Letter To Brian Ettkin

[getinthere42]

After reading the article "You Think They Know the Danes" I wrote to Briant the following...

 

Brian,

 

After reading your article “You Think They Know the Danes” this morning online, you should have added a couple more people to the 10 students you gave the 20-question pop quiz to. I’m not talking about adding more students; I’m saying you should have given the quiz to some of your staff members at the Times Union.

 

If you’re going to criticize and poke fun of the student bandwagon for the University at Albany Men’s Basketball team, perhaps you should do the same to yourself and your paper. Of course an area university who makes it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time deserves the attention it’s finally getting. However, this attention was longtime overdue.

 

I guess the team and the university knows now that in order to get some respect from Mr. Brian Ettkin and the Times Union you need to win conference championships and make it to the Big Dance or you won’t get any. Hey…that seems like a bandwagon to me!

 

Go Danes!

 

He responded to me forty minutes later...

 

Hey Chris,

 

Thanks for your thoughts and opinion, though I disagree with your assertion.

In fact, I would argue the amount of coverage the Times Union accorded

UAlbany until this run far outweighed our readers' interest in the team.

 

It's the old chicken and the egg argument: Which comes first? But

considering UAlbany's sparse attendance until season's end, I would argue

that having a beat writer, Mark Singelais, who covered every home game and

nearly every away game -- including at UCLA, San Diego State and at Florida

-- and wrote as many stories on UAlbany as he did, if anything was coverage

that exceeded our readers' interest in the subject.

 

I would encourage you to review the number of UAlbany stories Mark wrote.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Best,

Brian

 

 

Uh Duh! Of course the coverage this year was outstanding. When the team is picked to win the America East and has a non-conference schedule against a two seed, a three seed and an eleventh seed in this year’s NCAA Tourney you expect coverage.

 

I’m asking where were the big stories about players, coaches etc. before this year? It’s just upsetting for me to be online (I have moved from the Captial Region) and see a Michel Haddix blog from the MAAC Tournament? Why not a Jamar Wilson blog? Why not inform our readers about one the best players in the country that no one has heard of?

[Dane96]

Respond to him like this: Ask him why his first few UA articles, upon arriving to the TU, bashed the school. Ask him why his articles are always backhanded compliments.

 

But, using my analytical reasoning skills here, ask him HOW COULD A COMMUNITY GET MORE INTERESTED IN A TEAM IF THEY DO NOT GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE DARKHORSE. Part of the media's job is to sell papers by gauging interest. You do not gauge interest by the fans in the seats. You gauge interest by knowing the marketplace. Apparently, the TU failed in this endeavour as many UA fans have come out of the woodwork, hence suggesting there was some, though deeply seeded, thoughts in the reader's mind that UA is worth supporting. The TU could have helped pushed that along by getting the readers familiar with the UA players.

 

See his response to that? Probably $iena because he is ONE OF THE WORST reporters I have ever had the painful experience of reading.

 

After reading the article "You Think They Know the Danes" I wrote to Briant the following...

 

Brian,

 

After reading your article “You Think They Know the Danes” this morning online, you should have added a couple more people to the 10 students you gave the 20-question pop quiz to. I’m not talking about adding more students; I’m saying you should have given the quiz to some of your staff members at the Times Union.

 

If you’re going to criticize and poke fun of the student bandwagon for the University at Albany Men’s Basketball team, perhaps you should do the same to yourself and your paper. Of course an area university who makes it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time deserves the attention it’s finally getting. However, this attention was longtime overdue.

 

I guess the team and the university knows now that in order to get some respect from Mr. Brian Ettkin and the Times Union you need to win conference championships and make it to the Big Dance or you won’t get any. Hey…that seems like a bandwagon to me!

 

Go Danes!

 

He responded to me forty minutes later...

 

Hey Chris,

 

Thanks for your thoughts and opinion, though I disagree with your assertion.

In fact, I would argue the amount of coverage the Times Union accorded

UAlbany until this run far outweighed our readers' interest in the team.

 

It's the old chicken and the egg argument: Which comes first? But

considering UAlbany's sparse attendance until season's end, I would argue

that having a beat writer, Mark Singelais, who covered every home game and

nearly every away game -- including at UCLA, San Diego State and at Florida

-- and wrote as many stories on UAlbany as he did, if anything was coverage

that exceeded our readers' interest in the subject.

 

I would encourage you to review the number of UAlbany stories Mark wrote.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Best,

Brian

 

 

Uh Duh! Of course the coverage this year was outstanding. When the team is picked to win the America East and has a non-conference schedule against a two seed, a three seed and an eleventh seed in this year’s NCAA Tourney you expect coverage.

 

I’m asking where were the big stories about players, coaches etc. before this year? It’s just upsetting for me to be online (I have moved from the Captial Region) and see a Michel Haddix blog from the MAAC Tournament? Why not a Jamar Wilson blog? Why not inform our readers about one the best players in the country that no one has heard of?

13111[/snapback]

Edited March 15, 2006 by Dane96

[getinthere42]

I just hate it when I'm visiting the area and I open up the TU sports section and I sed Siena on the front page about some stupid news and the Albany game from the night before is on the 2nd or 3rd page.

 

SHOW sienafan SOME RESPECT!