This is just BULL Spit................

[Guest wildrover]

I personally don't read the paper so none of this really bothers me.  However, I will say that I do boycott Checkers since they are so loyal to UF and FSU.  When the Checkers crowd came around to where we were tailgating last week I asked them when they were going to put a USF flag up next to the other two.  One girl just laughed and said FSU is where she went to school.  I told her she could keep her free burgers, I won't go there.

[Bull Matrix]

I think we can expect a lot of coverage for next weeks game against UCF. There should be all kinds of stories for this game if it is going to become a true rivalry. There are many grads from USF and UCF in both areas, so there has to be a lot stories coming up this week.

[Triple B]

But the problem is that Jim Leavitt doesn't allow the access that Jon Gruden does.  It's hard to write about Matt Grothe is CJL doesn't give access to Grothe or the QB coach (Smith) or the OC (Smith) or say much himself about it.

Brett had a great article on Matt yesterday. They don't need access to write about the team.

I believe the Times had the same short blurb before last week's game. That's all these type games warrant until .......

when usf wins there will be more fans which will lead to more coverage

Every once in a while, smazza hits it dead on ....  

And BB2K is right, there will be plenty of coverage next week as the media tries to promote the supposed "rivalry".   :-/

[NormalBull]

Greg, you are doing a great job, but I do have a problem with a 'hometown' newspaper judging the importance of a game and then minimizing coverage accordingly.  USF is THE team in the Tampa Bay area.  They should be THE team covered extensively, even if they are playing a team of 11 year olds.  UCF v. UF may be interesting, and may merit an article in Sat.'s paper, but it should still be secondary to the local team.  That is what is so frustrating with coverage of USF and other schools like it.  Most other papers, metropolitan or small town, cover their local team, no matter what first, and then look to cover 'other' games/teams.  That's a fact.

Normal

[beastiebull]

The principle isn't the same. Like you said, there are a lot more Buc fans in the Bay area. The crowds reflect that, the TV ratings will reflect that.

You guys do a good job of lobbying on this board for more coverage, but be realistic initially -- when you're getting 25,000 in the stands, it's a hard sell to get as much coverage as ranked Florida and FSU teams. It's nice you guys want as much coverage as the Bucs, yes, but when you start asking for that, the request won't be taken nearly as seriously by anyone making the decisions.

Again, any time this comes up, good or bad, I'll invite you guys to pass along your thoughts to our sports department at sptsnews@sptimes.com. The editors certainly read your comments and even put them in the paper sometimes. That -- and getting more people to show up for games -- is the most effective way you can get more coverage of USF in the paper. It's my job, so I'm certainly trying to get as much USF in the paper as I can.

I came down from Atlanta for the game.  Expected to see a writeup in today's paper.  I did see a huge section on the D-Rays.  I'm pretty sure they don't draw a whole lot more than USF.  I appreciate any coverage USF gets being an out of towner but I expected much more.  

As far as no other games being covered too in depth today either...well those other games don't involve the home-town team.

[smazza]

The principle isn't the same. Like you said, there are a lot more Buc fans in the Bay area. The crowds reflect that, the TV ratings will reflect that.

You guys do a good job of lobbying on this board for more coverage, but be realistic initially -- when you're getting 25,000 in the stands, it's a hard sell to get as much coverage as ranked Florida and FSU teams. It's nice you guys want as much coverage as the Bucs, yes, but when you start asking for that, the request won't be taken nearly as seriously by anyone making the decisions.

Again, any time this comes up, good or bad, I'll invite you guys to pass along your thoughts to our sports department at sptsnews@sptimes.com. The editors certainly read your comments and even put them in the paper sometimes. That -- and getting more people to show up for games -- is the most effective way you can get more coverage of USF in the paper. It's my job, so I'm certainly trying to get as much USF in the paper as I can.

I came down from Atlanta for the game.  Expected to see a writeup in today's paper.  I did see a huge section on the D-Rays.  I'm pretty sure they don't draw a whole lot more than USF.  I appreciate any coverage USF gets being an out of towner but I expected much more.  

As far as no other games being covered too in depth today either...well those other games don't involve the home-town team.

man you get around bbull

thanks for the love tb

[Greg Auman]

Normal, it's our job as a newspaper to judge the importance of games and plan coverage accordingly. Proximity isn't the first criteria in how much you cover a program. The interest level from readers and fans is. When Temple was in the Big East, do you think the Philly papers covered the Owls as much as they did Penn State and Pitt? No, because the state programs of greatest interest to their readers were outside the immediate readership. This is the least newsworthy game on USF's schedule -- at least last week's had the value of being a season opener. My editors are going to see a crowd of maybe 22,000 at Raymond James Stadium tonight, they're going to likely see a lopsided score with little significance to USF's season, and they're not going to be thinking they should have done more to advance the game.

[ZeroBullChip]

Normal, it's our job as a newspaper to judge the importance of games and plan coverage accordingly. Proximity isn't the first criteria in how much you cover a program. The interest level from readers and fans is. When Temple was in the Big East, do you think the Philly papers covered the Owls as much as they did Penn State and Pitt? No, because the state programs of greatest interest to their readers were outside the immediate readership. This is the least newsworthy game on USF's schedule -- at least last week's had the value of being a season opener. My editors are going to see a crowd of maybe 22,000 at Raymond James Stadium tonight, they're going to likely see a lopsided score with little significance to USF's season, and they're not going to be thinking they should have done more to advance the game.

Thanks for taking the time to explain things greg,  I don't think many understand the way the business works.

[Joe]

I agree Zero, they're in the business of selling papers and space is limited.

[Jamie]

And it's not the Sunday paper where you can afford page after page after page of coverage. The only thing that makes a Saturday paper bigger than a weekday paper is all of the car ads.