Page 26 Fall 1986
Joggler's Jottings by Bill Giduz, publisher Davidson, North Carolina |
"How
do we know, you weren't there?" by
Bill Giduz, IJA President
Though
disturbing at first, upon reflection I realized that a phone can
recently from a world-class
The
pro had a point. He asked, "Who said Anthony was the
greatest?" The article only referred to "experts" as
the source of the claim.
I
assured the pro that no IJA official would ever make such a statement,
because we are well enough acquainted with the field to know better.
In fact, the story didn't implicate the IJA. It began with the
experts' claim that Anthony was the best in the world and cited that
as the natural
Upon
request, I wrote a letter to the editor of the paper putting Anthony's
victory in its proper IJA perspective. The fact that he won our
championship meant that, according to a panel of knowledgeable judges,
he juggled better in this event than the other nine entrants. However,
because the field included only some of those jugglers generally
acknowledged as the most prominent worldwide, the IJA would not
declare its winner as "the world's best juggler." I added,
however, that an competition aside, Anthony definitely ranks in the
top echelon of jugglers worldwide.
The
immediate controversy passed, I wondered what it meant. Would a
reporter infer than an Olympic gymnastic winner is the world's best at
that discipline? That might be true simply because the event itself
attracts an the best in the field.
We
in the IJA sponsor the world's only juggling championship, but, unlike
the Olympics, it does not now attract all the top players in the
field. What it does attract, though, is tremendous media attention.
This year's event received coverage on an three national networks,
CNN, PBS, the Associated Press, countless Bay Area media outlets and Sports
Illustrated magazine. But the reporters sent to cover the event
knew little of the discipline and its major figures. A few who didn't
dig deeply enough may have looked for easy "hooks" to make
their stories more meaningful and sensational. The result in the Review-Journal
case was an overstatement that offended at least one world-class
juggler.
To
get a better understanding of events, I called the Review-Journal reporter
in question, Sergio LaIli. Yes, he said, his editors had heard from
the pro. "He's got a point," .Lalli admitted. "I didn't
poll
Lalli
said he decided to pursue the story after reading an Associated Press
wire story on the convention that mentioned Anthony was from Las
Vegas. "I don't cover juggling," Lalli said. "An I knew
was the
Lalli,
who got much of his information from Gatto's agent, Dick Lane, seemed
genuinely apologetic for his "unfortunate phrasing," but
felt most readers would understand the label as a "loose
reference." He said, "I just didn't realize phrasing it that
way would affect someone in the business. Anyone who read it should
know I'm not writing a professional juggling story, it was a story
about a young boy. If the point of the article was to write about who
the best juggler in the world was I would've gone into more research,
but that wasn't the point of it."
Lalli
is not alone in his sin. An article in a Chicago paper last year
reporting native son Andrew Head's 1985 win printed the statement,
"He won the I.J.A. championships, making him the world's greatest
juggler." I cringed when I read it then, as I did this time
around. But because it was a small article in Chicago rather than a
large headline in Las Vegas, those who would be offended never saw it.
Reporters
should be more careful. But IJA officials are careful not to mislead
anyone about the scope of our championships. Because we realize that
most reporters of IJA events don't know the field, we are explicit
about its limited significance. The name "U.S. Nationals
Championship" was a deliberate choice for clear identification of
the the event.
I
suspect the pro was miffed that Anthony got tremendous coverage for
one event, while the pro juggled brilliantly in relative obscurity in
the world's top clubs.
The
gathering together of jugglers and staging of a formal, well-run
competitive event will always get more attention than an individual
doing his job night after night. Such
is the growing power of the I.J.A. and its annual convention. We must
use it carefully.
As
juggling becomes more popular, members of the press seek out the
organization that represents the field. And when that organization
stages a championships event, the press pays attention. The IJA has
worked diligently for many years to increase the prestige of its
championships, and the press coverage of this year's convention
represents rich fruits of that labor.
We
can be proud of how far the championships program has come beyond
our immediate circle of friends.
We
have also been careful not to sacrifice other worthwhile convention
activities on the altar of competition. For that reason I make
no apologies to those who feel left out of the headlines, nor do I
accept responsibility for careless reporting. The championship is open
to all IJA members, and membership is open to all. Pros who want some
attention for their
As
Lalli told me in conclusion, "It's like |