Saturday Post Dispatch Story

[jp18]

What the hell is this blow hard's email address? Ignorant ###### deserves to some fan mail.

His email is: [email protected]. The biggest thing I commend him on is he responded to my email in 7 minutes - that was the most impressive part of the email.

[jp18]

There are enough slow sports days to give the preps their dues, but is it possible that they are part of the reason SLU is getting treated like a second-class citizen?

I used to work for the Journals here in town and we always criticized the lack of prep coverage in the Post. But I do think it is much, much better than in the past. They usually have at least a couple pages of full coverage in the weekend sections. I still think there has to be enough room to have a SLU preview, though. As I wrote to Hollway, I don't understand whey we have about a half page dedicated to a Women's College Basketball Notebook in the paper today over a SLU preview - no offense to women's college basketball. But how does that get priority over SLU - his response to that:

The Women's Final Four is in St. Louis this year, so we'll be beefing up that coverage throughout the season.

[bonwich]

One further data point: Saturday's paper included a locally written preview of the Texas A&M-Oklahoma game.

[cheeseman]

One further data point: Saturday's paper included a locally written preview of the Texas A&M-Oklahoma game.

Why???

[slufanskip]

One further data point: Saturday's paper included a locally written preview of the Texas A&M-Oklahoma game.

Texas Tech - OU, not A&M. It's 2 top 5 teams, the biggest game of the weekend and 2 big 12 teams. Not to mention the college football season is winding down and this was a very big game with Nat'l Championship possibililities.

But not to preview a game that was going to draw 9,000 local fans is silly. I am a paper subscriber and he will hear from me.

[davidnark]

FYI- here is a reply I got from Hollway today:

In last Wednesday's paper, we advanced the big early-season tests that SLU has on its sked, including BC (which actually isn't a very good team, so if that's the toughest nonconference game, that's pretty weak. I'd say playing at SIUC will be more of a test.). Anyway, we foresaw a very busy weekend in which we'd have a hard time getting the BC advance in the Saturday paper, and so we went with a theme angle on Wednesday, for the Kent State and BC advances combined. That doesn't signal a change in philosophy, just that we had too much going on to fit into that section (we did advance SLU volleyball and cover SLU soccer in that paper). ... So, it's too early to say that we won't preview SLU games. A non-conference game at Nebraska? No. ... We're in the crossover schedule, when we have football and basketball going on, and so we have really tight sections.

You have got to be kidding me. I knew the PD was cutting costs and taking shorts cuts, but did they hire a high school kid to do their sports editing? I feel bad that guys like Timmerman and Stu have a moron like this making their editorial decisions.

[Clock_Tower]

A generic or "canned" article could have been written about the game 3 weeks ago along with the time, probable starters. Game previews don't need to be written the day before when staffing and budget problems exist. Absolutely shameful.

I wonder if SLU actually keeps track of such snubs and mentions the same when it comes to purchasing all the ads they do from the paper. The athletic department and the school both purchase fairly large amounts of ads.

[Postcard]

FYI- here is a reply I got from Hollway today:

In last Wednesday's paper, we advanced the big early-season tests that SLU has on its sked, including BC (which actually isn't a very good team, so if that's the toughest nonconference game, that's pretty weak. I'd say playing at SIUC will be more of a test.). Anyway, we foresaw a very busy weekend in which we'd have a hard time getting the BC advance in the Saturday paper, and so we went with a theme angle on Wednesday, for the Kent State and BC advances combined. That doesn't signal a change in philosophy, just that we had too much going on to fit into that section (we did advance SLU volleyball and cover SLU soccer in that paper). ... So, it's too early to say that we won't preview SLU games. A non-conference game at Nebraska? No. ... We're in the crossover schedule, when we have football and basketball going on, and so we have really tight sections.

I'm trying to figure out what is so hard to understand from this response. He said they previewed the game earlier in the week because they didn't have enough space on Saturday. There were two SLU articles in that paper so it was obviously no SLU bias(like a lot of the loonies want to believe). Also, what was so condescending in this? He was just saying that there would be no preview for the Nebraska game because the section is too tight. I'm sure they can't please everyone all the time. And to Nashville and all the other out of towners(and in towners for that matter), SLU IS NOT the only D1 program in the area. I don't know why people keep on insisting on this. Mizzou and then Illinois are the two major state schools that the paper covers. To say that SLU is the only D1 program in the area is misleading. MU and IU are not located in St. Louis but plenty of their fans are.

[billiken_roy]

how many baseball articles were in the saturday paper? if anything could have been cut or waited it would have been ALL cardinal news. but there was probably about eleventy seven cardinal stories in the paper.

i am sure we had a nascar and a hunting writeup somewhere.

and skip, even if that texas a&m vs oklahoma game was a big game, why would it take preference over a local division one preview article that never ran.

what galls me is he acts that they went out of their way with the volleyball and soccer coverage. those should have been covered, but that doesnt mean we have used some sort of super secret word limit.

[Clock_Tower]

I didn't realize each school had a maximum or quota of articles.

Previewing the game earlier in the week is one thing. Not even reprinting the same preview is another. I believe valuable space is just as much of an issue as staffing. The day of the game deserves a mention no matter how many articles were previously published.

[Postcard]

how many baseball articles were in the saturday paper? if anything could have been cut or waited it would have been ALL cardinal news. but there was probably about eleventy seven cardinal stories in the paper.

i am sure we had a nascar and a hunting writeup somewhere.

and skip, even if that texas a&m vs oklahoma game was a big game, why would it take preference over a local division one preview article that never ran.

what galls me is he acts that they went out of their way with the volleyball and soccer coverage. those should have been covered, but that doesnt mean we have used some sort of super secret word limit.

It's called the St. Louis Post Dispatch, not the St. Louis University Post Dispatch. I think many of you fail to see the difference.

Don't you think there are a lot of readers who picked up the sports section on Saturday and said, "why the f**k is there an article about the SLU Women's Volleyball AND Soccer team in here?"

Again, they can't please everyone all the time.

[Clock_Tower]

It's called the St. Louis Post Dispatch, not the St. Louis University Post Dispatch. I think many of you fail to see the difference.

Don't you think there are a lot of readers who picked up the sports section on Saturday and said, "why the f**k is there an article about the SLU Women's Volleyball AND Soccer team in here?"

Again, they can't please everyone all the time.

No one is saying Mizzou and Illinois should not be prominently covered but to state that St. Louis has more than one D-1 program is just wrong. Buy an atlas if you don't believe me.

[Postcard]

No one is saying Mizzou and Illinois should not be prominently covered but to state that St. Louis has more than one D-1 program is just wrong. Buy an atlas if you don't believe me.

No one is arguing that. But it shouldn't matter that they're the only D1 program in the city since the paper equally cover the two prominent state schools that readers have interest in. Is this news to you?

[slufanskip]

how many baseball articles were in the saturday paper? if anything could have been cut or waited it would have been ALL cardinal news. but there was probably about eleventy seven cardinal stories in the paper.

i am sure we had a nascar and a hunting writeup somewhere.

and skip, even if that texas a&m vs oklahoma game was a big game, why would it take preference over a local division one preview article that never ran.

what galls me is he acts that they went out of their way with the volleyball and soccer coverage. those should have been covered, but that doesnt mean we have used some sort of super secret word limit.

Not A&M, Texas Tech, the #2 ranked football team in the country against OU, ranked from 3-5 in the country. Do you honestly feel more people in the were interested in the SLU - BC game than the OU - Texas Tech game? I'm not saying there shouldn't have been a write up, of course there should have but not in place of that college football story

[Postcard]

Not A&M, Texas Tech, the #2 ranked football team in the country against OU, ranked from 3-5 in the country. Do you honestly feel more people in the were interested in the SLU - BC game than the OU - Texas Tech game? I'm not saying there shouldn't have been a write up, of course there should have but not in place of that college football story

Skip gets it.

[billiken_roy]

It's called the St. Louis Post Dispatch, not the St. Louis University Post Dispatch. I think many of you fail to see the difference.

Don't you think there are a lot of readers who picked up the sports section on Saturday and said, "why the f**k is there an article about the SLU Women's Volleyball AND Soccer team in here?"

Again, they can't please everyone all the time.

so then why worry about a texas vs oklahoma game if it is about st louis?

[brianstl]

All you have to do is read Holloway's response to understand what is wrong with that paper now. They can try to justify it and we can disagree with the decision. I understand they are getting squeezed when it comes to resources. There is no excuse ever for that kind of response from somebody that is trying to sell something to the public and depends on the goodwill/trust of the public for circulation.

[Postcard]

so then why worry about a texas vs oklahoma game if it is about st louis?

Roy,

Let me explain this to you. The St. Louis Post Dispatch sports section covers a variety of local, national and international events. Their primarily goal is not to serve as the mouthpiece of St. Louis University. OU and Tech were playing in the biggest college football game of the year. I don't know if you've noticed, but football is quite popular now a days. So that's why they covered the game.

[bonwich]

Roy,

Let me explain this to you. The St. Louis Post Dispatch sports section covers a variety of local, national and international events. Their primarily goal is not to serve as the mouthpiece of St. Louis University. OU and Tech were playing in the biggest college football game of the year. I don't know if you've noticed, but football is quite popular now a days. So that's why they covered the game.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch News and Editorial Mission Statement:

"We know that our best opportunities to make a difference are most often in coverage of particular relevance to our St. Louis region, Missouri and downstate Illinois."

Did I mention that the OU game preview was locally written?

[MB73]

Roy,

Let me explain this to you. The St. Louis Post Dispatch sports section covers a variety of local, national and international events. Their primarily goal is not to serve as the mouthpiece of St. Louis University. OU and Tech were playing in the biggest college football game of the year. I don't know if you've noticed, but football is quite popular now a days. So that's why they covered the game.

Kid, The Post Dispatch has always been very biased to MU; sometimes subtle, but always noticeable over the 35 years since I attended SLU.

Keep SLU down.

That is the bottom line.

SLU loses, we are miraculously on the front page, we win, it is on page 7. ETC.

So they send us these ridiculous excuses about the BC snub (Holloway) and some of you buy it. TT is nice to you when you run into him, and you buy it. ETC.

[slufanskip]

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch News and Editorial Mission Statement:

"We know that our best opportunities to make a difference are most often in coverage of particular relevance to our St. Louis region, Missouri and downstate Illinois."

Did I mention that the OU game preview was locally written?

Why wouldn't it be? The winner of the game could easily end up playing Mizzou for the Big 12 championship. As much as I want to see SLU covered and believe that the game absolutely should have been covered, to think it should have taken precedence over the OU-Tech game is wrong.

[Postcard]

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch News and Editorial Mission Statement:

"We know that our best opportunities to make a difference are most often in coverage of particular relevance to our St. Louis region, Missouri and downstate Illinois."

Did I mention that the OU game preview was locally written?

And your point is what? Why does it matter if it was locally written or a syndicate piece? The section only had so much room on Saturday so they chose to preview it along with the Kent St. game earlier in the week.

So do you take their mission statement to mean that they should only cover stories that fit that narrow criteria?

Kid, The Post Dispatch has always been very biased to MU; sometimes subtle, but always noticeable over the 35 years since I attended SLU.

Keep SLU down.

That is the bottom line.

SLU loses, we are miraculously on the front page, we win, it is on page 7. ETC.

So they send us these ridiculous excuses about the BC snub (Holloway) and some of you buy it. TT is nice to you when you run into him, and you buy it. ETC.

You sir, are delusional.

[billiken_roy]

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch News and Editorial Mission Statement:

"We know that our best opportunities to make a difference are most often in coverage of particular relevance to our St. Louis region, Missouri and downstate Illinois."

Did I mention that the OU game preview was locally written?

joe it is waste of time to try to explain anything to him. he is either clueless or on a mission to try to prove to every billiken fan that we are insignificant and worthless to st louis. i dont think he is stupid, so the latter is the more likely answer. especially since he takes great joy in billiken misfortunes and has never demonstrated anything on this board positive about the billikens. his only purpose seems to be to fight with us long time regular hardcore fans.

[Postcard]

joe it is waste of time to try to explain anything to him. he is either clueless or on a mission to try to prove to every billiken fan that we are insignificant and worthless to st louis. i dont think he is stupid, so the latter is the more likely answer. especially since he takes great joy in billiken misfortunes and has never demonstrated anything on this board positive about the billikens. his only purpose seems to be to fight with us long time regular hardcore fans.

Roy, you have your blinders on so tight that you are unable to rationally comment on anything related to the Billikens. For years you bashed TT on his coverage of the Bills until you found out that he did not make the editorial decision on how to cover the team(most sane people already knew that). You mistakenly went after Randy K because you though he hated the Bills for some bogus reason. My whole point has always been that SLU gets the coverage the program deserves from the paper. Nothing more, nothing less. And I hate to see people like you whine about the alleged bias against the Bills. All it does is turn people off the team.

[MB73]

And your point is what? Why does it matter if it was locally written or a syndicate piece? The section only had so much room on Saturday so they chose to preview it along with the Kent St. game earlier in the week.

So do you take their mission statement to mean that they should only cover stories that fit that narrow criteria?

You sir, are delusional.

You sound like a Keith Olbermann clone; his ratings are bad, soon will be "out". Look at it with a more long term fact based unemotional approach. Hey, when you see this for years and years, it is pretty obvious. MU journalism school, lots of MU grads in the area, long time sports editors Broeg and Burns were good guys but MU grads, etc. I thought it was leveling out a bit lately, but no, it is still there somehow.