Fans on courtside

And the hockey box is precisely is where at least one major hoops program has sent some of its writers in recent years.

Uecker seats, to be sure.

Why do we need to be courtside? We don't NEED to.

However, being closer to the action allows you to see and often hear certain things you likely woudn't get in other spots. (Do you cover hoops?)

There was a hoops game years ago during which I got a great lede from what a player did in front of press row during a break in the action.

He was very chatty and he starts talking to us before an inbound play. He made a couple outrageous predictions he went out and backed up.

Great stuff I would not have gotten covering the game from Section X.

It's not about what we need or us digging in our heels ???

But being closer to the action, if you're observant, can help you write a better story for your readers. And I get rankled about anything that stands in the way of me doing my job to the best of my ability.

 

I don't like it, but I don't blame teams for doing it. College athletics is becoming more and more like pro sports on a daily basis. It's the reality. If they can get big money for the seats, more power to them.

All I ask for is a place where I have a little bit of room to work and the ability to get where I need to after the game. The second is more and more difficult to obtain. For example, at Wisconsin, you now have to fight through the crowd in the concourse after the game to get to the media room. It's a PITFA on deadline.

Indiana is also bad because it's hard to see at times. At Texas Tech, you feel like you're about 8,000 miles from the floor.

 

If college sports is becoming more of a business (and it is), then I don't want to hear any Gundy-esque remarks about how "These guys aren't professionals. Don't criticize them."

 

Got yer back on that Grampy... also wish I has Jerry Buss's balls in a vise for doing it...

 

It's tough love, and money prevails over a reporter's comfort at courtside or on the sidelines.

 

Totally agree. D-I program I cover keeps local daily print at courtside, with most other media folks in the end zones and upper corners. As long as there is power and an unobstructed view of the court, I'm good. Our arena is wireless, so I've got everything I need, without the courtside chair.

Someone earlier mentioned the possibility of charging print media admission to events. That's a totally different issue. If they charge us, they need to charge everyone else who is attending the event in a working capacity - ushers, concession folks, etc. I don't know many people who have to pay admission to enter their place of business.

 

Anybody ever covered a hoops game at Vanderbilt?

 

ADs and major-league owners have a right to do what they want, but that doesn't give them an exemption from being second-guessed. The guy at SU, fresh off a gig at USC, thought he could fill the sideline with big spenders, so he razed press row without taking the time to learn the Syracuse market.

The goal was purported to be to get $150 or more per seat. Doubtful that he's getting a third of that, while at the same time alienating folks. It's a good thing that Boeheim keeps winning despite the injuries and the annual quota of defections, or else folks would have more time to be ripping on AD Doc Gross for the press-row reconfig and his crappy, crappy, crappy, crappy, crappy choice of a replacement for Paul Pasqualoni.

 

Gross is a fucking idiot who learned at the knee of a bigger fucking idiot.

 

Yep, long time ago. Definitely different view but it was my first time in the building so it was more cool than annoying.

 

I was trying to be more gentlemanly. But as long as you mentioned it . . . um, yeah.