Pioneer Press Tourney Edition

Chris J · Post by **Chris J** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:08 am

Just another sign of dwindling media coverage. The PP used to have a nice pullout section on the Tourney, about 20 pages or so. This year they have 4 pages! How sad. I'm not sure what the Strib has.

Linden16 · Post by **Linden16** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:12 am

You know, every year I wake up the morning of the state tournament excited for the games and also to go get my Pioneer Press and check out the usually 10-15 page section on the teams and players in the tournament. They have had this special section since I was a kid and I have been looking forward to this for years. So what happened when I awoke this morning you ask? Well I went and bought my pioneer press only to find some chintzy three page cover of the sports page with everything for Class AA crammed on one page and barely any pictures. WHAT<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /devil.gif ALT=":evil"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... ns/mad.gif ALT=">:">

atthepoint · Post by **atthepoint** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:45 am

One article on the front of the sports section, one page in the interior and one other small article. Next to nothing.

joe lulic · Post by **joe lulic** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:53 am

Why do you suppose that is? Is it because now that St Paul has become "major league" the Tournament isnt that big a deal any more? Any opinions?

puckster10 · Post by **puckster10** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:57 am

I too found it horribly lacking. I think people need to write letters to the editor. That's the way things get done with papers. Doing that, and threatening to make the enemy paper the official Hockey paper, and the PP will turn back around. This so called section today was insulting! Puckster <a href="http://www.wildpuck.com" target="top">www.wildpuck.com</a>

dog36 · Post by **dog36** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 8:59 am

When Mike Fermoyle was replaced as the HS sports editor, the entire HS sports portion of the PP went to S***! The Hockey Tournament Special is just a glaring example of the deterioration of the entire thing.

JLS 81 · Post by **JLS 81** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:02 am

That joe and the editors who down play the greatest high school event on the planet. I would bet the PC crowd has a hand in this as well as they foam at the mouth when boys high school hockey reigns supreme over girls sports thus the "get even" approach. You got a lot of PC types sitting in these so called news rooms. I miss the days of the afternoon daily, than you had real coverage of this great game we all love.

puckster10 · Post by **puckster10** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:13 am

Any word on Strib coverage? I would gladly buy a Strib if they had better coverage. Puckster <a href="http://www.wildpuck.com" target="top">www.wildpuck.com</a>

metromick · Post by **metromick** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:19 am

Before the Internet, that section was the Bible for picking tournament brackets cuz it was the only place you could get inside dish and comparative scores for outstate teams (unless you had cousins in Pengilly, Plainview and Pitt). A guy'd get up early, read the articles and review the season records for each team. Sad to see that Ice House toilet paper they call an 'Extra.' The Pioneer Press probably has a pointy-headed marketing analyst from an East Coast college who gave his bean-counting boss an ROI quantification report that said they might make more money by allocating resources in other directions. The pointy-head and bean-counter then got together with the do-gooding social activist who said, '"well, if you do it for boys hockey, you have to do it for girls badminton, too." Then the section died in a committee meeting. Contacting the Pillageer Prees is the only way to change it.

dog36 · Post by **dog36** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 9:33 am

Does anyone have a link they can post?

P1D2 · Post by **P1D2** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:02 am

I would assume that most hockey people, at least in the metro area were very disappointed this morning. The high school hockey tournament is one of the premier sporting events held in this state every year. It's attendance rivals no other. It brings in tons of revenue to the local St. Paul economy and brings the state national notoriety. With all the traditions and memories that this tournament has developed it has become part of the fabric and identity of St. Paul and Minnesota. The fans and participants deserve better. For some reason I think that the St. Paul paper has de-emphasized coverage of high school hockey. I find it difficult to understand why. All season they have done a poor job of coverage. Sometimes only printing the score of a game, no box-score, no narrative of what happened. Apparently the paper is not in touch with the demographics it serves. I believe that we refer to Minnesota as the "State of Hockey". I find it interesting that the Pioneer Press gives more print space to Big East women's college basketball than they do for local high school hockey or the Division 1 college hockey teams located within our state boundaries. Perhaps the Pioneer Press sports editor has a daughter that plays basketball for Rutgers. Perhaps an email campaign to the Pioneer Press would have an impact.

Eagles93 · Post by **Eagles93** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:28 am

Does the Pioneer Press coverage today include AA or just A? Perhaps they may have a bigger section tomorrow for AA? All Star Trib has is an article on Blake Wheeler, some players to watch today, and a brief summary on each Class A teams' season and rosters. Here's some scans: <a href="http://www.ahaphantoms.com/hshockey/new ... gif">Front Page</a> <a href="http://www.ahaphantoms.com/hshockey/new ... f">Wheeler Article</a> <a href="http://www.ahaphantoms.com/hshockey/new ... gif">Class A Players to Watch</a> <a href="http://www.ahaphantoms.com/hshockey/new ... s.gif">Day Games</a> <a href="http://www.ahaphantoms.com/hshockey/new ... gif">Night Games</a> (I hope Star Trib doesn't mind!) <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... rassed.gif ALT=":o"> Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub33.ezboard.com/bmnhs.showUser ... agles93</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://www.edenpr.k12.mn.us/ephs/images ... ading2.gif" BORDER=0> at: 3/10/04 10:52 am

puckster10 · Post by **puckster10** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:30 am

Its both for the Pioneer Press. AA has an article on Centennial and a few other blurbs about 100 words in length each for the quarterfinal games on Thursday. For A they have an article on Alex Stalock, SSP's goalie, and similar 100 word blurbs about the quarterfinal games. Puckster <a href="http://www.wildpuck.com" target="top">www.wildpuck.com</a>

SLP Coach · Post by **SLP Coach** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:44 am

<a href="http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincitie ... /">Pioneer Press HS Hockey Articles</a> Click the link above and that will take you to the Sport page of the PP. The very top has links to each article in that paper on the HS Hockey Tourney.

metromick · Post by **metromick** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:48 am

Good thoughts, guys. Mike Bass, Sports Editor, 651-228-5108 mbass@pioneerpress.com Maybe one of you tech-savvy kids can make this a link - I don't know how.

Linden16 · Post by **Linden16** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:52 am

I just sent him one, I encourage everyone else to take a second to do so as well. I might even send a "jeers" to the pioneer press for that section on saturday as well.

dog36 · Post by **dog36** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 11:54 am

I called and actually got through to Bass. He was very nice and it sounded a lot like budget cuts and the need to cover a wider variety of sports (PC BS) were the main culprits. I think the more calls and emails he recieves the better. But be nice, he seemed like a good guy whose hands are tied.

Linden16 · Post by **Linden16** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 12:02 pm

If thats the case I want the e-mail of his bosses so I can give it to them.

Whatwillwork · Post by **Whatwillwork** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 1:05 pm

"the need to cover a wider variety of sports (PC BS)" How is that PC? If the PP could make a ton of money with the tourney edition, do you honestly believe that they would stop making the section? It's all about money, and what brings in advertising dollars is covering more sports for the PP. Pick up a Lets Play Hockey and you can get basically the same thing.

diskman · Post by **diskman** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 1:12 pm

I am always bugged by the fact that H.S. football gets huge T.V. coverage every week and other sports get very little or none. They have a whole segment devoted to football games. Why is that??

hockeydad · Post by **hockeydad** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:12 am

Working in the news business, i agree. It's all about how much advertising they can bring in. If they don't get ads to support it, they're not going to do 20 pages. You don't make a whole lot of money selling papers fro 25 cents a piece. That really only covers the cost of distribution, doesn't pay anyone's salaries. As for football coverage on TV, the games are almost always played on Friday nights, Football teams usually have post-game parties with a built-in audience waiting to watch themselves on TV. That's what advertisers like...That's what they pay for. You think it's a coincidence that Red Baron is one of the big sponsors of Prep sports Extra? However, I've just recently started watching Channel 5's prep sports wrap, at about 10:50 on Sunday night. They basically cover the top events fromt eh previous week. It's a nice touch that I don't see from the other stations.

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