Sports Illustrated layoffs

True to an extent. But if the fan base turns on a coach, then they want the opposite. They'll call you soft for not calling out poor playcalling, substitution patterns, etc. They expect you to be the driving force of getting said coach out of dodge.

 

I'm a moderator for my university's fan message board, and over the past 10 years or so, it's been amazing to watch this swing from coach to coach. We went from Jim Baron to Dan Hurley though, so that's a pretty big shift as far as coach temperament and optimism.

 

Oh yeah, the coach is either way. They love him or they hate him. They want him fired or they want a statue in his honor. Same for a Quarterback or starting shooting guard that's in a slump. I guess my point is, they're all pretty much idiots. That's why they're called fans.

 

What does that make the people like us who cater to those idiots, or at least used to?

That's the thing that never makes me want to go back to sports writing: the fans.

 

This model seems like Bleacher Report 10 years. Who wants or needs another one of those?

 

isn't that called Medium?

 

Judging from what I've read so far on the site - looks like the "name" writers are still at it, not sure if they have contracts or what (Verducci, Wahl, Wertheim) but they've gutted the staff writer-reporter corps.

 

If you read the Deadspin story there, they note that the executives are the same ones that tried a similar model at the LA Times and a couple other sites, and it failed. But hey, maybe it'll be different this time!

 

Fans do not necessarily hate objectivity. They hate selective objectivity. They also have sneaking sense that most reporters are either in the tank for a player/coach, or grinding an axe because they wish they could be in the tank, and aren't.

 

Medium has no focus and is more wide open platform for anyone to publish I gather.

 

Medium has channels, verticals.

 

Most fans think the players should just be grateful that they get paid anything to do what they do and think the writers should be even more grateful to get paid to watch sports.