Trendsetting and trailblazing – this HuffPost reporter shoots straight sports talk.
A 2,400-mile barrier can’t stop New York resident Jordan Schultz’s love for Seattle. Born and bred in the Emerald City, 25-year-old Schultz debuted as a collegiate basketball player for Seattle University before transferring to a liberal arts school, Occidental College, outside of Los Angeles and making his way to the Big Apple to pursue his journalism dream.
Growing up in the shadow of the Kingdome and under the lights of the Key Arena, Schultz is a diehard Seattle sports fan who fondly reminiscences about Edgar Martinez’s 1995 double that took Ken Griffey, Jr. home and the Sonics’ run to the 1996 NBA Finals.
Although he was an All-Conference third baseman, six-foot-three-inch Schultz forwarded his focus to basketball. He was a preseason second team All-State selection at shooting guard at University Prep High School, where he led the team to the state championships for the first time in the school’s 28-year history by going five for five in three-pointers and scoring 21 points in the first quarter.
After four years of college basketball, Schultz submitted an 11-part video tryout series to the NBA D-League, where he earned a call back to the vaunted “second stage.” However, the powers that be decided to go with three-time NBA All-Star Antoine Walker instead, which Schultz humbly apprehends.
It was a natural reaction, then, that when his basketball career ended he introduced his love for sports to his primary passion: writing.
From the L.A. Times to Fanhouse.com, an AOL-franchised sports site, Schultz is a rising sports reporter and in the hot seat as The Huffington Post’s sports columnist. As a yougen on the staff, he said he is trying to build one of the hottest and most loyal following of sports fanatics at the HuffPost, with posts garnering views in the six-figure range.
As an influential sports reporter, Schultz has covered both the NFL and NBA Drafts, reporting on the NBA Draft twice where he produced a behind-the-scenes look with an up close original video piece with the draftees. “This was an incredible experience for me,” Schultz said. “It only reaffirmed that this was where I needed to be and helped validate my young career thus far.”
With his national television initiation on MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown and regular radio spots across the country, Schultz’s two cents are available across a variety of media, but he insists that writing is still his true love.
You can read Schultz’s take on sports on the regular via his HuffPost sports column and blogs The Schultz Report and 10 Feet High, the latter of which was anthologized in “The Best Sports Blogs of 2010.”
In respect to his addition to the HuffPost, Schultz recognizes the level of talent by which he is surrounded. As a self-proclaimed “sports freak,” Schultz is able to use his passion for athletics and his understanding through personal experience to stand out in his field.
“I’ve just really tried to bring my own personal touch to the company,” Schultz said. “I try to be fair, honest and appeal to a variety of audiences. I really feel like athletes are starting to trust me as much as they can consider I’m a journalist, therefore giving me great information and access.”
Schultz said a breakout moment for him was producing a video exclusive with baseball legend Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals and manager and future Hall of Famer Tony La Russa. He also was able to pin down Magic Johnson for a private interview session to remember.
His spin on sports is certainly out of the ordinary thanks to his own athletic career and his intimate relationship with Seattle sports. And although he longs for Seattle’s “gloomy days” and his Mariners, Seahawks and Huskies, his profession keeps him objective and East Coast-bound. “I really miss the summers on Lake Washington, the people and the general atmosphere of that laid-back Seattle attitude,” he said.
Visiting a couple times a year isn’t quite enough for Schultz, who challenges any other misplaced Northwesterners to top his loyalty to his hometown. Evidence of his true fidelity: a Twitter handle that couldn’t be more Seattle-inspired if it tried. You can follow him @206Child.
S E A T T L E I T E 