I tried...

[ugarte]

[Q]Beeeej Wrote:

 Y'know, I kind of like that idea, Age.  I like the idea of your trying, as politely as possible, to make an appointment with the current SID or even with Andy Noel, and saying that whatever there was between you and Athletics in the past, you'd like to leave it in the past because that will benefit you and Athletics.  Then see if you can start fresh from scratch, ask what you can do not to step on their toes, and then ask how you can help, making it clear that there are specific ways in which you'd like to help that would benefit them significantly.

If that doesn't work, if they really just have it in for you, maybe an open letter to them in the Sun sports section (we could all pitch in a few bucks for a half-page ad or something) calling them out (again, politely but firmly) would be fun.  

Beeeej[/q]I'm down with this and would contribute to the ad if things don't go well.

I'd like to see the hatchet buried and Age back in the good graces of Athletics. It would be good for eLynah's patrons, good for Cornell hockey and good for Age's photographic pursuits.

I can see where this would be a bitter pill to swallow, Age, but I think the long-term makes it worthwhile.

[DL]

In full agreement.  I see no reason to run a smear campaign, no matter how odious the receiving end may be.  They just don't speak to the facts.  Now, if a particular office has chronic and systemic problems relating to students and alumnae, we'd be talking about an issue at least somewhat newsworthy.

[billhoward]

Fan / user group / buff sites everywhere run into this problem. Some conferences, conventions, and press boxes have a flat out ban. Others say they don't accredit fan sites then make a few careful exceptions.

Sometimes there are personality conflicts and even when the people on one side go, institutional memory lives on. In technical terms: You're hosed.


One way to bridge the gap would be for a fan site to become more of a timely, dare we say news site. Nothing says USCHO can be the only legitimate source of online Web news about Cornell.

1) Post game stories that night. Can't get into the locker room after the game because you dont have a press pass? Grab the Cornell players as they're coming out and the Colgate coach as he's going in. Or just barge into the Colgate locker room like you belong there.

2) Put up (some) pictures that night, even if it means they're not perfectly color balanced. If you have pictures of the majority of goals and that big fistfight with 2:00 remaining, people will want to see that. You can still put up more, well edited pictures in a second pass. BTW, with longer, better lenses and better lighting now (vs. in Larry Baum's Speed Graphic and flashpowder era), you can shoot from most anywhere in the rink where you can go with just a regular ticket. You could sell those photos to USCHO, too.

3) Break more stuff like Davenport's leaving. Call the guy and ask him why. Then USCHO and the Journal, who can't reach him, have to quote the site and quote the site as quoting Davenport. Call the coach. Coach doesn't respond, say he didn't return repeated calls to his office and home. If you're gonna be a pain the butt, be a high profile pain.

4) Do a better press / media / fan guide then Cornell does and alert the media: USCHO, the beat writers in Albany, Boston, Ithaca as well as the other college papers. Remember, given Cornell's lack of timeliness, the only hockey media will de facto be the best guide through December when Cornell finally gets around to publishing.

5) Do neat and quirky stuff. Ask Pete Shier '78 to write a couple of his observations on the game and post them here. Or to make sure it goes up right away, find him and his kids at this weekend's games, stick a tape recorder in front of him, and ask him to chat about it for 90 seconds.

That's one way. It's gong to require some work. A lot, in fact. So much so you might wonder if it's not just easier to buy season tickets and be done with it.

If not, the site is pretty damn good as it is.

[RichH]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:

That's one way. It's gong to require some work. A lot, in fact. So much so you might wonder if it's not just easier to buy season tickets and be done with it. [/q]

"Age getting free tickets" isn't the issue.  I think all he wants is to be able to stand at the glass (where it isn't very crowded and where he isn't bothering anybody) so he can get good action photos for his site without being chased away by certain people.  His beef is that he was told that he needs a press credential to stand there, even though there are others allowed to be in that area without credentials.

Also, Bill, in suggesting Age dive full-force into print-media content, you're ignoring Age's point that photojournalists are often given the shaft.

At least that's how I understand it.

[CowbellGuy]

What Rich said...

[billhoward]

Photographers getting treated poorly by people who are (sometimes barely) in authority is non-news. It falls into the category of dog bites man and is probably applauded by most people who would say in a different time and place, "So what if those horrible camera-men got roughed up a little when Sherriff Connor kept those agitating Negroes from rioting in our streets. Somebody has to keep order in Selma." They bring home unwelcome realities such as that we weren't flat-out winning that conflict in Vietnam. Journalists and photographers exist so that car salesmen and politicians aren't at the very bottom of the respected-profession polls.

Nor is it news that at sports events there are hangers-on who flout the rules that apply to most of the people in the rink such standing in the area behind the glass at the Zamboni end. A bunch of the rules-flouters may be the kids of people working for safety division or the rink or they're on the same youth hockey team as the team trainer's kids. In fact the move-em-on rule probably only applies to people who'd benefit from being there, like uncredentialed photographers.

If you take a time lapse picture of who's there and show it the sports information office, they'll just dislike you all the more for pointing out the obvious. This was the same sports information office that circa 1972 (okay, this is the sins of your fathers, but I'm on a roll here) with a straight face told the female sportswriter for the H*arvard Crimson, "No women in the press box," even as the Cantab scribe standing outside the door to the not over-full press box could see a bunch of athletic department spouses keeping themselves warm inside.

I haven't heard the full history, but if there's a also personality issue involved on top of eLynah being a fan site, then you've probably already found out that while Cornell can't discriminate based on race, creed, gender, gender-preference or color, "don't completely like the guy" is not a constitutionally protected class, especially when it's a marginal call as to whether or not to issue a press pass.

I still think Cornell would benefit from having more, good photos of hockey action up online and credentialing the most active Cornell hockey site wouldn't cause a safety hazard. Meanwhile, I guess you make sure you bring the long telephoto lenses to the rink ... while that lasts. Some pro rinks specifically say you can bring in cameras but not good cameras that might take decent pictures.

So that's why I suggested an alternative that would make it impossible not to be noticed. All at the cost of only, maybe, another 10-20 hours a week out of your life.