Nothing snide about it.
By the way, what does it say that the Press will send a writer to Chattanooga to cover this, but the last baseball game of the season and perhaps last game of Tony Skole's career, less than a mile from the paper, is not on the website despite no issues with deadlines (the game was played in the afternoon).
And Skole is the story here. All you have to do is after the game for the postgame comments ask him about it.
It's honestly not uncommon for such scoops to come out of such environments. Jim Leyland reported his first contract extension as Pirates manager in a standard post-game interview (not press gathering in the manager's office) after a game on the team's radio broadcast.
If Skole is evasive, then you ask if contract negotations have started.
If he continues to be evasive, then you ask if he is going to have his camp if he doesn't return.
If he throws something at you- that's part of the job. And you'll likely have your answer.
The way Skole is handled is the leading indication of the future of the athletic department, at the very least in the short term.
Furthermore, it is an ongoing development in whether or not the new stadium is built for the baseball team- an issue that indirectly effects everyone who lives in Johnson City since the City stands to lose revenues if and when the Bucs move from Howard Johnson Field.
There's not even any question about this. Skole is a bigger story. It's a cheaper story. It is of greater interest to the community. Baseball attracts fans at ETSU- golf does not.
Finally, if ever a sport can be covered in the newspaper by a press release- it is a golf tournament. The way these are covered is that a writer generally sits in the clubhouse, waits for the scores to come in, gathers quotes from the golfers (or Fred Warren) after their 18 holes and then writes what he can.
Read the story. There is no "McNamara used his pitching wedge to get out of a sand trap to save par on hole 15" or "Shaw sank a 25-foot putt to keep the Bucs' streaks of birdies going" in it.
http://johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?C...S&ID=63031
The newspaper that used to say in the pre-internet days they couldn't run the batting averages of the major leaguers on Sundays because it would cost $60 (boy, does checking the Sunday paper for the major league averages seem so DATED now?) is spending how much money in travel for Avento to go write a press release?
Okay- so I'll tell you what it means-
A- It means ETSU caters to their golf program more than their baseball program, or any athletic program.
B- It means the Press is willing to go along with their athletic vision.
C- It's one thing to not editorialize against letting golf lead the way. Maybe you think it should lead the way. It's a legitimate opinion though one I don't agree with.
BUT TO SPEND MORE MONEY TO NOT GET A REAL STORY- INCREDIBLE!
This after Avento's "vocal minority" line last week.
Final note. I can't get on the Press too much. I can't find a story on the baseball game online by any Tri-Cities media outlet, other than tricitiessports.com's standard press release reprinting.
You'll note they incorrectly credit the Bucs-Stetson baseball story to utladyvols.com
http://tricitiessports.com/default.asp?s...ts&he=.com
RE: Men's Golf at the NCAA regionals 
