The State of Corn Nation - Help Us Get Better At What We Do Here

by corn blight on Jan 21, 2009 6:00 AM CST in CN News Comment 44 comments

Newspapers are dying all around the country. It’s not just the New York Times looking for a bail out from a Mexican billionaire, it’s hitting you right where you live. A while back the Omaha World Herald decided that western Nebraska could go screw itself. The Lincoln Journal Star is owned by Lee Enterprises, a company who’s seen their stock drop like a rock this past year and is rumored to be on the brink of bankruptcy.

I’ve been watching the newspaper issue for quite a while - it’s interesting to me not only because I’ve been writing here for the past three years, but because of my earlier life as a computer industry sometimes-pundit.

I spent several years (18, but who’s counting) writing mostly for magazines, explaining the early fundamentals of network communications, server technology, the internet, you name it, if it was infrastructure stuff, I wrote about it. Around ‘92, I wrote a 600-page book about Novell Netware in about three and a half months while working full time as a consultant. 20 hours a day, seven days a week, it was exhausting. In fact, I woke up one time sitting in my easy chair writing the narrative to a dream I was having about a knight coming after me in a forest. It was right there in the middle of a paragraph about the differences between IPX and SPX protocols. Why would I do this? The easy answer - I had a pretty good contract.

There was a time I could sit down and bang out a 2,000 world article in a few hours, and at 50 or 60 cents a word and pick up an extra grand without breaking a sweat. Then along came the Internet (damn you Al Gore!) and with it, online support forums, communities and blogs.

As more sites came online the magazines I wrote for died off one by one. As they died the money I used to make writing went with them. I tried to keep writing, but I really resented getting $25 or $50 for something that went a lot further just a few years earlier, so I quit for a while. More on this in a bit.

What I don’t get is how newspapers got themselves into this position when print died for the computer industry ten years ago. Did they not see what had happened or did they blindly think that it wouldn’t apply to them - that what they were doing was so important that mere market forces and change could not destroy them? Their future was in plain sight ten years ago, ample time enough for them to come up with bad ideas, throw them away and try something else.

Instead they’ve been doing much of the same, somehow believing we’ve all made some horrible mistake, that print is good and we’d only discover it if we’d search through the attic and find those old World Herald’s where they show us photographic sequences of a running play as it unfolded down the field. The sad thing is that we’d all be flocking to the World Herald site on a weekly basis if they’d bothered to do the same thing online, but alas, they have not even tried. Even if the business model for newspapers can't survive into today’s world, don’t you think they would have at least done that?

This is coming to a head for me because I recently stumbled across an article about sports writing done by Gary Poole, the author of the Red Grange book I recently reviewed. Poole laments the condition of current sports writing these days, particularly in this passage:

But here is a typical scenario that illustrates the problem for newspaper sports sections. Beat writers covering a baseball game see a player strain a hamstring. Immediately they are all on their BlackBerries posting an item about the injury and how the batting order was just changed. Something must be posted! Any writer who misses the tidbit will be called on it by his or her editor. But everyone has the same information; no one “scoops” anyone. So why not wait and weave that tidbit into the game story?
The reporter would have the chance to go to the locker room and ask questions, talk to the manager about the change in strategy after the injury—to add context and nuance and narrative. These days, that sort of insight is too often lost. “If I were the editor,” says ESPN’s Buster Olney, who also blogs, “I would say, ‘Don’t worry about beating the seven other papers on the hamstring story; focus on developing your thousand-word game story. Remember the great writing you loved as a kid? Write it up like that.’”

I’m here because when I quit writing I found I wasn’t as happy (maybe "well-adjusted" or "sane" are better terms). I started writing again about the computer industry on my own blog, but found my heart wasn’t in that kind of writing anymore, so I started blogging about my biggest passion - Husker football. Out of chance or divine intervention the SB Nation guys found me and thus began Corn Nation.

Whatever happens with the Omaha World Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, or countless other newspapers, how we consume information about Husker sports is going to change over the next few years. I want to be part of that change, and I want to get better at what I'm doing. This time it isn't about the money (although that'd be nice), it's about being better at an art.

There ain’t a whole lot going on in the world of Nebraska football these days. There’s no coaching staff changes. We didn’t do so bad this season that we can complain about being horrible while at the same time we weren’t so good we made it onto the national stage. We’re in-betweeners - the worst place to be for being interesting.

Things were a helluva lot easier last year. We had Bill and Kevin to kick around. We had Bo, Barney, Carl, and Tom coming on board with a whole new attitude, new coaching staff, and a whole lot of speculation about what the 2008 season would look like. It wasn’t that difficult to put together the outline for the inaugural issue of “A Sea of Red”. There were plenty of new topics to cover. This year’s book and this off-season present a much greater challenge.

I’ve figured out that I can’t quit writing, so I plan on being here for a while. If it’s going to be interesting around Corn Nation it means we’re going to have to get creative. And no, that doesn’t mean creative as in “making things up” (although it could - in a fun way) - it means using more imagination, finding more angles, and learning more about what our readers want to know, what they’re interested in, or what they want.

So, this is my invitation to you - what can we here at Corn Nation do better? What can we do to make it interesting? What would you like to see happen that we’re not doing? I know what I’d like to see, and what I’m happy with, but I am interested in hearing more about you.

Ultimately you choose what you want to read, and with the community-based system we have here, what you want to be involved in. So please help us get better.

Thank you.

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What I think

would be cool is interviews with players/coaches/former players. Not the fluff interviews the LJS and OWH do with softball questions like “who is your favorite Disney character and why” but stuff like “why leave (wherever the player is from) to come to Nebraska” or “how badly do you guys want to kill Missouri this year.” Or how about “who would win in a steel cage match Randy "Macho Man” Savage or Chase Daniel?

"Where do you put the bayonet?" (upon seeing a flamethrower fo the first time)

by 96operator on Jan 21, 2009 9:21 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

What Do Husker Readers Want?

I once heard someone ask: “What do you get a woman that already has everything.” To which was replied: “More!”

As a Husker junkie, I don’t necessarily crave more quantity. Newspapers do the quantity thing to the point of overdone after gameday. Multiple writers from the same paper writing multiple and similar statistics on the same game.

I crave more in-depth information. The science of doing something well. I like seeing actions or processes broken down into smaller components and having explanations of how those aspects contribute to improved performance or production. Enhanced proficiency and efficiency. This can come from all areas: coaching philosophies, mental, physical, strategy, Xs and Os, team chemistry, execution, use of personnel, how to play a position(such as what did Suh specifically do differently as the season went along, with his feet, arms, torso, mind), indepth blocking schemes. It doesn’t have to always be science jargon. Just more and more in-depth. But not merely rearrangements of boring statistics.

I realize that the blogosphere media doesn’t get press passage access such as that given to the print and traditional electronic media. That’s a bummer. But it would be nice to see some system change in that area. Perhaps as the print media becomes more on-line they take (or keep) that advantage.

There are already shallow fluff articles written all the time. Print media covers that. Blogs aren’t limited by how many column inches to devote to a given issue or topic.

Horse Farmer

by Teamster on Jan 21, 2009 3:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

And I

dont really care for those type of articles. The great thing about it though is you can write that stuff for him and I can bypass it if I decide to. That is what I really like about reading, I can choose to read what I want and not what I dont want.

Hey man this is your blog and you should write what YOU want to. Write what intrest you because that is usually what a person writes about best. If it doesn’t intrest you you probably wont put the same effort into it that you do otherwise. I enjoy the site and come here a lot, as you already know and dread….lol. I do like that you have added a guy for bball, just wish I had the time to get on here like I do the football games. Hell I wish I was the guy doing the bball stuff for you, but when you coach the sport it doesnt leave much time for writing about it. I do like the librarian though you did well getting him.

I say just keep up the good work and as long as people are coming you are giving them what they want.

by taflorom on Jan 21, 2009 10:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

It's a great blog

I stop by everyday.

I always like a good, well formed, and supported opinion. Even if I don’t agree with you, maybe I’ll learn something.

I also would love some humor pieces, though those can be hard to write…

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Jan 21, 2009 7:24 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

agreed

on the humor pieces.

to be blunt, the problem with them is - they are hard to write. wouldn’t be so bad if this were a full-time job, but i’ve already got one of those. plus i have ADD so bad, I should probably just start coming up with one liners and posting them.

I’ll do a full follow up piece on this.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 12:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff Jon

If you decide on the make believe angle, give Thayer Evans a call for tips.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Jan 21, 2009 7:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

wow!

this is a complex subject, gonna have to sleep on it some.

Well, while the newspapers are becoming dinosaurs, the websites are growing in # by leaps and bounds and blogsites are facing severe blogger shortages! The competition for new bloggers is becoming fierce such that recently I’ve noticed myself getting ‘courted’ to come post on new boards….
But all the boards are covering pretty much the same topics, so then it’s a matter of the format you like the best.
The ‘vastly improved’ thing here is just that, there are more ‘side streets’ on this sight than any board I’ve seen, and that’s cool, it’s just a bit overwhelming to be surrounded by I guess.

I prefer a format like, say, Huskerboard.com, just seems to have all the bells and whistles and ‘fluidity’. I’ve found a newer one(Huskerhooligans.com) I even like better because of the pleasing nature of the design—colors, graphics, emoticons, etc.

But, I could probably hang out here as a priority since it’s so vast.

CR@p, I dunno what to tell ya-z, there’s just alotta competition now…it’s a be-otch. I’m still surprised at how many bloggers LJS gets since their format is like simple simon, boring, ‘nothing’ really.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 1:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

i appreciate

you coming back here.

I agree, there’s enough in our platform that it can be a little overwhelming.

And…. your comment that we’re all covering pretty much the same topics – that is true also, but that is also why I ask what people would like to see.

LJS does online better than anyone else in Nebraska’s media, although their organization (Lee) is still in a lot of trouble. Where they end up is anyone’s guess.

Is there anything really missing here?

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 12:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

LJS

is busy cuz they are the newspaper and sportswriters in lincoln, so they have all that credibilty. Like getting the stuff straight from the horse’s mouth. As far as there actual posting format it is about as basic as it gets—pretty boring IMO.

That(LJS) was my 1st ‘board’ 3 yrs ago and my first blogging, but in ’07 there was so much vitriole i couldnt take it anymore.

But, then i went to the Chi Bears site—my fav pro team—and I’m like, ‘this is what a sports website should be all about’. So, i since found a few husker sites(listed above^^) formated like that and am really liking the latter. Those are pretty much all fan generated threads with peeps linking up to other sites for article references.

Personally, I’m kind of a goofy, crazy, creative type guy, so I just like to sorta talk smack and b.s./joke, do off the wall things around /about topics, and do the more serious posting when the spirit moves me.

As far as anything missing here, I would say FTMP, no, but the FAN THREADS here are not readily noticeable—i.e., that they exist. One particular strengh is the whole SB Nation tie in to other team’s fanbases, its’ very cool and convenient.

Other than that, for me, I really like the graphic design/format of huskerhooligans.com the best, so I guess you could maybe check that out to see if it moves u at all. I don’t like a bunch of ‘anal’ strict mods/admins/posters and that site is real ‘chill’.

There are certain small technical functions that many boards don’t have, for one the ‘TOP’ button which takes you immediately to the top of a page rather than scrolling.

emoticons are pretty much a must too.

But as far as content here, is very good, IMO, should maybe try and egt peeps into the fan based stuff more, I dunno, havent checked ’em out here too much.

Huskerboard is, other than LJS, the busiest board I’ve seen and it’s just they have some great peeps posting there, alot of them, the board is organized well…

THE REAL TIME blogging, which is almost like a chatroom, is what makes the busy sites ‘go’, it’s just a matter of the members being loyal and developing RELATIONSHIPS..

You have that capacity here, but I dunno why there’s not more traffic, NEED TO FOCUS ON THE FAN GENERATED STUFF i GUESS.

I dunno, can you make a living at ‘owning’ a blogsite, if so , i might try it muself! LOL :):)

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 3:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

K, sorry

I guess you don’t have the fan generated stuff here, I msitook the column, ‘Fanposts’, I guess the writers like you are the ‘fans’.

So, like I said, I think the bisiest sites are the ones that get into real time fan threads(the common man!).

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 3:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

K, looked at it again, LOL,

so I’m kinda confused what the ‘fanposts’ are here….

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 3:26 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Fanposts

are actually posts generated for discussion by our users.

Fanshots – are another type of fan posting that can be allow for users to easily post quotes, links, embedded video, whatever they want. Go here:
http://www.cornnation.com/fanshots – and you’ll notice a button you can embed on your browser toolbar that easily allows you to post whatever you want into the fanshot area. Try it – you’ll probably like it.

On the fanposts and fanshots, anyone can post those – it shouldn’t be the main guys doing that. We’ve seen that increase over this past season, but we could be doing better.

I agree with you on the threads issue. Trying to get something developed that would make that stand out a little more.

Making a living at this? Bluntly, I suppose that’s depending upon what you call a living. :)

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 4:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

What Fanshots

Would you guys like to see more of?
and from where?

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Jan 22, 2009 4:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

that's just it

whatever you guys are interested in discussing, to be honest.

The fanposts and fanshots should be all about you – the user community. :)

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 4:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

k

will check it out more..ty!

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 9:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

typo alert ^^^

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 3:30 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

the jerkiest sites are

BRB and HFC(HuskerFanClub, hukserfan censorship, i call it.

God, i tried those boards 4 about a week, and I’m like, ‘amscray out da ackdoorsbay…..’
some aloof, anal, idiots on those boards…LOL LOL!

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 3:39 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think you are confusing

blogs and boards.

This is a blog.
BRB, HFC, Huskerpedia, Huskerfanclub, ect are boards.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Jan 22, 2009 4:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

oh, i see,

i think i get it now, blogs have official authors?

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 9:52 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

and

the boards scavange articles fro the blogs when they wanna quote something official…

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:00 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Honestly I don't know why more people

are not here.

I’m getting sick of the boards.Same people asking the same questions. (If I see another Frank Solich/Bill Callahan debate I may break down and cry). And does recruiting matter !?! and the great walk-on debate. sigh.

You guys have provided some great stuff. The recruits map, and the panaramic picture come to mind. I have stolen and posted each BTW, I guess I should start citing you guys, but I’m just worried that this place will be overrun with thoughtless comments, stupid posts (#1!!!!) similar to the LJS boards.

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Jan 22, 2009 4:52 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

yea

I’ve seen the exact same discussions take off again within a week as if they hadnt happened the previous week, sometimes involving the same peeps! LOL<

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 9:54 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

that map

is ttly cool

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 9:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

oh

I wouldn’t worry about citing us when it’s other people’s work we’re referring to. That’s the beauty of the internets, it belongs to all of us.

In other words, I guess I don’t want us to be that selfish. :)

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 10:20 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Been thinking about this lately, actually

The two teams I follow most closely online are the Huskers and the Milwaukee Brewers, and it’s interesting to see the differences between the worlds of both teams’ fans.

The center of Husker fans’ online world is without a doubt the message boards. That’s where most people congregate, where news and rumors come out first, where recruiting really gets discussed, where the consensus of opinion is formed. On the other hand, the center of the Brewers’ online world is definitely the blogs. They’re sharp, they’re comprehensive, they’re (mostly) well-written, they’re where the consensus of opinion is formed.

I agree with JLew’s last post—I can’t stand the Husker boards, for the exact same reasons he lists. I think there’s a real gap in what’s available for Husker fans online—it needs a really intelligent, civil but active place to read about and discuss Nebraska sports. There are a couple of places that hit a few pieces of that—the LJS blog is really ground zero for Husker news, but it’s run by (theoretically) impartial sportswriters, not fans. Big Red Network has some really well-reasoned analysis, but there’s no user-generated content or much community there to speak of. I think this blog could fill that niche too, though for whatever reason, it hasn’t reached a critical mass community-wise.

I think SBNation’s Brewers blog, Brew Crew Ball, is a perfect example of what Husker fandom needs—it’s quite possibly one of the best team-oriented blogs on the web. It’s got daily news, smart analysis and a ridiculously active, friendly and sharp community of readers/contributors. Maybe that’s partly because it’s a baseball blog (it’s a sport that seems to attract more than its share of reasonable-thinking eggheads), but it seems to be a formula that works.

What can Corn Nation take away from that? I’m not exactly sure. The more I look at this blog, the more I think most of the successful elements are there—things have just slowed down during the offseason lull.

I guess one thing that might help would be to move a little faster on breaking news and analysis. I read blogs a lot for that instant analysis on a game I just watched or a piece of news I just heard—the ‘did everyone else think so-and-so was awful in that game too?’ factor. If I know a blog will have some thoughts on a just-finished game yet that night (or the next morning, if it’s late) or on some breaking news within a couple of hours, I’ll be sure to head there with regularity. I know it’s tough logistically to pull off—we all have lives—but it’s something worth considering.

Wow, this has gotten long. Hope that helps some.

by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 22, 2009 9:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

long is okay

I did ask for feedback, so that’s fine.

Breaking news and analysis – I agree with that. I would hope that the community would develop further so that we’d start seeing more activity in the fanposts/fanshots area – the collection of a user community certainly helps at least in the “breaking” area.

Offseason lull – I’ll be blunt. I literally go into a depression after the end of college football season, and it usually takes me a few weeks to break out of it, hence, my lack of posting here on a regular basis.

We tried to make a concerted effort this last season in having a weekly calendar, and for the most part I liked what we did. We could have done a better job in consistency, but like you said, we have lives. My biggest problem is that I work in service – as a network consultant – and there are times where I get pulled into disaster recovery situations where I can’t leave for quite a while. That can be good and bad – because a lot of it I spend waiting – waiting for data, waiting for a server to build, etc. Hard to concentrate fully on an article in the middle of one of those, although it’s certainly easier during football season!

Nice point about Brew Crew Ball – that’s where I’d like to see us get.

BTW, thanks!

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 10:39 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I think the lull is just natural

College football isn’t one of those sports (like NFL or MLB) that produces news practically year-round. January and February are going to be dead (unless you are heavy into recruiting), and May-July, too. Of course, there are things you can do to fill that void—position-by-position or starter-by-starter analysis, that kind of thing. And decent baseball and basketball teams help, though interest in those is dwarfed by interest in football.

I’d ditto what Flatlander says below about consistency…having a regular feature we know we can count on helps get through that lull.

by Cheeseandcorn on Jan 23, 2009 9:32 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

WTF!

JLo posts here?, wow, wow….oh…nvm..LOL

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:07 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You referring to me?

If so what exactly is the problem?

You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane

by JLew on Jan 23, 2009 10:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

so

how does this work as a biz? More posts=more advertising=more$$?

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:10 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

that's basically it

but what you have to remember is that we’re part of SB Nation. Most of the $$$ goes to support the platform and the network behind us. I certainly don’t have a problem with that, they are the ones footing the bills on development and bandwidth.

You may see more ads in the next year here, but we’ll see.

I have a wife and three kids – there isn’t any danger of me making a living at this any time soon. Beer money, maybe. Living, no!

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 10:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

lol

I always wondered about the $$ part…figured it couldn’t be ‘real’. I really like the connection here to other fansites, was there alot during the bowl games, bouncing all over the place.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Food for thought...

I’m kind of new to the site (been jumping in/out for the last year or so)… but my $.02 after spending far too much time than I should on football blogs is this:

- People have less “free” time than they ever did. If you have certain features on certain days and they’re worth reading, then you know you’re getting my eyeballs at least once a week. Consistency is important.

- Find an angle and explore it. No disrespect to the ‘more news faster/stronger’ crowd, but I have a billion RSS feeds for that stuff. I don’t need instant analysis anymore. I need a couple or three salient points for every game to keep me intrigued and to make me feel like the team is making progress.

- Background on the kids. We know its often all about the N on the helmet and the W on Saturdays. But I feel good about our kids- win or lose- if they’re worth supporting as citizens. Too often we just read about them as pieces of meat but everyone one of them has a story.

by Flatlander on Jan 22, 2009 10:16 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

well,

I wouldnt want the place flooded w adds popping up or scrolling all over…

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

There will be

no op-up ads, nor ads that expand as you scroll over them.

If there are, it’s because someone screwed up, but those types of ads are strictly verboten. I hate them too.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 10:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

weight loss adds

and stuff like that I’ve seen on sites…cialus…lol

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

good points

especially with consistency.

Background on the kids – more difficult for us because we don’t have access to the players. I have not really tried to do that at this point. In order to do it, we would have to go through the athletic department, and I haven’t pursued that much. We would have to go through the AD because one thing that scares the hell out of me would be to somehow jeopardize a scholarship or eligibility because of something that happened here.

Past players…. we’ll work on that heavier this next year.

Go Big Red Nebraska!
Our Cobs Are Bigger Than Yours!
Corn Nation!

by corn blight on Jan 22, 2009 10:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

i guess

i prefer the board style, which means i’ll be checking out the fan post more here..can have both.

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i dont get y

BRN doesn’t ‘come into the 21st century’ with there format, it’s holding them back I think..

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

how bout

some 1st hand player interviews? or ‘chat w a player’ type thing…Q’s etc…

"...don't TAZE me, bro..."

by zE bOp on Jan 22, 2009 10:39 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

That's a great idea...

…but access is currently an issue. Most of the people who get those interviews are credentialed media. Bloggers aren’t considered for credentials. When I attend a Husker game, I pay my $52 like every other fan. I don’t have access to the players or coaches. Is that right or wrong? On one hand, it limits what I can cover. On the other hand, with a low “cost to entry” for bloggers, just opening up access to any and every blogger would create a situation ripe for abuse.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but with the current struggles that existing media are encountering, look for them to rush to embrace the electronic mediums more and more.

by Husker Mike on Jan 27, 2009 9:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You are

probably right that they will embrace electronic mediums, but I think you will still have to work for someone like the OWH or LJS before you get access to the players. I dont really look for that to change anytime soon.

by taflorom on Jan 28, 2009 7:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs