Per his twitter account, Matt Jones is bolting for Blue & Gold Illustrated.
https://twitter.com/MattJones36
Any thoughts on who the next JMU Sports beat writer will be?
(06-14-2016 12:32 PM)wmacson Wrote: [ -> ]Per his twitter account, Matt Jones is bolting for Blue & Gold Illustrated. https://twitter.com/MattJones36
Any thoughts on who the next JMU Sports beat writer will be?
Par for the course at the DNR. No one young stays at the small regional newspapers for long.
(06-14-2016 12:57 PM)JMU2004 Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 12:32 PM)wmacson Wrote: [ -> ]Per his twitter account, Matt Jones is bolting for Blue & Gold Illustrated. https://twitter.com/MattJones36
Any thoughts on who the next JMU Sports beat writer will be?
Par for the course at the DNR. No one young stays at the small regional newspapers for long.
Yeah you get someone for 2-3 years then move on. I hope the DNR can find another young Mike Barber.
How about the guy from The Breeze that covered football/sports in press conferences.....to be honest he sounded very good and asked better questions than Matt Jones.
One minor criticism of Jones- maybe he just needs to find another word for leaving but every time he mentions Everett Withers leaving JMU he always used the word "bolted" . I know there was some acrimony with Withers but after seeing in in article after article it was clear about the picture that Jones wanted to paint. We get the point- choose another word to describe JMU's coach leaving if for no other reason than to mix it up for the reader.
(06-14-2016 01:23 PM)ShadyP Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 12:57 PM)JMU2004 Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 12:32 PM)wmacson Wrote: [ -> ]Per his twitter account, Matt Jones is bolting for Blue & Gold Illustrated. https://twitter.com/MattJones36
Any thoughts on who the next JMU Sports beat writer will be?
Par for the course at the DNR. No one young stays at the small regional newspapers for long.
Yeah you get someone for 2-3 years then move on. I hope the DNR can find another young Mike Barber.
How about the guy from The Breeze that covered football/sports in press conferences.....to be honest he sounded very good and asked better questions than Matt Jones.
Wayne Epps? He was very good on the Breeze. Really enjoyed his coverage.
Good for him. I'm pretty surprised he "bolted" for another job as he wasn't very good at this one. His question asking was pretty awful. He was a decent writer, though, so I do think he deserves that. He always came across as a sports writer wanting to be a TMZ guy. Instead of reporting on the news, he put way too much of his opinion. A good writer... a bad sports reporter.
I will miss his awful questions and even more awkward delivery.
Just kidding, no I won't.
(06-14-2016 01:28 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]One minor criticism of Jones- maybe he just needs to find another word for leaving but every time he mentions Everett Withers leaving JMU he always used the word "bolted" . I know there was some acrimony with Withers but after seeing in in article after article it was clear about the picture that Jones wanted to paint. We get the point- choose another word to describe JMU's coach leaving if for no other reason than to mix it up for the reader.
Well said and that's exactly why I wrote it. I got it too but it got very old reading it in every single article, including today's article on Carter.
(06-14-2016 01:28 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]One minor criticism of Jones- maybe he just needs to find another word for leaving but every time he mentions Everett Withers leaving JMU he always used the word "bolted" . I know there was some acrimony with Withers but after seeing in in article after article it was clear about the picture that Jones wanted to paint. We get the point- choose another word to describe JMU's coach leaving if for no other reason than to mix it up for the reader.
It's as if they can't hear what they're writing. Vary it up for the readers (and your own credibility). Of course, the worst JMU offender is Jeff Bourne. I don't even have to say his "word"....we all know it by now. It has become a punchline that defines this era of JMU athletics.
Hope Matt does well at his new gig. I agree w/ the earlier poster. Would like to see the guy from the Breeze get a shot at the job.
By default the questions at press conferences and post game sessions will get better.
Interesting decision to go to what is essentially a Notre Dame recruiting website (one of several, no less). I guess the face of journalism is changing. I follow ND football pretty closely, so it'll be interesting to see if their coaching staff likes MJ any better than ours did.
I can tell you that if he tries to get into a spitting contest with Brian Kelly, he'll be on the first train out of town.
(06-14-2016 01:28 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]One minor criticism of Jones- maybe he just needs to find another word for leaving but every time he mentions Everett Withers leaving JMU he always used the word "bolted" . I know there was some acrimony with Withers but after seeing in in article after article it was clear about the picture that Jones wanted to paint. We get the point- choose another word to describe JMU's coach leaving if for no other reason than to mix it up for the reader.
That's honestly what withers did though, so it's a pretty accurate word to use.
(06-14-2016 04:39 PM)Potomac Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 01:28 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]One minor criticism of Jones- maybe he just needs to find another word for leaving but every time he mentions Everett Withers leaving JMU he always used the word "bolted" . I know there was some acrimony with Withers but after seeing in in article after article it was clear about the picture that Jones wanted to paint. We get the point- choose another word to describe JMU's coach leaving if for no other reason than to mix it up for the reader.
That's honestly what withers did though, so it's a pretty accurate word to use.
It's accurate when it first happens, but it became a trite rehash grudge after 6 months though. IMO
That's why there's an editor to tweak a writer using a redundant word.
Not to read too much into this but Nick Sunderland (MBB beat writer for the DNR) tweeted to Matt Jones when Matt announced he was leaving with a picture from the movie Shawshank Redemption. It's the scene where Andy Dufrane climbs through the sewage pipe and comes out the other side and is in the rain after escaping from Shawshank. Not sure if that was a reference to escaping the DNR or Harrisonburg but a thought- I can see why the DNR wants writers who aren't alum of JMU to challenge the admin and JMU so that they aren't just homers- but clearly the job is a stepping stone and I think some of these guys who come from Va Tech or Wisconsin or other places probably come in with a mind set about JMU and Harrisonburg. Maybe hiring someone from The Breeze or a JMU alum wouldn't be such a bad thing.
(06-14-2016 09:40 PM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]Not to read too much into this but Nick Sunderland (MBB beat writer for the DNR) tweeted to Matt Jones when Matt announced he was leaving with a pitcure from the movie Shawshank Redemption. It's the scene where Andy Dufrane climbs through the sewage pipe and comes out the other side and is in the rain after escaping from Shawshank. Not sure if that was a reference to escaping the DNR or Harrisonburg but a thought- I can see why the DNR wants writers who aren't alum of JMU to challenge the admin and JMU so that they aren't just homers- but clearly the job is a stepping stone and I think some of these guys who come from Va Tech or Wisconsin or other places probably come in with a mind set about JMU and Harrisonburg. Maybe hiring someone from The Breeze or a JMU alum wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Probably wouldn't. These guys come to Harrisonburg, have no friends, etc. There's no reason to stick around. Withers destroyed Jones because he (Jones) didn't know anything about football. He was decent as a writer but I'd bet you a dime to a dollar that he couldn't tell you how many guys need to line up on the LOS on offense and that bothered Withers.
(06-14-2016 01:40 PM)RootinFerDukes Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 01:23 PM)ShadyP Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 12:57 PM)JMU2004 Wrote: [ -> ] (06-14-2016 12:32 PM)wmacson Wrote: [ -> ]Per his twitter account, Matt Jones is bolting for Blue & Gold Illustrated. https://twitter.com/MattJones36
Any thoughts on who the next JMU Sports beat writer will be?
Par for the course at the DNR. No one young stays at the small regional newspapers for long.
Yeah you get someone for 2-3 years then move on. I hope the DNR can find another young Mike Barber.
How about the guy from The Breeze that covered football/sports in press conferences.....to be honest he sounded very good and asked better questions than Matt Jones.
Wayne Epps? He was very good on the Breeze. Really enjoyed his coverage.
Yeah, that last name 'Epps' sounds familiar but not entirely sure....I just know the guy sounded better than Jones when I heard him or read his stuff.
Too bad he didn't get the beat job down in San Marcos.
Matt was invited by one of my professors to speak to my sports management class last year. He came off like he could give two flying you know what's about JMU. Talked about how difficult it is getting stories in Harrisonburg. Also talked about his difficulties with Whithers. Talked like a guy who couldn't wait to get out of town. But that's the only time I have seen the guy, it was an early class so maybe he is just not a morning person.
FWIW Withers congratulated Matt Jones over twitter when Jones announced he was leaving to write for a Notre Dame recruiting blog and Jones thanked him. Maybe at some point they buried the hatchet.
Who knows maybe Jones will someday cover Withers again when Withers is coaching an FBS team in the National Championship game and Jones is a journalist for a big newspaper or sports network...but I wouldn't bank on it.
(06-21-2016 05:51 AM)NJDuke97 Wrote: [ -> ]FWIW Withers congratulated Matt Jones over twitter when Jones announced he was leaving to write for a Notre Dame recruiting blog and Jones thanked him. Maybe at some point they buried the hatchet.
Who knows maybe Jones will someday cover Withers again when Withers is coaching an FBS team in the National Championship game and Jones is a journalist for a big newspaper or sports network...but I wouldn't bank on it.
If withers is on a national championship team, it'll be as an assistant coach. A position coach at that.