National college writer, Orlando Sentinel

Adelson was a national college writer. No way is this a backup job.

 

I have a question about this national college beat. What is their target demographic, just SEC country or beyond? Because I'm from the northeast, and if I want national college sports news I'm going to ESPN, Yahoo, Sportsline, Fox Sports or even USA Today, not the Orlando Sentinel. Conversely, I would think people in the Orlando area would rather read about UF, FSU or UCF than what's going on at Boise or Michigan or USC, unless there was some tie-in to the state of Florida.

I feel like in this economy, prioritizing local is the way to go. But if you're Orlando and you insist on a broader perspective, why not whittle it down a little bit and have an SEC or ACC writer?

 

They already have beat people covering UF, FSU and UCF. They may also borrow from South Fla. Sun Sentinel for the 'Canes. Obviously, their readership base is rabid about college football. Someone with a national perspective will be read, largely because at least one of these teams is in the national championship picture virtually every year.
Also, look at their website for the high school football recruiting coverage. I read it constantly, and I'm from Ohio. Bill Buchalter is better than Tom Lemming and Max Emfinger combined.

 

Bill is a Florida institution. Solid in every way.

 

I don't know which paper has the best college football coverage in the country, but if someone said Orlando was in that top spot, I certainly would not argue.

Mike Bianchi is the best college football columnist in the country. The last five UF writers have wound up (directly or indirectly) at AOL Fanhouse (Harry), ESPN (Schad), Miami Herald (Darlington), Sporting News (spacing the guy's name) and the Pioneer Press (Fowler).

For whatever reason, the FSU beat has never had the kind of talent on it that the UF beat has, but some good writers have been in Tallahassee as well.

They do a damn good job on UCF and I know at times staff national games. I'm guessing they don't do that as much anymore, but I remember seeing someone from Orlando at Texas-Oklahoma a couple years back and I know they're always at a couple of the major bowls, even if the local teams aren't.

This is a damn good job at a damn fine paper and if this gig pays what I think it does (between $70K-$80K) I would think they would be able to get an amazing list of interested parties.

 

Dave Curtis is the guy you're thinking of, Mizzou.

 

Yes, great writer.

 

I'm not questioning Buchalter's credentials. My point was that if you're in Orlando looking for national perspective, how much sense would it make to be more focused on the doings of the SEC, ACC, and C-USA, as opposed to tackling the whole landscape?

On your point about Ohio, maybe it's apples and oranges. BC, UConn, Cuse, etc. don't have as big a hand in the Florida jar as, say, the Buckeyes. So maybe that's why we don't pay attention as much to Florida recruiting up here, at least in terms of volume.

 

I am amazed at the crap people read into things. Here's the situation. There are, according to Moddy, several openings. If you think you've got what they are looking for, apply. Who is better at this and I like this guy for that is all subjective. Hell, many of those making remarks about personnel are friends with those they are talking about. Enough is enough. Good luck to all who apply.

 

I don't think that happens nearly as much as people think. It was much more of an issue five years than it is now.

 

I think part of the reason why a national CFB job here is so important is because there is a large segment of the population in Orlando that isn't from there.

It certainly isn't as provincial as other places.