In an ideal world there would be plenty of newspapers and associated websites to cover the big cities and bigger programs as well as smaller cities and smaller programs.
But, ah, those days seem to be dwindling.
We have turned criticizing Mlive into an art form for their lack of coverage of EMU athletics...
Now... WMU is feeling it. First they lost their ace local reporter, Graham Couch, to the Lansing paper and now losing his replacement apparently to budget cuts which are hitting Mlive hard. (our friend, Michael N., got down to Auburn at the right time)...
We are being left with university generated press releases and fan forums...
http://csnbbs.com/thread-765819.html
Better source than me or a fan forum:
http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project...turing.php
This stuff makes me sad.
I enjoy reading say the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press papers. Two papers with two different editorial slants.
In the world of sports, we benefit from a lot of different opinions and get to pick and choose who and what we follow. E.g., I consider Lynn Henning, Detroit News Tigers' beat writer, an incredibly talented source of good information and opinion on the Tigers.
As for us, we probably should Tweet or e-mail David Goricki to cover us, including our new found star, James Thompson IV.
JT4 is deserving of some good S.E. MI and national press. Totally being missed by the media so far...
If he played for say VCU, he'd be the Richmond's paper poster boy... Ditto at say Dayton, Xavier, etc.
And I hope ESPN which I believe still has some games for its ESPN contract (e.g., ESPN-U, ESPN2, etc.) will consider an EMU game to get JT4 some national face time...
Interesting points, Steve.
To note, I know we gripe about traditional press and long for the good old days. It used to be better, but was never that great for EMU. Conversely, we have enhanced coverage in terms of television. There seem to be more games on traditional cable (fox sports, ESPN2, etc) that was much more rare back in the day. And of course The non traditional in terms of ESPN3.
Add to it, forums such as this and alternative news sights such as Eagletotem and Hustlebelt. I feel more informed and connected as a fan than I did a couple decades ago. You, 79, Sam, Bob, Aaron, Luckeyone all provide GREAT analysis and coverage. (Sorry if I missed anyone).
As far as player and program exposure. Is that any worse? Ward got on the ESPN top 10 twice in his two years. And he did not go unnoticed nationally. He was drafted 1st round by the DNBA, which is as good as he probably could have expected. JT4 has already played in front of a pro scout- albeit along with interest in Lee and Paris.
It would be nice to pull up an article on D news and relax while reading about my EMU. But the state of affairs are better than they ever have been.
I agree with you, Ray.
The FORM has changed, and actually the quantity, is much, much better than say 15 years ago (I didn't want to use '20 years' because we had a very, very good team which got national acclaim in 1996).
The Internet and webcasting has democratized information and events so that this year I'll probably see over 90% of EMU men's games whereas in 1995-6 I was lucky to see 10% (since I don't live in the midwest).
I assume this statement is correct: I believe I watched every EMU FB game in 2015 (don't think I missed any. I know I watched the WYO game. Forgot if I had to subscribe or how I got it).
(01-11-2016 12:11 PM)emu steve Wrote: [ -> ]I agree with you, Ray.
The FORM has changed, and actually the quantity, is much, much better than say 15 years ago (I didn't want to use '20 years' because we had a very, very good team which got national acclaim in 1996).
The Internet and webcasting has democratized information and events so that this year I'll probably see over 90% of EMU men's games whereas in 1995-6 I was lucky to see 10% (since I don't live in the midwest).
I assume this statement is correct: I believe I watched every EMU FB game in 2015 (don't think I missed any. I know I watched the WYO game. Forgot if I had to subscribe or how I got it).
I'm thinking more locally when it comes to media. We used to have the Ypsi Press and many in the Ypsi area were subscribers. They covered EMU better than anyone thanks to Steve Repko and others. Readers would see legit EMU reports on the front of the sports section. When EMU was doing well everybody knew about it. Now you have to dig for information, and the average sports fan is not going to dig for EMU sport reports.
It was also common for the Detroit TV news networks to send a camera crew to games. Now they just buy the highlights from the ESPN's of the world. When is the last time anyone saw highlights of an emu game on 2, 4, or 7?
The mlive coverage is unacceptable. That said, I only watch 2, 4, 7 when my Dad comes to town.
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(01-11-2016 01:04 PM)TheWoodenNickle Wrote: [ -> ] (01-11-2016 12:11 PM)emu steve Wrote: [ -> ]I agree with you, Ray.
The FORM has changed, and actually the quantity, is much, much better than say 15 years ago (I didn't want to use '20 years' because we had a very, very good team which got national acclaim in 1996).
The Internet and webcasting has democratized information and events so that this year I'll probably see over 90% of EMU men's games whereas in 1995-6 I was lucky to see 10% (since I don't live in the midwest).
I assume this statement is correct: I believe I watched every EMU FB game in 2015 (don't think I missed any. I know I watched the WYO game. Forgot if I had to subscribe or how I got it).
I'm thinking more locally when it comes to media. We used to have the Ypsi Press and many in the Ypsi area were subscribers. They covered EMU better than anyone thanks to Steve Repko and others. Readers would see legit EMU reports on the front of the sports section. When EMU was doing well everybody knew about it. Now you have to dig for information, and the average sports fan is not going to dig for EMU sport reports.
It was also common for the Detroit TV news networks to send a camera crew to games. Now they just buy the highlights from the ESPN's of the world. When is the last time anyone saw highlights of an emu game on 2, 4, or 7?
Steve Repko! That is a great blast from the past. Sometimes having to dig a little bit makes it more rewarding. Think back to when the NFL was on NBC (AFC) and CBS (NFC) and then MNF on ABC. We weren't overwhelmed with nonstop coverage. We got our highlights at halftime of MNF and it was just enough coverage to keep you wanting more. Now it is wall to wall NFL coverage on everything but the games themselves. I am less engaged, it is oversaturation.
EMU does need more coverage but Eastern is not helping themselves either with their shoddy WEMU arrangement. Why can't they do more? We own the station, why not have a sports department? Why is it all jazz, blues, and bluegrass all the time? Nobody wants that. We should have a sports department and coach's shows. We are not controlling our own message.
Printed coverage is a real problem. I expect more from the Detroit Free Press. There are enough EMU alumni in Metro Detroit to justify much more coverage. Same thing with the local news stations, although, I rarely watch local news anymore, no matter where I am.
Wooden, some good points about this new form of media not really drawing in the casual observer. Definitely a drawback and may contribute to the low community support. Though, again the Ypsi community has shown a preference for UM even when Ypsi news covered EMU. Nonetheless, very valid point.
But for us committed fans, Eagletotem has a decent right up see below. You get info like Thompson made 26 shots in a row, which tied a Division 1 record held by Bowling Green's Ogleby. This is what I expect about print/ online write ups. Funny thing is, I used to never go to Eagletotem before the criticism at the press conference.
http://eagletotem.net/blog/2016/01/10/no...-63/11461/