How Good ARE Sports Jounalists Around Here?

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Iceland12

Iceland12

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How Good ARE Sports Sources Around Here?

We've been told that Patrick has a source in the Administration who gets him information and is "never wrong".

How good are sources around here?

Did any of those guys tell us weeks before he was hired that that Lou Holtz was going to coach the Gophers? Days before? HOURS before?

Does anybody remember Ruesse saying that Holtz was "as good as gone" to Notre Dame? Even after Lou's Gophers got blown-out by Michigan 48-7 and Iowa 31-9 in his last two games?

How about Gutey getting hired? The local media was convinced that Bobby Ross was getting the job if I'm not mistaken.

More recently did anybody tell us that Wacker was going to get the job in 1992?

There were a LOT of reports that Dungy was going to replace Wacker before the 1996 season. How did that work out?

How about Mason in 1997. How many had the sources to tell us about Glen coming before he got here?

Haskins and company were let's say, bending a lot of rules before Jan G. got pissed about Archambault and CALLED the Pioneer Press. Where were the sources then?

Monson "misfired" sacking has been reported. How many weeks before his hiring did Pat or others tell us he was coming to the Barn.

Brenda Oldfield (sp?) was being hailed as the savior of Women's Sports at the University. She was the one who would finally make a profit for Women's Sports. That went on until what HOURS before she high tailed it to Maryland.

Mason's firing? It shouldn't have caught anybody by surprise, what with all the Journalists and reporters over at the University looking for underage drinkers.:D

As for Brewster himself, how many days before his first interview did anybody report that he was on Maturi's radar.

Tubby? TUBBY? When did Patrick's ballyhooed "source" tell him Tubby was coming to Dinkytown? It must have been right before Smith came up for his Press Conference.

No, I'm not saying that Patrick's source is made-up or unreliable. My question is when was he hired? Last week? :banghead:
 

How good is our media in this market? Meh. We've got some solid beat writers: Lavelle & Joe C. do a great job covering the Twins. I'm actually surprised Russo is still around covering the Wild and wasn't scooped up by a national entity, and Bruce Brothers does a good job with hockey as well. And Marcus Fuller does a very good with the PP. I should also say that Roman Augustoviz has always done an excellent job with everything he's done.

There, that covers the good that I can think of off the top of my head. Our columnists in this town are sad, pathetic shells of human beings that remind me of Glen Mason's defensive coordinators: overpromoted. The Strib pair should have been stuck being beat writers, since both of them are quite good at baseball and beyond atrocious at everything else. And because they both have one sport they're good at covering and understanding, it makes them far better than the PP. Sansevere and Powers are as useless as condoms for eunuchs. Myron Medcalf wouldn't hold a job at the Mankato Free Press, so it amazes me that he's held his job at the Strib.
 

It boggles my mind that Sansevere, Shaver, and that gummy-smiled puke Eric Perkins have jobs. "Hey Perk at play, can we please see you goofball around with some JV softball team, all while maintaining your smug smile and complete undeserved sense of accomplishment!"

Thanks for letting me vent GH
 

GophBen said:
How good is our media in this market? Meh. We've got some solid beat writers: Lavelle & Joe C. do a great job covering the Twins. I'm actually surprised Russo is still around covering the Wild and wasn't scooped up by a national entity, and Bruce Brothers does a good job with hockey as well. And Marcus Fuller does a very good with the PP. I should also say that Roman Augustoviz has always done an excellent job with everything he's done.

There, that covers the good that I can think of off the top of my head. Our columnists in this town are sad, pathetic shells of human beings that remind me of Glen Mason's defensive coordinators: overpromoted. The Strib pair should have been stuck being beat writers, since both of them are quite good at baseball and beyond atrocious at everything else. And because they both have one sport they're good at covering and understanding, it makes them far better than the PP. Sansevere and Powers are as useless as condoms for eunuchs. Myron Medcalf wouldn't hold a job at the Mankato Free Press, so it amazes me that he's held his job at the Strib.
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Like him or not, Patrick is good. He may not know Hockey, but he is fine with football and basketball, and exceptional when it comes to baseball. I don't agree with everything he says and it is tough to read him when Gopher Football is struggling, but he is a very good writer and he knows his stuff. He also never rips gopher players unfairly unless they are in trouble off the field/court and he saves his venom for the coaches. I think there is so much anomisty toward Reusse on this board because most of us are big Gopher fans, and there really isn't anything that great about the program's major sport achievements in the last 25 years. Sometimes it seems like Patrick takes pleasure in reminding everybody of that fact, but that is just who he is.

Everybody here wants him to be a gopher apologist, and that is exactly what the fans don't need. Like it or not, Brew deserves all of the flack he is getting for the way the team finished the season. Anybody that thinks otherwise is much more biased than any journalist in town.
 

JoeDirt said:
It boggles my mind that Sansevere, Shaver, and that gummy-smiled puke Eric Perkins have jobs. "Hey Perk at play, can we please see you goofball around with some JV softball team, all while maintaining your smug smile and complete undeserved sense of accomplishment!"

Thanks for letting me vent GH
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As far as I know Perkins was banned from Moundsview High School for ripping down a fence during a Perk at play. The guy's a tool. Most in the media are(no offense to Doogie, who I don't know, and who gets way too much crap around here)
 


They are always overly negative

Having lived up there for 7 years, I got my fill of those negative stories about Minnesota sports EVERY day. The journalists seem to do a decent job, but the columnist insist on being negative in order to get readers. I liken it to everyone up there bi+ching about the weather all the time. I bet there is a 20-1 ratio of negative to positive columns.
You have one of the best stories/people in sports up there in Joe Mauer, and that idiot on KFAN and the other columnists up there still bi+ch and moan about him. At some point, people just need to stop paying attention.
It will always be negative up there, thats a reason why I think Brewster has done a good job, he doesn't let any of them get to him. His attitude has to be overtly positive to try and balance the scales a bit.

Maybe THE 8-4 season next year will help to stop the complaining.
 

Reusse is ok with his writing- he has talent but he is lazy and mean spirited. On the radio he just spews rumors and vitriol.

He rips whomever he pleases on the radio and throws out innuendo he wouldn't dare publish.
 

I'll give him a little more credit than I did, chi-town gopher. I've always given Reusse credit for being able to write a pretty sentence. And he does know his basketball. And he might be the best baseball mind in the Twin Cities, thanks to his dad being a very good town-ball coach for years. But really, he doesn't know *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# about football and it shows.
 

Sorry About The Bad Title

I tried to change it but couldn't. It was a journalism question, no matter the spelling, but not precisely. The question wasn't to be about style or credibility but about sources, scoops if you will, at the University.

If we're to go on credibility of rumor reporting how many major stories at the University have they MISSED?
 



GophBen said:
I'll give him a little more credit than I did, chi-town gopher. I've always given Reusse credit for being able to write a pretty sentence. And he does know his basketball. And he might be the best baseball mind in the Twin Cities, thanks to his dad being a very good town-ball coach for years. But really, he doesn't know *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# about football and it shows.
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See, a post like this makes me want to pay closer attention to his football columns. You obviously don't like Reusse which is fine, but you can recognize that he isn't a clueless hack which suggests that you aren't clueless either. I have never coached football and I didn't play it at a high enough level where I would consider myself the best critic of his (or anybody's) football knowledge. What do you notice in his columns that is lacking related to football? Are there other people on this board that played football at a high level or coached football that think he knows nothing?

I'm looking for stuff that the college football fan wouldn't already know like, it takes time to build a program, Brew doesn't have his recruits, new systems screw everything up, etc.
 

chi-town gopher said:
See, a post like this makes me want to pay closer attention to his football columns. You obviously don't like Reusse which is fine, but you can recognize that he isn't a clueless hack which suggests that you aren't clueless either. I have never coached football and I didn't play it at a high enough level where I would consider myself the best critic of his (or anybody's) football knowledge. What do you notice in his columns that is lacking related to football? Are there other people on this board that played football at a high level or coached football that think he knows nothing?

I'm looking for stuff that the college football fan wouldn't already know like, it takes time to build a program, Brew doesn't have his recruits, new systems screw everything up, etc.
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Chi-town: At least on his Saturday show he's said many times how he doesn't really care
for football and how he'd much rather watch or write about baseball or basketball. He's also said quite a few times, referring to the Gopher Football, how he "didn't catch that game".

I don't know if not caring for a sport or not watching it translates into not knowing much about it but there you are.

I know he's never been "ahead of the curve" when it comes to scooping stories at the University.:clap:
.
 

Twin Cities Media

"Gophers apologists"

Where are they? You mean fans who try to stay positive?

"Reusse doesn't go after players"

http://www.startribune.com/sports/27704199.html?page=2&c=y

Like Ryan Collado? That kid did nothing wrong off the field and will graduate but Reusee made it a point to go after him a couple years ago. The main problem with him is he truly does not want to see the program do well, and if it does he wants it only for the fact he can throw it in the face of the previous coaches and players.

Reusse is a guy who b*tches about the fact that print is dying, yet offers no real insight to the team and only opinion. I read the paper for inside info provided by beat writers, not some dude spewing BS. If I wanted that I'd go to a blog. That's what 3rd rate "columnists" don't understand. If every column you writes references something from 1970, no one cares.
 

Reusse is an excellent writer. I don't know how good a journalist he is, but the guy can put the sentences together. He's not as good as he once was (I'm in about the same age bracket and I'm not as good as I once was either) and he has become a bit of a Johnny One-Note on a number of issues. Souhan is a decent writer as well, but he's got the "I'm the smartest guy in the room" thing going on.

The newspaper business--the whole media, in fact--has changed so much since the internet has taken over. Beat reporters don't seem to curry sources anymore. They just do a Google search, track down a few rumors, and then start making phone calls. It really doesn't pay to do it any other way. There are so few real scoops anymore and most anything big that happens is old news by the time the morning paper comes out.

As for Bobby Ross, he was in position to take the Gophers' job until a couple of the players--I think one was Ray Hitchcock--made such a big stink the Gutekunst was being passed over that Ross said "the heck with this."
 



ruesse can write, not so much for souhan IMHO.

I think in general our columnists are a bit lazy. They've found extreme efficacy in ignorance.
 

i didn't read the thread, but i read the question and thought to myself that we probably wont hear the line "and the pulitzer prize goes to Doogie" any time soon.


(i have no comment on the actual content of his writing, i just think it is time for the the good doctor to graduate to a big person name)
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
i didn't read the thread, but i read the question and thought to myself that we probably wont hear the line "and the pulitzer prize goes to Doogie" any time soon.
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I definitely agree with the conclusion (sorry Doogie) but actually, this runs contrary to a suspicion I've had for a while. I don't think Reusse fits this generalization, but there seem to be a number of local sports journalists who have a bit of an inferiority complex about being sports guys instead of 'real' journalists, and show a preference for covering the controversy and rumor side of things instead of pure sports. (Barreiro, for instance, seems to be in his category). From what I know of other markets (namely national and Wisconsin sports media), their journalists seem much more content to cover xs and os type subjects, where print and radio here seems much more preoccupied with, say, behind-the-scenes politics at the U than straight football analysis. Basically, they'd rather polish their portfolio for future 'serious' acclaim than break down actual sports. (on a sidenote, PA on KFAN bugs the hell out of me, but this is one area where I really appreciate that he basically refuses to talk anything but straight sports).

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else thinks this is the case.
 

I think it was the case with Danny B but now, I just think it's typical wannabe stuff. They've seen success doing it a certain way and so they emultate.
 

RedPoo said:
I definitely agree with the conclusion (sorry Doogie) but actually, this runs contrary to a suspicion I've had for a while. I don't think Reusse fits this generalization, but there seem to be a number of local sports journalists who have a bit of an inferiority complex about being sports guys instead of 'real' journalists, and show a preference for covering the controversy and rumor side of things instead of pure sports. (Barreiro, for instance, seems to be in his category). From what I know of other markets (namely national and Wisconsin sports media), their journalists seem much more content to cover xs and os type subjects, where print and radio here seems much more preoccupied with, say, behind-the-scenes politics at the U than straight football analysis. Basically, they'd rather polish their portfolio for future 'serious' acclaim than break down actual sports. (on a sidenote, PA on KFAN bugs the hell out of me, but this is one area where I really appreciate that he basically refuses to talk anything but straight sports).

I'd be curious to hear if anyone else thinks this is the case.
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I agree with that; the point I was trying to make was as far as the University was concerned they never have gotten it right!
 

Iceland12 said:
I agree with that; the point I was trying to make was as far as the University was concerned they never have gotten it right!
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Your point was made well with the OP (and it was actually really illuminating...I don't have nearly that kind of memory about the coverage vs. happenings that far back). I was just going off on my own little tangent.
 

1. Problems started for the U when the Twins and Vikings moved in. This move corresponded with the last FB National Championship and Rose Bowl appearance. As the U dropped in signifcance, the Twins and Vikings rose in significance. When you are less in important in the media scene and you begin to lose, you become easy to rip.

2. The rise of the Internet, Talk radio, fluff TV News, and Websites like this one and others have spread the desire for opinions over facts. The media becomes more opinionated vs. just-the-facts.

3. Radio call in shows try to get ratings by appealing to peoples desire give their side of the story. Opinion radio is cheap and requires little digging.

4. Society is buying into the same trends. "There are no absolutes, everyones opinions are of equal value."

5. If I'm in the media I can't promote my team, so writers go the other way and try and prove they are "true" journalists and print constant negative stories.
 

I agree ... I won't be winning a Pulitzer anytime soon.
 

Doogie said:
I agree ... I won't be winning a Pulitzer anytime soon.
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You're posting from your iPhone, right? I remember the days when you would celebrate this night as one of the biggest bar nights of the year. Please don't tell me marriage has stifled you already.
 

I am home already ... at least Roadhouse is on for the 998th time on cable ... went out for a bit after the Wolves game, but wanted to get my car home, and not leave it downtown ... on way home, passed 5 cops ... they are not messing around tonight.
 

Oh well, better safe than sorry. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Doogie.
 

Same to you and yours PlayHosea, and to everyone on GH ... excited for the hoops game tomorrow night.
 

Our local media is a joke. They don't have the "inside sources" they claim to have. Souhan and Reusse make the "source" claim frequently and they are almost always completely wrong. And others in this market have the same M.O. There is such little consequence to being wrong-- just never mention it again.

A couple years ago, while ripping on Brewster, Souhan said something to the effect of ... "I have covered Texas football my whole career and I have never heard of a school that was able to "get anyone in" from these inner-city Dallas schools like Skyline.

Nevermind his obvious race-bating. His comments seemed like pure BS, as usual. I looked it up online as soon as I heard it. Sure enough, Skyline has had guys play for dozens of college football programs. Several in the NFL. In fact, if he knew what he was talking about he would have been able to identify Skyline as one of the best Public School football prgrams in Texas. But he didn't know what he was talking about.

Of course, we all know that now. But a the time Souhan spoke with such authority about something he knew absolutely nothing about. He, and others, continue to do the same thing today. You are dumber for listening to what these worthless turds have to say.
 

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