A quote that really stood out in a story about another Chicago sports franchise...

[caulfield12]

“I love the Bulls, I love the White Sox — unfortunately — but when you go to a game you feel like you’re just a number,” Eric Nemchock said. “When I go to a Sky game, I feel like I’m part of something. It sounds kind of weird, but I feel like I’m a part of the team. I feel like I’m a part of a fanbase in which I can be who I am authentically.”

The accessibility of being a Sky fan went further than just the price and location of games. It also reflected the availability of players.

The team holds an annual meet-and-greet for season ticket holders that allows the opportunity for fans to speak one-on-one with their favorite athletes, a rarity among professional sports. And Sky players were often active on social media, interacting with fans and making themselves consistently available for their top supporters.

The result was a tightly knit relationship between fans and players, something the most invested fans cherished as a crucial aspect of their relationship with the team.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/chicago-sky-fans-temper-newfound-013600715.html

 

Basically, it's word for word the way that most minor league baseball fans describe their relationships with the local teams/players.  Maybe that's lost a little bit with each step up, AA/AAA certainly have a different feel than a short season or A level team.

[bobbydanks]

eh he's just a writer riding a trend for views. replace the sky with loyola a few years ago or whatever it's the same article.

[Texsox]

When I first had Bulls tickets they did a meet and greet and kissed my sss. Then they hosted an all star game, drafted a guard, built a new stadium, and screwed me over. 

[46DidIt]

What even is Chicago Sky

[nrockway]

"I can finally be my authentic self when I go to an arena and watch a ball game. I once was lost, now I am found, there is joy in the presence of Angel Reese" (Luka Doncic 15:10).

 

I can't believe people get paid to write this garbage, it's marketing copy written in the sort of language you learn about in college to write about, I dunno, Foucault or microaggressions or something. Also, it reminds me of that Onion article about the Marlins' only fan.

https://www.theonion.com/florida-marlins-delay-game-until-their-fan-shows-up-1819571683

Edited May 27 by nrockway

[Dick Allen]

6 hours ago, Texsox said:

When I first had Bulls tickets they did a meet and greet and kissed my sss. Then they hosted an all star game, drafted a guard, built a new stadium, and screwed me over. 

Sox used to do the same. Then they won the WS, so a number was what you were. After that wore off, it was good again, then COVID hit and they had their excuse not to go the extra mile again.

[chitownsportsfan]

4 hours ago, nrockway said:

"I can finally be my authentic self when I go to an arena and watch a ball game. I once was lost, now I am found, there is joy in the presence of Angel Reese" (Luka Doncic 15:10).

 

I can't believe people get paid to write this garbage, it's marketing copy written in the sort of language you learn about in college to write about, I dunno, Foucault or microaggressions or something. Also, it reminds me of that Onion article about the Marlins' only fan.

https://www.theonion.com/florida-marlins-delay-game-until-their-fan-shows-up-1819571683

Nothing against the writer, Julia Poe, but it's insane some of the people working what were formerly coveted, big time, career peak beats like being the Bulls' beat writer at the Tribune, as she's listed. She got her undergrad degree in journalism (not even J school grad) from USC in 2019 and 5 years later she's working a gig that in a previous generation would be reserved for someone with 20+ years experience and impeccable writing and reporting history. 

[Stinky Stanky]

3 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Nothing against the writer, Julia Poe, but it's insane some of the people working what were formerly coveted, big time, career peak beats like being the Bulls' beat writer at the Tribune, as she's listed. She got her undergrad degree in journalism (not even J school grad) from USC in 2019 and 5 years later she's working a gig that in a previous generation would be reserved for someone with 20+ years experience and impeccable writing and reporting history. 

Gone first was the  venerable Sam Smith then KC Johnson and the paper hired Julia who's working for a fraction of what the other two made in the budget conscious halls of what used to be the Tribune.  Nice of the Bulls to provide employment for the two guys.  She's an OK writer, don't get me wrong, but she's likely getting paid coolie wages.

[chitownsportsfan]

24 minutes ago, Stinky Stanky said:

Gone first was the  venerable Sam Smith then KC Johnson and the paper hired Julia who's working for a fraction of what the other two made in the budget conscious halls of what used to be the Tribune.  Nice of the Bulls to provide employment for the two guys.  She's an OK writer, don't get me wrong, but she's likely getting paid coolie wages.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You had Sam Smith, who whatever you thought of him, was a powerhouse of a reporter and had serious connections in his heyday. Then KC, who while a mouthpiece, was you know, a long time beat guy. 

You probably went from Smith making like 200-300k a year to Poe making 40-60K. Peanuts for the Tribune company but that's what journalism pays these days. The real money is in doing the stupid "citizen journalist" thing and just collecting money from morons online. 

[nrockway]

55 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Nothing against the writer, Julia Poe, but it's insane some of the people working what were formerly coveted, big time, career peak beats like being the Bulls' beat writer at the Tribune, as she's listed. She got her undergrad degree in journalism (not even J school grad) from USC in 2019 and 5 years later she's working a gig that in a previous generation would be reserved for someone with 20+ years experience and impeccable writing and reporting history. 

Well put. I won't criticize the writer as an individual, but the decline in journalism across the board is very obvious and unfortunate. I'm one of those people who takes sports journalism as seriously any other form of it, they report on an industry worth billions of dollars and worth an incalculable amount to people's psyches. Roger Angell is probably my favorite sports writer, and I doubt we'll see another one like him because no outlet is going to pay a writer to go chill out with Bob Gibson or Steve Blass* for a week and then spend 3 months writing an article about it. Nowdays, AJ Pierzynski or Mookie Betts will "interview" the player for 30 minutes and ask questions like "is baseball hard?" "how does it feel when you get a hit? "what's your favorite color?" It takes time to do journalism and write a proper article, but time is money, and journalism is not a very profitable industry. What a shame, we, the public, suffer for it. 

 

*The Steve Blass essay is incredible. You find that reality has better stories to tell than any piece of fiction. 

[caulfield12]

30 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You had Sam Smith, who whatever you thought of him, was a powerhouse of a reporter and had serious connections in his heyday. Then KC, who while a mouthpiece, was you know, a long time beat guy. 

You probably went from Smith making like 200-300k a year to Poe making 40-60K. Peanuts for the Tribune company but that's what journalism pays these days. The real money is in doing the stupid "citizen journalist" thing and just collecting money from morons online. 

That's always going to be the enemy of the James Fegans of the world in journalism.  

That the Barstool Sports/Portnoys, McAfees, Stephen A. Smith, Jayson Whitlocks of the world who are self-promoters and controversy seekers (think the sports version of Joe Rogan or Alex Jones or Andrew Tate even)...

I'll just put it this way, when I worked in Augusta, we had an excellent beat writer from Stanford who eventually left to work for big bucks with Creative Artists (CAA) in NYC.  Joe Posnanski was actually a features writer (really nice guy, just like he comes across in print) with the Augusta Chronicle who left for the KC Star (and national fame) and then Mike Berardino, who originally broke in with Baseball America in Durham, NC.   He's the one who fits the mold of the former beat writer who doesn't quite stand out in a digital world because he's never been all about self-promotion but simply doing his job well/professionally.

[Quin]

37 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You had Sam Smith, who whatever you thought of him, was a powerhouse of a reporter and had serious connections in his heyday. Then KC, who while a mouthpiece, was you know, a long time beat guy. 

You probably went from Smith making like 200-300k a year to Poe making 40-60K. Peanuts for the Tribune company but that's what journalism pays these days. The real money is in doing the stupid "citizen journalist" thing and just collecting money from morons online. 

Alden Capital is the Reinsdorf of the journalism industry.

[cuban_sammiches]

1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Nothing against the writer, Julia Poe, but it's insane some of the people working what were formerly coveted, big time, career peak beats like being the Bulls' beat writer at the Tribune, as she's listed. She got her undergrad degree in journalism (not even J school grad) from USC in 2019 and 5 years later she's working a gig that in a previous generation would be reserved for someone with 20+ years experience and impeccable writing and reporting history. 

I always assume these pieces are written by AI and Julia Poe is a glorified spellchecker.

[chitownsportsfan]

@Quin @cuban_sammiches an ai could probably run the sox better for cheaper at this point. hell, maybe JR could be sold on it. just tell him a datacenter is tax free.

Edited May 28 by chitownsportsfan

[caulfield12]

12 minutes ago, nrockway said:

Well put. I won't criticize the writer as an individual, but the decline in journalism across the board is very obvious and unfortunate. I'm one of those people who takes sports journalism as seriously any other form of it, they report on an industry worth billions of dollars and worth an incalculable amount to people's psyches. Roger Angell is probably my favorite sports writer, and I doubt we'll see another one like him because no outlet is going to pay a writer to go chill out with Bob Gibson or Steve Blass* for a week and then spend 3 months writing an article about it. Nowdays, AJ Pierzynski or Mookie Betts will "interview" the player for 30 minutes and ask questions like "is baseball hard?" "how does it feel when you get a hit? "what's your favorite color?" It takes time to do journalism and write a proper article, but time is money, and journalism is not a very profitable industry. What a shame, we, the public, suffer for it. 

 

*The Steve Blass essay is incredible. You find that reality has better stories to tell than any piece of fiction. 

George Plimpton was another really talented, arguably iconic, figure from that generation IMO.

I remember once upon a time there was Baseball Today and The National, of course most of us grew up with SI and The Sporting News.

 

The quintessential tv show that put sportswriters on t.v. was on Sports Channel with Telander, Bill Jauss, Bill Gleason (don't remember Ben Bentley as well).  Just read where Gleason worked over sixty years and lived into his late 80's, they don't make him like that anymore.

Edited May 28 by caulfield12

[Texsox]

15 hours ago, nrockway said:

"I can finally be my authentic self when I go to an arena and watch a ball game. I once was lost, now I am found, there is joy in the presence of Angel Reese" (Luka Doncic 15:10).

 

I can't believe people get paid to write this garbage, it's marketing copy written in the sort of language you learn about in college to write about, I dunno, Foucault or microaggressions or something. Also, it reminds me of that Onion article about the Marlins' only fan.

https://www.theonion.com/florida-marlins-delay-game-until-their-fan-shows-up-1819571683

What a memory. I loved this line

Meanwhile, St. Louis Cardinals players and coaches were sympathetic to the Marlins' situation, agreeing to take some extra batting practice. However, manager Tony LaRussa said that because the team's plane was scheduled to leave at 7, they could only wait for Steve for another hour, tops.

 

[bmags]

I don’t really think there is a dearth of Chicago sports coverage to lament about. It’s just not happening from, specifically, the trib. Though their Bears writers are important.

 

[kitekrazy]

14 hours ago, nrockway said:

Well put. I won't criticize the writer as an individual, but the decline in journalism across the board is very obvious and unfortunate. I'm one of those people who takes sports journalism as seriously any other form of it, they report on an industry worth billions of dollars and worth an incalculable amount to people's psyches. Roger Angell is probably my favorite sports writer, and I doubt we'll see another one like him because no outlet is going to pay a writer to go chill out with Bob Gibson or Steve Blass* for a week and then spend 3 months writing an article about it. Nowdays, AJ Pierzynski or Mookie Betts will "interview" the player for 30 minutes and ask questions like "is baseball hard?" "how does it feel when you get a hit? "what's your favorite color?" It takes time to do journalism and write a proper article, but time is money, and journalism is not a very profitable industry. What a shame, we, the public, suffer for it. 

 

*The Steve Blass essay is incredible. You find that reality has better stories to tell than any piece of fiction. 

I guess no one really saw that when ESPN started.  24 hour network has to create "news" that is like our tabloids.  All news is never bad.  Journalists are replaced with former athletes.  

[bobbydanks]

intelligent writers are smart enough to have a career outside of journalism, little alone being a fucking white sox journalist