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By GREG AUMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 24, 2001
Steve Spurrier had his first online chat Thursday afternoon, a one-hour session at the University of Florida's official site, and everything ran smoothly for the Gators football coach until one tiny rookie mistake.
He forgot to say goodbye.
Spurrier charmed the crowd, which grew from 30 to a steady 140 or so with usernames such as BeachGator, Dawghater and Coach You Are In My Will.
He fielded questions ranging from his quarterbacks (he'll name a starter Monday), the latest motivational book he has read (Be Quick, But Don't Hurry, with wisdom from John Wooden) and even how he could never beat his Uncle Bob, from Charlotte, in tennis. When one fan asked, "How will Georgia be this year without Carter?" Spurrier quipped, "Quincy or Jimmy?"
The only thing missing was a thanks-for-stopping-by signoff, so the attendance awkwardly trickled from 130 to 20 or so before a moderator announced the chat had ended. Some fans grumbled, but others offered up a final "That rocked!!!" before leaving the room.
The key elements in a successful chat are more than a worthy guest -- there are also the people behind the scenes, typically a host to screen questions and a typist to, well, scramble.
"I'm a fast typist, but I'm not a court reporter," UF's Norm Carlson said this week, bracing for a strenuous keyboard workout from Spurrier.
Experienced chat producers say their secret isn't typing faster, rather politely asking guests to keep their words per minute in check.
"One thing we ask is just please talk slowly," said Sandi Karchner, an interactive producer at CNNSI.com who will try to keep up with the likes of Don King and Michael Johnson in upcoming weeks. "Sometimes they remember; sometimes they don't."
Spurrier was able to answer a new question every minute or so, and ESPN.com's Daniel Dodd said a good chat keeps a quick pace so fans aren't waiting long between responses.
"I just tell them that if they want to give short answers, we'll get to more questions," said Dodd, who runs as many as 15 chats a week. "But some people like to be more in-depth, too. We don't really care which way they go."
Dodd often sneaks into a chatroom a half-hour early to squirrel away a few good questions but said he likes a more spontaneous flow, with plenty of follow-up queries.
"It makes it even better because it feels like a more natural conversation, instead of just 20 random questions in a row," he said.
Dodd said he enjoyed running a recent chat with Zephyrhills High graduate Ryan Pickett, a rookie defensive tackle with the St. Louis Rams, and said in general the best chatters pull no punches.
"Boxers are always good because they're pretty forthright, and they like to talk smack with the room," he said.
Now that he's familiar with chats, Spurrier would do well to stop by ESPN.com on Monday when quarterback Byron Leftwich, who leads Marshall into Gainesville for next week's season opener, is set to chat at 2:30 p.m. Keep an eye out for detailed questions from Heisman66 or G8Rcoach or anything along those lines.
TID-BYTES: NBCSports.com has an interactive Pro Bowl feature, allowing fans to vote on their picks at each position. Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks are on the site's 28-man team and lead fan voting. The fans also favor the Bucs' Mike Alstott, Jeff Christy and John Lynch. ... Memorabilia from Cal Ripken's final stop at Tropicana Field is being auctioned for charity at devilrays.com. The bases used in Thursday's game, which feature a commemorative "8" on the sides, will be autographed by Ripken and had drawn a bid of $2,000 Thursday. If that's expensive for your tastes, you can settle for an autographed game-used on-deck circle that had drawn a bid of $1,000.
-- If you have a question or comment about the Internet or a site to suggest, e-mail staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com.