Do any sports rely on the paper for coverage anymore?

We have to give the reader something they can't get anywhere else. The reader/fan can't talk directly to the coach, so we need to ask the question and get the best, most powerful quote by asking the best. most interesting questions.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I think game advances are important. Sure, people have access to the net and could, if they wanted to, figure out how many points a player has been averaging per game as of late; if a guy is on a point streak. But I do the work and incorporate those kind of things in the advances.
Also, fans don't know how or what a coach thinks or plans about the game. I ask. He might not say everything, but he might give you something.

And, of course, there are features. But not every player is a feature, nor is every happening a story.

 

The problem is space. As in, we're losing so much of it. Might not be the case everywhere, but it is here.

Game advances -- which I don't have anything against, in principle -- are rarely insightful enough to be worth running in the limited newshole we have to fill.

 

We don't run advances for high school anymore, but we know we should do something more than the daily schedule. The compromise is that we run a weekly break-out box on the major city high school's teams. We put in that week's games and stat leaders.

The other guy that covers the college is the only one writing bylined advances now.

 

They can also forget to catch someone. That'll get them some coverage. I know, I'm mean.

 

This has been the case for at least two years now. It just increases with every passing day.

 

Yeah, we advance the university games and the junior hockey games on a regular basis.
We also do provincial championship advances at the high school level.

 

Sure it does. Any town with a Division II school or lower ought to get pretty good play from the local paper, which means everyone will turn to it for news. Some people might go straight to school Web sites, but not everyone.

Same theory applies to Podunk preps coverage.

 

More than you think. In college towns, the number of hits for stories can be off the charts.

I'd also say baseball. The presence of the BBWAA and its clout have helped keep newspapers very relevant when it comes to baseball coverage. Even the players instantly recognized that card hanging around a writer's neck as instant credibility.

 

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16890769/site/newsweek/