It’s not uncommon for a newspaper reporter to change beats. Covering the same exact thing, day after day, has benefits but can also be tiring. Having spent eight years at The Washington Post, I’ve seen three journalists cover the Washington Capitals beat. Rachel Alexander/Nichols did a fine job, and has moved on to much better things at ESPN. Jason La Canfora then did a good job before being promoted to cover the Redskins. Then came Tarik el Bashir, who had a much greater sense for hockey than most Post journalists (particularly the columnists). Sure, that’s not saying much considering the criticism of The Post’s hockey coverage, but Tarik has definitely improved it over the past five years.
My first encounter with Tarik was during the lockout season several years back. I ran into former Capitals captain Jeff Halpern at the now-closed Hockey Stop in Rockville. Halpern said he was going back to Europe to play for a team. I e-mailed Bill Grant, my former boss and washingtonpost.com sports editor, who e-mailed Tarik who called Jeff and then wrote an article about it. I didn’t actually meet Tarik then but when I finally met him years later in the Capitals press room, he actually remembered that little story. He also thought it was hilarious that we named our blog “Capitals Outsider” which was a play on words for his Washington Post blog, “Capitals Insider.”
Over the next couple season I got to watch Tarik work. He had the most demanding job of any journalist in the Capitals press room. He had a great sense of humor, and it was great watching him interact with the players and coaches since he knew them better than the other journalists.
So when he stepped down from his beat to focus on NASCAR, Georgetown basketball and his family, I wasn’t surprised, but I knew I had to write a tell-all tale about the dirty secrets behind his work. So I wrote “A Tribute to Tarik el-Bashir” for Capitals Outsider.
Tarik’s response: “Oh my god. Never thought I would see that. Thanks man.”
And Ted Leonsis’s response: “That is very nice of you although although early on he didn’t like the bloggers for the Caps at all:-). Ted”
Well, THAT I didn’t know. You lose, Tarik! Bloggers forever!