Discussion: Boston Globe: Sisters heading in right direction

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/running/...

Nice article! It seems to have a couple of the usual idiosyncrasies that come with reporters learning about and describing something new, but that's par for the course. It's refreshing to see orienteering presented as a sport (rather than as a bizarre niche activity with a quirky cult following).

Can everyone speaking to reporters in the future please refrain from using the word compass? References to finding one's way with a compass are bad taste as much as pajamas.

Nice writeup! I also put less emphasis on the map and compass aspects when I first tell people about orienteering. I tell them that it is an off-trail mostly unmarked running race, extreme running if you will. A map is provided to show where the checkpoints are and where the terrain is fast and slow. They tend to get a more excited about it then if I call it the thinking sport.

ouch, it helps do math, turn down invitations for dinner, drive a car to an amusement park...

Actually it's not so bad, but I'm in favour of O being presented as a sport where one runs as fast as possible and at the same time tries to navigate...

good work!

Turn down dinner invitations, perhaps, but not invitations for dessert...

It's hard to do an interview over the phone :) All the information about how orienteering works the reporter got herself from websites, so we didn't do much of the basic explaining to her. Also, as if probably always the case, she only chose certain parts of what we said to include in the article. I think I spoke about the sprint race, and how it was fun and different to run through a horse track and amusement park, and it gets added into the article as if that's what we do all the time... oh well :)

Nice article. And a great reflection on how well you two are doing!

Samantha: Also, as if probably always the case, she only chose certain parts of what we said to include in the article. I think I spoke about the sprint race, and how it was fun and different to run through a horse track and amusement park, and it gets added into the article as if that's what we do all the time... oh well :)

Yes, reporters usually latch onto whatever seems zany or otherwise attention-grabbing. As I said, that's par for the course. Still a nice article!

This morning's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has a brief story on the local interest side of the US champs. bishop22, your doing?

Did you get that kind of publicity in Boston? This was clearly a good move for you.

feet is a ranking Democrat! By the way, how did you do in the Bassmaster's Classic? It doesn't mention you there.

I sent a brief note to Gary Fallesen, who must have done some additional research, as a follow-up to this very nice story that he did on Nate - it was actually on the front page of the D&C on Memorial Day.

I got the printed version today from a neighbor (we had stopped the Globe while on vacation) and the pictures of Sam and Hill were terific, big shots of them at the finish and running in the chute of the sprint. Wish they had those online.

Of note is this quote: "The Lyonses did seven races in eight days in Wyoming and Colorado, where orienteering crowns its true national champions."

Rochesterians know where true orienteering occurs!

Really good stories, both of them.

How did these great articles end up in a Democratic newspaper? There's much better places to put them.(like a Republican newspaper)

Let's keep politics out of this, Adam.

Uh, I guess that was supposed to be a joke...? Just in case it wasn't, Adam, the D&C isn't a political paper. But they do have my absolute favorite movie critic! And I once appeared on the front page of the Sunday paper in full color! That must count for something.

These are all good articles. Is someone keeping a list of links or an archive of "O people in the news" or somesuch?

These are all good articles. Is someone keeping a list of links or an archive of "O people in the news" or somesuch?

I've started to archive a few articles at the RMOC website. I especially like the one published recently by one of our members, Dougald MacDonald, in the slick "5280" magazine. (Note that the article starts at the bottom of page 1.) Dougald regularly attends our local meets, in addition to being a writer, so his article does a great job of explaining what orienteering actually entails...

RMOC Document Repository

Yeah, politics doesn't belong here. They're good articles wherever they are. I wish there were more like these.

Cristina wrote: These are all good articles. Is someone keeping a list of links or an archive of "O people in the news" or somesuch?

Try the USOF website, Media page, "Articles and Videos about Orienteering". :-) I add good articles when I see them; I'll make a note about the Boston Globe one...

Let me know if you find broken article links and I'll remove them.

Competitors are provided with a compass.. like people mentioned here that's what reporters do.
maybe they should mentioned that in 2001 at the WOC in Finland , Pasi Ikonen won without a compass ( I'm pretty sure about that ), maybe was not provided ?!?!?!, because after that, he was provided with one ( sponsor probably got angry ), don't know if he's using it.
anyway great article overall and well done, girls !!!