Do sportswriters still matter? Sure, mostly.

Via BTF, Milwaukeeans Jason Albert and Steven Hyden debate the merits of a professional sporting press. I tend to agree with Hyden, who believes that there is still a real need for working reporters with access. People like me certainly can’t report anything. The highest and best use for bloggers, in my humble opinion, is opinion, and we can’t write it without the Tom Haudricourts of the world getting the news.

I’m with Albert, however, when he talks about nuts and bolts stuff like box scores, recaps and injury reports:

I like to think I’m a pretty dedicated Brewers fan, but I can’t remember the last time I read a game recap. There’s just no need. When I miss a game, I can get free, real-time status updates on my phone, and for $15 a month I can watch any archived game I want on mlb.tv. Not to mention all the relevant highlights are posted online immediately following the game, if not sooner. The only thing I use the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for is up-to-date injury reports, roster moves, and columns. Except for the columns, that’s all stuff that originates from the Brewers’ offices, and could easily be dispersed through the team’s media relations flacks.

Of course, I read multiple recaps every day in order to write”And That Happened,” which essentially mocks the idea of game recaps. I’m not sure what that all means, but I feel that if I think about it too much my grandfather won’t be born, I’ll cease to exist and the world will fold in on itself or something.


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Fish
14 years ago

I’m an Orioles fan, and I read the game recaps every morning even if I watched the game, from both the AP as well as the Baltimore Sun.  I like reading them to see if there is an aspect to the game I missed, or if I disagree with what the writer viewed to be the turning point of the game.

As I said earlier, while I read the AP recaps, I need them from the Sun or some other Oriole-centric outlet as well.  Generally, the national media considers Baltimore to be fairly irrelevant (particularly playing against other AL East foes) such that the AP story is more about how the other team fared—I’ll get six quotes from Joe Girardi and Johnny Damon with one buried line from Dave Trembley at the bottom in your average AP recap.

AJ
14 years ago

All I want to do with this post is laud Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, whose beat blog is simply fantastic.

Chris
14 years ago

as a braves fan, I read the AP recap and the AJC’s recap
i also watch the games as well, just like the recaps

Motherscratcher
14 years ago

They mostly write at night.  Mostly.

Simon DelMonte
14 years ago

I tend to read the Mets recap on a regular basis.  It’s simply quicker than anything else (aside from fifteen seconds on the morning sports blurb on the radio). 

That said, I find the one AP-written recap to be sufficient.  As much as I like the NY Times’ sports section for a lot of things, nothing their beat writers have to say about most games is said as precisely as the AP report says it.