T&R: You've talked about being a homer in journalism. You were someone who wasn't afraid to say you were rooting for the teams that you were covering.
Ryan: Right. I rooted for them internally. It's good business for the team to win. Why would people not want their home team to win, I've never understood that?
T&R: Ask Dan Shaughnessy.
Ryan: I know. We're good friends and no one has my back more in public than Dan Shaughnessy, but we disagree on this and that's fine. I don't understand why you wouldn't want them to win. They're happier people, it's a better circumstance, the fans are more receptive. I don't know. You root for them internally. If they don't win, you sit down and write the story. It's not about objectivity, that's a ridiculous point. It's about fairness. It's about intelligence, competence, and fairness, alright? And back to the thing I said about developing the trust. If all you do is praise, praise, praise, that kind of gets old and it doesn't mean anything, but if people know you know the difference between not only good and bad, but good and great, your praise means something. That takes a while to develop, but I like to think I've developed that kind of circumstance covering that team.
T&R: It makes sense. You're with a team at least 82 games a year, you would probably go crazy if you were completely indifferent to what they were doing.
Ryan: It's all about temperament. One of my friends, Alan Richman, covered the 76ers, who were 9-73. I can't imagine covering a team that was 9-73, but he was detached. He wasn't emotional like me. He thought journalistically it was fantastic. He didn't mind. I would have found it very, very difficult, but he didn't seem to mind it at all.