Toughest beats in the big four (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL)

[Michael Echan]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

 

[hockeybeat]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

NHL: Toronto.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

NHL: Toronto.

And Montreal. Talk about two hockey-mad markets. Mad worlds there, folks.

Also NBA would have to be the Knicks until Donnie Walsh can break down the walls the previous regime foolishly built.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Zimmerman's take on the Pats beat contains some truth and much bull****. There is information to be had there, but it ain't gonna be handed out on a platter to "national" media who blow in for a big game or a training camp visit.
Belichick will stonewall, but he won't outright lie to your face. That's preferable in my book, and we've all covered coaches who would and could do so.

 

[Flash]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

NHL: Toronto.

And Montreal. Talk about two hockey-mad markets. Mad worlds there, folks.

Also NBA would have to be the Knicks until Donnie Walsh can break down the walls the previous regime foolishly built.

Disagree ... considering Montreal and Toronto are old-school markets. My guess would be more along the lines of the folks in Anaheim who have to deal with Brian Burke or my boys here in Calgary who have to suffer through Darryl Sutter's regime.

 

[93Devil]

Does Arizona still give out press passes on a game-by-game basis?

I'm sure the Cards are not the toughest, but if Bidwill Sr. is still in charge, things I'm sure can be quirky.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Not so sure I can buy Anaheim, Flash. I just can't imagine as many people are climbing over one another to get the latest scoop on the Ducks ... with all due respect to the Ducks fans on the board.

Calgary? Suffice it to say I'm in no position to argue with you there.

 

[hockeybeat]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

NHL: Toronto.

And Montreal. Talk about two hockey-mad markets. Mad worlds there, folks.

Also NBA would have to be the Knicks until Donnie Walsh can break down the walls the previous regime foolishly built.

Disagree ... considering Montreal and Toronto are old-school markets. My guess would be more along the lines of the folks in Anaheim who have to deal with Brian Burke or my boys here in Calgary who have to suffer through Darryl Sutter's regime.

I did some work for a SoCal paper this past season, which included dealing with Burke. He's Irish bluster, full of **** and vinegar and knows he is bright. But Burke is not impossible to deal with.

 

[Flash]

Came up with this idea after reading SI's preview on the Patriots, detailing how they've neutered the Boston media corps. Now, when I say toughest, I'm taking into account: the number of rival news outlets one is competing with; cooperativeness of the front office, coaching staff & players; the team's legacy (famous players and no. of championships); and the size & intensity of the fan base/readership. It should be interesting to see what some of you have to say. Anyway, my semi-educated ballot would go:

MLB -- Tie: New York Yankees & Boston Red Sox

NBA -- Los Angeles Lakers

NFL -- New England Patriots

NHL -- Detroit Red Wings (shot in the dark, I know next-to-nothing about the NHL)

If you asked me this a year ago, the Knicks would have been my NBA answer for obvious reasons, but the regime change altered my vote in that matter. What say ye?

NHL: Toronto.

And Montreal. Talk about two hockey-mad markets. Mad worlds there, folks.

Also NBA would have to be the Knicks until Donnie Walsh can break down the walls the previous regime foolishly built.

Disagree ... considering Montreal and Toronto are old-school markets. My guess would be more along the lines of the folks in Anaheim who have to deal with Brian Burke or my boys here in Calgary who have to suffer through Darryl Sutter's regime.

I did some work for a SoCal paper this past season, which included dealing with Burke. He's Irish bluster, full of **** and vinegar and knows he is bright. But Burke is not impossible to deal with.

Consider yourself lucky then. I know of folks in Vancouver who dealt with him regularly and were not so fortunate.

He's usually nicer to one-offs than he is with beat writers anyway.

 

[Michael Echan]

And Montreal. Talk about two hockey-mad markets. Mad worlds there, folks.

Also NBA would have to be the Knicks until Donnie Walsh can break down the walls the previous regime foolishly built.

I was leaning towards the Knicks for a while, but I would have thought that a lot of the barriers in place during the Isaiah Error would be gone by now? Or are orders like all interviews must be supervised by PR staffers a Dolan directive?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

NBA: Knicks
NHL: Rangers

Can't imagine why those two come to mind.

 

[Screwball]

Flash,

Burke is great here. In Vancouver, I imagine there was nothing bigger than the Canucks, and Burke knew it. In LA, we have the Lakers, Dodgers, USC, UCLA -- hell, he's got the Angels down the street -- and he's right there with the Clippers and Kings. I've only dealt with him a couple times but our hockey folk like him. Plus, his owners let him do whatever he wants, so that helps.

 

[spnited]

The toughest beat in all of sprts for the past 35 years is the New York Yankees.
It's not even close.

 

[Dale Cooper]

Any team that has all the NY papers covering it has to be the hardest in its sport.

Covering the Lakers, you have: LA Times, Daily News, Press-Enterprise, OC Register.

Covering the Knicks, you have about double that.

I'd believe there are harder hockey beats than the Rangers, though, because a lot of those papers have really backed off.

 

[whatwoulddamondo?]

The toughest beat in all of sprts for the past 35 years is the New York Yankees.
It's not even close.

dealing with freddie coupons ain't a picnic, either.

 

[Cosmo]

Does Arizona still give out press passes on a game-by-game basis?

I'm sure the Cards are not the toughest, but if Bidwill Sr. is still in charge, things I'm sure can be quirky.

I was a small-paper guy who only covered training camp and home games, and the Cardinals couldn't have been easier to deal with. Bidwill is so far away from everything that he's not even a factor.

 

[93Devil]

Does Arizona still give out press passes on a game-by-game basis?

I'm sure the Cards are not the toughest, but if Bidwill Sr. is still in charge, things I'm sure can be quirky.

I was a small-paper guy who only covered training camp and home games, and the Cardinals couldn't have been easier to deal with. Bidwill is so far away from everything that he's not even a factor.

Good.

I remember Tim McDonald telling writers after he left for san Francisco that Bidwill would be his best friend on Monday, but on Tuesday they would walk past each other or share an elevator on Tuesday and he would not even say hello.

Strange guy.

 

[RedCanuck]

That Toronto Maple Leafs job would be tough in some ways. You have an organization that keeps making the dumbest mistakes possible and a fanbase that's so dumb, they'll rip you apart for calling them on it. That, and in Toronto, hockey is a 365 day a year beat.

 

[Joe Williams]

The toughest beat in all of sprts for the past 35 years is the New York Yankees.
It's not even close.

That reads like a challenge ... but damn if I can come up with a tougher one.

 

[mustangj17]

The Red Wings can't be a bad team to cover. Everyone is always in good spirits because the team is awesome. Babcock is easy going, the players are happy. Detroit can't be bad to cover.