Voila_Capture578Email from reader Mike, who was high:

Bro,

Can I call you bro, bro? Good. Glad we cleared that up.

But seriously….

So I pretty much read your blog every day and I can’t tell you how much I enjoy you shitting on beat writers, especially Flyers writers. Well I’m sitting here watching this game and following along on twitter, and I can’t help but notice how much time some of these writers are spending tweeting during the game, and often tweeting shit that has nothing to do with the action or any analysis of the action.

It got me wondering, I’d love to see what would happen to a Flyers journalist who doesn’t tweet at all. Instead, he spends his time carefully watching every play of the game, talking to actual sources, and doing his job.

Would he still have a job?

Or would he still miss out on action because he would still have to take notes?

Just curious what you know/think of any of this or if all of this is me being a little stoned and over analyzing everything because that’s the only thing an MA in English gets you in this world.

Best,
Your New Bro

Also, mother FUCK Sidney Crosby. I honestly think I’d still boo him even if he some how ended up on the Flyers.

And again:

I just wanted to also say I obviously have nothing against twitter. Shit, I’m on it all the time. I am saying, however, that I don’t get anything from following professional sports journalists during the actual games that I can’t get from unpaid bloggers. Where journalists can be most effective is speaking to those in and around the organization that lay-people-blogger-types cannot speak to and getting the news and information we wouldn’t get otherwise. Their value isn’t live tweeting the action and their real time analysis of it. I can follow flyers goal scored by for that.

But again, I’m sure their papers force them to tweet as much as possible to get a following.

I dunno man. I just don’t know.

Welcome to my inbox.

First of all, not all bloggers are unpaid. Some make a lot more than beat writers.

Second, you’re 100% right. The Flyers writers are by far the worst at tweeting nonsensicalities during games. When Twitter was new, many writers figured they had to do that sort of thing, but as the platform evolved, it became apparent to anyone with half a brain that tweeting every play was foolish for the following reasons: A) If someone is watching the game, they already know. B) If they’re not, they have no fucking clue what you’re talking about. Rinaldo going to the box. GREAT, what the fuck is the context? C) It’s commodity information spam. People have text alerts, score apps, fucking Siri, follow the team accounts, other fans, etc. They don’t need 50 writers tweeting the same thing. Want to Tweet a score update or a major play, fight or something? Sure. Commentary? Go for it. A joke? By all means. But no one needs a nonstop stream of barely-conciousness about what’s going on during a TELEVISED event. Watch the game, guys. Absorb it. Ask good questions. Break a story or two.

Or…


What’s worse, though, is when those mundane updates come from beat writers watching the game 500 miles away just the same as the bloggers and fans they look down upon. Take, for example, Sam Carchidi and Tim Panaccio, who tweeted that they were having dinner at Canadian writer Bruce Garrioch’s house in Ottawa during the big Flyers-Penguins game…

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… and then proceeded to live Tweet updates (Sarah Baicker and Marc Narducci filled in for them, mind you) because, obviously, we couldn’t see the exact same thing on our TVs.

But if you really want to get a sense for just how easy their job can be, and how lazily it can be performed, look no further than the hard-hitting information they brought you after the game… again, from a house in Ottawa.

The Flyers send out press notes after each game. They usually arrive in the inbox shortly after the final horn, followed by full press conference transcriptions (for home games). The Flyers’ PR department does a great job. It’s almost as if… the beat writers don’t have to do anything.

These are the press notes from last night.

Press note 1:

With the win, the Flyers moved to 7-1-1 at CONSOL Energy Center since the building opened at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Tim and Sam:

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[Skip press note 2]

Press note 3:

The Flyers committed one giveaway in the game to Pittsburgh’s 10.  They have committed just 12 giveaways over their three-game winning streak.

Sam:

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Press note 4:

The Flyers had 31 hits, giving them 30 or more hits in five consecutive games and seven of the last eight.  In addition to his two goals tonight, Brayden Schenn also led the Flyers with six hits, while Nick Grossmann was credited with five.

Sam:

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Press note 5:

Adam Hall was 7-for-8 on faceoffs (88 pct).  He has lost just three faceoffs in the last four games, going a total of 21-for-24 (87.5 pct) during that time.

Sam:

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Yet these are the very same guys who get outraged when the team circumvents beat writers and posts information directly to the public. Wonder why?