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  • Rant/Poll

    Esteemed RR members,

    I feel that part of the reason the Raptors have been mediocre in recent memory is because the Toronto Sports media handles them with kid gloves.

    Personally I am sick and tired that these "reporters" never ask the tough, real or even insightful questions. Always the overly polite and obvious nice Canadian guy questions...
    "Great game out there today, how were you able to do what you wanted to do on the floor?" or "Hey Landry, great spark off the bench today, tell me how did it feel seeing your shot go through the basket?" and on and on, all these bullshit questions that a 5 year old interested in basketball could ask.
    I honestly believe for any team/organization to improve feelings have to be put aside and hard tough, awkward and sometimes rude (oh no) questions must be asked. Part of the problem from where I stand is who we have asking the questions.

    Here is a quick rundown from worst to average:

    1. Sportsnet (don't give a shit about Raps)

    2. Toronto Star- Doug Smith
    Pros- Nice fellow, seasoned vet
    Cons- old, obvious, boring
    I bet he'd argue... "Most fans are over emotional dumbasses, that don't know sports only stats."

    2. Paul Jones and Eric Smith (Fan590) (NBATV)
    Pros- knowledgeable, know how to use the internet
    Cons- Work for Bell & Rogers --- own MLSE--- own Raps
    I bet they'd argue.. "We want to keep our jobs."

    3. TheScore-
    Tim and Sid..."We want to keep our jobs."

    4. Basketball Jones (gone)

    You get the point, overall weak weak coverage IMOP


    You are making George very angry...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiwtXHPwGPE


    Top 5 Pick 2014 Pleaseeee
    21
    Yes, good enough
    28.57%
    6
    Somewhat, they sometimes ask real questions
    33.33%
    7
    No, simply a dog & pony show
    38.10%
    8

    The poll is expired.


  • #2
    @sweatpantsjer

    Comment


    • #3
      I dont get how you make the correlation of "quality of coverage" and "quality of team". The Raptors have been mediocre because they have had mediocre players.
      Heir, Prince of Cambridge

      If you see KeonClark in the wasteland, please share your food and water with him.

      Comment


      • #4
        I love a good rant.. however most teams will have the same problem the Raptors would have with their local coverage. Unless you are NY or LA where media is crazy you will see a lot of homers covering their teams. And even in NY/LA you get soft ball questions thrown at players.

        The problem with the Raptors is that they have been very bad for a long time.. so after awhile you will want to vomit after hearing praises from a mediocre/bad team. Once the team turns things around their media coverage won't be a problem anymore.

        Comment


        • #5
          Axel wrote: View Post
          I dont get how you make the correlation of "quality of coverage" and "quality of team". The Raptors have been mediocre because they have had mediocre players.
          I agree, because I don't really see the connection. I think the Raptors need to prove themselves through basketball, and the media coverage plays a minuscule role in their success.
          "Masai WILL win us a championship"
          - Tim Leiweke

          Ujiri: "One thing I can say for sure is that we will not be stuck in the middle."

          Reporter: "How can you say that?"

          Ujiri: "Because I can say that."

          Comment


          • #6
            Media Coverage and team success doesn't have a direct correlation but I can get with the argument that it may have something to do with it in a roundabout way.

            Don't want this to turn into another Colangelo hate thread (wait, maybe I do) but the man did an inept job for the larger part of a decade in Toronto and yet there were still media members lobbying for his extension or crying when he was sent packing.

            There's also been lots of speculation in recent years about how much the media were really allowed to say when it came to questioning management decisions. As you pointed out in the original post, so many of these guys have the same employer at the top of their organizational flow chart that it's not difficult to imagine a few of them having ulterior motives when it comes to their reporting.

            All in all, it seemed like Colangelo had a lot of pals in the media, or at the very least people who weren't willing/able to be critical of him, and I think it helped add to the culture of mediocrity that had set in here.

            Comment


            • #7
              Part of the problem is how the role of the sports media has changed over the last decade. It used to be that the biggest role of the sports journalist was primarily writing game stories, because before the rise of cable sports channels, average fans would only see a portion of their team's games, and read about the rest. They were automatically a voice of authority because they saw more games than anyone else. Now, fans not only see far more games and care less about game writeups, but they're far more sophisticated and educated in forming (and expressing) their own opinions. I put the same amount of weight into a well-thought-out post from a member here, as I do into an equally well-formed argument from a professional journalist. Doug Smith sometimes sounds like someone who's a little bitter that he no longer has the authority that he once had because all these fans think that they know as much as he does. Game stories are increasingly sourced to syndicates like AP.

              So what's the role of a sports journalist now? Pretty-much the only thing they have that the average sports fan doesn't is access to ask questions to the athletes, and so what used to be a relatively small part of their job has suddenly become the only way that they still have relevance. And it used to be that they were just grabbing a few colour quotes to throw into their game stories. The concern about asking hard questions is a real one; I've certainly seen it in other sports where a journalist who typically asks questions that a coach doesn't like gets increasingly ignored in a media scrum. And does asking hard questions produce interesting or useful answers? Or does it just make the athlete get defensive and evasive? I also think there's a role for the colour pieces. I know you rate Sportsnet as the worst, but Holly MacKenzie does a decent job with colour pieces. They aren't typically hard-hitting, but she gets good quotes and builds background stories well, gives insights into personalities. I can get hard stats from a myriad of sites, good solid analysis from places like RR, and get good colour pieces from MacKenzie and similar writers. That's as much coverage as I really need.

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm as critical of the Toronto media as anyone here but I don't think you can blame them for how bad the Raps have been through the years.

                The Colangelo/media issue is another one entirely. Based on some of the second hand information I have heard, I would be absolutely fascinated to know exactly what went on with that regime and the major media outlets. Unfortunately, I suspect no one will ever go on the record. It would be awesome to go have a beer with guys like Koreen, Arthur, Feschuk, Grange and get the scoop.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Get Bell & Rogers to give up some of their monopoly over the media industry. Then maybe you'll get the quality (honest) coverage you want. Plain and simple.
                  Twitter - @thekid_it

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    No doubt about it - Doug Smith is the WORST media coverage for the Raptors. He is old and out of touch, his insights are soft and common and his over basketball IQ is very low. He gets angry and argues when readers don't agree with him, he makes it very difficult to have any kind of discussion on his blog. His blog is 80% about him and his life and his opinion on daily life and only 20% on the Raptors, its very sad and he is very uninteresting. Doug insists he is above all other media coverage for the Raptors - He will flat out say that he has closer "in's" to the organization then anyone else covering this team...Just read his blog, its all there, and there often. The ironic thing is, he is usually wrong! For example, the day before Davis was traded to Memphis last season, Doug left on his blog "stand down folks, nothing is going on and nothing soon will"..." I have little birdies who tell me nothing is going to happen anytime soon" - the next day, Davis traded! It is time for Doug to go and it has been for the past 5 years or so!
                    Honestly the best coverage and discussions right now are right here - RaptorRepublic

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Geezus, another rant about how the media is messing up the Raptors??? LOLOLOLOL. Yeah, them media people ought to say fuck this making a living thing, and blast away with the 'tough questions" that on-line bloggers, that wouldn't know a press pass if it bit them, would ask,,,,,,,,,,, because that's what the team needs to win!! Yeah, that's the ticket!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        There was a post on Truehoop by Ethan Strauss the other day that touched on this. (Do click through to read the whole thing, it's quite interesting.)

                        I once asked Richard Jefferson about whether he was bothered by the information gap between what players know and what the media says. His response: “No, we get that you’re basically writing for seventh-graders.”

                        Chances are, if you’re reading this, you passed the seventh grade long ago, but there’s something to the idea that sports fandom taps into a middle school id. I’ve seen doctors and lawyers represent themselves like seventh-graders when hollering about their favorite team. I didn’t think Jefferson was being entirely fair, but I also understood his perspective.
                        The mainstream media writes for mainstream audiences. People who aren't hardcore fans don't want to read about the inefficiency of 19-ft mid-range jumpers or the potential defensive pitfalls of playing small ball. People who are only casual fans want to hear good things, and because the casual fans far outnumber the hardcore, the media delivers what they want. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, or even that it's an excuse for lackadaisical coverage. It's just the way it is.

                        And hardcore fans know where to go on the web to read the more critical, in-depth stuff, so it's not like that market is being underserved anyway.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          tkfu wrote:
                          There was a post on Truehoop by Ethan Strauss the other day that touched on this. (Do click through to read the whole thing, it's quite interesting.)



                          The mainstream media writes for mainstream audiences. People who aren't hardcore fans don't want to read about the inefficiency of 19-ft mid-range jumpers or the potential defensive pitfalls of playing small ball. People who are only casual fans want to hear good things, and because the casual fans far outnumber the hardcore, the media delivers what they want. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good thing, or even that it's an excuse for lackadaisical coverage. It's just the way it is.

                          And hardcore fans know where to go on the web to read the more critical, in-depth stuff, so it's not like that market is being underserved anyway.
                          Its absolutely true. Media is big business and when push comes to shove they will move towards whats profitable. However, its one thing when its your usual newspaper write up on a game/player etc. But when its an editorial on the game/player I think there is plenty of room to ask more difficult questions and delve into more complicated issues. We see it with hockey in Canada all the time - contrarian questions about the team, questions about the direction they are going etc. But in regards to basketball the depth of questioning just isn't there by most.

                          One thing I remember about Chuck Swirsky, despite his rather obvious role, is he never seemed to question the refs. He may say a call is questionable, or 'I don't know about that', but generally he just didn't mention it or if he did moved on quick. Guys like Devlin and E. Smith, particularily this last season, have not been the same in that regard. Devlin was still discussing the foul on Bargnani in the Charlotte game last season in a preseason game this year - using it as an excuse for the Raptors poor start last year. E. Smith was discussing the poor officiating last season against Toronto recently himself. But what stands out the most was him and Jones talking about what amounted to a pseudo-conspiracy by the refs to "keep Dwight in the game" when the Raps played the Lakers last year (ie. he claimed the refs gathered to discuss how the can make/change the call - not ofcourse to make sure they got it right). Were there any apologies when Dwight did get ejected out? Nope, just more discussing how the Raps were getting screwed by the refs.....

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Craiger wrote: View Post
                            Its absolutely true. Media is big business and when push comes to shove they will move towards whats profitable. However, its one thing when its your usual newspaper write up on a game/player etc. But when its an editorial on the game/player I think there is plenty of room to ask more difficult questions and delve into more complicated issues. We see it with hockey in Canada all the time - contrarian questions about the team, questions about the direction they are going etc. But in regards to basketball the depth of questioning just isn't there by most.

                            One thing I remember about Chuck Swirsky, despite his rather obvious role, is he never seemed to question the refs. He may say a call is questionable, or 'I don't know about that', but generally he just didn't mention it or if he did moved on quick. Guys like Devlin and E. Smith, particularily this last season, have not been the same in that regard. Devlin was still discussing the foul on Bargnani in the Charlotte game last season in a preseason game this year - using it as an excuse for the Raptors poor start last year. E. Smith was discussing the poor officiating last season against Toronto recently himself. But what stands out the most was him and Jones talking about what amounted to a pseudo-conspiracy by the refs to "keep Dwight in the game" when the Raps played the Lakers last year (ie. he claimed the refs gathered to discuss how the can make/change the call - not ofcourse to make sure they got it right). Were there any apologies when Dwight did get ejected out? Nope, just more discussing how the Raps were getting screwed by the refs.....
                            Mind you, it's a lot easier to openly question calls after the league has issued a formal apology to the team. There's no fear of negative consequences.

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