Louisville Courier-Journal v. NCAA

Yes, in da face!

 

No. More stupidity will come, I'm sure.

 

I'm guessing a bunch of us will be blogging this fall during college football games. Does that mean Lincoln Financial Sports can call the NCAA and get one of its bitches to eject us?

 

Love the comment from the reader on Bennett's blog about how the paper might want to consider just dropping this whole thing "so the baseball team gets the attention it deserves."

Jesus, we're doomed.

 

Print edition story now up:

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770610018

 

The NCAA is way off base here, as it is in writing that only those who pay for rights can live blog and show the games. So the NCAA comes off - again - as a cash-hungry overseer.

That being said . . . . . .

It is somewhat amusing that the banner for this fight against the NCAA to allow better and more in-depth college baseball coverage will be held by a blog that included the following two lines:

"I started covering the U of L baseball team almost two weeks ago (at the start of the NCAA tournament)"

and

"This is also my last day of watching the Cards play even if they win. I had a previously scheduled vacation that conflicts with the College World Series."

I understand his point that the College World Series is not something they realistically thought they needed to plan for . . . . . but the paper's commitment to seeking a righteous pound of flesh from the NCAA seems to be bigger than its commitment to covering this particular team.

 

But that shouldn't matter. What affects one outlet in the press box affects every outlet. Whether you have a beat writer for college baseball or you get there when you can, you should have equal rights.

 

I'm guessing that others on staff have covered some of the games, so just because Bennett hasn't been there doesn't mean the team hasn't been covered.

 

Not saying it should or shouldn't matter.

Just something I noted.

As for what John said: Perhaps you're right.

 

As a former beat reporter on U. of Louisville sports for the C-J, I can tell you that the beat writer's primarily focuses are football and basketball. And football and basketball recruiting. Given that the school regularly is nationally ranked in both sports, that's a pretty good piece of work considering the amount of copy you're asked to produce. It's really two full-time beats that are pretty much year-round, plus enterprise in the summer.

So generally, the other sports are covered by other reporters, whether it's G.A. people or someone else. Now, when those other sports become big stories, the beat writer often will be called on to jump in, as Brian was with the baseball team. While he wasn't going to cover the College World Series regardless, the paper will.

U of L baseball averaged fewer than 500 fans per game during the regular season and was a bubble team in the NCAA Tournament. It received periodic features and staff coverage of selected games, and that's about it.

To be honest, the beat is becoming more and more of a bear. In the past two weeks, Louisville has notched national top 10 finishes in women's golf (in Florida) and men's track (in California). Now baseball.

Anyway, to question anybody's commitment to covering college baseball because of regular season games in which there is limited reader interest seems a bit strange.

Oh, and Brian does a great job and is a great guy, though I'm a bit disappointed we didn't see an NBA-esque jersey toss into the crowd or something.

 

I didn't "question commitment". There is no need to. It is clear, without question, that the paper didn't really pay attention to the baseball team (for all the reasons stated, which make a hell of a lot of sense) all season. And now that it is compelled to cover the team, the NCAA flexed its muscle in a foolish way.

And now the Courier-Journal, which clearly does not have NCAA baseball high on its list of priorities (and it shouldn't be high on their list), is gonna be at the forefront of fighting the NCAA to allow people to blog from NCAA baseball games.

That is noteworthy. And ironic. And appreciating those two things does not mean one is insulting the work the C-J does on Louisville athletics. It merely is one of those things that makes you go "Fascinating."