Ooh... this has to hurt even the casual Semi lover! Heh, heh, heh heh heh...
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker Halo Realty, LLC 700 E. Main St. Hendersonville TN 37075 [email protected] office: 615-822-3509 fax: 615-822-7741 mobile: 615-972-4239 ---,==,< Do you know how lucky you are that we still cover FSU? David Whitley | SPORTS COMMENTARY March 19, 2009 An FSU <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/education/florida-state-university -OREDU000030.topic> official called me a few years ago with a friendly warning. A fan claimed to have definitive proof that the Sentinel favored the Gators. It seems he'd taken a picture a few years earlier of me and my boss walking through the parking lot before a Florida game. My boss was wearing some sort of orange and blue shirt. To the fan, it was like catching Bill Clinton <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/politics/government/presidents-of- the-united-states/bill-clinton-PEPLT007410.topic> wearing Monica Lewinsky's blue dress. I wrote it off as a case of Seminole Persecution Complex, a condition all newspapers in the state were quite familiar with. We all slanted our coverage toward the Gators. Unless you asked Florida fans, who said we all slanted our coverage toward the Seminoles <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/sports/florida-state-seminoles-ORS PT000176.topic> . I regret to inform you that the debate is over. Newspapers undeniably prefer the Gators, though not for the reasons persecuted fans think. It's not an orange-and-blue thing. It's a green thing. Money is becoming scarce in the newspaper business. That has led to cuts in space to print stories, people to write them and editors to mess them up (inside industry joke). That has led to two papers covering FSU's first-round NCAA Tournament <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/sports/ncaa-tournament-EVSPR000001 .topic> game on Friday. A half-dozen state papers used to go on the road for regular-season games. Florida hasn't felt the pinch nearly as much. Seven papers still have writers covering UF. Most live in Gainesville. It used to be the same in Tallahassee. Now when Bobby Bowden <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/sports/football/bobby-bowden-PESPT 008381.topic> walks off the practice field, he is usually greeted by the Sentinel's Andrew Carter <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/entertainment/andrew-carter-PECLB0 00882.topic> , someone from the Tallahassee Democrat and maybe a couple of students working part-time for state papers. That's not to toot our horn. If the boss is ever ordered to choose between covering FSU and Florida, he'd pick the Gators. Florida gets more readers, more Web hits and more reaction, and generates more advertising. Seminoles fans don't want to hear it. It's not fair, but a lot of things aren't fair in this scenario. Like three FSU beat writers being laid off, one just last week. Sports fans say if only newspapers would have covered their favorite teams better, circulation wouldn't have dropped. Just as conservatives say if newspapers weren't so liberal, they wouldn't be in this fix. The biggest reason is the billions of advertising dollars disappearing into the Internet. Things like Craigslist aren't Republican, Democrat, Seminole or Gator. The newspaper business model broke, and FSU picked a bad time to founder. While it's been Emerald Bowl material, Florida has won two football and two basketball national championships. Which program would you cover? Fan Web sites are filling the void, but their audiences usually doesn't want to read anything that embarrasses their school. If this were 1984, Charley Pell might have kept buying recruits. If this were 1993, we may never have heard of Free Shoes U. And as sad as it is to see so many empty seats on press row, the real worry is the empty chairs at city council meetings and the like. If this were 1972, Richard Nixon <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/politics/government/presidents-of- the-united-states/richard-nixon-PEHST000115.topic> might serve two full terms and retire to Mount Rushmore. I never thought I'd see the day when sports information directors would thank us for covering basketball games. But then, I never thought I'd have so little ammo when an FSU fan blasted newspapers for favoring the Gators. Guilty by reason of business insanity. I'm glad the FSU fan kept that supposedly incriminating photo from long ago. It does prove at least one thing. The only thing worse than being covered by newspapers you think dislike you is to not be covered at all. David Whitley can be reached at [email protected]. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
<<inline: image001.jpg>>
