Pegoraro Article

[mjh89]

Nice article in the Sun today about the resurgence of Dan Pegoraro. Some good quotes from Schafer that make it seem like he's not even in consideration to be bounced from the top 12 forwards when Bitz returns. On a side note, I'd say that Ari's articles really need to be published in there in favor of some of these other editorials. ZToday the kid was talking about Pegoraro attempting pick-offs? what is this, baseball?

[jnachod]

I'd agree Ari's editorials are thorough & well done, and probably should be published where they get more exposure.

[Tub(a)]

[Q]mjh89 Wrote:

 Nice article in the Sun today about the resurgence of Dan Pegoraro. Some good quotes from Schafer that make it seem like he's not even in consideration to be bounced from the top 12 forwards when Bitz returns. On a side note, I'd say that Ari's articles really need to be published in there in favor of some of these other editorials. ZToday the kid was talking about Pegoraro attempting pick-offs? what is this, baseball?[/q]

I remember one that was "my friends and I got drunk last night and slid down the muddy slope."

:`(

[atb9]

Easy there, Tuba.  As a former Tuba player, I feel I can honestly answer your question.  There is a big difference between what Ari wrote and what is in the Sun.  Maybe Bill can talk about this  (or maybe he should just stay out of it for his own safety :-)) because I have no journalism education, just the experience of a lot of reading but we are just taking Ari's words as fact without any real sourceable information.  I believe this makes it speculation and opinion.  Speculation and opinion is what eLynah forum is all about (for better or worse) and thus I think Ari's article is in the right place.

On that note, I aslo have to say the Sun sports section has been really poor recently.  I swear we've had two video game columns in the past few weeks (not including my problem with leaving out PlayMaker Football and Championship Manager but none of these whipper snappers ever played video games on computers--some of you hockey fans might enjoy East Side Hockey Manager www.sigames.com), and that Owen Bochner article covering the football game against Dartmouth was confusing and painful:

"On its first four possessions on offense, the Red went three-and-out three times. The one series in which the Red did produce a third down, it took a bunch of penalties before it could enter the red zone and eventually turned the ball over on downs."

Does he edit his own articles?

So, yeah, I can see how some would want more hockey content and better content.

[Scersk '97]

Actually, Bochner's recent column, "Ivy League Football Deserves More" http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/05/418b1932b050d?in_archive=1 , was even worse.  Writing before this last weekend that the team was "out of contention for a league championship"--they were still "in the mix" at the time--he proved that he had no real understanding of how Ivy football works.  Then he went on to promulgate some nonsense about Cornell, as a whole, moving to Division III if Ivy League football continues its decline.  (Take a look at the College Football Data Warehouse http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/, which seems to indicate that Ivy football, at least on a decade-by-decade basis, is on an upswing with regard to other I-AA conferences.)  All of this drivel was predicated on scuttlebutt from "online message boards [and] cushy hospitality rooms."  Of course, most of what people were writing was probably in jest.

He seems to be a basketball whiner too http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/05/418b1a96a8d16?in_archive=1, writing that "at its heart, Cornell is an amazing basketball school."  I mean, come on.  I was around for the late 80s (a townie) when Cornell basketball had moments of competence.  Moments.  Cornell has never been a basketball school and never will be.

[KeithK]

[q]Then he went on to promulgate some nonsense about Cornell, as a whole, moving to Division III if Ivy League football continues its decline.[/q]Someone ignorant enough to write this should drivel shouldn't be covering sports at Cornell, because he obviously has no understanding of the Ivy League.  And the editor who approved this should be fired.  Oh wait, this guy is the Sports Editor.  "For a campus full of sports fans," as Mr. Bochner calls it, Cornell really has some lousy sports writers.

[Will]

No offense guys, but a great man once said, "Shit or get off the pot."  If you guys really think Bochner is that poor a sports writer/editor, why not write to the Editor-in-Chief and state as such?  Who knows, maybe you'll actually effect some change in the Sun sports section.

[KeithK]

But it's oh so much more fun to be a critic from afar!

Anyway, the tone of my previous post may give the false impression that I'm really concerned about the quality of the sport writing/editorializing in the Sun.  I'm not.  It's a college paper and while there have been some very good writers on the staff I don't generally expect anything more than a college paper.

[Beeeej]

I wrote a letter to the editor last month when one of their columnists demonstrated a particularly egregious lack of research:  http://www.cornellsun.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/10/14/416df37766523?in_archive=1  But I agree with Keith - beyond a small minority of responsible Sunnies, all I expect is a bunch of kids who want to think of themselves as newspapermen and opinionmakers.  And the last time I respected their sports department was when they gave me the stereo cassette/CD boombox I won in their Final Four hoops contest back in 1991 or so.

(It still works quite nicely, btw.)

Beeeej

[Townie]

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:

But I agree with Keith - beyond a small minority of responsible Sunnies, all I expect is a bunch of kids who want to think of themselves as newspapermen and opinionmakers.  [/q]

IIRC, there was a post sometime back (around the hockey line?) saying very few Sun writers had any sort of journalism training.   Given the relative student apathy for most things athletic at Cornell (except hockey), they probably can't get students to cover sports.  That would mean actually going to the events and then writing a report and meeting a deadline, both of which eat into precious drinking and sleeping time.

Give 'em a break, guys.  It's not like they're being paid.  And it is a student paper.

[CUlater 89]

[Q]Townie Wrote:

 IIRC, there was a post sometime back (around the hockey line?) saying very few Sun writers had any sort of journalism training.   Given the relative student apathy for most things athletic at Cornell (except hockey), they probably can't get students to cover sports.  That would mean actually going to the events and then writing a report and meeting a deadline, both of which eat into precious drinking and sleeping time.

Give 'em a break, guys.  It's not like they're being paid.  And it is a student paper.[/q]

The current editors are supposed to train the new reporters, although that presumes the current editors (a) are decent teachers and (b) know something worth teaching.  Not always the case.

As far as getting students to cover sports, are you kidding?!  Every year plenty of students want to join the sports department, some because they have a passion for sports journalism, some because they have a passion for sports, some because they want free seats to hockey games, some because they want the "glory" of seeing their name in print or having their opinion "matter" and some for other reasons.  How hard they work at their job (which is how the better reporters and editors treat it) is a different question.

[Townie]

[Q]CUlater 89 Wrote:

 [Q2]Townie Wrote:

 IIRC, there was a post sometime back (around the hockey line?) saying very few Sun writers had any sort of journalism training.   Given the relative student apathy for most things athletic at Cornell (except hockey), they probably can't get students to cover sports.  .[/Q]


As far as getting students to cover sports, are you kidding?!  Every year plenty of students want to join the sports department, some because they have a passion for sports journalism, some because they have a passion for sports, some because they want free seats to hockey games, some because they want the "glory" of seeing their name in print or having their opinion "matter" and some for other reasons..[/q]


No, I'm speculating...hence the word "probably".

[dbilmes]

As a former sports editor of the Sun who covered the men's hockey team for two years, I've been following this post with interest. The Sun prides itself on being one of the top college papers in the country and should be held to high standards. I must admit that I've been disappointed in the overall quality of the Sun sports section over the past several years. In the Pegoraro article, for example, there are no comments from Pegoraro. That's just lazy journalism. Hopefully, the Sun sports staff will get its act together in the near future.

[atb9]

[Q]Give 'em a break, guys. It's not like they're being paid. And it is a student paper.[/Q]

I understand this and that's why I'm not going after some newbie reporter covering polo.  Owen is the Sports Editor and it is his job to set an example for the rest of the sports reporters.

And it's not your high school rag.  Jeremy Schaap, Kurt Vonnegut, SC Johnson, etc all worked for the paper and helped make it one of the best collegiate newspapers in the country.

Maybe I have less to bitch about now that it is free?  ;-)

[madhatter]

Actually editors do get paid for their time at the paper.  Albeit J Schaap made around $10,000 and the current sports editors make around $500 due to a decrease in national advertising, but they still get paid for their time.