Local Media

[Stattrax]

What is the issue with the local media? It seems like less and less is being covered on local high school football. As a kid, the papers where flooded with local coverage. Every week the Snooze had updated district stats, individual and team. The Enterprise does an article on district leaders, with Lumberton as the cover photo. (use a winning program). It just appears to me that the direction is totally different than years past. The days of, "I beat Bob West", are long gone, and for the record, I did win a few times over the years. Even the local sportscasters seem to be very uninterested in stats, etc. I know years ago, when Ware, and Picasso where on the sidelines, they gave it like it was. Now I know one is a P.N.G. grad, and the other a Nederland grad. But its just crazy how this site gives more knowledge and info than local media outlets. For instance, P.A.M., P.N.G... That is the biggest game of the year in Mid County.... Find a good article written about it..... There is none. As a kid, we read the paper every morning to see what Bob or Tom had to say.... Now its just lackluster. IMO, when you see a sports guy post on here, its more  politically correct than anything else. (IMO Newton or W.O.S. have no chance against W.B.)........ I am the first to knock the rah rah's on here. But honestly, the rah rahs have more info than the stumbling media. I am in  no way saying its all bad, but the majority is...... Maybe we are living in the "we are all winners world"... But in my world, not everyone is a winner. Winners win, losers lose.... We have a team that has won back to back championships, lost another in the last 3 years. 2 teams that are always in the rankings in 5-A.... Newton always in the conversation, as well as W.B. in 6-A. Yet the media is talking about none of them..... Answer me this, where can I find a good article about P.A.M., P.N.G., tomorrow night? Where can I find the district stats in the area? If i am a betting man, 90% of what the local media knows comes from this very website. And we know the rankings do. SETXSPORTS, might very well be the best media in the area for local High School sports......... Read the papers in the morning and see what pops up. More than likely, its not going to be very inspirational.......... For instance, lets use the BMT Enterprise. Years ago you would see several articles by today. One would say, the Brook is rolling looking to get it on with one of the top teams in the state. The Jags are loaded with talent, looking to put it all together for a playoff run. The Panthers are looking to get on track..... The Snooze would be talking up the matchup with commits Hines and Johnson. Bob West would be telling you that Memorial is going to make a run. Halliburton would be telling you the Mid County teams are putting it together to make some noise. But yet, when I look today, well you know whats to be seen.............

[AthleticSupporter - Jock]

10 minutes ago, Stattrax said:

What is the issue with the local media? It seems like less and less is being covered on local high school football. As a kid, the papers where flooded with local coverage. Every week the Snooze had updated district stats, individual and team. The Enterprise does an article on district leaders, with Lumberton as the cover photo. (use a winning program). It just appears to me that the direction is totally different than years past. The days of, "I beat Bob West", are long gone, and for the record, I did win a few times over the years. Even the local sportscasters seem to be very uninterested in stats, etc. I know years ago, when Ware, and Picasso where on the sidelines, they gave it like it was. Now I know one is a P.N.G. grad, and the other a Nederland grad. But its just crazy how this site gives more knowledge and info than local media outlets. For instance, P.A.M., P.N.G... That is the biggest game of the year in Mid County.... Find a good article written about it..... There is none. As a kid, we read the paper every morning to see what Bob or Tom had to say.... Now its just lackluster. IMO, when you see a sports guy post on here, its more  politically correct than anything else. (IMO Newton or W.O.S. have no chance against W.B.)........ I am the first to knock the rah rah's on here. But honestly, the rah rahs have more info than the stumbling media. I am in  no way saying its all bad, but the majority is...... Maybe we are living in the "we are all winners world"... But in my world, not everyone is a winner. Winners win, losers lose.... We have a team that has won back to back championships, lost another in the last 3 years. 2 teams that are always in the rankings in 5-A.... Newton always in the conversation, as well as W.B. in 6-A. Yet the media is talking about none of them..... Answer me this, where can I find a good article about P.A.M., P.N.G., tomorrow night? Where can I find the district stats in the area? If i am a betting man, 90% of what the local media knows comes from this very website. And we know the rankings do. SETXSPORTS, might very well be the best media in the area for local High School sports......... Read the papers in the morning and see what pops up. More than likely, its not going to be very inspirational.......... For instance, lets use the BMT Enterprise. Years ago you would see several articles by today. One would say, the Brook is rolling looking to get it on with one of the top teams in the state. The Jags are loaded with talent, looking to put it all together for a playoff run. The Panthers are looking to get on track..... The Snooze would be talking up the matchup with commits Hines and Johnson. Bob West would be telling you that Memorial is going to make a run. Halliburton would be telling you the Mid County teams are putting it together to make some noise. But yet, when I look today, well you know whats to be seen.............

Do people still buy newspapers?  

[Stattrax]

6 minutes ago, AthleticSupporter - Jock said:

Do people still buy newspapers?  

It was a figure of speech. Both have websites.

[NDNation]

We need Gabe back.

[AthleticSupporter - Jock]

17 minutes ago, Stattrax said:

It was a figure of speech. Both have websites.

Just messing with you. I agree with most of what you said.  I don't know the answer. I'm betting it has a lot to do with some non-local, execs making the decisions to focus other things. The decision makers are not in touch with what their readers/viewers want. I've heard that from at least one former Enterprise sports writer. 

[Brubaker]

I really miss the player features, in my opinion, that was the heart of the sports section. 

[WOSgrad]

The days of Rush Wood, Bob West and Tom Haliburton are gone forever.  I found this out the hard way a couple of weeks ago when I was tipped off that my hometown newspaper, the Orange Leader, had copy and pasted portions of my 2017 team previews for their "analysis" of teams that the local teams were facing in their weekly game previews.  I know the guy that did it and have since we were both in high school.  Some have told me that I should be flattered that my work was deemed to be the quality to be included in a local newspaper.  Yet, I couldn't help but feel disappointment.  Not that my work had been used without my being consulted.  Stattrax is right, much of the effort of this site does appear in other print media and the only one who ever asked me for that was Gabe.  It is just that media had sunken to that point that they didn't even bother with their own effort. 

It kind of put into more perspective an email that a parent of a local player had shared with me.  This email, from the editor of a local paper, told me all that I needed to know about the priorities of this local paper with regards to local sports.  Basically, the insight that many of us yearn will only appear in this paper if it purports to reflect the seedier side of sports.  I once thought that this was just David Thompson's style, and it very well may have been.  But from this email that was shared to me, it is quite apparent that the orders for such "journalism" come from upstairs.  I got to give it to Danny (yes, the email was from his boss), the effort he has made in spite of the culture of this particular paper is pretty admirable.  Some might not think enough, but I think it is better than others.

It is quite sad that we have come to that point.  But then again, I guess it is good that folks like us and Ashly are still around.

 

[Stattrax]

47 minutes ago, WOSgrad said:

The days of Rush Wood, Bob West and Tom Haliburton are gone forever.  I found this out the hard way a couple of weeks ago when I was tipped off that my hometown newspaper, the Orange Leader, had copy and pasted portions of my 2017 team previews for their "analysis" of teams that the local teams were facing in their weekly game previews.  I know the guy that did it and have since we were both in high school.  Some have told me that I should be flattered that my work was deemed to be the quality to be included in a local newspaper.  Yet, I couldn't help but feel disappointment.  Not that my work had been used without my being consulted.  Stattrax is right, much of the effort of this site does appear in other print media and the only one who ever asked me for that was Gabe.  It is just that media had sunken to that point that they didn't even bother with their own effort. 

It kind of put into more perspective an email that a parent of a local player had shared with me.  This email, from the editor of a local paper, told me all that I needed to know about the priorities of this local paper with regards to local sports.  Basically, the insight that many of us yearn will only appear in this paper if it purports to reflect the seedier side of sports.  I once thought that this was just David Thompson's style, and it very well may have been.  But from this email that was shared to me, it is quite apparent that the orders for such "journalism" come from upstairs.  I got to give it to Danny (yes, the email was from his boss), the effort he has made in spite of the culture of this particular paper is pretty admirable.  Some might not think enough, but I think it is better than others.

It is quite said that we have come to that point.  But then again, I guess it is good that folks like us and Ashly are still around.

 

Corporate America!!! I kinda find myself laughing at myself sometimes. This very site that I poke fun at the rah rahs for, often have more knowledge than the folks that are being paid for a living to do it do.... It kinda goes back to the email I sent Grad a few months back, it was basically, I enjoyed the KRONOS corner, and Stats Fasttrax posts we had made last year. Simply because of the entertainment value and the facts that went along with it.... I also think that is one of the reasons the Dallas area and other markets have seen a rise in Dynasties.... The media outlets in those areas cover football in a dedicated fashion, and it leads to great things for those programs, along with recruits and college attention. Lets take W.O.S. and P.A.M. for example. I.M.O., the best athletes in the area generally come from those 2 schools, however, you see certain players, like K.J., last year for W.O.S., that do not receive the media attention, therefore they do not get the college attention. However, a Jacquizz Rodgers, (I use him because he is the same basic build as K.J.), gets the media attention from the Greater Houston area and gets college attention. And I.M.O., K.J., was every bit as spectacular as J.R. Hopefully in the future, one of these local media outlets will reach out and find folks that have a interest in High School Sports and let them build up the local media like it should be. Corporate America is so out of touch with local reality, its laughable. I would assume, you could get a few local folk, with knowledge, to write articles for just about free, and what would it cost the paper? A pass to the games? Its not about money, its about not being in touch with what people are interested in. SO that is the reason you write an article about district leaders and put a pic of the Lumberton Raiders on the front page. Its no longer about trophies and hardware. It is about "We are all winners" and politics......

 

And for the Lumberton folks, no disrespect intended, however facts are facts.

If a college recruiter fumbles across that article, more than likely he googles the team, then moves on to the next city...

[L-Train11]

21 minutes ago, Stattrax said:

Corporate America!!! I kinda find myself laughing at myself sometimes. This very site that I poke fun at the rah rahs for, often have more knowledge than the folks that are being paid for a living to do it do.... It kinda goes back to the email I sent Grad a few months back, it was basically, I enjoyed the KRONOS corner, and Stats Fasttrax posts we had made last year. Simply because of the entertainment value and the facts that went along with it.... I also think that is one of the reasons the Dallas area and other markets have seen a rise in Dynasties.... The media outlets in those areas cover football in a dedicated fashion, and it leads to great things for those programs, along with recruits and college attention. Lets take W.O.S. and P.A.M. for example. I.M.O., the best athletes in the area generally come from those 2 schools, however, you see certain players, like K.J., last year for W.O.S., that do not receive the media attention, therefore they do not get the college attention. However, a Jacquizz Rodgers, (I use him because he is the same basic build as K.J.), gets the media attention from the Greater Houston area and gets college attention. And I.M.O., K.J., was every bit as spectacular as J.R. Hopefully in the future, one of these local media outlets will reach out and find folks that have a interest in High School Sports and let them build up the local media like it should be. Corporate America is so out of touch with local reality, its laughable. I would assume, you could get a few local folk, with knowledge, to write articles for just about free, and what would it cost the paper? A pass to the games? Its not about money, its about not being in touch with what people are interested in. SO that is the reason you write an article about district leaders and put a pic of the Lumberton Raiders on the front page. Its no longer about trophies and hardware. It is about "We are all winners" and politics......

 

And for the Lumberton folks, no disrespect intended, however facts are facts.

If a college recruiter fumbles across that article, more than likely he googles the team, then moves on to the next city...

I think the only explanation for having us as the cover is the fact that we are holding several American flags (politics), the pic is pretty cool but your right I would have had a picture of RJ or maybe a good pic from last years PAM vs PNG game. 

[BMTSoulja1]

1 hour ago, WOSgrad said:

The days of Rush Wood, Bob West and Tom Haliburton are gone forever.  I found this out the hard way a couple of weeks ago when I was tipped off that my hometown newspaper, the Orange Leader, had copy and pasted portions of my 2017 team previews for their "analysis" of teams that the local teams were facing in their weekly game previews.  I know the guy that did it and have since we were both in high school.  Some have told me that I should be flattered that my work was deemed to be the quality to be included in a local newspaper.  Yet, I couldn't help but feel disappointment.  Not that my work had been used without my being consulted.  Stattrax is right, much of the effort of this site does appear in other print media and the only one who ever asked me for that was Gabe.  It is just that media had sunken to that point that they didn't even bother with their own effort. 

It kind of put into more perspective an email that a parent of a local player had shared with me.  This email, from the editor of a local paper, told me all that I needed to know about the priorities of this local paper with regards to local sports.  Basically, the insight that many of us yearn will only appear in this paper if it purports to reflect the seedier side of sports.  I once thought that this was just David Thompson's style, and it very well may have been.  But from this email that was shared to me, it is quite apparent that the orders for such "journalism" come from upstairs.  I got to give it to Danny (yes, the email was from his boss), the effort he has made in spite of the culture of this particular paper is pretty admirable.  Some might not think enough, but I think it is better than others.

It is quite said that we have come to that point.  But then again, I guess it is good that folks like us and Ashly are still around.

 

*clap, clap, clap, clap*

[BMTSoulja1]

I too share Stattrax and Grad's sentiments.  Originality is lacking in some of our local media.  Others are good and take pride and show the excitement of high school football.  Heck, it's the reason why I even started posting on these sports message boards about 13 years ago.  But there's some editors that, like said above, piggyback off of other media outlets, and when questioned a out the validity of their information, claim that they've done their homework themself.  Another story, another day.  I just know that I'll continue to crown this site as the best place for local sports and I'll praise the others, except one particular local newspaper.  

[DannyShapiroBE]

I'd be glad to have this conversation with anyone because it's a legitimate one. Think Ashly would agree.

On more of a deeper level, I can only speak about the Enterprise, obviously. I'm not involved with the decision process for 6 and 12 or VYPE or anyone else who covers this area.

Wish people like Soulja would give my coverage a chance and not associate it with past reporters but I get it. You're not the only one who feels that way nor will you be the last.

Anyways, I'll be at PAM-PNG tomorrow. Probably pretty early. Feel free to find me there or here or wherever if anyone has legitimate comments/questions/concerns.

[AggiesAreWe]

Bottom line, our local newspapers no longer have 5-6 sports writers on payroll. Just 1 editor and 1 writer. That's it. It's hard for one writer to do several features leading up to game night. Now days they get stringers to cover the games.

Remember also, we use to have 4 TV stations here locally (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX). Now we just have 2. Media as a whole has been reduced, condensed for financial reasons. Also, with the internet and social media now available, print media is about obsolete. I personally think Danny is doing a fine job at BE considering he and the new guy Matt don't have much to work with.

I take pride in this site in providing as much accurate info as we can possibly put out. I know for a fact many coaches from our area view this site religiously. That tells me all I need to know.

[Stattrax]

11 minutes ago, DannyShapiroBE said:

I'd be glad to have this conversation with anyone because it's a legitimate one. Think Ashly would agree.

On more of a deeper level, I can only speak about the Enterprise, obviously. I'm not involved with the decision process for 6 and 12 or VYPE or anyone else who covers this area.

Wish people like Soulja would give my coverage a chance and not associate it with past reporters but I get it. You're not the only one who feels that way nor will you be the last.

Anyways, I'll be at PAM-PNG tomorrow. Probably pretty early. Feel free to find me there or here or wherever if anyone has legitimate comments/questions/concerns.

Thanks for your efforts....

[RanchHand]

I think they are stretched thin.  Not enough reporters and too many schools to cover in our area.  And they are "damned if they do and damned if they don't", meaning that people seem to get their feelings hurt or they just get ticked off if they happen to cover one school more than the other, regardless of how well the school is doing.  Kudos to the ones still trying to make it in sports journalism.  It's a tough world out there.

[Stattrax]

5 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

Bottom line, our local newspapers no longer have 5-6 sports writers on payroll. Just 1 editor and 1 writer. That's it. It's hard for one writer to do several features leading up to game night. Now days they get stringers to cover the games.

Remember also, we use to have 4 TV stations here locally (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX). Now we just have 2. Media as a whole has been reduced, condensed for financial reasons. Also, with the internet and social media now available, print media is about obsolete. I personally think Danny is doing a fine job at BE considering he and the new guy Matt don't have much to work with.

I take pride in this site in providing as much accurate info as we can possibly put out. I know for a fact many coaches from our area view this site religiously. That tells me all I need to know.

Back to what I talked with Grad about. Maybe its time we have write ups on here from biased sports folks on the game they watched that week... Stats, info, thoughts, etc.... make this site the true VOICE of SETXSPORTS. And somehow we need to figure out the stat issue... Coaches will give the info, we just need to put it together........

[DannyShapiroBE]

7 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

Bottom line, our local newspapers no longer have 5-6 sports writers on payroll. Just 1 editor and 1 writer. That's it. It's hard for one writer to do several features leading up to game night. Now days they get stringers to cover the games.

Remember also, we use to have 4 TV stations here locally (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX). Now we just have 2. Media as a whole has been reduced, condensed for financial reasons. Also, with the internet and social media now available, print media is about obsolete. I personally think Danny is doing a fine job at BE considering he and the new guy Matt don't have much to work with.

I take pride in this site in providing as much accurate info as we can possibly put out. I know for a fact many coaches from our area view this site religiously. That tells me all I need to know.

Bingo...

[AggiesAreWe]

6 minutes ago, Stattrax said:

Back to what I talked with Grad about. Maybe its time we have write ups on here from biased sports folks on the game they watched that week... Stats, info, thoughts, etc.... make this site the true VOICE of SETXSPORTS. And somehow we need to figure out the stat issue... Coaches will give the info, we just need to put it together........

I use to get stats for 22-5A and 10-4A districts via email from the district statistician. I no longer receive those. Not sure why but it has stopped.

We may need to contact some of our local coaches to get that ball back rolling.

[DannyShapiroBE]

2 hours ago, AthleticSupporter - Jock said:

Just messing with you. I agree with most of what you said.  I don't know the answer. I'm betting it has a lot to do with some non-local, execs making the decisions to focus other things. The decision makers are not in touch with what their readers/viewers want. I've heard that from at least one former Enterprise sports writer. 

Have to disagree with this. I spend a good amount of time on SETX Sports to get a sense of what the diehards in the area want. And you have to remember there are a heck of a lot of readers who aren't frequenting this site and will read different types of articles. Our numbers show that, I promise.

[WOSgrad]

21 minutes ago, Stattrax said:

Back to what I talked with Grad about. Maybe its time we have write ups on here from biased sports folks on the game they watched that week... Stats, info, thoughts, etc.... make this site the true VOICE of SETXSPORTS. And somehow we need to figure out the stat issue... Coaches will give the info, we just need to put it together........

I used to do that here.  I'll gauge coaches temperature about doing that again.

[ST413]

I do miss the brief game summaries you used to see. Now you get it here reading the threads of several games. But still lots are just score updates due to not enough fans at the game online.  The big thing I used to enjoy was the Friday night heroes that listed the top rbs, qbs and receivers of the week along with maybe a few defensive standouts in a little paragraph. 

[L-Train11]

40 minutes ago, WOSgrad said:

I used to do that here.  I'll gauge coaches temperature about doing that again.

I’m sure many coaches would be on board with it.

[BMTSoulja1]

1 hour ago, DannyShapiroBE said:

I'd be glad to have this conversation with anyone because it's a legitimate one. Think Ashly would agree.

On more of a deeper level, I can only speak about the Enterprise, obviously. I'm not involved with the decision process for 6 and 12 or VYPE or anyone else who covers this area.

Wish people like Soulja would give my coverage a chance and not associate it with past reporters but I get it. You're not the only one who feels that way nor will you be the last.

Anyways, I'll be at PAM-PNG tomorrow. Probably pretty early. Feel free to find me there or here or wherever if anyone has legitimate comments/questions/concerns.

No thank you.  I definitely will not.  I tried before and it didn't work well.  And I definitely won't find you and talk to you.  I'd probably be greeted by a Mute response (again) or even dumped off on your boss...

I'm good...

[DannyShapiroBE]

1 hour ago, ST413 said:

I do miss the brief game summaries you used to see. Now you get it here reading the threads of several games. But still lots are just score updates due to not enough fans at the game online.  The big thing I used to enjoy was the Friday night heroes that listed the top rbs, qbs and receivers of the week along with maybe a few defensive standouts in a little paragraph. 

Good news on this one. Starting this week, everything I put on our Sunday sports page dedicated to high school football will be available online minus box scores. That means things like Top 10 area leaders, Game Balls (I give out five) and how the teams in our Enterprise poll fared will be available online. Anything that is stat-based will likely be online Saturday afternoon or earlier, depending on how quickly team statisticians get back to me.

[ST413]

20 minutes ago, DannyShapiroBE said:

Good news on this one. Starting this week, everything I put on our Sunday sports page dedicated to high school football will be available online minus box scores. That means things like Top 10 area leaders, Game Balls (I give out five) and how the teams in our Enterprise poll fared will be available online. Anything that is stat-based will likely be online Saturday afternoon or earlier, depending on how quickly team statisticians get back to me.

Nice to hear.