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Jimmie Tramel: Ex-Sports Writer


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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel has revised the short bio on his Twitter account, and it's a doozy:

 

"Soon to be ex-sports writer, but not leaving news biz. Stay tuned. Best stories (sports pages & comic books) are about humans under the mask."

 

Not sure exactly what that means, but I'm guessing its safe to assume Jimmie will no longer be the Tulsa World beat writer for ORU athletics by the time the fall semester starts.

 

Which begs to question, "Who, then?".  And that's an important question:  Tulsa World coverage of ORU sports in general - and men's basketball in particular - is a vital cog in the PR machine for the program and the school.  Get the wrong guy pulling the strings on ORU coverage, someone with an axe to grind about "a school like ORU", and it could be a nightmare (see:  "Haisten, Bill" as an example of a Tulsa World sports writer who approached his ORU assignment more like a punishment than an opportunity).

 

Couple of possibilities for the gig:  previous ORU beat writer Mike Brown could switch back, but with Brown's workload covering boy's and girls high school sports and the Tulsa Shock, I think it's unlikely.  But if he does, there is no question he would be fair and level-headed in his coverage of ORU, plus he is very familiar with all the Summit League programs and history.

 

Brown's long-time-and-equally-overworked running buddy on the high school beat, Barry Lewis, logged the most recent Tulsa World story on the ORU athletic program (ORU Highlights In Southland Conference (Tulsa World 7/5/14)), and has infrequently covered numerous ORU events for decades (particularly women's basketball and baseball); so perhaps the gig is his, at least temporarily.

 

But, a possible dark-horse candidate might be Kevin Henry, who's by-line says "World Correspondent" on this recent article about ORU:  ORU Transitions Back To The Summit League (Tulsa World 7/4/14).  I've never noticed his name before on a Tulsa World article, though I don't always look at every by-line on stories that don't involve ORU.  A preliminary search of the Tulsa World website did not turn up much in the way of previous sports articles with his by-line.  Whoever he is, he did a respectable job on this piece - will be interesting to see if he continues covering ORU when Tramel rotates off the beat, or if that was merely a one-time deal.

 

If it does turn out to be someone new to ORU and its culture, I just hope they're excited and/or open-minded about the assignment - there's an awful lot riding on this from ORU's point of view.

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I remember Barry Lewis well from my days at ORU in the late 1980s- early 1990s when I worked in the Athletic Dept.  Always regarded him as a good guy and I respected him professionally then as I still do now.  I saw his commitment to ORU Athletics, especially baseball, back then, even when we were living the good life as an NAIA member (cough, gag, cough).  I think his character would be of service to ORU.  I can't say I'm as familiar with the others that OT mentioned. 

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Looking more likely at this point it will be someone new to ORU:  Brown and Lewis are entrenched in high school stuff, and Henry is actually a "stringer" who already has an 8-to-5 job.

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Since the Tulsa World has been purchase by Berkshire Hathaway, we will probably see a lot of changes.  In some cities, they have gone to over $20 to view the local paper on line.  Ray gripes that the sports page doesn't seem to reflect anything that happens after 9:00 PM and that the article and box score don't always match.  I just read with my hypothetical "Red Pen" and go nuts. Sentences that are started and never completed anywhere else in the paper.  A high school journalism teacher would be having seizures in the middle of the room.

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Some personal news: Thrilled to say I'm joining @tulsaworld staff at end of month as beat writer for Oklahoma State football and basketball.

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr)

July 17, 2014

 

I sure hope this means Bill Haisten will be covering the Thunder full-time, and not ORU - his first stint covering Golden Eagle basketball was painful for all involved.

 

Come to think of it, is there a possibility ORU simply won't have a dedicated beat writer on the scaled-down staff of the "new" World? 

 

That would be a first...

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OSU football/basketball.....isn't that Kelly Hines' beat?   maybe Kelly Hines picks up Tramel's duties of OSU football and ORU.

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OSU football/basketball.....isn't that Kelly Hines' beat?   maybe Kelly Hines picks up Tramel's duties of OSU football and ORU.

 

Hines is taking over coverage of TU football and basketball, which has not exactly thrilled Golden Hurricane fans who still miss Eric Bailey (now the OU beat writer).

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interesting.  i'm kind of hoping for a return of Mike Brown.  i thought his coverage of ORU was excellent.

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  • 1 month later...

checked TulsaWorld.com this afternoon to see if there is any update on ORU coverage (still nothing but ORU SID releases).   found that the sports blogroll has been updated to reflect staff assignment changes and the ORU blog is no longer listed.  i assume this means they will have no one dedicated to coverage of ORU sports. 

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thanks SOLO GOLD....at least we know they will have someone covering ORU basketball.  i still can't imagine that ORU coverage warrents someone full-time.    i tend to think they will have one of their HS writers or a stringer attend the ORU home games and write the game story.

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