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John McClain reads this message board

Rightnow

Rightnow

Waterboy
On the Friday show, I heard MaClain mention that he was constantly getting ripped on this board by somebody. I forget what it was that he the poster was complaining about, but he does read this board according to what he said Friday.

So John, if you read this. Hello and get over Vince Young!

:redtowel:
 
I'll also add that he really doesn't know squat!!! He 1st said there was no way the Texans would take Williams and they did. Then on Fridays show he said there was no way or reason for the Texans to sign A. Smith and then I'm watching Fox 26 news and Mark Berman says that there is a 90% chance the Texans will sign him. The guy is useless!!
 
Hi John, you're allright. Look forward to seeing you again at the tailgate next season.
 
Old news, he's been talking about this forum for quite some time. Around the middle of last season was when I first heard him mention this MB and what is talked about.
 
John McClain has been reading this, and other MBs, for years. I'm glad he does. He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!! He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job. As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
 
SheTexan said:
He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!!
He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job.
As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
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Agreed on all of these statements. I just got tired of his flip-flopping over the last few months. None the less, you can't deny how good of a network he has in the NFL and the quality of the info. that he gets.
 
He said that there was a guy (didn't say who) who always rips him in the message boards when he talks about hollywood stuff and about him being in the movies.
 
Now that I know that, I'm gonna rip him constantly. :)

PS-I'll make stuff up if I have to.
 
SheTexan said:
John McClain has been reading this, and other MBs, for years. I'm glad he does. He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!! He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job. As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
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I tend to agree also. I don't fault him and Justice so much for the flip-flopping. When he talks, I think we all listen because he has better insight than any of us.

I do fault these guys (especially Justice and Lopez) for their whining after we didn't draft Bush. I got aggravated with Justice for whining in his articles and then piling on Casserly in the national forum...then he said we made the right choice.

I thought Lopez was the voice of reason during the whole Bush vs. Young controversy in January. He made the point that drafting Vince Young means trading him for Bush and Carr. I could live with not drafting Bush after he made that point. Then he cried like a little girl when we drafted Mario.
 
SheTexan said:
John McClain has been reading this, and other MBs, for years. I'm glad he does. He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!! He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job. As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
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Agreed. No way a writer can please everyone. He does a great job even if I don't always agree with him.
Sportfan said:
Agreed on all of these statements. I just got tired of his flip-flopping over the last few months. None the less, you can't deny how good of a network he has in the NFL and the quality of the info. that he gets.
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A lot of us flip flopped from Young to Bush to Williams. He's not immune to human nature. He writes what he feels. If he changes his mind it's better to show that he has than to stubbornly stick with his old view.
 
MightyTExan said:
I'll add to this:
Hurry up and move to Tennesee John, we want Texans news in Houston.
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John McClain is one of the best and most respected sportswriters in the industry and his articles are consistently informative and insightful. In fact, he is so well respected that he was very influential in Elvin Bethea and Warren Moon making it to the Hall of Fame. Read the work of other sportwriters and you will understand how lucky we are he is here.

Basically, if you have a problem with John McClain...you are the type of person that sweats the petty things.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Well, I am John McClain and I think all of you are immature and mean. :)
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I wouldn't doubt that he is a member on these boards, and a respected one at that.

& I wouldn't necessarily call his flip-flopping flip-flopping.

Like me, he wanted Vince to be our pick...... it made sense, the most sense prior to signing Rosenfelts.... after that, thinking the pick would be Reggie...... he didn't say Vince shouldn't be the pick.

I mean the Texans made it pretty obvious they weren't interested in Young.

If you know your football, just because you like Young doesn't mean that you have to hate Reggie..... or Carr for that matter. There can be strong cases made(and there have been) for Young, Reggie, Mario, and even D'Brick as our #1 pick.

& he wasn't the only one upset that the Texans didn't do what he thought they would(see ESPN talking heads...... most specifically, Michael Irvin).

& Merrill Hodge probably threw a hip when Tennesse picked Vince.
 
Not really, I read his articles and go to other cities local paper sports news and it's a night and day difference. How about some news on the team? How's the coach doing? The QB? etc...................
 
MightyTExan said:
Not really, I read his articles and go to other cities local paper sports news and it's a night and day difference. How about some news on the team? How's the coach doing? The QB? etc...................
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John McClain does not exclusively cover the Texans. That would be Meagan Manfull. John covers the NFL for the Houston Chronicle.
 
2 problems I see in this. 1) he atually admitted to getting picked on by members of this board 2) He let people know that he looks at this board, he has no idea how many threads are going to pop up saying "read this McClain!".
 
LORK 88 said:
2 problems I see in this. 1) he atually admitted to getting picked on by members of this board 2) He let people know that he looks at this board, he has no idea how many threads are going to pop up saying "read this McClain!".
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He admited to checking out this and at least one other mb a long time ago. There hasn't been a bunch of "Read This McClain" threads that I've seen. Why would it start now?
 
SheTexan said:
John McClain has been reading this, and other MBs, for years. I'm glad he does. He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!! He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job. As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
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...and now we know that John McClain's Mom is on the board too :-)
 
Str8tupg42k1 said:
He said that there was a guy (didn't say who) who always rips him in the message boards when he talks about hollywood stuff and about him being in the movies.
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Ha ha, probably me, I know I've mentioned that when I've said things about him. I don't outright hate John, he offers good insight sometimes, but for a while there on 610 all he talked about was how his bit part in "The Alamo" wasn't enough to get his SAG card :), or how he knows the owner of *insert restaurant name here* and they serve really great *insert good food here*.
 
John McClain

Strengths:
1. Good historic story teller
2. Seems to have more connections than the other Chronicle sports writers
3. Seems to genuinely love his job
4. His inside information is sometimes invaluable
5. Is a good guy

Weaknesses:
1. His personal opinions seem wrong most of the time (although he did nail the 2000 Ravens as SB champs, but he followed that up by picking the Bills in 2001 or 2002...cannot remember which).
2. His avid love of the Titans
3. His gravelly voice can be like fingernails on a chalkboard. Someone get that man a glass of water!!
4. He went to Baylor (enough said)
5. He gets excited about seeing Barry Manilow in concert
 
trane said:
John McClain does not exclusively cover the Texans. That would be Meagan Manfull. John covers the NFL for the Houston Chronicle.
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McClain was assigned to cover the Texans last season. He had been the Chronic's NFL beat writer prior.
 
He needs to realize one or two articles after the draft about VY, RB, and MW is enough. Now focus on the TEAM and tell us about our new coaching staff and the ton of new players. How David Carr is progressing (if it wasn't for that measly kid VY would be a Texan). Just general information about the Texans that we don't have access to and he does. We have to make up our own information about what we think will happen and thats not too reliable.
 
If John wrote and printed everything to my beleifs, then I would not want to read his articles. I know at times he is off base, but sometimes each of us are also. The 1 thing we can all agree on, is we will disagree. :hides:
 
Sportsfan said:
Agreed on all of these statements. I just got tired of his flip-flopping over the last few months. None the less, you can't deny how good of a network he has in the NFL and the quality of the info. that he gets.
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They need him to sell papers. But yea you do have to respect the connections he has.
 
TheOgre said:
John McClain

Strengths:
1. Good historic story teller
2. Seems to have more connections than the other Chronicle sports writers
3. Seems to genuinely love his job
4. His inside information is sometimes invaluable
5. Is a good guy

Weaknesses:
1. His personal opinions seem wrong most of the time (although he did nail the 2000 Ravens as SB champs, but he followed that up by picking the Bills in 2001 or 2002...cannot remember which).
2. His avid love of the Titans
3. His gravelly voice can be like fingernails on a chalkboard. Someone get that man a glass of water!!
4. He went to Baylor (enough said)
5. He gets excited about seeing Barry Manilow in concert
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Another weakness is being able to pick NFL winners vs. the spread. He was at about 44% last year which is absolutely awful. Some have suggested how knowledgeable he is about football. One would think someone as knowledgeable as he allegedly is would do a much better job of picking NFL games vs. the spread. Every week in the Chronicle last year you could get a good laugh at is incompetence as it was listed in there each week. I wonder if they will have that again this year or if his ineptness will cause them to drop that this year.
 
SheTexan said:
John McClain has been reading this, and other MBs, for years. I'm glad he does. He is like ALL newspaper guys, he voices his opinion. As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!! He did an excellent job of covering the Texans last year, which was his first year to be assigned that particular job. As for him not knowing "squat," he knows more about football than most of you put together!!
Click to expand...

First year covering the Texans? John McClain has been the NFL beat writer for the Chronicle for at least the last decade. He has covered the Texans since their inception, and the Oilers before this. He is flat out the worst beat writer in the NFL.

McClain has sources, but he is a "puppet." In other words, he has sources that go to him because they know he does not have the capability of making his own opinion so he will believe verbatim exactly what they say. He does not have off the record sources, or at least not accurate sources. He is a very mediocre reporter.
 
LORK 88 said:
2 problems I see in this. 1) he atually admitted to getting picked on by members of this board 2) He let people know that he looks at this board, he has no idea how many threads are going to pop up saying "read this McClain!".
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I don't think he cares what kind of publicity he gets as long as people are talking about him. He does seem to have a lot of league sources, but then again he seems to be wrong a lot for someone who has that many sources. The main thing that drives me crazy is his man love for Bud's Boys.
 
Last year was John's first covering the Texans. They made that change - and added Megan - when CT was promoted and Duarte went to cover the Big 12. Before that, JM was their NFL beat writer.

Now he covers the Texans AND the NFL for the Chronicle.

As many know, he was the Oilers beat writer here for many years before they left. He developed strong friendships and business relationships with that organization so although it's aggravating as hell to read more about the titans than the Texans sometimes, it's no surprise he's remained close to them.

John and the rest of them read these boards all the time. He has some serious connections throughout the league and you couldn't meet a nicer guy. His only weakness that I've been able to determine is Chappel Hill Smoked Jalepeno sausage on the grill.

How's LA, John?
 
SheTexan said:
As agrivated as I get with him sometimes, he is 10000000% better than Lopez, Justice or Megan Manfield!!
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Yeah, but that's not saying much. Why not read MB's. He's a poster just like us. He just happens to post in a newspaper. The Chronicle is nothing but a waste of trees.
 
geofb said:
Another weakness is being able to pick NFL winners vs. the spread. He was at about 44% last year which is absolutely awful. Some have suggested how knowledgeable he is about football. One would think someone as knowledgeable as he allegedly is would do a much better job of picking NFL games vs. the spread. Every week in the Chronicle last year you could get a good laugh at is incompetence as it was listed in there each week. I wonder if they will have that again this year or if his ineptness will cause them to drop that this year.
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I view this as the difference between a historian and a tactician. McClain has a good wealth of knowledge but no skills in the area (at least IMO). He can tell you what happened, but he really isn't good at forecasting. His strength is in information, contacts, and story telling, not in evaluation and predictions.

He really should stop picking versus the spread.
 
I actually like McClain and part of it is the same stuff people hate him for. Compared to many writers out there he does seem to have a wealth of connections inside other teams and within the NFL. His stories are good and I just like to hear guys talk NFL football. I know he flip-flops and that can be annoying but it really doesn't bother me when he does it because most of his writings, etc are on rumors and his connections. He is just reporting it. I think it is the nature of the business to find the scoop, talk to sources and then make a prediction. Unlike Justice who writes "opinion" columns and then changes his opinion completely a week later. McClain will talk VY all day and still acknowledge that Bush is a player after his dream is shattered. McClain will basically stick his neck out on info he gets..it just bites him in the butt here and there.
 
Speedy said:
Yeah, but that's not saying much. Why not read MB's. He's a poster just like us. He just happens to post in a newspaper. The Chronicle is nothing but a waste of trees.
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Like all of the rest of the print media.

Did any of you catch what the guy was wearing on TV recently... Dude needs to lose about 75 lbs...and for Gods sake he wore an NFL pajama top to do the fox sunday night show....pathetic!!!!
 
titan hater said:
Did any of you catch what the guy was wearing on TV recently... Dude needs to lose about 75 lbs...and for Gods sake he wore an NFL pajama top to do the fox sunday night show....pathetic!!!!
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TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!! Excuse me while I try to get THAT image out of my mind!
 
You know, the only time I "dislike" John McClain is when he stops telling/reporting the story and starts "being" the story. Mostly I find him to be somewhat informed and entertaining to read and when he stays on topic I enjoy his stuff. When he starts dropping names, telling these stale, wandering stories, and talking about Baylor he loses me.

I'm not going to say that how accurate he is at predicting things matters much to me. I also don't mind that he "flip/flops" on things from time to time. People should be allowed to change their opinions if they please. A lot of people that I am certain know their stuff fail to get it all right when they try to predict anything. Nobody's "mock" is perfect and one of the best things about football is that it's impossible to accurately predict how a season, game, series, or play is going to turn out.
 
Although he and I don't agree on a lt of things, and I do think he has a small bias towards the Titans and Cowboys. I think he is a heck of writer and Houston is lucky to have him. The reason you guys can crack on him more them others is becasue he tends to put himself out there more then others. His columns are a collection of his research and his opinions. He is wrong sometimes just like the rest of us but I think he is right more often then the rest of us. I will however say there are a few posters here that should talk to John. They are good writers and have an instinct for the game and seam to come up correct more often then not. Just my opinion.
 
I've also been impressed with how the guy answers emails when a rumor starts circulating. I'm sure he knows that those emails end up getting posted on this board.

It'd be a lot easier to ignore the questions from readers.
 
Justice will say ANYTHING to get himself more air time.

McClain gets good info and bases everything he says on that info. McClain was the first person I heard say that the Texans might be leaning towards Mario Williams. Most of what he says is the golden truth.

We should be trying to run Justice out of town.
 
Okay, I know it's Pro Football Talk...BUT, they had an intersting piece that kind of dovetails with the jist of this thread. While, I am sort of generally in the Herv or Ogre camp, I think that the point they make is a valid critism. I was looking at the paper in regards to Cass yesterday, and had some of the same musings.

Rumormill

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that Texans owner Bob McNair and G.M. Charley Casserly will meet soon to discuss the status of the only General Manager in franchise history.

Given that the history of the franchise has not been good, it's expected by many in the league that Casserly will emerge from the meeting as something other than the team's G.M.

But it's now obvious to us that McNair, Casserly, McClain and everyone else associated with the situation is committed to spinning this thing as a voluntary departure. Writes McClain: "There have been reports that Casserly will be fired, which isn't true. If he leaves, it will be his decision."

How in the hell does McClain know this? Do his skills now include the ability to, you know, read minds?

John, have you even considered that McNair might be throwing Casserly a bone on this one, allowing him to create the impression that Casserly is walking instead of getting run?

Reports continue to link Casserly to the position in the NFL league office that was vacated by Art Shell when he returned to the Raiders as head coach. But we've heard from at least one league source informed speculation that the rumors of Casserly's candidacy for the position were started by Casserly himself. Another source with knowledge of the team's front-office dynamics tells us that, when McNair heard about Casserly's interest in another job, McNair (a guy who is very big on loyalty) decided that it was time for the relationship to end.

To us, it really doesn't matter whether Casserly quits or is fired. We like Casserly. But we don't react well to what appears to be a concerted (and sloppy) effort to paint a set of facts as something other than it really is -- especially when journalists allow themselves to be manipulated by persons who might be trying to engineer reality.

And even if that's not going on in this case, McClain's failure to even acknowledge the possibility that McNair is merely attempting to permit Casserly to save a little face tells us that McClain is doing a disservice to his readers.
 
Porky said:
But it's now obvious to us that McNair, Casserly, McClain and everyone else associated with the situation is committed to spinning this thing as a voluntary departure. Writes McClain: "There have been reports that Casserly will be fired, which isn't true. If he leaves, it will be his decision."

How in the hell does McClain know this? Do his skills now include the ability to, you know, read minds?

...

And even if that's not going on in this case, McClain's failure to even acknowledge the possibility that McNair is merely attempting to permit Casserly to save a little face tells us that McClain is doing a disservice to his readers.
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Now, I'm not one to defend John McClain, but Casserly having some say in his own future with the Texans has been rumored around the team for a while. In a thread in March http://www.houstontexans.com/fan_zone/messageboards/showthread.php?t=20217&highlight=Casserly+resign I had posted this:

Runner said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Casserly is staying with the team in a transitional role right now and will gracefully resign (as opposed to all the re-signing we've seen recently) after the draft. I think it will be his choice rather than at McNair's request. I also wouldn't be surprised if he stayed on. I don't think he is blamed by his superiors for last season's debacle.

I may be all wrong on this. My Magic 8-ball keeps telling me to "ask again later".
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Runner said:
Now, I'm not one to defend John McClain, but Casserly having some say in his own future with the Texans has been rumored around the team for a while. In a thread in March http://www.houstontexans.com/fan_zone/messageboards/showthread.php?t=20217&highlight=Casserly+resign I had posted this:
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That's all well and good, but he is reporting this as fact. Look again at the article, and the quote from Mclain - "There have been reports that Casserly will be fired, which isn't true. If he leaves, it will be his decision."

Okay, so he is either pulling this out of his ass, and reporting it as fact, or someone is leaking it to him, probably Casserly himself imo. So, instead of taking that leak with a grain of salt, and continuing to fact check, he reports it as fact, when he cannot possibly know if it is or isn't.
 
Porky said:
That's all well and good, but he is reporting this as fact. Look again at the article, and the quote from Mclain - "There have been reports that Casserly will be fired, which isn't true. If he leaves, it will be his decision."

Okay, so he is either pulling this out of his ass, and reporting it as fact, or someone is leaking it to him, probably Casserly himself imo. So, instead of taking that leak with a grain of salt, and continuing to fact check, he reports it as fact, when he cannot possibly know if it is or isn't.
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Of course, there is the alternative that it is a fact. What if McNair is the source? How do you know it's not a fact, or are you just assuming that?

Anyway, I don't particularly care for his reporting style. He'll focus on one issue and write about it ad nauseum while ignoring other significant developments on the team. In my opinion.
 
killeentexan said:
...and now we know that John McClain's Mom is on the board too :-)
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Sure, I had him when I was about 10!! Believe me, IF I were his MOM, I would have kicked his butt a long time ago for supporting the Titans the way he does, and kissing up to the Cowboys!. That has been a sore spot with me since the Texans were born, and one reason I quit taking the Chronicle. I'm not saying John writes the greatest stuff this side of beating the meatballs, I'm just saying he's MUCH better than any of the other Chronicle sports writers. Most of what Justice and Lopez write is meaningless, and Megan Manfield gets her info off the internet, or so it seems. Sometimes she writes about stuff you guys have been talking about for days. I was pleased with John McClains coverage of the Texans last year. I certainly sent him enough e-mails our first three years gripping about his coverage of the Titans and Cowboys! You want to know something else? He has answered every e-mail I sent him, and some of them were not nice.
 
Runner said:
Of course, there is the alternative that it is a fact. What if McNair is the source? How do you know it's not a fact, or are you just assuming that?

Anyway, I don't particularly care for his reporting style. He'll focus on one issue and write about it ad nauseum while ignoring other significant developments on the team. In my opinion.
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I think you are missing the point. Yes, it COULD be fact. The problem is, is that he cannot possibly know that. If Mcnair tells him, that's not a fact. If CC tells him, it's not a fact. If both tell him in unison, it's not a fact. I can tell you the sun is blue, but unless you either are the sun, or can see the sun for yourself, you cannot report that the sun is blue as a fact. There is no possible way for him to know for sure this is fact. It's that kind of reporting that makes me wonder sometimes.
 
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