New Wessler piece

[Da Coach]

It's a catch-22. If the PJ Star had articles in which it broke stories, but quoted anonymous sources, the reaction would be that the PJStar is turning into a "Page Six" printing gossip without naming sources.

On the other hand, there may not be a lot of value to the PJS if the paper merely prints stories that are based off Bradley press releases.

The article, although I did not think it was Pulitzer-worthy for commentary, succeeded in getting a reaction. It's Watercooler-talk,

Wow.
How in the heck do writers for other newspapers do it? There are hundreds of papers that run regular, informative, up-to-date articles about teams' personnel, progress, performances. Heck, even the PJS has had more information about local high school teams' players than they have about the Bradley players. Seems to me we are just seeing about every excuse in the world except "the dog ate my homework".

[BradleyJD]

It's a catch-22. If the PJ Star had articles in which it broke stories, but quoted anonymous sources, the reaction would be that the PJStar is turning into a "Page Six" printing gossip without naming sources.


The article, although I did not think it was Pulitzer-worthy for commentary, succeeded in getting a reaction. It's Watercooler-talk,

You are correct on both counts here.

[theBUer]

Wow.
How in the heck do writers for other newspapers do it? There are hundreds of papers that run regular, informative, up-to-date articles about teams' personnel, progress, performances. Heck, even the PJS has had more information about local high school teams' players than they have about the Bradley players. Seems to me we are just seeing about every excuse in the world except "the dog ate my homework".

Again, I thought the article was not groundbreaking nor is it Pulitzer-worthy, and I could not care less if KW shares my sentiments. All I am saying is that he succeeded in getting people to talk.

The Des Moines Register published this article about the upcoming Drake season:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101011/SPORTS020403/10120350/1097/SPORTS0204/Drake-Basketball-Bulldogs-look-to-improve-on-Valley-record

My point is that an article like I posted from the Register can be written even during the slowest of times, but it is impossible to come up with different ways to present things happening before the tip.

Moderation is key.

[TheAsianSensation]

If I want college or pro sport news and articles, I go online. If I want to read up on the old high school news, I have to use the PJS. Maybe that's why their coverage for high schools is better than the coverage for BU (of which, from what I can tell, is true). The high school stuff may be more important to the reader base.

[BU RICK]

I think what most that were unhappy about that article is that it's old news that we all know. What I'd like to read is how Willie Scott feels after being with the players for several months with quotes, same with Coach Platt, I'd like to read some new articles on each individual player with quotes. It seems the only place we get some quotes is on their tweets, I know Will considers himself a forward and not a center, and saw the picture of the scale at 239lbs. So how hard would it be for the PJS reporters to stop by the campus and talk to the players and coaches individually and have some individual stories.

[tornado]

Da Coach, what do you make of this tweet by Coach Les:

JL is going out of his way, bending over backwards, and going to the extreme lengths to be on the high ground and positioning himself so as to avoid getting more hits from the press..that's all...
funny how you didn't post the 2nd half of that short tweet where JL thanked the people who were being astute and calling a spade a spade and standing up for him.

How much of a "fan" are you if you don't know the players who are on Bradley's team? ..

JD -- just so happens -- in my line of work I talk with and make "small talk" with at least 30-40 people a day, and often, since they know I am a big BU fan (and usually do know the answers to their queries), the talk turns to BU...
and 75%+ of the fans and "marginal" fans of BU basketball DON'T have a day-in, day-out approach to following BU so they have no idea what's been going on lately or who the new players are -- they're in the dark...
...and many simply don't google or follow bradleyfans either...
Thus almost every single day -- multiple times -- I am asked these two simple questions....
--who does Bradley have this year/do they have anyone new??
--what's going on at BU and how are they going to do?

I generally give them the answer they request, but I am also struck with how frequently they say this...
--Well, that's surprising, I hadn't heard that and never saw that in the newspaper!

So believe what you want, but there are plenty of folks who do WANT and starve for info but who note that the newspaper gives them virtually nothing until the "Hoops" insert shows up sometimes around the middle of November.

[dogsrus]

I think what most that were unhappy about that article is that it's old news that we all know.

It really wasn't old news in the fact that Cros is the new guy......it was a follow-up piece to basically the same questions that were left unanswered last time.

I think it is VERY appropriate at this time, again, due to Cross being new here.

[tornado]

now dogs -- you can't have it both ways...

was the column useful because Dr. Cross was helpful answering questions and freely opened up and gave a good interview??

..or is he just a yes man -- avoiding giving any meaty answers because he's someone who can never really answer anything without checking with you know who -- as many here seem to suggest??

[Out of Balance]

I am happy that some people think the PJ Star coverage is fair and adequate. IMO it is not.

Not one of those articles you quoted is anything more than a regurgitation of a press release by Bradley, or news that was already out on message boards. Do you think a simple re-wording of a BU press release constitutes good reporting?
And the Bradley site has a lot of new information about the players. Just check the roster page, the individual bios, and the huge new prospectus posted by Bobby Parker.

http://www.bradleybraves.com//pdf8/716310.pdf?SPSID=25964&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400

The PJ Star has not had any article that gives fans a single bit of new information about this year's team, or about new players, or about players like DD, who have recovered from injury.
Most BU fans I know, if they don't read this site, do not even know who the players on this year's team are. I guess we'll have to wait until "Media Day" before any new info makes it into the local media. But every other MVC team has alreasdy had far more informative reporting done by their media than Bradley has. That fact has been documented many times here. The PJS can do whatever it wants, but I know there are people who have dropped their subscriptions simply because there is never anything reported that they don't already know about Bradley.

Wow, there are people out there who would/do subscribe to the paper just for BU news ONLY Thats funny and hard to fan-tum But it sort of goes along with what you posted about long time BU fans giving up their season tickets and not attending anymore games after JL was hired. But to each their own Glad to see you are OK and opened up with your opinions on this thread DC I knew you could not stay numb

[amckillip]

And off the top of my head, one of the rules of this forum is that a poster cannot post an unsubstantiated rumor, either until it has been reported by an official source or something to that effect.

So really, if KW breaks news and did not attribute any one person (think Woodward/Bernstein here ), then it would be slinging mud and would likely be deleted from the board because it broke a rule.

But at the end of the day folks, none of us have a crystal ball as to what the season will be. Right now, we are all sitting at a table noshing on the appetizer. The main course will come soon enough.

Haha, I think it's a testament to the quality of KW if it's printed in the paper, but it's unsubstantiated so it wouldn't fly here. IMO that speaks to the quality of news. BFans is accurate and timely the PJStar is wildly inaccurate, a day late, and a dollar short.

[amckillip]

funny how you didn't post the 2nd half of that short tweet where JL thanked the people who were being astute and calling a spade a spade and standing up for him.

I was waiting for someone to mention this. The people on here who criticize others for spin sure do seem to conveniently leave out the whole truth quite often.

[shaunguth]

Fair enough. As I stated, I no longer receive that paper either.




How much of a "fan" are you if you don't know the players who are on Bradley's team? We didn't have that much turnover, did we?

Couldn't they just go to the BUBraves page? Didn't you say it was packed with info on the new players??

My parents go to every conference game and a few non-conference games every season....just as my son and I do. I consider all four us to be Bradley fans, but I'm probably the only one (possibly my son) that could tell you the names of the new players on the team this season. To answer your question.....there are varying levels of being a "fan". Just because you do not know the new players' names before any public events does not mean you are not a fan at all.

[shaunguth]

If someone doesn't even subscribe to the PJStar...why would they even care whats written or NOT written?

I don't subscribe, but why wouldn't I care what they write (or not) about Bradley?

[shaunguth]

All I am saying is that he succeeded in getting people to talk.

So would an article written about the desire to get rid of JL at the end of this season. However, some believe we shouldn't care what they write about "our team" simply because we don't subscribe.

[theBUer]

Haha, I think it's a testament to the quality of KW if it's printed in the paper, but it's unsubstantiated so it wouldn't fly here. IMO that speaks to the quality of news. BFans is accurate and timely the PJStar is wildly inaccurate, a day late, and a dollar short.

This goes back to my earlier point in that the PJS will not win in either situation. I agree that what's posted right now (sans the KW column) is retreads, but I'll cut 'em some slack since the opening tip is in about a month. And it's college football season, and I'm sure some here are also Illini football fans, so they are paying some attention to that as well.

I wouldn't expect the Star to print every rumor that hits the sports desk, they make a judgment and try to hunt for more leads. I'm sure you can post a piece of breaking info on this site, but you have to name a source or backing it up somehow.

And if the PJS does report something and it does name a source, but the source requested anonymity, the reaction would be the PJS is either A. Making stuff up or B. Trying to rile people.