Definitive Pac-Man story

There was talk when the Pacman story broke about whether or not the TEnn paper should send reporters to Vegas to look into the story. Some posters said free agency, the combine, and the NFL draft took priority.

Not surprisingly, ESPN beat them to it. And naturally, the story is a winner.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2790076&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

Probably the best piece i've seen on ESPN in a long, long, time. Very good journalism right here.

And before you say it's a matter of resources, Pacman is one of the five biggest NFL stories this offseason (IMO), and if you're the Tenn paper, the Titans are your main draw. The Tenn paper should have been there and had this story.

 

No, the Titans are not the biggest draw. It's UT damn near everywhere but Memphis, and it's not even close.

 

I can understand the case for Vols football ... hoops, too?

 

If they're good, yes. Hell, the Lady Vols draw quite a crowd at Thompson-Boling.

 

That is a great story, and Garber balanced it just right. I was expecting a sycophantic angle, and other than the one paragraph about "Maybe that's why he can't walk away from confrontation" I thought it was very nicely done. And yes, Nashville should have done that story, and yes, they should be ashamed that ESPN the Mag did it first. If your sports department is too busy with free agency, draft, combine, whatever, send someone from features.

 

angus garber rocks!! 8)

 

The Tennessee men’s hoops team was third in the nation in average attendance this season, if I’m not mistaken. The women led as always, and the football team was in the top five again, like always.

There’s no Bama-Auburn, Kentucky-Louisville … from just east of Memphis to about Asheville, N.C., and down to Dalton, Ga., the Vols are damn near a monopoly. And there are at least as many UT fans as Tiger High fans in Memphis.

I would argue that the Titans are just as popular as the Vols in Davidson County and Williamson County, though. Everywhere else, it’s not a contest.

 

Weird. I always see a lot of orange when I'm near there. And the football coach is a big UT fan who put checkerboards in the end zone.

I mean, there might be more Dawg fans there, but it’s not a vast majority, in my opinion.

Maybe we’ve just seen different sides of the hugeness that is Dalton.

 

The only logical explanation, of course.

There is a decade-old vacuum cleaner stuck in the kudzu behind a hotel balcony in Dalton, if that helps. I won't tell how it got there.

 

And here I thought someone was going to reveal the secret to the 26th through 30th boards of Pac-Man.

 

How on earth did this story "beat" The Tennesseean?

Hell, it quoted the Tennesseean. Quoted the Las Vegas paper, too.

And 93 percent of it was background, unrelated to the happenings in Vegas.

A good read if you didn't know Pacman's life story. But I suspect Nashville readers already do.

 

I was just about to post that same thing. Assuming this writer went to Vegas, what exactly did he gain over someone who made phone calls from Tennessee? Tough to call something the "definitive" Pacman story when the guy isn't even quoted in it, and there is little new information on the major topic surrounding him at this time. Great feature story, but I agree with BTE.