USF Coverage and the local papers

[JupiterBull]

On 10/17/2016 at 5:43 PM, RedBull13 said:

"Quite honestly, I'm not sure USF deserves the coverage it gets based on its attendance."

 

Well **** you too. 

What we're saying: Hey man, USF is the local team and they're having a really great season, do you think you could maybe make them a little more noticeable rather than post a huge picture of a team 2 hours away? 50/50 page is all we're asking. And do you think that maybe you could come up with headlines that talk about the records were breaking and the success we're having rather than crapping on our attendance?

 

What he's obviously hearing us say: GIVE US FREE PUBLICITY SO MORE PEOPLE SHOW UP TO OUR GAMES YOU SON OF A *****!!!!!!!!

He irked me immediately with "we're not cheerleaders for USF".  No one asked him to be.  The suggestion is that the local team should still best equal or better press than other teams, regardless.  It's the right thing to do.  If Noles or Gators fans want to read about their teams, they should be able to do it...on page 5 or 6.  Anyone with a brain knows that your team shouldn't expect first priority coverage in the big town of another big college.

I also believe that while TBT isn't responsible for generating interest in USF football, they are SELLING A PRODUCT.  There are a lot of good stories to write these days (as note earlier, our record, offensive record setting year, explosive players and great stories (like Rodney Adams).  You want to sell papers?  Write interesting articles about locals.  I promise putting UF or FSU on page 5 or 6 won't hurt sales.  But, not by being cheerleaders, but by writing stories on this exciting team MIGHT help attendance...generate excitement about USF football...and have more folks buying the paper to READ about our team.  It's business 101, and failure to recognize it is one of the main reason print newspapers are heading the way of Blockbuster (if you're under 25, ask your dad).

Jones doesn't get it. He'd rather amuse himself with snark & sarcasm.   If I could afford the massive pay cut (in my best Trump voice), I'd move to Tampa and take his job.

Thanks for writing & sharing.

[jchem1995]

1 hour ago, JupiterBull said:

He irked me immediately with "we're not cheerleaders for USF".  No one asked him to be.  The suggestion is that the local team should still best equal or better press than other teams, regardless.  It's the right thing to do.  If Noles or Gators fans want to read about their teams, they should be able to do it...on page 5 or 6.  Anyone with a brain knows that your team shouldn't expect first priority coverage in the big town of another big college.

I also believe that while TBT isn't responsible for generating interest in USF football, they are SELLING A PRODUCT.  There are a lot of good stories to write these days (as note earlier, our record, offensive record setting year, explosive players and great stories (like Rodney Adams).  You want to sell papers?  Write interesting articles about locals.  I promise putting UF or FSU on page 5 or 6 won't hurt sales.  But, not by being cheerleaders, but by writing stories on this exciting team MIGHT help attendance...generate excitement about USF football...and have more folks buying the paper to READ about our team.  It's business 101, and failure to recognize it is one of the main reason print newspapers are heading the way of Blockbuster (if you're under 25, ask your dad).

Jones doesn't get it. He'd rather amuse himself with snark & sarcasm.   If I could afford the massive pay cut (in my best Trump voice), I'd move to Tampa and take his job.

Thanks for writing & sharing.

Drop the mic. Boom.

[NewEnglandBull]

2 hours ago, JupiterBull said:

He irked me immediately with "we're not cheerleaders for USF".  No one asked him to be.  The suggestion is that the local team should still best equal or better press than other teams, regardless.  It's the right thing to do.  If Noles or Gators fans want to read about their teams, they should be able to do it...on page 5 or 6.  Anyone with a brain knows that your team shouldn't expect first priority coverage in the big town of another big college.

I also believe that while TBT isn't responsible for generating interest in USF football, they are SELLING A PRODUCT.  There are a lot of good stories to write these days (as note earlier, our record, offensive record setting year, explosive players and great stories (like Rodney Adams).  You want to sell papers?  Write interesting articles about locals.  I promise putting UF or FSU on page 5 or 6 won't hurt sales.  But, not by being cheerleaders, but by writing stories on this exciting team MIGHT help attendance...generate excitement about USF football...and have more folks buying the paper to READ about our team.  It's business 101, and failure to recognize it is one of the main reason print newspapers are heading the way of Blockbuster (if you're under 25, ask your dad).

Jones doesn't get it. He'd rather amuse himself with snark & sarcasm.   If I could afford the massive pay cut (in my best Trump voice), I'd move to Tampa and take his job.

Thanks for writing & sharing.

Well said Jupe! 

[Paisa el Toro]

On 10/17/2016 at 5:25 PM, ForestBull said:

I am going to email him

Consistently demand . . . excellence.  Is it time to wake up our fan base?

[Triple B]

With some of the comments, it's quite apparent that some, including the op, didn't take the time to actually read the article that started this. Again, hate having to defend TJ because there have been some shenanigans, but while some are whining about not promoting the team, that's exactly what he did for most of the article. The article was 26 paragraphs, 3 were about attendance. He doesn't mention it until the 20th paragraph, with the first 19 doing nothing but praising CWT and the team .... and when he did touch on attendance, there was no snark, no sarcasm, only the same questions a lot on here ask. Why aren't people coming out to watch this team?

[Gismo]

If the UF and FSU following is so much more in demand then why not give them the full time writer? 

[The Great 8]

I'm sorry, at present time UF and FSU should be ahead of us in coverage. Even in the Tampa Bay Times. They're more relevant in Tampa than we are. Sad but true. What the Times needs to stop doing is ******** on us every chance they get. It literally helps nobody. Do they think people in Tampa clamor to read about the lack of attendance? Or, would they rather read about an electrifying offense that's setting records? (even if it was on page 2)

When is the last time you saw a negative article about random_team_x and were like "HAHAHA **** RANDOM_TEAM_X. THAT WAS SO FUN TO READ HOW MUCH THEY SUCKED."

[Flowers4Heisman]

I tell 'ya, three of the worst things that happened to USF athletics happened in a row:

(1) Losing Leavitt.

(2) Moving from the BCS Big East to the life raft AAC.

(3) Losing Greg Auman

When Greg covered USF, it was like the Golden Age of USF athletics reporting.

So far, we've somewhat have recovered from losing Leavitt (jury's still out!). The rest, we are still suffering the repercussions.

BUT... I also know that at one time all we had were the Sun Dome and bar benders.

[ToroDeFuego]

On 10/17/2016 at 5:12 PM, Bulls On Parade said:

USF's biggest mistake was not starting football in the 60s. We got a very late start and will take years of success to get a big following.

 

Probably not. There's a very good chance that football would have been shut down if they did it before it was feasible. Maybe it was 10 years late but I'm not sure it would have made it through the 70's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_college_football_teams

Edited October 21, 2016 by ToroDeFuego

[Bulls On Parade]

12 minutes ago, ToroDeFuego said:

Probably not. There's a very good chance that football would have been shut down if they did it before it was feasible. Maybe it was 10 years late but I'm not sure it would have made it through the 70's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_college_football_teams

Yeah that is true, UT also lost team and they were pretty successful. 

Atleast could started in 80s especially when Bucs were horrible. 

Edited October 21, 2016 by Bulls On Parade