In a move that was kept as quiet as the relocation of the Baltimore Colts, (former) WVU football beat writer for the DP has moved up the road to Harrisburg, PA's Patriot-News. She is now writing on their high school sports (!?) and minor league baseball (!?).
A quick Google shows that this paper had advertised a vacancy and it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out the rest.
One could say that Harrisburg is a larger market (if we include Lebanon, Carlisle, York, etc.) but it's in the sports wilderness given the huge Philadelphia market to the east.
College football is one subject where a beat writer can gain some traction and build a name by being associated with a particular program as the go-to person for information. It works in countless college towns in the SEC and Big 12. But the subject never changes - literally - so one must be committed to the cause.
But Ms. Loh was a West Coaster and Morgantown was almost certainly going to a be a short-term proposition for her. I'm sure there was more than a bit of culture shock upon arrival.
On balance, she did her best and it generally was good enough but the DP continues to suffer from Lack of Institutional Memory syndrome. There is nobody there - with the possible exception of Todd Murray - who can personally recall people, games, stories and other moments in Mountaineer history and this lack of historical perspective, by definition, hinders any ability to provide context for the events of the present. 'History repeating itself' and/or 'exorcising the demons of the past' are stock constructs for game stories yet the lack of experience at the DP means they can't even manage to rely on these hoary cliches.
Ms. Loh was often reduced to pumping the sunshine for the only coach she had worked with - Bill Stewart. Stewart's optimism in the face of very long odds can be endearing at times but can also be a bit maddening and Ms. Loh occasionally demonstrated symptoms of madness-by-association when defending what was, at best, a mediocre team and a string of uninspiring opponents. It was all borne out by the egg laid on the 50 yard line of the Gator Bowl (next to the flaming spear planted by Coach Bowden).
To be fair, the beat writer had a frequently thankless job by playing up the positive qualities of many WVU football recruits while ignoring or sugar-coating their shortcomings (criminal backgrounds, broken homes, children fathered out of wedlock by multiple women, academic deficiencies). One can only imagine being instructed to submit 500 words on Johnny Linebacker-loves-his-mom and attempting to make it seem compelling.
The bread-and-water rations at the DP appear to be the meal of the day, every day, and it remains to be seen if a football writer will be brought in or if musical chairs (don't forget to take one away!) will be employed to shuffle assignments yet again. Todd Murray has, either out of common sense or necessity, been assigned to spring football along with his editor Drew Rubenstein.
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label football. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
Stefanie Loh totes the water
Now that WVU's bowl berth has been determined the WV in-state beat writers and columnists are less concerned with WVU's opponent and more concerned with making an enemy of the Mountaineers' own fans. Dave Hickman got in on the act with his Sunday column and now Dominion Post beat writer Stefanie Loh has a go. Here are some of Ms. Loh's salient points and a rebuttal of each.
TOUCHE, BILL STEWART
No, it’s not. A coach this obsessed with criticism is tacitly admitting that much of it has substance. Touche, fans is more apt.
First Dave Hickman, now Stefanie Loh. Why do the press corps view it as their job to act as the coach’s PR department? That job is filled - haven’t they seen that big redheaded bloke stage-managing everything? They used to be ‘reporters’ but that apparently takes too much effort.
Take a look at the macro picture and you realize Stewart is right
Sorry, Ms. Loh but perhaps YOU realize it. I respectfully deny your right to put words in my mouth.
The Mountaineers are a top-25 team, and their three losses came against a good Auburn squad that started the year with a five-game winning streak, a surging South Florida team that beat WVU before its degenerated into its annual end-of-season slump and a fifth-ranked Cincinnati team that has finished undefeated.
I’ve seen less spin at the starting line of a drag strip. Auburn? An SEC afterthought this year. Mediocre in every way. Cincinnati – perhaps the only game that WVU displayed adequate game planning, playcalling and individual moxie – the near-upset speaks for itself. But the Cincinnati performance stands in stark contrast to the rest of the games which is one reason it’s so memorable.
As for South Florida the writers want to have it both ways. We must examine WVU’s entire body of work and hold our criticisms until the end of the season but we are allowed to prop up individual opponents based on their performance at certain moments in time. Very convenient even if logically unsound.
Who’s laughing now, haters?
Oh do grow up. You are a newspaper writer not an anonymous forum flame warrior. You are young, fresh out of a West Coast university and a member of Generation Facebook but this is beneath you and your position.
But fans being fans, they tend to focus on the micro picture. They do some armchair quarterbacking, castigate offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen for his play-calling (because they know better, always. Great football minds and all
By ‘micro picture’ do you mean the program’s week-by-week performances? Is that somehow off-limits to criticism and analysis? Why is the first instinct to insult the intelligence and/or the opinions of the fans who pay the freight? The writers are moving the goalposts around so often perhaps they should affix some caster wheels.
The world is full of cynics who want success NOW without paying any heed to the cycles of talent development and graduation that every college football team goes through.
I have yet to meet a fan whose realistic expectations went much beyond a possible Big East co-championship. After last year any BCS/national championship pipe dreams were well and truly put to bed.
However, every fan has a right to expect improvement through a season especially from a teamwork (i.e. coaching) perspective. “All 5 linemen have played every snap together this season.” Wonderful. Did they improve? Did the offense? If not it’s fair to ask why. The fans KNOW it’s a long process but they also know what the steps involved in that process look like and right now they don’t see many of them being carried out.
Every day Stewart fights the perception that the best football coaches have to be jerks in real life.
Very few people think Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, Jim Tressel, Chris Petersen or Joe Paterno are jerks outside their usual rivals and detractors. Ms. Loh your premises are all over the shop. If you want to defend the program on objective grounds that is your prerogative but singing “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow” really isn’t your job no matter what your personal views are.
Journalists have to find different ways to tell the same story every day for three months during the season. We can’t do that by simply saying “the WVU football team won again this week.” So we focus on detail. Intricate, minute detail that the casual observer might not pick up on
But the same story hasn’t been told! We have gone from the issue at hand (flat performances) and proceeded directly to sportswriters’ full-throat defense of the coaches – or should I say their vendetta against the fans. Unfortunately those writers have (perhaps intentionally) leapfrogged any thoughtful consideration of the validity of the criticisms. In other words, denigrating out the critics doesn’t invalidate their criticism.
And how, pray tell, can the 'casual observer' obtain enough information to change his views if reporters simply provide the coach with an echo chamber?
it’s when you get into the “how” of this season that things look a little less rosy. The first five wins of the year were marred by a litany of mistakes
Ah - a sliver of reality at last! But wait – I thought it was only armchair quarterbacks and ‘haters’ that saw the obvious and spoke up?
Special teams was both spectacular and stupefying this season
This is like saying ‘there were a few shady spots near Hiroshima in 1945.’ ONE solid game from a placekicker (who bailed out the still-sputtering offense) does not in any way compare to or compensate for the comedy of errors that was the special teams throughout the season. Kickoffs are supposed to be an afterthought – simply a way to get the game started yet they became fraught with peril every time. Recruiting a quarterback, linebacker or running back may be difficult given the supply and demand for such players but isn’t there anyone on a campus of 30,000 – soccer player, karate expert - that can swing his leg hard enough to kick a ball 65 yards in the air? If there is isn’t a scholarship and/or a playing spot being misallocated?
But the curse of the coaching profession is that with success comes expectation. And unmet expectations result in disenchantment and cynicism.
It’s the sequel: Return Of The Straw Man. As before – only the uninformed and the terminally optimistic expected BCS status or anything beyond. What they did expect was an offense with so-called stars and/or upperclassmen to perform as advertised at least 1/3 of the time. What they did expect was a coaching staff ostensibly recruited and/or retained for their experience, leadership and expertise demanding improvement and greater cohesion and driving their respective units down that path. What they did expect was an avoidance of the play-not-to-lose mentality that turns games against unimpressive opposition into cliffhangers.
What they didn’t expect was a an almost universal sycophancy from in-state media who despite their personal relationship with coaches and players still have a responsibility to speak plainly and, yes, critically when avoidable mistakes are made and when a team appears to be mailing it in.
In the end the fans’ opinion will matter most when they vote with their feet so I’m not sure what the point of antagonizing them is especially when they are being asked to spring for bowl tickets, travel reservations and (soon) 2010 season tickets.
TOUCHE, BILL STEWART
No, it’s not. A coach this obsessed with criticism is tacitly admitting that much of it has substance. Touche, fans is more apt.
First Dave Hickman, now Stefanie Loh. Why do the press corps view it as their job to act as the coach’s PR department? That job is filled - haven’t they seen that big redheaded bloke stage-managing everything? They used to be ‘reporters’ but that apparently takes too much effort.
Take a look at the macro picture and you realize Stewart is right
Sorry, Ms. Loh but perhaps YOU realize it. I respectfully deny your right to put words in my mouth.
The Mountaineers are a top-25 team, and their three losses came against a good Auburn squad that started the year with a five-game winning streak, a surging South Florida team that beat WVU before its degenerated into its annual end-of-season slump and a fifth-ranked Cincinnati team that has finished undefeated.
I’ve seen less spin at the starting line of a drag strip. Auburn? An SEC afterthought this year. Mediocre in every way. Cincinnati – perhaps the only game that WVU displayed adequate game planning, playcalling and individual moxie – the near-upset speaks for itself. But the Cincinnati performance stands in stark contrast to the rest of the games which is one reason it’s so memorable.
As for South Florida the writers want to have it both ways. We must examine WVU’s entire body of work and hold our criticisms until the end of the season but we are allowed to prop up individual opponents based on their performance at certain moments in time. Very convenient even if logically unsound.
Who’s laughing now, haters?
Oh do grow up. You are a newspaper writer not an anonymous forum flame warrior. You are young, fresh out of a West Coast university and a member of Generation Facebook but this is beneath you and your position.
But fans being fans, they tend to focus on the micro picture. They do some armchair quarterbacking, castigate offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen for his play-calling (because they know better, always. Great football minds and all
By ‘micro picture’ do you mean the program’s week-by-week performances? Is that somehow off-limits to criticism and analysis? Why is the first instinct to insult the intelligence and/or the opinions of the fans who pay the freight? The writers are moving the goalposts around so often perhaps they should affix some caster wheels.
The world is full of cynics who want success NOW without paying any heed to the cycles of talent development and graduation that every college football team goes through.
I have yet to meet a fan whose realistic expectations went much beyond a possible Big East co-championship. After last year any BCS/national championship pipe dreams were well and truly put to bed.
However, every fan has a right to expect improvement through a season especially from a teamwork (i.e. coaching) perspective. “All 5 linemen have played every snap together this season.” Wonderful. Did they improve? Did the offense? If not it’s fair to ask why. The fans KNOW it’s a long process but they also know what the steps involved in that process look like and right now they don’t see many of them being carried out.
Every day Stewart fights the perception that the best football coaches have to be jerks in real life.
Very few people think Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, Jim Tressel, Chris Petersen or Joe Paterno are jerks outside their usual rivals and detractors. Ms. Loh your premises are all over the shop. If you want to defend the program on objective grounds that is your prerogative but singing “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow” really isn’t your job no matter what your personal views are.
Journalists have to find different ways to tell the same story every day for three months during the season. We can’t do that by simply saying “the WVU football team won again this week.” So we focus on detail. Intricate, minute detail that the casual observer might not pick up on
But the same story hasn’t been told! We have gone from the issue at hand (flat performances) and proceeded directly to sportswriters’ full-throat defense of the coaches – or should I say their vendetta against the fans. Unfortunately those writers have (perhaps intentionally) leapfrogged any thoughtful consideration of the validity of the criticisms. In other words, denigrating out the critics doesn’t invalidate their criticism.
And how, pray tell, can the 'casual observer' obtain enough information to change his views if reporters simply provide the coach with an echo chamber?
it’s when you get into the “how” of this season that things look a little less rosy. The first five wins of the year were marred by a litany of mistakes
Ah - a sliver of reality at last! But wait – I thought it was only armchair quarterbacks and ‘haters’ that saw the obvious and spoke up?
Special teams was both spectacular and stupefying this season
This is like saying ‘there were a few shady spots near Hiroshima in 1945.’ ONE solid game from a placekicker (who bailed out the still-sputtering offense) does not in any way compare to or compensate for the comedy of errors that was the special teams throughout the season. Kickoffs are supposed to be an afterthought – simply a way to get the game started yet they became fraught with peril every time. Recruiting a quarterback, linebacker or running back may be difficult given the supply and demand for such players but isn’t there anyone on a campus of 30,000 – soccer player, karate expert - that can swing his leg hard enough to kick a ball 65 yards in the air? If there is isn’t a scholarship and/or a playing spot being misallocated?
But the curse of the coaching profession is that with success comes expectation. And unmet expectations result in disenchantment and cynicism.
It’s the sequel: Return Of The Straw Man. As before – only the uninformed and the terminally optimistic expected BCS status or anything beyond. What they did expect was an offense with so-called stars and/or upperclassmen to perform as advertised at least 1/3 of the time. What they did expect was a coaching staff ostensibly recruited and/or retained for their experience, leadership and expertise demanding improvement and greater cohesion and driving their respective units down that path. What they did expect was an avoidance of the play-not-to-lose mentality that turns games against unimpressive opposition into cliffhangers.
What they didn’t expect was a an almost universal sycophancy from in-state media who despite their personal relationship with coaches and players still have a responsibility to speak plainly and, yes, critically when avoidable mistakes are made and when a team appears to be mailing it in.
In the end the fans’ opinion will matter most when they vote with their feet so I’m not sure what the point of antagonizing them is especially when they are being asked to spring for bowl tickets, travel reservations and (soon) 2010 season tickets.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Hello to our torrenting friends at the Dominion Post
The DVR may be joining the VCR as a piece in the consumer electronics museum. The internet, in its usual lifestyle-transforming manner, is making capturing and storing content under a single 'roof' (i.e., in a single DVR) seem a bit quaint. Almost every show - especially sporting events - that is aired is being captured on a computer somewhere by selfless, technically savvy end-users who then make the event available as a torrent - often within hours or even minutes of the event's conclusion in real time.
Modern torrent clients are endlessly tweakable (I prefer uTorrent or μTorrent if you want to be pedantic) and provide a host of information about your torrent 'peers' - possibly too much information in this case.
Click on the pic above to bring up a high-res version. Note the highlighted entry...hmmm someone at the Dominion Post must have wanted a copy of the WVU-Marshall game. Couldn't they get a copy from their media library or their contacts in the television biz? What about the WVU athletic department?
Is there anything in the Dom Post's computer usage policy about peer-to-peer? I imagine there might be. Pretty cheeky for a newspaper that is STILL demanding a paid subscription to view its content. Looks like copyright is a one-way street at the DP.
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