[Chron]Texans still flying well under NFL radar

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by aj.

Manfull is a robot. McClain's blog is unreadable because he has become the figurative Verizon Guy with his network of titans and cowboys fans following him around. The columnists write so rarely that when they do decide to write something it's usually sounding off on old news or in the 'so-what, who cares about your opinion because you don't follow the team that closely anyway' category. Lance's blog is very good, but he's not a chron employee.

Manfull is atleast trained as a journalist in college, though her knowledge of football is very lacking, but she's learning ever so gradually. Do you think she's just basically an affirmative action hire ?
But McCain is a joke. Between Baylor, his "movie career", the Cowboys & the Titans, McClain doesn't give the Texans much coverage. And he's just a pathetic journalist. Atleast Manfull has some mechanical skills as a journalists.
And I'm with you about LZ. He is very knowledgible and has decent writing skills. I wish they would let him write full-blown articles on a regular basis in the Chronicle. I will be back to listening to him on a regular basis on 1560 with the soon to begin football season.

[Mailman]

The greatest insult to the Chron's sports reader is the prominent role they gave Anna Megan-WhatsHerTits on their website.

[bignasty]

I want to put some money down on the 7.5. How do you go about placing the bet?
Any suggestions

[aj.]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Do you think she's just basically an affirmative action hire ?
.

Where did I say or allude to that? It has nothing to do with her being female. In fact, I wish Kristie Reiken and her would switch jobs because Kristie has produced more good copy than any of the locals.

I said she's a robot, meaning uninspiring, mechanical articles lacking insight and based heavily on the quote sheet. Her articles reek of 'it's a job' drudgery. I know she's the reporter and not the columnist and her articles are fact based by design, but in terms of style and content, they are generally lifeless and non-informative reads.

But my disdain for Chronicle Sports goes equal and across the board to every last one of them so don't get the idea that I'm singling her out. And she doesn't get brwonie points for having a journalism degree. I expect they all have some form of J degree or Comm or something along those lines. I don't care about their training. I care about their product and their motivation to produce that product. I quit the Chronicle several years ago mainly because of the poor sports coverage - because that was the main reason I started taking the paper anyway. After a quick scan of Chron.com sports every morning, I know I'm not missing anything.

The best Texans beat writers for the Chronic for a short period in the early days were Joseph Duarte and CT. But they put Duarte on the Big 12 and CT is now everyone's boss...

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by aj.

Where did I say or allude to that? It has nothing to do with her being female. In fact, I wish Kristie Reiken and her would switch jobs because Kristie has produced more good copy than any of the locals.

I said she's a robot, meaning uninspiring, mechanical articles lacking insight and based heavily on the quote sheet. Her articles reek of 'it's a job' drudgery. They are lifeless reads. My disdain for Chronicle Sports goes equal and across the board to every last one of them so don't get the idea that I'm singling her out. And she doesn't get brwonie points for having a journalism degree. I expect they all have some form of J degree or Comm or something along those lines. I don't care about their training. I care about their product and their motivation to produce that product. I quit the Chronicle several years ago mainly because of the poor sports coverage - because that was the main reason I started taking the paper anyway. After a quick scan of Chron.com sports every morning, I know I'm not missing anything.

The best Texans beat writers for the Chronic for a short period in the early days were Joseph Duarte and CT. But they put Duarte on the Big 12 and CT is now everyone's boss...

W I CT?

[aj.]

Sorry ..... Carlton Thompson.

[barrett]

is it possible that the chronicle doesn't offer much more in depth coverage because their readership doesn't require it? i live in austin so i don't know what it's like there locally as far as news coverage on the texans is concerned. television, print, radio etc.. i check NFL.com, Chron.com, HT.com, TexansTalk.com and then 610.com daily to get my news. even though i know that Texans Talk will ALWAYS have the most updated info i like to get the other media sorces as well. Then come here for everyones analysis. i know that i check in on the 610 site regularly to see if they have interviewed a member of the texans. i'm always excited about it when they do even though it's the same old mumbo jumbo any sports interview includes.

no doubt there is better coverage of the texans in houston than in austin, BUT, perhaps houston just isn't that enthusiastic about the texans. maybe as a city houston is less interested than some other cities. i know austin is a town that shows little intrest in sports other than the longhorns and even that is not what i would think from a "sports town". it's just not a "sports town". i think houston is but then again, i have season tickets, i go to the games, i don't see the people in the stands. the ones i do see aren't very enthusiastic. maybe it's just not part of the culture there. in turn, perhaps the sports writing is not very enthusiastic either. or is it visa versa?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by aj.

Where did I say or allude to that? It has nothing to do with her being female. In fact, I wish Kristie Reiken and her would switch jobs because Kristie has produced more good copy than any of the locals.

I said she's a robot, meaning uninspiring, mechanical articles lacking insight and based heavily on the quote sheet. Her articles reek of 'it's a job' drudgery. They are generally lifeless reads.

But my disdain for Chronicle Sports goes equal and across the board to every last one of them so don't get the idea that I'm singling her out. And she doesn't get brwonie points for having a journalism degree. I expect they all have some form of J degree or Comm or something along those lines. I don't care about their training. I care about their product and their motivation to produce that product. I quit the Chronicle several years ago mainly because of the poor sports coverage - because that was the main reason I started taking the paper anyway. After a quick scan of Chron.com sports every morning, I know I'm not missing anything.

The best Texans beat writers for the Chronic for a short period in the early days were Joseph Duarte and CT. But they put Duarte on the Big 12 and CT is now everyone's boss...

were they more insiteful 6 years ago? has their coverage curtailed as the texans chances of winning football did aswell?

[aj.]

Originally Posted by barrett

is it possible that the chronicle doesn't offer much more in depth coverage because their readership doesn't require it? ...

no doubt there is better coverage of the texans in houston than in austin, BUT, perhaps houston just isn't that enthusiastic about the texans. maybe as a city houston is less interested than some other cities. i know austin is a town that shows little intrest in sports other than the longhorns and even that is not what i would think from a "sports town". it's just not a "sports town". i think houston is but then again, i have season tickets, i go to the games, i don't see the people in the stands. the ones i do see aren't very enthusiastic. maybe it's just not part of the culture there. in turn, perhaps the sports writing is not very enthusiastic either. or is it visa versa?

It's because there's no competition in the local print media. When the Post was in business you bet it was different.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by aj.

Where did I say or allude to that? It has nothing to do with her being female. In fact, I wish Kristie Reiken and her would switch jobs because Kristie has produced more good copy than any of the locals.
I said she's a robot, meaning uninspiring, mechanical articles lacking insight and based heavily on the quote sheet. Her articles reek of 'it's a job' drudgery. I know she's the reporter and not the columnist and her articles are fact based by design, but in terms of style and content, they are generally lifeless and non-informative reads.

Don't be so defensive, your PCness remains intact, pure and unblemished as far as I'm concerned. I did not nor do I now claim you thought she was an A-A hire, I wondered about it myself and was only wondering what you thought about it ? That's all.
And if her articles about football in the Chronicle aren't any good, its probably because she doesn't know much about the sport and cares even less about it. She probably didn't want to be the "guy" on the NFL beat, but jumped at the chance to come down here and work for the Chronicle since her boyfriend was (and still is of course), here in Houston working for the Chronicle.

[ESAD2-14]

Originally Posted by barrett

i go to the games, i don't see the people in the stands. the ones i do see aren't very enthusiastic. maybe it's just not part of the culture there. in turn, perhaps the sports writing is not very enthusiastic either. or is it visa versa?

Hopefully that will change when the Texans start putting up some winning seasons. I know when the Oilers were making the playoffs in the 90's and the Luv Ya Blue era The Dome was full and the crowd was loud. I have a feeling that when the Texans consistently win the fans will show up.

Is the Houston Chronicle any different from other cities in that it hires any sports coverage writer that turns in a resume? Or do other newspapers actually try and hire people from the regional area that are actually fans/supporters of the teams they cover?

[barrett]

so during that era when the oilers were in the playoffs what was the press coverage like?

[aj.]

Originally Posted by barrett

so during that era when the oilers were in the playoffs what was the press coverage like?

Press coverage was all we had and that's part of the point. The internet wasn't around during LYB and barely getting a foothold in mainstream America beyond 56k dialup when the Oilers lost to KC in the early 90's. Print media is all we used to have and rely on, along with some talk radio. When Houston had two newspapers, the overall coverage was much better, even during the sucky years (I see where you're going with that...)

I'm waiting for print media to transform to all-internet and for the local news monopolies - like what we have with the Chronicle - to die so things can open up for multiple competitive local (non-tv or radio, i.e., internet) news sources. But the medium will have to look much different than it does today since there's only so many ways you can bring people the news weather and sports and make money.

[ATXtexanfan]

who cares about the CHRON coverage? this site is all you need!!!!!!!! hell, we broke down benson to houston like it was really gonna happen. the internet is a wonderful thing.

[barrett]

i used to work in television news and i can assure you that if it doesn't make money then it doesn't matter. period. the content is completely secondary to the bottom line.(which goes against anything that i just asked about the chronicle's viewership).

i don't know if the dinosaurs will die. they will probably just evolve. (see at&t etc.) sadly, Chron.com will probably continue to be the main source for some time. thank goodness we have this forum. who started this thing anyway? was it vinny? whoever it was, godbless'em.

go Texans.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by barrett

i used to work in television news and i can assure you that if it doesn't make money then it doesn't matter. period. the content is completely secondary to the bottom line.(which goes against anything that i just asked about the chronicle's viewership).

i don't know if the dinosaurs will die. they will probably just evolve. (see at&t etc.) sadly, Chron.com will probably continue to be the main source for some time. thank goodness we have this forum. who started this thing anyway? was it vinny? whoever it was, godbless'em.

go Texans.

I second that!!

[aj.]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Don't be so defensive, your PCness remains intact, pure and unblemished as far as I'm concerned. I did not nor do I now claim you thought she was an A-A hire, I wondered about it myself and was only wondering what you thought about it ? .

I'm not being defensive, just wondering how you could play the affirmative action card off my post. I don't follow your PC comment, but to answer your question, I have no idea, nor do I care whether she was an affirmative action hire. I'm guessing she wasn't, but I do know that's not something that crossed my mind. Hell, the fact that she was a 'female journalist' never crossed my mind, at least in this discussion, until you brought it up. Anyway, again, my dislike for Chronicle Sports is institutional more than it is individual. I think I'll bow out now since the return on investment on this thread is already in the red.

Originally Posted by barrett

thank goodness we have this forum. who started this thing anyway?

It was Kevin, aka Hookem Horns' gift to Texans fandom.

[MEGA SWATT]

who cares about the Houston chronicle


bring on the season, its kinda boring around here

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by aj.

I have no idea, nor do I care whether she was an affirmative action hire. I'm guessing she wasn't, but I do know that's not something that crossed my mind. Hell, the fact that she was a 'female journalist' never crossed my mind

Aw, see you just totally sold out to the PC mentality. Plus that's a really ingenuous thing to say. How could a woman's gender who covers NFL football possibly not be in the coversation ? That is, if we're going to have a really frank, open discussion ?

[aj.]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Aw, see you just totally sold out to the PC mentality. Plus that's a really ingenuous thing to say.?

wtf are you talking about? (rhetorical question)

Originally Posted by nunusguy

How could a woman's gender who covers NFL football possibly not be in the coversation ?

How could it not be in the conversation? Maybe when the topic is (at least in my view) about the poor coverage by her employer in general and not about NFL beat writers who happen to be women? I don't know - you tell me - you keep bringing the gender thing back into the discussion so I guess it's a hot button for you or you have issues with women in sports media, or both. I don't. I have issues with crappy reporting and poor local coverage. If you're looking for a sucker to bait, you might want to look elsewhere.