It’s kind of fitting that today, Sam Amick announced his move from the Sacramento Kings beat writer at The Sacramento Bee to AOL FanHouse on a newspaper’s blog.
On Hardwood Paroxysm a couple of posts ago, I mentioned Sam being one of the mainstream guys who toes the line exceptionally well between old school journalism and new school media. And this move from The Bee to FanHouse just proves that point even further. Sam has been accepting of where the world is going in terms of sports coverage. While many people seem to pass off blogs and bloggers as nothing more than a momentary nuisance, Sam has recognized their place and had a working relationship with many of us.
FanHouse often gets those who have been jettisoned from their beat or their column with newspapers due to the changing economy, fledgling newspaper business, and buyouts being the best business practice. But this time, they’re going out and getting a guy who is not even hitting his prime yet in terms of what he does. I’ve contended for a couple years now that Sam was the best beat writer in the business. Even in an area that has heavy hitters like Jason Quick, Jerry Zgoda, and Brian Windhorst, Sam has been as good if not better at what he does. He crafts features beautifully, makes unwatchable games into very readable game stories, and isn’t afraid to mix it up with local personalities when they’re talking out of line.
But overall, Sam is just a hell of a nice guy. He’s had a good relationship with Tom Ziller for quite a while now and when I began covering the Kings back in June, he was quick to approach me and offer any help that I might need. He even let me tag along with him during the Las Vegas Summer League and show him the enemy’s quarters at Blogs With Balls 2.0. In my short time covering the team, my knowledge of what to do and how to do has grown exponentially thanks to him. Now, Sam is kind of becoming one of us. He’s now an internet personality with a boatload of talent still to be cultivated.
I’m excited for Sam to be moving to FanHouse because it opens up his reporting world to the entire NBA. It’s a world that has seen J.A. Adande, Chad Ford and Marc Stein become the scribes of the biggest sports entity in the world (check the banner up top). It’s a world that Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears routinely dominate with their amazing work at what used to be just a search engine.
Now, Sam Amick is the next guy in line to do this. Welcome to the internet, Sam; be sure to grab your Mountain Dew and Cheetos.
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