You should read the irate comments by smellinolies... http://www.topix.net/forum/source/orlando-sentinel/TQUEM9ENAP0API566
On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 12:22 PM, Oliver Barry <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > *A*n > 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-ORSPT000176.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-PESPT008381.topic>walks > off the practice field, he is usually greeted by the > *Sentinel*'s Andrew > Carter<http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/entertainment/andrew-carter-PECLB000882.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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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