Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Philly Pro $ports Media


Listen to the answer at the 5:19 mark. Do you love this guy or what?


Not a good day for the old Chevy Cavalier on Tuesday.
Went jogging for a couple of hours then, just as the sun was setting, I turned the ignition over and nothing happened.
I got the car towed to Pep Boys, sat in there for an hour and the guy came up to me and said: "Sorry I won't be able to get to it tonight. It looks like a fuel pump. I don't have enough mechanics."
So I had to take the 96 bus from Montgomery Mall to the Lansdale train station, get off at the Jenkintown train station to hop another train to Somerton and the 58 bus home.
While at Pep Boys, though, I was able to read up on the coverage the Temple Owls received in The Daily News the past couple of days.
It took me all of seven minutes to read one story, only part of it was devoted to Temple's 38-7 win at Maryland.
As impressed as I was with the Owls on Saturday, that's how unimpressed I was with the Daily News over the last two days.
Let's start with Monday first.
The theme of Mike Kern's story was not to praise Temple, but bury Maryland. He even put Maryland into his "Fraud Five." Why? For losing to Temple? That is a not well-disguised rip at Temple.

Temple was coming off the biggest BCS win possibly in its non-BCS history and both the back and the front covers had full-page Eagles' photos.
Sixteen (that's right, 16) more pages of Eagles followed, then a page devoted to the Jets-Raiders and the "NFC East this week" followed by another page of "around the league"  and two more pages of "NFL scoreboard", three Phillies pages, a page devoted to an NBA pickup game and another page for the Flyers.
Finally, I find Temple on page 67 and that's twenty-nine (right, 29) pages into the sports section.
The theme of Mike Kern's story was not to praise Temple, but bury Maryland. He even put Maryland into his "Fraud Five."
Why?
The Inquirer's Keith Pompey has done a fantastic job. Last year, Kevin Tatum wrote one short story on each Temple game and used the quotes handed out on printed sheets by the SID. Pompey busted his stones and wrote three outstanding stories on the win over Maryland.

For losing to Temple? That is a not well-disguised rip at Temple. If Kern felt Temple was good, there was no reason to put Maryland in the Fraud Five. He provided no real good explanation for the rip.
How is Maryland not a fraud for beating Miami (Fla.) and a fraud for losing to Temple?
It's not like Maryland was beaten by a bad team. What Temple is Kern going by, the Temple of 30 years ago?
He certainly is not going by the Temple that is 16-0 when Bernard Pierce gets the ball 18 or more times a game. Or maybe he just doesn't know that fact.
Tuesday's DN was worse.
Four pages of Eagles' coverage was followed by four pages of Phillies coverage.
Another page was devoted to college basketball and the next page was high school football.
Not a single word about the Temple Owls.
I can see the interest in the Eagles, but it has become ad naseum.
An Eagle sneezes at the Nova Care Center and Comcast reports on it and hands the guy a tissue.
Sports talk radio is even worse.
Thank God for the great coverage in the Philadelphia Inquirer, with a front-page of the paper photo followed by the lede story and photo on the cover of the sports section Sunday as well.
The Inquirer's Keith Pompey has done a fantastic job. Last year, Kevin Tatum wrote one short story on each Temple game and used the quotes handed out on printed sheets by the SID.
Pompey busted his stones and wrote three outstanding stories on the win over Maryland.
The Daily News, when it comes to Temple, is no better than fish rap.
The DN has, like my car, a broken story pump when it comes to providing even a smidgen of fairness in its coverage.
It's not worth the dollar.