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Bernie... C'mon now!


BJK

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I know the post sends someone to every Card road game. I was saying TV stations don't. To compare how tv covers sports to a newspaper is foolish on Bernie's part. They are two very different mediums. People watch local tv sports for highlights. They turn to the paper for in depth coverage.

Sorry about that, misread!

And you're 100% right.

What still really goads me is what must be 100+ columns in paper, various Bernie Bits formats, morning videos from his home office -- and not one devoted to Bills till today. Wow...

There is also an attitude -- still -- of we should be grateful for what we get. Now go away.

Ok I'll take deep breath. :)

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Also has a graduate degree from SLU

Too bad we couldn't lose some of the less educated-not that you need any degree to report accurately-and I am not sure if people need validation from any of these people as much as an answer why they wouldn't be joining our celebration. Saint Louis University has much to celebrate with regards to scholar athletes-amazing that prime movers to the economy of the city exposed by cross streets such as Grand and Lindell/Olive or Wash U at the edge of the great city park would be mysteries not penetrated by paid reporters. What are they afraid of?

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Bernie does come off as the pompous ass many here claim he is. His response to the KSDK anchor was, "And how many reporters does your station pay expenses to send to all SLU away games?" Paraphrased slightly, but yes, we should ignore the lack of coverage because, well, they at least send a reporter to cover all the games.. Exemplary coverage for the area's no. 1 college team. We should all be so thankful. What a tool.

I don't think that makes him sound like a pompous ass - his point is fair the only problem with it is that normally TV stations do not follow a team so it is kind of a moot point in the end.

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I don't think that makes him sound like a pompous ass - his point is fair the only problem with it is that normally TV stations do not follow a team so it is kind of a moot point in the end.

Actually, his point wasn't fair. It also didn't make any sense, as your sentence above (especially the bolded portions) points out.

I realize I'm probably keeping this thread alive with my continued negative comments towards the Post Dispatch, but uh... Bernie and Joe...

tumblr_m0cn9grYFc1qcpel0.gif

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I know the post sends someone to every Card road game. I was saying TV stations don't. To compare how tv covers sports to a newspaper is foolish on Bernie's part. They are two very different mediums. People watch local tv sports for highlights. They turn to the paper for in depth coverage.

Brian.

You are probably correct about newspapers being there for in depth coverage. The problem, of course, is that the Post has not provided "in depth" coverage of anything (other than possibly the St. Louis Cardinals) for years. I, of course, admit that I no longer read the Post and therefore cannot truly comment about their recent coverage. To me, the problem with the Post has been that their coverage of sports in general kept getting less and less. And to no surprise, coverage of our Bills has also suffered in recent years.

Now, if the Post had any true business smarts, they would find a way to remain relevant with the St. Louis sports fan and provide a service to the sports fan of equal value to the cost of the Post's subscription. Instead, there is no real coverage of recruiting by the Post, there are no real scoops regarding the players/coaches/team, there are no regular player, coaches, team profiles -- just regular old game summaries. Why should a guy like me subscribe to the Post? And even assuming the Post does provide something worth reading, why should I pay for a paper copy when an electronic copy is free?

And no, this is not just a gripe by a SLU fan. In fairness, the Post no longer really offers much to the sports fan about the other programs (Mizzou, Illini, SIUC, SIUE, UMSL, etc. either). I enjoy articles about the Cardinals as much as anyone but I used to pay money to subscribe to the Post to get in depth information about local sports (from highschools to colleges to professional). The ironic part is that the skeleton staff of the Post still has the information to provide meaningful coverage. Guys like Bernie and Timmerman certainly have connections about our team, our players, our coaches, etc. and with a little time and effort could produce true in depth coverage like the Post did in the past. Budget cuts and extra assignments have ruined the Post. In fact, guys like Nate used his connections/position of being with the Post (covering both SLU and the highschools) to then put his scoop onto his own website for which he personally charged money!! Talk about a sweet deal and a poor business model by the Post !! No, the writers/editors of the Post have information (and/or can easily obtain such information) regarding recruiting, the local AAU scene and the like. In the past, a story (or simply a few comments or tidbits) about a local high school kid possibly being interested in SLU (or another school) would draw interest from the kid's family/friends/local school, from others within the local basketball/AAU community, from fans of the college(s) which may land the kid and from the general, local sports fan. It's called growing readership and its an example of "in depth" coverage. Instead, bragging by Bernie about sending a reporter out of town -- for yet another boring game summary -- but not to provide the local sports fan with a reason to buy a subscription is foolish.

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Actually, his point wasn't fair. It also didn't make any sense, as your sentence above (especially the bolded portions) points out.

I realize I'm probably keeping this thread alive with my continued negative comments towards the Post Dispatch, but uh... Bernie and Joe...

tumblr_m0cn9grYFc1qcpel0.gif

A point can be fair but not effective and that was what I was trying to sahy.

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Number of ads in today's Sports section = 2.

Yeah, that "all Cardinals, all the time" philosophy is working for them well.

Joe. Are you referring to the paper copy as opposed to the on-line paper?

Either way, you're absolutely correct. Follow the money.... Now, it is almost a chicken and egg argument. Did the lack of advertising/subscriptions result because of the "all Cardinals, all the time" philosophy or has the Post simply been financially bleeding for so long that the Cardinals are all we are left with. Either way, I find the Post is not worth the 50 cent cost each day!!

Game summaries are boring and no real interest to me. I still remember the old days of John Sondregger and Mike Eisenbath would provide just a final/closing sentence or two about a certain guy being homesick, or in the coach's doghouse, or mention the name of the highschool star sitting in attendance/behind the SLU bench... Some of it is across the board (the in depth coverage of everyone but the Cardinals has decreased). And not just for our Bills, I used to read in depth stories about Mizzou, Illini, SIUC as well. Back in the day, there were always game summaries about our Bills but there were also stories about the players -- often the locals, their former coaches and those that knew them well -- such as stories about Highmark and Claggett, Richard Keane, Kelly Thames, etc. Also, some of it is that I don't find Timmerman interesting or worthy of reading. But for the longest time, I would read the Sportspage (and the full paper itself) and say, "Gee, I don't think I really read much of anything..." Ever since, I stopped reading and really don't miss it.

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Either way, you're absolutely correct. Follow the money.... Now, it is almost a chicken and egg argument. Did the lack of advertising/subscriptions result because of the "all Cardinals, all the time" philosophy or has the Post simply been financially bleeding for so long that the Cardinals are all we are left with. Either way, I find the Post is not worth the 50 cent cost each day!!

Fifty cents? Where have you been? It costs $1.

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Great piece!...and he even spelled out 'Saint'...proof that the PD doesn't have some nonsensical rule against spelling it out...

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Doug McIlhagga would like to have a word with you.

The funny thing is, when a story comes over the AP wire (or as is the case with the AP poll), it comes over with us cited as Saint Louis. Someone has to go in and physically change it to adhere to P-D style. (I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Saint Louis University is, in fact, official AP Style. So the Post actually defies the style bible in its own town.)

But there are so few people to read things, I've seen Saint Louis University creep in to print at least a dozen times now.

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Absolutely best piece Bernie has written since last year's stories about Rickma's death. Also shows he is following the Bills more closely than casual fan does...

...and is slipping "Saint" past his editors. :)

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The funny thing is, when a story comes over the AP wire (or as is the case with the AP poll), it comes over with us cited as Saint Louis. Someone has to go in and physically change it to adhere to P-D style. (I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but Saint Louis University is, in fact, official AP Style. So the Post actually defies the style bible in its own town.)

But there are so few people to read things, I've seen Saint Louis University creep in to print at least a dozen times now.

I also think it's interesting that in the A10 standings, the P-D always uses "St. Louis U." Not sure why the "U." is necessary.

Then again, they also used to list Xavier as "Xavier (Ohio)." I guess it was important for them to differentiate the Xavier in Cincinnati from the small, historically black Catholic college in New Orleans of the same name.

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