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Are sports writers skeptical enough?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by The Commish, Aug 16, 2007.

  1. The Commish

    The Commish Guest

  2. Well, he's a bitter old chap, isn't he?
     
  3. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    Hilarious, only because it rings true.

    In the preseason, all we get is fluff, we have little to dispute it unless we want to dwell on last year and quite frankly, the fans want the fluff to reassure them that their team will be hanging banners at the end of the year. It is what it is.
     
  4. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    If you cover a shit team, it's your only time of year to write positive stories and keep your sanity.
     
  5. 20questions

    20questions Guest

    Love Reusse. He can drop the hammer as well as anyone when called upon.
     
  6. EE94

    EE94 Guest

    Great piece, and as true as Newton's Law.

    Ballsy to write it and admit to it.
     
  7. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    But they all try hard.
     
  8. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    And deserve just as much coverage as anyone else; if not more.
     
  9. TheMethod

    TheMethod Member

    A good, true, funny piece.

    Another of my favorites is how every year, coaches all the sudden get really frank about last year's team. "Oh, last year we had no chemistry. Last year we had no depth. We weren't mentally tough last year. I was a terrible coach last year." And we're all supposed to believe everything changed in 6 months.

    I don't see a solution to this problem, though. Maybe if you had daily access to practices, you could do a better job of countering the BS Machine, which is precisely the reason we don't get access to practices. But there's no way coaches are going to honestly address their teams in the preseason (most won't even do it during the season or after the season).

    And, regarding football, unless we've played or coached it at a high level, most of us wouldn't really know what to look for anyway.

    My only recourse has been to simply not write glowing coaches reports that I know aren't true, or to throw in contradictory information whenever possible.
     
  10. Babs

    Babs Member

    Absolutely fans are looking for optimism, and preservation of our audience says that's exactly what we should give them. If fans don't think their team at least has a fighting chance this year, why watch the games, and certainly why read the coverage.
     
  11. musicman

    musicman Member

    as a fan i agree. as a journalist, if you take that approach with said endgame in mind, that's horseshit.
     
  12. Meat Loaf

    Meat Loaf Guest

    Looks like another year of a few sloppy wins wedged in a mostly pointless season according to Podunk Pissants coach A.S. Shole.
    "Everybody knows that we went 2-9 last year," he began. "We're still low on talent, we don't have the numbers and I don't feel like trying anything different because I might have to work extra. We're just going to do the same tired things that didn't win us games last year."
    The only thing to look forward to is the week three opponent, the University of Idaho B-team.

    Is that better?

    But seriously, if you can prove that a shitty team is hurting your circ numbers, find something that will get people reading the paper. That's the only way we'll have a fighting chance of keeping employed, and that's the most important thing.
     
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