first one, but yes. And I hate the term
blogger. There are people with blogs who can write circles around me,
no doubt...but there's a difference -- to me, anyway -- between a beat
writer with a blog and someone who is unfortunately not granted the
same access. Doesn't make their opinion any less (or more) valid, but
"blogger" has always felt like a derogatory term to me.
TGP: You're name is everywhere now. I think I even heard it on ESPN one time. How awesome is that?
MA:
It doesn't suck. But the reality of it is, it's cool for a little
while but doesn't do a hell of a lot for your career. It's something
neat to add to my resume and have my friends bust my balls about, but
it ends there. I'm exceptionally grateful to be in a position to
where things like that can happen to me, of course...and maybe it's
because I'm a little later on in my career, but it's not a super big
thing.
TGP: How long have you been doing this? By my count you are in your 14th year of covering sports and 11th as a Trenton Thunder beat writer.
MA:
While I do joke about being an old man frequently, I'm thankfully not
that far into things. I started when I was 20 in 2003...this is my
tenth year overall and my ninth of doing the Thunder. It's my seventh
year as the beat writer for the Democrat, my fifth doing the Thunder
Thoughts blog and my third backing up Josh Norris with The Trentonian.
TGP: How excited are you about the possibility of Mason Williams, Angelo Gumbs, Dante Bichette Jr, Tyler Austin, Gary Sanchez, etc all being on the same Trenton Thunder team?
MA:
I honestly don't look that far ahead. Of course, having a
prospect-laden team will be fun. But there's also a lot that's been
made about the current squad being essentially devoid of top guys for
most of the year, and this may be the most fun team I've been around
in Trenton in a while. And pitching excites me more than anything
else...none of those guys you mentioned will be on the bump.
TGP: I know you have to be unbiased, or at least appear that way, but be honest do you ever find yourself favoring certain prospects over others?
MA:
I always try to write in a way so that nobody would ever know what my
favorite teams and so on were if you didn't know already. I've always
admitted that I was a Red Sox fan for a while -- long story...the
Thunder were affiliated with Boston during the years I went as a
fan...but at the same time, you do this for long enough, and the fan
and the fun both get sucked right out of you -- but I don't think you
could ever tell that was the case while it was the case. I can't
exactly pinpoint the time where I kind of stopped being a fan...but I
can tell you that I barely even watched the second World Series win
because I didn't really care. So it was a little bit before then. So
as far as I go, there aren't any real team biases...even in my NHL
Playoff stuff...I'm still a big Rangers fan, but I took a lot of pride
in the fact that you'd never be able to guess that if you read my
coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals.
To answer your original question...I root for a few things...quick
games, my story and good people. But I don't favor one guy over
another in my coverage. If anything, I base who I focus more on based
on who the fans are more interested in.
TGP: Most famous person in your cell phone?
MA:
There's a good amount of big leaguers in there, but nothing too crazy...
TGP: Most embarrassing song/artist in your ipod?
MA:
I'd think the Mashmore98 Twitter handle -- at least the "98" part --
should be a real good indication of that. Pleeeeeenty of bad 80's
stuff and boy bands, etc.
I've been reading your blog for almost 4 years now and I appreciate all the hard work and videos and such that you put into it. Seeing a guy like you get to where you are at, and where you could go in the future, makes me want to do this and succeed so much more. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for us and our readers and we wish you nothing but the best in the future in all aspects of your life. Keep growing that red playoff beard buddy!
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| I Just Love This Picture, LOL!! |
Follow Mike on twitter @mashmore98
