Recent Comments

You are also grossly oversimplifying what the gaggle who were in attendance actually did. Berman IIRC even went to and tweeted from the Women's game for a time, which was before the team completely nosedived. Barber was the one who left and came back I want to say.

They also have a job to keep readers informed on VT sports, 10 out of 10 times I would rather them say that the team is still meeting and everyone is just waiting or questions got canned than just not know why the game story didnt come out. With the deadlines they are under I have no problem with them making clear it was factors outside their control that delayed timely reporting on the game, or why quotes were not included when first released.

AB was a dick for not being there in the first place and just commentating. But conversely when did sticking up for your coworkers and some organizational loyalty to his peers become something terrible.

From the description you gave of the problem it really sounds like you're following VTFootball which still displays as "HokiesFB". You have to go back and manually add the username HokiesFB.

Would have been even better if Sturridge actually finishes off his 1v1 chance. Leicester/Spurs was great but the MU/Toffees match was a bit of a snorer. I was hoping Lukaku would score a couple.

Watched Spurs/Liverpool yesterday. First time I've really been able to sit down and enjoy a match. Great game...everything about it is why England is the best league in the world for the neutral fan.

And, to the Villa faithful, you'll miss them on TV. When Fulham got relegated, I thought it'd be fine not having to watch them be destroyed...but now opening up an app and seeing them struggle week in and out is much, much worse. Huge win yesterday over MK Dons to keep us out of League One danger for another week...words I'd never thought I'd say.

That's not a false binary. It's logical reasoning.

As you say everyone, including Whit was waiting so again is the reporter's sense of entitlement so strong as to necessitate a statement of the obvious when even the AD is waiting with them? As you say there were alternative choices, but not just for Buzz. For the reporters as well. They could have waited. they could have left. they could have called their editor and said I'm going to go watch the girls game. they could have complained to Whit. they could have done any number of things. what they chose to do was complain on social media in what I took as unprofessional. that was their choice. not binary, a choice among a multitude.

Buzz also made a choice and he chose what he took to be his job, coaching the team, as being the priority. Now not informing Whit and not letting him in the door is an issue between a boss and his employee. I suspect Whit had that conversation with Buzz, but none of that has to do with the choice the reporters made.

At that point maybe even Buzz was not sure if the media time would still happen. Because in his professional opinion he needed to coach his team. He had no idea how long that would take and so he had no idea if there would be anyone waiting for him when it was done. The idea that either reporters are told the obvious, or they will bitch and moan on social media is the only false binary. Everything else is a choice made on logical reasoning, or the lack thereof from the perspective of who made that choice.

This is no different than the changes that the cable companies are experiencing. Why would I want to pay for the entire newspaper, if I just want a few articles from a specific source? I wouldn't object paying for access to Bitter's work, but $17/month? How about $1/month. This is not an indictment on the quality of Andy's work, but an indication of the proportion of all RT content that I want to access (and even then, it's at least 10X what I would pay if I literally paid # of Andy's words/# of total words written in a month).

I'll keep my Key Players Club membership (well, esp since I didn't pay for it, my sons bought it for me as a B-day present). The value is more in line with my expectations.

"Hi everyone, Buzz is in there talking to the team. It's going to take however long it takes. Thanks"

I think it does, though I think also keeping Whit in the dark as to what Buzz intended to do was also an issue. As far as I know he literally shut the door to everyone not on the team and basically didnt open it till he was done I believe Whit even stood with the reporters for a time.

So yes I think a power 5 athletics dept saying "no we will not be canceling media time, but it will happen when he is done" isnt outside the realm of expectations from a competent athletic dept, which all signs point to VT being. As you present a false binary choice, there could have been any number of alternative choice (can the whole session, reschedule it to the next day, or do it when Buzz was done) it is worth it I think for VT to say which is happening, even it is Whit making the decision himself.

Or maybe its a sign of too much commitment? Could have stayed up all night studying the playbook and then slept through his alarm. Theres no point in taking meaning from a a guy still in his first year at school oversleeping by mistake. I bet it happens more than you think

I understand what you are saying and didn't mean to jump on you about that. Just chiming in with my opinion. I get the point.

But again, while it would have been courteous to tell them something it isn't as if it was a mystery what he was doing. Everyone knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. And since nobody knew exactly how much time that talk was going to take you are basically just asking for someone to come out and explain the painfully obvious: "Hi everyone, Buzz is in there talking to the team. It's going to take however long it takes. Thanks"

Does that really need to be said? Is the sense of entitlement so strong that they need to be placated with an explanation of what is happening in front of them?

I'll put Alex Koma's written work up against anyone's covering Virginia Tech.

Also, Coogan's providing as much direct information from the coaches and players as possible. He also enriches the beat by asking plenty of questions.

Just stating what happened truthfully, with my own opinions on the manner on how he handled that situation and his sense of entitlement.

I also believe he is an excellent writer and as I said have in the past been a big supporter of his. But the whole incident was overblown by the media and more so by Bitter than anyone else. They are happy to call Buzz out for doing his job in a manner they disagree with, but take umbrage at people calling them out on doing their job in a manner some of us disagree with. Do your job and wait. Make your report. Or leave. Those were the choices professionally, that shouldn't include social media bitching and moaning.

I've always liked Bitter. I also like the TKP articles and I think we can all agree the All Access stuff from this spring on social media has been really good stuff even compared with other schools/previous years.

If y'all don't know this already, this is a main reason that journalism is starting to fail in academia today. Mass COMM departments are starting to dump the title "School of Journalism" and/or "J-Schools" because traditional journalism is dying. Jobs are dying, professors aren't keeping up, and students have lost interest. What makes matters worse is that Newspapers refuse to adopt into the new industry fully. We have grown to individual niche markets, and people haven't been reading stories that are too broad anymore.

The LA Times is an example of a newspaper that has adapted to the new world order. But there is one thing that newspaper journalists, at least most of them, probably will never adopt - the need to produce clickbait.

Think of a famous newspaper headline - "Dewey Defeats Truman." Now think of the same headline rewritten for clickbait - "Dewey knew he had it in the bag - and you'll never believe what happened next!" This is why blogs et al thrive - they'll do anything for clicks and shares.

I do not get the animosity on TKP towards Andy Bitter. The questions he asks during interviews makes all the reporters' stories better, including TKP. His written pieces are much better than what's here (as they should be, he's a seasoned reporter, so no offense intended). I like Bitter and TKP for completely different reasons and I don't really understand why TKP has its eye on taking over what Bitter does. I just do not get all the Bitter bashing.

If you're going to be late to an already scheduled event, that's fine, things come up; it happens all the time. But the courteous thing to do is give the other party a heads up - that's all I was saying.

Watched the second half of Leicester-Southampton this morning and I forgot how enjoyable it can be to watch soccer. Which just makes me more mad at the clogged toilet that is Aston Villa, since I don't have a lot of free time and loyalty has been causing me to tune in to their torture sessions. Almost glad they won't be on tv next year.

Also, unbelievably excited at the possibility of "Marc Albrighton, Premier League Champion" being an actual thing. Love him, couldn't have happened to a better kid.

Pages