Does USA Today try anymore?

When I saw the post on the website saying Kobe has chance to become "best ever" with a win, it made me want to puke. It reminded me of the Peyton best ever stories leading up to the Super Bowl, followed by the Peyton can't win the big one stories within days.
Has someone outlawed perspective when it comes to journalism?

 

They have stopped trying at USAYesterday.

 

New is ALWAYS best. Ask the WWL.

 

The sections aren't as big as they used to be. The newshole has
clearly shrunk, and not just by a little.

 

If they did outlaw it, it was happening back in 1991 as well. As a Lakers fan, I can still vividly remember the USA Today poll during the 1991 Finals. It was either right after Game 5 or even before that game, and they had a poll asking if a victory meant Michael Jordan was the best ever. Hey, at least Kobe would have five rings. This was Jordan's first, and a guy he went against in those finals had a decent resume.

So sports, and everything else, has definitely been Shanoffisized the last few years - Best. Team. Ever., etc. - but it's not necessarily a new thing, especially for USA Today.

 

Heard somewhere in 1919 . . .

"I think they're the best, Hughie. The best ever."

"Time will tell, Ring. Time will tell."

At least one sportswriter had perspective.

 

I'm not sure if it's funny, lazy or just plain sad, but - along the lines with this thread - ESPN.com used the AP NBA Lottery story instead of having somebody, anybody for Christ's sake, cover the damn event and write something up.

 

Here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2010/news/story?id=5199693

 

ESPN generally uses AP for event coverage, and uses its writers to do analysis/feature pieces. Happens with bowl games, Super Bowl, etc.

 

Andy Katz would have been there, but he was sitting next to John Wall.

I think ESPN.com did fine.

Is the USA Today still trying? Yes. If you knew how many hours their best people were currently working, you wouldn't be asking this.

Not every story needs to have athlete quotes. They are mostly cliche-dripping lines of bullshit anyway. I'm sure David Wright/Mike Pelfrey could have mentioned how the Mets will take it one day at a time going forward, but how's that helping the story?

 

It's more machine now.