Help me again -- Why Is Pro Day A Thing?

[daytonadan1983]

I don't have that much of a problem with it as I used to .. heck, Pro Day usually produces a pretty good story.

But tell me why basically a job audition takes precedence over games that actually count, other than page views.

Just want to hear the great voices of this distinguished board.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Page views. Thats exactly it. Same reason State U’s mediocre mens basketball game gets covered over a volleyball playoff game, its what the readers care about.

People/readers love football. They love the NFL. They seemingly cant get enough of either.

Sure if youre covering Minnesota-Duluth you do a hockey game over pro day but at most places pro day will be the biggest thing going on and if youre at an Alabama or a Michigan etc its prob the biggest story of the month

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I don't have that much of a problem with it as I used to .. heck, Pro Day usually produces a pretty good story.

But tell me why basically a job audition takes precedence over games that actually count, other than page views.

Just want to hear the great voices of this distinguished board.

Endless speculation about the NFL draft has a mass audience. I dunno why, but I know it exists and that it's big. Pro Days give it speculation material.

 

[HanSenSE]

Like the NFL Combine a month earlier wasn't enough? And what could one possibly learn in these events that wasn't seen in game films?

 

[Alma]

page views

 

[Alma]

My particular favorite is the overrated line slob who started one game in college but had a 4 star rating, so he's there running a 5.4 40 and talking about how good it felt.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Like the NFL Combine a month earlier wasn't enough? And what could one possibly learn in these events that wasn't seen in game films?

Any number of players either aren't invited to the combine or skip it due to health reasons or because their agent says they should.

 

[MNgremlin]

Like the NFL Combine a month earlier wasn't enough? And what could one possibly learn in these events that wasn't seen in game films?

When hiring a reporter, does a newspaper solely hire based on résumé strength, or do they conduct a phone interview and bring the candidate to town for another interview? Game film is like the résumé, while the combine and pro days are the interviews. Not only that, but when teams are investing millions of dollars into these players, they want to be as confident as possible in their selections.

 

[HanSenSE]

When hiring a reporter, does a newspaper solely hire based on résumé strength, or do they conduct a phone interview and bring the candidate to town for another interview? Game film is like the résumé, while the combine and pro days are the interviews. Not only that, but when teams are investing millions of dollars into these players, they want to be as confident as possible in their selections.

Thank Tebow I never had to take the Wonderlich.

 

[Matt Stephens]

So the football SID can tell which beat you value more ... the football team, or covering the basketball team playing in the out-of-state conference tournament at the exact same time.

 

[flexmaster33]

The obsession with football. But I tend to agree...I'd rather cover a game or feature a player participating in the pro day, rather than covering the pro day as an event.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I always turn pro day into a feature on a player, typically the ones with the best chance of actually making it pro. Just seems like the natural angle to take for an otherwise boring event to me.

 

[Sports Barf]

When hiring a reporter, does a newspaper solely hire based on résumé strength, or do they conduct a phone interview and bring the candidate to town for another interview?

Well, depends what newspaper....

 

[daytonadan1983]

Okay, here's what happened yesterday..

1) The local shop sends BOTH a writer AND a columnist. My women's team made the NCAA tournament and they didn't come to one game during the season, but here they are at spring practice and *&^$ Pro Day.
2) I did what every SID would do -- pitch a golf feature and other assorted non-football.
3) Meanwhile, over at the track meet, my national runner-up in the women's indoor high jump makes her outdoor debut by winning the meet on her first jump that was the ninth-best jump in the nation.
4) I wrote the &*^$% out of Pro Day: Hope you enjoy it: Miller Makes The Most Of Pro Day - Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

 

[MNgremlin]

Okay, here's what happened yesterday..

1) The local shop sends BOTH a writer AND a columnist. My women's team made the NCAA tournament and they didn't come to one game during the season, but here they are at spring practice and *&^$ Pro Day.
2) I did what every SID would do -- pitch a golf feature and other assorted non-football.
3) Meanwhile, over at the track meet, my national runner-up in the women's indoor high jump makes her outdoor debut by winning the meet on her first jump that was the ninth-best jump in the nation.
4) I wrote the &*^$% out of Pro Day: Hope you enjoy it: Miller Makes The Most Of Pro Day - Bethune-Cookman University Athletics

Not all sports are created equally. Some simply create more fan/reader interest than others.

BC football averaged 6,078 fans per game. BC women's basketball totaled 6,203 fans for the entire season. Which one do you think more readers would care about?

 

[daytonadan1983]

I know, I know, I know .... and I already got my ass kicked once about this here on this wonderful gathering.

Let's go read Batman's Vin Scully post again and get a laugh.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

It also depends on your market.

In this corner of the world, Daniel Jones had a Pro Day ... the Duke quarterback is projected to go pretty high in the draft.

Do you think for a moment that it got more coverage or had people clamoring for that over Duke and Chapel Hill men's basketball?

 

[JRoyal]

But tell me why basically a job audition takes precedence over games that actually count, other than page views.

What games that really matter in the grand scheme of the season are going on at the same time as pro days? All I can think of is college basketball.

 

[daytonadan1983]

What games that really matter in the grand scheme of the season are going on at the same time as pro days? All I can think of is college basketball.

May God have mercy on what's left of my soul for saying this...but all games matter if they count in the standings.

 

[JRoyal]

May God have mercy on what's left of my soul for saying this...but all games matter if they count in the standings.

Tell that to Shaq and the Lakers back when they were winning titles and didn't give a crap about anything before April.