Why the McLain hate???

[nytexan]

I'm not trying to defend him, I'm just curious when I see all the John McLain bashing that goes on especially here. Since the Texans have arrived he's been the beat writer for the team. Which normally means he's passing on news from the Texans and occasionally passes out an opinion as opposed to a Columnist who passes out opinions.

Is he the problem or are your expectations of what he should be doling out not what a beat writer does???

Speaking of Columnists, I caught this on the Dallas paper from R. Gosselin. He has his NFL rankings on hand. He also commented in a Cowboy column how the Texans are a Superbowl contender this year. Normally I don't go haywire over rankings but I do enjoy and respect his work.



http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/nfl/stories/080810dnsponflrankings.2596962.html

[JB]

Gosselin is a fine reporter and probably the best mock drafter out there.

McClain had ties with the Oilers, and was a good reporter when they were here. But he has no ties with the Texans, and often just posts his opinions. Many others get facts before he does. There are better sources for Texans info.

[Pollardized]

I have no faith in anyone who ranks the cowbitches that high...

[Wolf]

McClain ,to me at least, is more hollywoodish and just likes to do entertaining stories and nothing that really makes me want to read his stories and they seem to regurgitate what the national media is already putting out there.

John has his "style" but his blogs are more "hey kubiak, wants to run the ball better, what do you think?

Of course when you have Steph, AJ, Chris and I apologize that I am missing others

they come in and do a way better job in their blogs, they put some insight,facts and a lot more information

and heck their blogs seem to come out with information quicker than the chron writers anyway

[Texan_Bill]

McLame is a great reporter for the Tinnbrreds..

[Pollardized]

Originally Posted by Texan_Bill

McLame is a great reporter for the Tinnbrreds..

And his voice just really gets on my nerves....

[thunderkyss]

8. Houston: Bernard Pollard is determined to make the most of his fresh start in Houston. Cut by Kansas City before last season, Pollard signed with the Texans a month later and helped transform their defense into one of the league's best over the last 13 games of the season. – AP

I like what this guy has to say.

I think McClain's biggest problem, is that with all his credentials and "contacts" he can't get into the Texans' locker room.

I don't hate the man, I love what he did for Warren Moon. But he just seems to be a day late, and a dollar short on Texans' news.

Now, Richard Justice... that's the guy these fans seem to hate.

[m5kwatts]

McClain is a Texan, he's one of our own, I like him for who he is not necessarily what his opinions are or what he says. He's not a douche bag out of towner east coast hack that thinks football revolves around the NFC East and that the Texans are just a cute little thing only important to Houston. There's too many bad members of the Houston sports media to pick on John McClain.

And Gosselin's a good read because he recognizes talent. He has a good understanding of players when they come into the league whether they're 1st rounders or undrafted free agents. If you look at his rankings they really reflect more of the talent on the teams. He recognizes the talent on the Texans and thats why they're ranked 8th.

[Pollardized]

I like Gosselin's view on the Texans. But the cowbitches #2? Nope....

[ProximoMetalica]

John McClain does not bother me too much, except for the fact that he is a name dropper.

I cannot stand Jerome Solomon or however you spell his name. He is so anti-Houston, I am not sure why he lives here or why the Chronicle keeps him onboard. He is an *****!

Richard Justice is just such a flip flop artist from one day to the next. Sometimes I think he as already gone senile. One day he will write a commentary about how Drayton is such a good owner and the next day he is telling us the complete opposite. Is he serious or is he just trying to drive us crazy?

[Hagar]

I've never had a problem with John McLain, but it seems the national media is closer to the Texans locker room then him.

Now Justice on the other hand reads worse then he is personally. I hate his column, but his videos are better. I find that he explains himself better in his videos then in his writting.

Of course my favorite Chron reporter is Anna Megan. Granted her pieces are mostly fluff, well all fluff, but that doesn't mean I don't like them.

[Brisco_County]

The reason McClain receives so much criticism is because the value of his reporting and blogging has diminished to near worthlessness, which is made obvious to readers by the contrast between his current and past writing. I'm talking recent past, not Oilers.

Even three years ago, I found a lot of value in his blog. He provided insightful information and opinions. Now it's just bland and generalized. His chat sessions offer no substance-- just knocking down questions without answering them. He has even stopped doing his NFL Notebook, which I used to link in emails to my friends. It just seems he isn't concentrating on his day job anymore.

I wish him much success in his peripheral projects and movie stuff, but his role at Chron needs to be reduced.

[Hookem Horns]

McClain caught a lot of flak for being a pro Bud Adams, Titans guy. Though to his credit he does take the time to reply back and respond to those who were hating on him for that. We had some exchanges in the past and as a result some of us here go to know him a little better. Despite what one thinks about him professionally, personally JM is a pretty good guy.

[nytexan]

Originally Posted by Wolf

John has his "style" but his blogs are more "hey kubiak, wants to run the ball better, what do you think?

Of course when you have Steph, AJ, Chris and I apologize that I am missing others

they come in and do a way better job in their blogs, they put some insight,facts and a lot more information

and heck their blogs seem to come out with information quicker than the chron writers anyway

I agree with you concerning the other bloggers but I take that as dealing with different audiences. Steph, AJ, Chris, LZ are speaking to us diehard fans (sorry Chris couldn't resist) who are starving for info while McLain is catering to a general audience that's happy with some of the fluff he puts out. I'm guessing that the others would love to have the hits on their blog that McLain gets.

I also agree with M5kwatts in that he comes across as a Texan and not a full of themselves yankee even though I was born up there myself. McLain is far from the worst guy to listen to and comes across as a regular joe.

[gtexan02]

The thing that bothers me about McClain is his apparent attitude and mannerisms. He frequently comes off as disgruntled, rude, and short. He answers in as few words as possible, and rarely elaborates. If you suggest "Hey, maybe the Texans would do well to try <this> out" he might just reply "No."

He seems to believe that everything he says or believes is 100% truth, and nothing he disagrees with could possibly have any validity.

I'd like him a lot more if he simply seemed to put more effort or enthusiasm into his work. As it is, I find myself getting very frustrated when listening or asking him things

[El Tejano]

I agree with most who say Mclain isn't as ground breaking with The Texans as he was with The Oilers. Living in Austin, I depended on him to bring me Oiler news because our paper didn't cover them like they did The Cowboys.

However, it is unfair to compare his coverage with both teams. How many of you had access to player info on the internet back in 1990? Most of the reason we see the news we get is because we got websites like KFFL.com or even NFL.com etc...

[Hervoyel]

I stopped interacting with McClain (not that I ever did much anyway) and find that I enjoy his coverage a lot more than I did when I tried to engage him in any kind of debate or get him to speak in greater detail about a story. He's not the guy to do that with and I don't think there is anything to be gained by expecting that kind of stuff out of him. He's been the same writer pretty much all of my life and in the old days with the Oilers I enjoyed reading whatever I could get out of him on them. Frankly I think the problem is more about all of us and our expectations vs John McClain and how he does his job in 2010. I think he still covers the local team the way he did in the old days but as people have already pointed out he doesn't have the same level of access or contacts with the Texans that he did with the Oilers. At the same time the demands on him are much greater. He used to write a couple of stories a week and answer some mail. Now he has to do that plus we expect him to blog, chat with fans once a week or so, and do his little Chron.com videos, talk on the radio, and anything else he can do. It's just not enough from our perspectives. He's a 80's-90's writer covering a team in the internet age and I don't think he's a great fit for it.

It's like he's accustomed to operating in a medium that goes one way (from him to us) and he doesn't do as well when his readers can interact with him to the extent they can today.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

I stopped interacting with McClain (not that I ever did much anyway) and find that I enjoy his coverage a lot more than I did when I tried to engage him in any kind of debate or get him to speak in greater detail about a story. He's not the guy to do that with and I don't think there is anything to be gained by expecting that kind of stuff out of him. He's been the same writer pretty much all of my life and in the old days with the Oilers I enjoyed reading whatever I could get out of him on them. Frankly I think the problem is more about all of us and our expectations vs John McClain and how he does his job in 2010. I think he still covers the local team the way he did in the old days but as people have already pointed out he doesn't have the same level of access or contacts with the Texans that he did with the Oilers. At the same time the demands on him are much greater. He used to write a couple of stories a week and answer some mail. Now he has to do that plus we expect him to blog, chat with fans once a week or so, and do his little Chron.com videos, talk on the radio, and anything else he can do. It's just not enough from our perspectives. He's a 80's-90's writer covering a team in the internet age and I don't think he's a great fit for it.

It's like he's accustomed to operating in a medium that goes one way (from him to us) and he doesn't do as well when his readers can interact with him to the extent they can today.

Excellent analogy

[WWJD]

John is a nice man. I don't always agree with what he writes and I get real tired of all the silly stuff they talk about on 610 but I have the option of not reading it or turning the radio off. So it's all good.

[houstonspartan]

Originally Posted by ProximoMetalica

John McClain does not bother me too much, except for the fact that he is a name dropper.

I cannot stand Jerome Solomon or however you spell his name. He is so anti-Houston, I am not sure why he lives here or why the Chronicle keeps him onboard. He is an *****!

Richard Justice is just such a flip flop artist from one day to the next. Sometimes I think he as already gone senile. One day he will write a commentary about how Drayton is such a good owner and the next day he is telling us the complete opposite. Is he serious or is he just trying to drive us crazy?

Jerome was born, raised and educated in Houston. When Boston lured him away, he stayed for a few years and returned because he wanted to come back to his hometown and warm climate. I don't think he hates Houston at all.