Matt Calkins- Seattletimes Troll
- Thread starter 32eekortS
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Calkins is nothing.
Times losing folks to buyouts and WaPost etc and cant steal from TNT anymore.
P-I (RIP) had the better sports staff overall, the Times better prep staff until Craig Smith took his buyout.
The yapping by the Lt Governor is much funnier especially since a fired UW coach John Cherberg held the gig for 32 years.
Times losing folks to buyouts and WaPost etc and cant steal from TNT anymore.
P-I (RIP) had the better sports staff overall, the Times better prep staff until Craig Smith took his buyout.
The yapping by the Lt Governor is much funnier especially since a fired UW coach John Cherberg held the gig for 32 years.
Interesting contrast between the press In Washington and say in other states, for example Oklahoma about the Oklahoma State / OU game.
Mike Gundy is 2-14 against OU ( about the record Leach is headed for against UW if stays around that long). I dare anyone to find any hit pieces from major newspapers in Oklahoma directed at him for being personally responsible for that bad record. I guess football savvy people know he fighting a up hill battle against OU on talent etc. and are just glad outside of that game he has maintained a consistently good program.
Thought about why the difference. The main difference is OU is a real deal consistent champion and although they respect OSU they expect to win that game and really have their main attention on bigger things and goals. When they win that game their fans don't act crazy, their players do not clown around on the field like they have had some big conquest. UW on the other hand thinks sometimes that they have a program that should be around the OU level. However in reality they are pretenders . Again where are the big game wins outside of the AC ? And because I guess the Newspapers are just UW mouth pieces they get in on the act of over hyping the aftermath of these AC's. Reality UW is 7-5 and will be lucky to win their bowl game ( I sure wouldn't bet on them).
Mike Gundy is 2-14 against OU ( about the record Leach is headed for against UW if stays around that long). I dare anyone to find any hit pieces from major newspapers in Oklahoma directed at him for being personally responsible for that bad record. I guess football savvy people know he fighting a up hill battle against OU on talent etc. and are just glad outside of that game he has maintained a consistently good program.
Thought about why the difference. The main difference is OU is a real deal consistent champion and although they respect OSU they expect to win that game and really have their main attention on bigger things and goals. When they win that game their fans don't act crazy, their players do not clown around on the field like they have had some big conquest. UW on the other hand thinks sometimes that they have a program that should be around the OU level. However in reality they are pretenders . Again where are the big game wins outside of the AC ? And because I guess the Newspapers are just UW mouth pieces they get in on the act of over hyping the aftermath of these AC's. Reality UW is 7-5 and will be lucky to win their bowl game ( I sure wouldn't bet on them).
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What does that say about WSU? I remember the Leach teams at TT and i believe they ran more but i do not know the stats . I do remember that when the QB ran it made his offense more diverse and forced the other team to respect that which opened up the passing game. Petersen s words which echo Lake s words casts Leach s current offense in a bad light. Whatever fans think of Peterson one cannot argue his dominance of Leach. With the attention now reaching a larger audience it may cast doubt on other Universities considering hiring Leach? Leach knows the Air Raid but maybe he should also consider a QB s running ability when choosing the starter?
Ping, I think there are some cultural differences at play here also. Oklahoma still has a lot of the same values and norms that this country-including journalism had stretching back to the 1950s. A troll like Blanchette would stand out and be ostracized by coaches, fans, fellow members of the media-if he just took a meat cleaver and did a clearly unfair hit piece on Gundy.
It would be seen as unfair and he wouldn't get away with it. In a more liberal state with large urban areas, a troll like Blanchette can thrive.
Someone alluded to it here earlier, old time sports journalists reported the events with a fair eye-really aiding the fan, and sharing in the enthusiasm for the sport or event. They were not trying to make the story about themselves. There were standards and unwritten rules they went by in doing their job.
Blanchette is not accountable to anyone, and fairness doesn't even enter in to the equation.
It would be seen as unfair and he wouldn't get away with it. In a more liberal state with large urban areas, a troll like Blanchette can thrive.
Someone alluded to it here earlier, old time sports journalists reported the events with a fair eye-really aiding the fan, and sharing in the enthusiasm for the sport or event. They were not trying to make the story about themselves. There were standards and unwritten rules they went by in doing their job.
Blanchette is not accountable to anyone, and fairness doesn't even enter in to the equation.
OSU own AD, Mike Holder publicly criticized Mike Gundy's weak recruiting and the ceiling it places on the program. So your basic premise is misplaced.
https://www.flofootball.com/articles/6213635-mike-vs-mike-why-holder-was-right-to-criticize-gundy
What is unfair or inaccurate about the Leach criticism exactly? Help me out. Sure, Blanchette does not miss the opportunity to criticize WSU, but all he is saying are the same things we are right now, about Leach.
Mike Price deserved to be, and was, regularly criticized by fans and Blanchette, for inability to win consistently, beat the huskies, his inconsistent recruiting and the the way in which he left. Blanchette was far harder on Price than he has ever been on Leach. He wrote up Price for running a "Mickey Mouse" program, after coming to practice in a devil costume before an ASU game, which he had the misfortune of lose. The big difference I see between Price and Leach, Price accepted and learned from it. No more costumes, championships start with defense, he, himself needed to be front and center in recruiting. He never did get over the Husky hurdle, but it wasn't for not trying different things.
In the end, the important thing all you pearl clutchers need to remember is we ended up in a better place. By 2002, your Cougs were young, deep and Pac-12 favorites going in, and won the Pac-10 when it was a football power and at its very best -- USC went to the Orange Bowl. That would never have happened had Price been treated Kim Jong Un in N. Korea.
I took the Spokesman for thirty years and stopped reading Blanchette a long time ago. He is exactly what Leach called him. The rest of your bizarre cultural analysis is total nonsense. Blanchette has survived on the east side of the state which if you look at the voting records hardly classifies as liberal. There are bad sports columnists all over the place. Some of the most vicious personal attacks show up in rural areas which claim to adhere to the values and norms of the 1950's. I went to school in a small southern town in the 1950's where the racism and sexism were readily available for all to see.
Blanchette's schtick wouldn't go over in Oklahoma I can assure you. There are reasons for that, and I think they have something to do with standards and what is clearly acceptable and what is unfair. I am only speaking in terms of sportswriters and their ethics or lack thereof.
I am not going to address racism or sexism or any identity politics, as they are irrelevant to Blanchette and his hatchet job "journalism".
Blanchettes "look at me look at me" brand of journalism seeks to insert himself into the story and make it all about him and not the event he is covering. The old timers would never think of doing this.
I am not going to address racism or sexism or any identity politics, as they are irrelevant to Blanchette and his hatchet job "journalism".
Blanchettes "look at me look at me" brand of journalism seeks to insert himself into the story and make it all about him and not the event he is covering. The old timers would never think of doing this.
Any legitimate criticism is fair game for the coaches at this level. So where is it from the big papers in Washington for underachiever Petersen ?
Until that happens all of this hit piece stuff stuff on Leach , is nothing but a concerted redirect from the failings of what is supposed to be the premier program in the state that wants to be mentioned as a playoff contender every pre-season.
Back to the Oklahoma analogy . OU sees Texas as their primary rival in terms of talent and resources and OSU as a potential annoyance. Owning OSU and but going 2-14 against Texas would never fly there. I use 2-14 for obvious reasons that is UW's record against what should be their rival in terms of talent etc. : Oregon. Washington obviously can not really cut it in what should be their true measuring stick game so with the media's help they make WSU the key game to show Pete and their barney bad a** DC are really not underachievers but are actually successful .
The ruse only goes so far as they again will have to play a bowl game ( bet they wish they could just end the season with the AC).
When Pete and Lake get smoked again in either the bowl game or in any important game besides the AC next season, any bets you will have see some real hard hitting stuff in their direction out of the newspapers ?
Who seriously disagrees? Not me. The question is will he man up this week, and write a positive article on the soccer program, and our greatest sport moment in nearly 20 years? It is damn easy to tear down, but can he give credit where credit is due. We know if it were Gonzaga, it would be front and center. Can he write the words "the Cougs physically dominated and were just better than the SEC champs." Because that is what happen. Had South Carolina opened up they would have gotten run, we were too big, fast and physical for them to play straight up. A heart warming "little train that could" piece, frankly would be a slight.
wow, I made the mistake of reading CultCenter and I come upon an article defending John Blanchette. Holy $hit, I wont be making that mistake again for a while. I guess "pretend journalists" have to stick together.
I was listening to Danny O'Neal on ESPN 710 this morning. He is a uw grad, but he stuck up for Leach. He said that he didn't know the background between Leach and Blanchette. But, the specific wording that Blanchette used wasn't to get understanding or knowledge, the wording used was to get a response. In other words, he was trolling.
I have never enjoyed reading Blanchette, no matter his subject. It took only a few times to stop reading him. Of course, over the years he would write something controversial and negative about the Cougars and link it here and I would read it. But, for the most part, I stopped even reading those. Sanctimonious troll describes him perfectly.
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