Basketbill Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Channel 2 and 4 are television stations which Inhave no time for, the post's website is useful for sports and I still read. I just do not watch much local news.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 IMO Timmermann was much better than Durando has been so far. That says a lot about how terrible Durando has been. I agree - what a disappointment. I was willing to give him a chance but Matter reports circles around him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I think this is the problem actually. Stu does only what the PD asks of him in terms of Billiken hoops coverage. He writes up the post game recaps and the requisite number of other articles, but does nothing above that. Unfortunately, he falls very short of providing the kind of coverage that today's media (twitter & blogs) allows for, but might not be required by the PD. Stu certainly could tweet more about the Bills or do blog posts about them. I doubt the PD is stopping him, but because (I'm assuming) they don't require it, he doesn't do it. IMO a young reporter (or perhaps a fanboy *cough* Dave Matter *cough*) who is ambitious would provide this type of coverage without being required. Old sports writers (Stu and to some extend Timmermann) are just going to do what is asked of them in terms of print media and be content with their 5th tier sports reporter status. Good point - if you are lazy then your work quality will be lazy. I agree with so many venues available for putting info out what the paper prints is somewhat irrelevant to whether you do a good job - you have other options to get your work product out on other than print only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Neither of those fully comprehend what's going on over there. Do you think Stu woke up the other morning and thought, "Hey, I ought to write a piece about Uncle Soderberger?" Highly unlikely. You does as you's told over there. And I'll have to ask, but I'd be willing to bet he gets exiled to the sports copy desk in the off-season, which isn't exactly conducive to putting in unpaid overtime to cover other stuff. As for tweeting, he's only got about 2,500 followers. Maybe it's worthwhile, maybe it isn't. But it's something of the same issue: When I worked eight or nine hours editing stories and maybe writing a piece of my own, I wasn't exactly motivated to monitor my Twitter for the rest of the night. Occasionally I see he does a fairly long series of live tweets on what he's covering. Sometimes he goes awhile with no tweets. In any event, it's not a 24/7 (nor even a 12/5) calling. Maybe if he tweeted things of value he might get more followers - chicken and the egg thing. You are right most of us do not live in the reporting world but that does not mean that we can not be critical of what we think is poor coverage. I find it hard that Matter was told to go do a Q&A with Tatum for Missouri coverage when he eliminated them. That angle could have been done with Stu having a Q&A and asking why Missouri was dropped and SLU was still in. Oh wait - that would be a non reporter actually making a reasonable suggestion to the media - what was I thinking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 It's not a P-D issue, it's a Stu issue. The P-D coverage in the print edition has been quite good in recent years, especially as the team has gotten better and in our last two NCAA Tourney years our coverage was even better than SPUMAC's. Some people will always blame the P-D, some of it politically motivated, but TT did a fine job while working for the P-D. Nobody stopped him from delivering SLU related tweets or doing a BillikenBlog. Timmermann has been still delivering SLU tweets even after being taken off the SLU beat. And even though he wasn't a guy who covered recruiting much, he did send out two tweets when MY signed - one an article from another paper and the other a youtube video. Stu is either disinterested, lazy or unaware of how to embrace new ways of communicating - blogs and twitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Let's say he works 6:30 AM to 9:45 PM non stop. I do that shift once a month. Then I drive home an hour. I catch up on all my twitter before I sleep but let's say he can't keep up with everything. Can't he just go to SLU basketball's twitter page and see if there was any breaking news like the Bishop signing? Yes none of us on here need his social media updates. But it's the casual fan that we need to appeal to and inform if we want more coverage and people at the games. I get it if he's too lazy or busy to actually write something or if the PD won't allow it. But he certainly had time to hype up his St. Louis Marathon piece on twitter so I don't see why he can't retweet stuff about SLU while he's at it. If nobody did the extra work that they didn't get paid for, nothing would get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne's_World Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Can't the PD just hire a big SLU fanboy? Someone from the board should apply for the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Can't the PD just hire a big SLU fanboy? Someone from the board should apply for the job They did it with Matter and Mizzou, but he also got the job because he's good at writing local crime stories too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milwaukeebill Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Why should the guy do work he isn't getting paid for? I don't get the thought process involved in that type of thinking. You all realize people like Bernie kid paid by their employer for their large presence on line and in social media. Would I like if he did it? I would love it, but it isn't realistic. The guy isn't a fan boy trying to get a job covering a team. This is a thought process I'll never follow or understand. why not do an unreal job even if you're not paid the perfect compensation? Presumably if you did a great job you could get a better job at the post or another outlet or start your own thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Indy has better hoops coverage than STL? Who'da thunk it. And even more basic, you're ignoring economics 101. Mr. Bonwich, here's some econ 101 that I learned at SLU. Once you go into a death spiral it's takes something more than cutting to get you out. If you continue to hack off readers/subscribers by putting out an inferior product, you will continue your downward path. As the PD sucks more and more every month then you give subscribers more of a reason to become former subscribers. Here's a thought. Try improving the product. It might not even cost you any more if PD leadership uses just a small amount of creativity. How about spending some time on local sports stories, especially those with possible national implications, instead of the continuing beatification of Michael Brown and the "protesters" who the PD doesn't have enough courage to label correctly as felons. Here is my "you just took another step downward in the death spiral" fact. I recently received my annual bill for the PD delivery 7 days a week. After reflecting on the "PD narrative" as it was described by another poster in this thread, and lack of the sports coverage that I used to look forward to, I cancelled my subscription. That was about 2 weeks ago. The rep I talked to made no effort to retain me even though I have subscribed for over 30 years! Since then I have received one call from a very nervous sounding sales rep who asked if I would be interested in receiving the Sunday PD for $8 and some change. As the call was progressing, a lady cut in and told me the price quoted was a mistake and that it would really be a few $$$ more. That's it, that's the total retention effort of what used to be a quality newspaper. If they don't give a $h!^, why should I? However, I will make one suggestion to those on this Board- go to the SLU location everyday and give it a click-you better believe that will add up and maybe we will get at least 1/2 inch of ink when FBJT says he is staying home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 It's not a P-D issue, it's a Stu issue. The P-D coverage in the print edition has been quite good in recent years, especially as the team has gotten better and in our last two NCAA Tourney years our coverage was even better than SPUMAC's. Some people will always blame the P-D, some of it politically motivated, but TT did a fine job while working for the P-D. Nobody stopped him from delivering SLU related tweets or doing a BillikenBlog. Timmermann has been still delivering SLU tweets even after being taken off the SLU beat. And even though he wasn't a guy who covered recruiting much, he did send out two tweets when MY signed - one an article from another paper and the other a youtube video. Stu is either disinterested, lazy or unaware of how to embrace new ways of communicating - blogs and twitter. Actually, Tom stated the PD stopped the Billiken blog at one point. We get the coverage the Post is willing to pay for. It is foolish for us to expect a person to provide us coverage for free. Do people really expect Stu to put in 4-6 hour lining up interviews and putting together a story during his free time that he is not getting paid for? I don't get people being upset about Stu not retweeting something. If you wanted to know about the tweet on Bishop signing, just follow @SaintLouisMBB. If it was big breaking new, I would get it, but this? Come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills_06 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 To go along with bauman, I use to pay to read Ben's coverage on Scout. I know there are a lot of people who didn't but he would always try and get interviews from recent recruits who visited campus, be great at talking about the team, and having some great coverage year round. You could get a lot of the information on who we are recruiting and various things like that from here but I thought the did a great job of trying to reach out to recruits after visits or talking to somebody close to them to get a feel of where SLU ranks on being able to land that kid. If the post would do something like this, I would pay to read extra content when it comes to SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Actually, Tom stated the PD stopped the Billiken blog at one point. We get the coverage the Post is willing to pay for. It is foolish for us to expect a person to provide us coverage for free. Do people really expect Stu to put in 4-6 hour lining up interviews and putting together a story during his free time that he is not getting paid for? I don't get people being upset about Stu not retweeting something. If you wanted to know about the tweet on Bishop signing, just follow @SaintLouisMBB. If it was big breaking new, I would get it, but this? Come on. Maybe the casual fan only follows Durando. SLU didn't tweet anything about Grandy leaving but Durando could. SLU obviously won't tweet anything about about Tatum visiting but Durando could. Twitter isn't hard. It's not unfair to expect him to help out. The more people that tweet about it, the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Let's say he works 6:30 AM to 9:45 PM non stop. I do that shift once a month. Then I drive home an hour. I catch up on all my twitter before I sleep but let's say he can't keep up with everything. Can't he just go to SLU basketball's twitter page and see if there was any breaking news like the Bishop signing? Yes none of us on here need his social media updates. But it's the casual fan that we need to appeal to and inform if we want more coverage and people at the games. I get it if he's too lazy or busy to actually write something or if the PD won't allow it. But he certainly had time to hype up his St. Louis Marathon piece on twitter so I don't see why he can't retweet stuff about SLU while he's at it. If nobody did the extra work that they didn't get paid for, nothing would get done. He hyped up the marathon piece because that was his paid assignment from the Post. If I had a guess, Stu isn't presently assigned to the Billiken beat. He is assigned to some kind of general sports assignment beat. You get the constant coverage from Matter because he is a fan boy and he is constantly assigned to the Mizzou beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franchise_08 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 They did it with Matter and Mizzou, but he also got the job because he's good at writing local crime stories too You mean stories about the UMC athletic department? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Actually, Tom stated the PD stopped the Billiken blog at one point. We get the coverage the Post is willing to pay for. It is foolish for us to expect a person to provide us coverage for free. Do people really expect Stu to put in 4-6 hour lining up interviews and putting together a story during his free time that he is not getting paid for? I don't get people being upset about Stu not retweeting something. If you wanted to know about the tweet on Bishop signing, just follow @SaintLouisMBB. If it was big breaking new, I would get it, but this? Come on. When did I or anybody ask for 4-6 hours lining up interviews? I guess it is too much to ask the team's beat writer to just show a little interest and retweet some SLU related content in the offseason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiseAndGrind Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Actually, Tom stated the PD stopped the Billiken blog at one point. We get the coverage the Post is willing to pay for. It is foolish for us to expect a person to provide us coverage for free. Do people really expect Stu to put in 4-6 hour lining up interviews and putting together a story during his free time that he is not getting paid for? I don't get people being upset about Stu not retweeting something. If you wanted to know about the tweet on Bishop signing, just follow @SaintLouisMBB. If it was big breaking new, I would get it, but this? Come on. You are so wrong on this on so many levels. If I wasn't typing on my phone I would write a god damn dissertation. Stu is part of the old guard of journalists that isn't doing the industry any favors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 When did I or anybody ask for 4-6 hours lining up interviews? I guess it is too much to ask the team's beat writer to just show a little interest and retweet some SLU related content in the offseason. He is most likely not presently assigned to the Billiken beat. My guess is the Post presently has no one assigned as the Billiken beat writer and we may not have anyone assigned to it even for next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufan13 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Stu retweeted about McBroom earlier this week. I don't see why he can't put together 3 more tweets about Grandy, Bishop, and Tatum. I'd guess he doesn't get paid to tweet when he's on the beat either because he hardly tweets then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 He is most likely not presently assigned to the Billiken beat. My guess is the Post presently has no one assigned as the Billiken beat writer and we may not have anyone assigned to it even for next season. Timmermann is STILL periodically tweeting out SLU-related items even though he is not currently the Billiken beat writer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Timmermann is STILL periodically tweeting out SLU-related items even though he is not currently the Billiken beat writer. Well good for him. He may have become a fan of the program while he was covering it. I am glad that happened. It doesn't mean I or anyone else should expect everyone that gets assigned the Billiken beat will become a fan and tweet often about them when it is no longer their job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drkelsey55 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Only get the Sunday edition because my wife wants the coupons!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Only get the Sunday edition because my wife wants the coupons!!! And that is part of the problem. I am quilty, too. I cancelled my subscription and stopped buying the paper. I didn't see the point of paying for what I get on line for free. Now multiply both of us by a couple hundred thousand and that is one of the reasons we don't get the coverage of sports that we all want. Hell, the Post had no one working the Illini beat last season. They picked up Illini stories from Decatur Herald. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Well good for him. He may have become a fan of the program while he was covering it. I am glad that happened. It doesn't mean I or anyone else should expect everyone that gets assigned the Billiken beat will become a fan and tweet often about them when it is no longer their job. It doesn't mean that he is a "fan".... again, nobody is asking for that. Just show a shred of interest. I think there is a good reason TT is getting more high profile assignments and Stu is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken class of 15 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Stu still retweets things involving Illinois basketball/football from time to time. That's his old assignment. If he can do that, there's absolutely no reason why he can't retweet a few things about the Billikens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.