Scrimmage at Findlay

[Flipper]

If that's your hope...You're living in the wrong country

[Globetrotter]

Wagner of The Blade and Schmeltz of the Sentinel are clueless

I think they do a good job overall. I can think of a couple programs in this conference that would probably welcome the amount of attention either of these guys give our program.

We found out from here that Ethan Good is on scholarship. We have no idea what that means for next year or why or when that was decided or anything. We found out from here that Gadson had an ankle injury. We have no clue why Huger doesn't ever go with full scholarships even though we were ridiculously thin last year especially when it came to big men. When it comes to anything related to the roster or scholarships they are terrible.

[hammb]

My take on Wagner is probably jaded because I cannot stand him on Twitter. No objectivity about the teams he follows whatsoever. That irritates the hell out of me.

With that bias in mind I still think the coverage for BG hoops is pretty awful if we're comparing it to what division 1 basketball programs elsewhere receive. However, considering our overall lack of fan support the coverage is probably about what we should expect.

The newspaper and beat writer thing is a dying medium. To make up for the lost revenue Wagner is tasked with covering the Tigers, Mud Hens, and every BG sport. That would have never happened 20 years ago, and still wouldn't happen with major college programs. Still, overwhelmingly the best coverage of any sports has become bloggers, twitter personas, etc. When I want NFL news I don't go to any websites, I check my twitter timeline for updates. If I want Browns specific news I check twitter and the Browns message boards. If I want Tigers news I check the Tigers message boards/twitter. Etc, etc.

Unfortunately for a program such as BG this changing landscape has really hurt our chances of any real coverage. We don't have bloggers/etc treating inside scoopage of BG sports as a full time gig. And the fact that nobody turns to newspapers for news anymore has crippled the Sentinel and Blade to the point that they cannot afford to cover the programs the way we'd like them to.

It sucks, but I suspect it's going to get worse before it gets better. I wish the university would realize this gap in the coverage and get some student coverage or something in the sports information dept to at least put out full featured articles on the teams. Yeah, it would be the university's side only, but at least it would be something. Something akin to the fact that many NFL teams employ their own "full time" beat writer that publishes stories through their website. They're all feel goody fluff pieces, but it's a perfect place to put information about walk-ons being granted a schollie, etc. And if it were some sort of internship or whatever type thing it couldn't possibly cost the university that much.

[Globetrotter]

I think it's also a lack of transitioning from old school journalism to what people want now. I don't need a puff piece about Matiss. I want to know facts about him, what kind of player he is, what he brings to the court etc. Journalists are still doing these puff pieces.

Every time I happen to bump into NFL pregame shows I am confused about who even watches these anymore. 5 ex players bantering for an hour. I don't get it. Get me 3 analytics nerds running through why I shouldn't have cut Julius Thomas before last nights game and I might watch. The average fan is so much more sophisticated now then they were x number of years ago that if someone isn't only covering our team we will likely know more than them. That's what makes Todd Walker so great. He has the voice, the skills AND he wears his fan frustration on his sleeve.

[hammb]

I think it's also a lack of transitioning from old school journalism to what people want now. I don't need a puff piece about Matiss. I want to know facts about him, what kind of player he is, what he brings to the court etc. Journalists are still doing these puff pieces.

Every time I happen to bump into NFL pregame shows I am confused about who even watches these anymore. 5 ex players bantering for an hour. I don't get it. Get me 3 analytics nerds running through why I shouldn't have cut Julius Thomas before last nights game and I might watch. The average fan is so much more sophisticated now then they were x number of years ago that if someone isn't only covering our team we will likely know more than them. That's what makes Todd Walker so great. He has the voice, the skills AND he wears his fan frustration on his sleeve.

I actually think you're wrong on the knowledge of "the average fan." I think those of us that take the time to watch and discuss sports on internet message boards are, by definition, NOT the average fan. Personally, I cannot stand talking sports with "the average fan." They know I like the Browns, Falcons, Tigers, etc and they want to talk about it, but they don't even know the players'/coaches, let alone why I would be upset that Ausmus attepted a sac bunt early in a game. Or why I'm pissed at the Browns coaches, "because their players are just too bad to win!" I cannot count the number of times I've heard, this year, that the Browns couldn't possibly help a young QB because their OL is so bad, despite probably being one of the best in the league.

It goes on and on and on. The "Average fan" is far stupider than anybody posting on this board (in my estimation).

That being said, I will agree with you in questioning the logic of putting on a 2 hour NFL Pregame show that caters to the "average fan" when in my experience the average fan will barely watch the games, let alone sit down for 2 hours before kickoff to watch the guys yammer. I WANT to watch the pregame, but it's all garbage...cannot stomach it at all.

[Flipper]

No one ever did or will do an NFL pregame show like Brent, Phyllis and Irv...with Jimmy the Greek popping in for the gamblers perpsective. One half hour of television and they covered it all...because do really need more than 22 minutes (plus 8 minutes of commercials) to cover the NFL early schedule?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBDoaMoB5R4" target="_blank

[Lord_Byron]

. . .It goes on and on and on. The "Average fan" is far stupider than anybody posting on this board (in my estimation). . .

You don't know how much this hurts me because I try REALLY HARD to be stupid when I come here.

[hammb]

. . .It goes on and on and on. The "Average fan" is far stupider than anybody posting on this board (in my estimation). . .

You don't know how much this hurts me because I try REALLY HARD to be stupid when I come here.

LMAO, I think we all do!

I just find that the people that actually take the time to frequent and post on a sports message boards, by definition, are NOT the average fan. The average fans are the people who only watch their "favorite teams" when they're good, would only buy any swag when it's on sale for cheap, and wouldn't be bothered to discuss the state of the team when the game isn't currently on TV.

If you go out of your way to watch every game of a specific team, you are certainly not an average fan.
If you are willing to pay extra for extended media coverage of your team, you're no average fan.
If you seek out other fans of your favorite teams online to discuss the games, you're no average fan.

In the case of BG sports, if you take the time to find ESPN3 on whatever your favorite streaming device is to watch road basketball games against whatever team we open with this week...you're probably not an average fan.

[Flipper]

. . .It goes on and on and on. The "Average fan" is far stupider than anybody posting on this board (in my estimation). . .

You don't know how much this hurts me because I try REALLY HARD to be stupid when I come here.

Really? You make it seem so....effortless.

[Globetrotter]

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. . .It goes on and on and on. The "Average fan" is far stupider than anybody posting on this board (in my estimation). . .

You don't know how much this hurts me because I try REALLY HARD to be stupid when I come here.

Really? You make it seem so....effortless.

[Falconwriter]

Totally agree with Hammb about the "average fan" and the difference between them and fans that frequent message boards and follow every game, and read everything they can find on their team.

Having said that, I think the type of media coverage we see today is a direct result of the type of consumer that is most desired today (that being Millennials, for the most part.) That group does not have the attention span that exists in people who are older. They have been rewarded with instant gratification so much, that anything short of that and they tune out -- bored to tears.

So we now have media outlets that basically don't do the type of in-depth coverage that us oldsters grew up with. While I may miss that, and as a former reporter/editor find myself totally appalled at the quality of "journalism" overall these days, we are truly getting what the market majority is demanding. So, you see a lot of "fake news" out there and posts by otherwise reputable sites just trying to get more Internet traffic.

I could write a dissertation on all of this and my observations on how it has all changed in the last 15 years or so, but the site would probably ban me for boring everyone to tears.

However, aside from pay for personnel, there really is not reason the university couldn't use student "reporters" to get far better coverage of their teams than they now have. I have to believe there are enough student fans out there willing to provide coverage. The bigger issue is finding those fans who can write a competent sentence. That's another topic for another dissertation, but it also probably explains why we don't see more student coverage of events.