Cost my son/long-snapper a scholarship and I will 'end' you

A lot of this isn't the reporters' fault. They're told to do this by their bosses, many of whom either have no clue how to cover a game, or haven't done it in so long that they've forgotten how much work it is already without the additional stuff.

I'm fine with tweeting scoring plays, or updates at certain points in the game like the end of the quarter, but play-by-play is just a waste of energy.

 

One of my initial thoughts was exactly this. It also tells me you cover college sports or at least some recruiting.

 

I really struggle with staying on the ball with Twitter during a game. Half of the venues I'm likely to cover a game at have very limited cell signals, just really unlucky local dead zones, and/or freaking lead-lined gym walls.

Anyway, taking photos is the main reason. I keep a running play-by-play on a notebook, too, and between those two, I usually remember about 10 minutes after a TD that I forgot to send out an update. Then it's like, "Do I bother now or wait and send out a quarter or a halftime score?"

I really need to focus a bit more on it and scale back photos a little.

 

I think writing that article was a mistake for the sports editor and the newspaper.

I imagine it was an awesome one to write. We all dream of using our soapboxes to make assholes we encounter look stupid, right? Still, it's petty, and at 720 words, way too long. 100 words could have made the same point.

If the writer here really wanted to address the issue, I think he should have written a column, explaining his process and ambition with Twitter during games, his philosophy on positive vs. negative coverage of high schoolers and why he felt the confrontation was so out of line. I think he seems to be in the right on all of that, but it to me it's a more mature way to show the coaches to be what they are.

In my experience, most people in a town like Parsons probably already know this coach is a jackass. In similar (albeit not quite as intense) situations, we made sure the school admin knew. A few words to the principal (or the superintendent, for one particularly persistent piece of shit wrestling coach) put the matter to rest without it impacting coverage of the team or requiring us to get more serious.

 

No one ever accused Mr. Frye of being an intellect. His feature from last summer.


COLUMN: Social media behavior of local athletes must change.

By Sean Frye
Parsons Sun

Every morning when I wake up, I immediately check my cell phone, and part of that process is updating my various social media accounts. Thursday morning, I found my Twitter timeline littered with tweets from what was apparently a party in Coffeyville that was apparently broken up by local law enforcement. From my @PKSunSports account, where I follow any local student-athlete that I come across to help promote the brand of the newspaper, I saw players from at least four high schools in my coverage area brag about being in attendance. Their expletive-laden posts boasted about their underage drinking. Two athletes at one school even posted about being placed in handcuffs. I sat there in my bedroom and thought to myself, “Where are the parents and authority figures that guide this young boys and girls?” My parents, as much as I rebelled and argued with them as a teenager, set limits on me. My social media accounts weren’t just monitored, but actively policed. It’s almost too easy to set up automatic alerts anytime somebody tweets, these sites have built-in systems for anybody to immediately know about any post from any person they follow with no effort given. I rarely, if ever, curse on my social media accounts. Even when I do — you can count every instance on one hand — it’s still mild and within the context of whatever conversation or event I’m speaking on. Yet, local student-athletes around this community, and around the country, have seemingly lost their way when it comes to social media practices. This is turn creates a negative image of what the community stands for. Schools have yet to catch up to technology and are too wary of civil liberties to police social media. At my high school, cell phone service was blocked inside the building. So any cyberbullying or questionable posts at least weren’t happening inside those walls. But athletics provides a unique opportunity for coaches and athletic directors to establish far stricter standards for social media, and all walks of life for that matter. Playing sports is a privilege, unlike attending school which is a right. So coaches in turn can create their own codes of conduct. Part of this in the future absolutely must be tighter social media policies. At Kansas State, Frank Martin banned Twitter and Facebook for a season. It wasn’t because players were blatantly misusing it, but rather it protected our players from the harrassment of fans. Banning social media all together isn’t necessarily the answer, although I guarantee that will eliminate many problems during season. However, it takes almost no effort to police a student-athlete’s Twitter or Facebook. A no-cursing rule for all local student-athletes should be the bare minimum for every local coach. Athletics and social media are two of the biggest factors in what defines a community’s character in the 21st century. Social media is undoubtedly a positive innovation. It helps promote worldwide discussion and connects people in ways never before possible. For me personally, it’s also a terrific way to keep the public informed in real time. I tweet my news before I post a story online. But too often, the behavior of local student-athletes of all levels is, as one person on Twitter said, disgusting. That has to change. And coaches have to lead the charge.

 

Ugh.

 

Sean Frye deserves no gold star. ...

 

It gets worse, friends.

 

K-State student journalist sparks international incident
March 12, 2012 By Cathy Dawes
2 0 0




A Kansas State University’s student newspaper column that questioned why students from countries unfriendly with the United States are allowed to attend public universities has raised some recent controversy.

Sophomore Sean Frye suggested in the Feb. 24 issue of The Collegian that legislation be passed to prevent the enrollment of students who “could, in the near future, become the enemy.”

Frye’s column targeted students from China, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey and incorrectly stated $7 million in state and federal funds is spent each year to educate international students at Kansas State. University officials say that international students pay about 2 .5 times more in tuition than in-state students.

The Collegian later published an apology by Frye, with the newspaper’s editor-in-chief apologizing the next day.

- See more at: K-State student journalist sparks international incident

 

What's your beef with the guy that has you dragging his old stuff out for critiques today?

 

As a journalist, I am putting out facts instead of opinions. Be glad Sean Frye doesn't work at your newspaper.

 

Why do you have a beef with me? Do you have a problem with facts? You are a journalist, correct?