The JS Sports Staff [Latest: Witrado leaves for Sporting News, replaced by Todd Rosiak]

[thebruce44]

I honestly cannot believe this topic has 13 pages. Here's a thought, why don't those who seem to be personally scorned by the Journal Sentinel's writing drive down and complain to the management in person. In fact, those who think they can do it better, go apply for a job with the JS.

I have sent several emails to TH and AW, but they aren't very accessible. More often than anything, I get a response from their editors who I usually cc on emails. Complaining to them in person is not an option due to security. I would have though that was fairly obvious.

 

A lot of us do blog about the team. In fact, there are a lot of blogs from member of this site I check out for more in depth Brewers writing than what is in the JS. Personally, if I had the time to write about the Brewers I would go the blog route as well. I would never work for a company like the Journal Sentinel. And I know 3 people who used to work there. The news paper industry as a whole is a sinking ship.

[kramnoj]

I have sent several emails to TH and AW, but they aren't very accessible.

 

Your experience is different than mine, and I believe of others here. I have emailed TH a few times. I believe he has responded to every one, within a day, often within hours.

 

My emails have been questions. I haven't felt the need to criticize him, because I know that would have no useful result. The beat writers need to find a style that matches them while delivering information and do so in a way that satisfies thousands, or tens of thousands of readers. In a larger city, you can choose from different papers and find the writer that suits you best. If I want to read about the Yankees. I will read Tyler Kepner. In a smaller city, we obviously will have fewer choices.

 

I'm curious what people expect to gain from reading a game story? What is to be gained that can't be obtained from just looking at a game summary and box score? If anything important happened, it will get it's own blog entry, or people will be talking about it here.

[thebruce44]

Your experience is different than mine, and I believe of others here. I have emailed TH a few times. I believe he has responded to every one, within a day, often within hours.

 

I should have clarified. You are correct that TH often gets back to me when I have a question for him (he has been very good about answering questions about player options and details like that he has more access to). But when it comes to a correction or if I constructive criticism (and I always try my best to keep it constructive) I get nothing back except sometimes from their editor.

[logan82]

I have sent several emails to TH and AW, but they aren't very accessible.

 

Your experience is different than mine, and I believe of others here. I have emailed TH a few times. I believe he has responded to every one, within a day, often within hours.

I have always had good experiences with my E-mails to TH. I have on several occasions E-mailed him with questions and he always gets back to me on the same next day. He doesn't always give me the right answer but he always answers.

[Principessa21]

I'm curious what people expect to gain from reading a game story? What is to be gained that can't be obtained from just looking at a game summary and box score? If anything important happened, it will get it's own blog entry, or people will be talking about it here.

If I miss a game, I'll quickly look at the score and pitching/hitting performances but will try to find a beat writer recap. I can't be bothered to read through threads when I want an immediate, short game summary with manager and player quotes. I do not want bias or bad writing. Maybe my expectations are high because I follow another team that has better coverage, but I just think it royally stinks for fans, especially new ones, to not have at least average reporting of their team.

[logan82]

I'm curious what people expect to gain from reading a game story? What is to be gained that can't be obtained from just looking at a game summary and box score? If anything important happened, it will get it's own blog entry, or people will be talking about it here.

If I miss a game, I'll quickly look at the score and pitching/hitting performances but will try to find a beat writer recap. I can't be bothered to read through threads when I want an immediate, short game summary with manager and player quotes. I do not want bias or bad writing. Maybe my expectations are high because I follow another team that has better coverage, but I just think it royally stinks for fans, especially new ones, to not have at least average reporting of their team.

We do have good reporting though. Adam McCalvy and Jordan Schelling. I am giving Jordan the benefit of the doubt but he seems ok so far.

[Principessa21]

I'm curious what people expect to gain from reading a game story? What is to be gained that can't be obtained from just looking at a game summary and box score? If anything important happened, it will get it's own blog entry, or people will be talking about it here.

If I miss a game, I'll quickly look at the score and pitching/hitting performances but will try to find a beat writer recap. I can't be bothered to read through threads when I want an immediate, short game summary with manager and player quotes. I do not want bias or bad writing. Maybe my expectations are high because I follow another team that has better coverage, but I just think it royally stinks for fans, especially new ones, to not have at least average reporting of their team.

We do have good reporting though. Adam McCalvy and Jordan Schelling. I am giving Jordan the benefit of the doubt but he seems ok so far.

Oh, I meant in newspapers. I do like McCalvy but I'm not really familiar with Schelling.

[logan82]

Oh, I meant in newspapers. I do like McCalvy but I'm not really familiar with Schelling.

Yeah I kind of figured you did but I just wanted to point out some positives. I am not really to familiar with Schelling either but he was filling in for McCalvy from late June until recently and seems to be kind of splitting time with McCalvy recently.

[logan82]

As Ryan Braun went back toward the wall, he knew he had a beat on the ball and believed he could make a play on it to save the game.

I believe the phrase is draw a bead or in this case had a bead on the ball.

[HiAndTight]

logan3825]

As Ryan Braun went back toward the wall, he knew he had a beat on the ball and believed he could make a play on it to save the game.

I believe the phrase is draw a bead or in this case had a bead on the ball.

Is it? I always thought it was "had a beat on the ball".

[kramnoj]

Take careful aim, as in The debater drew a bead on his opponent. This term, dating from about 1830, alludes to the bead on a revolver or rifle, that is, a small knob in the foresight. [c. 1930]

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/draw-a-bead-on

[TSack27]

As Ryan Braun went back toward the wall, he knew he had a beat on the ball and believed he could make a play on it to save the game.

I believe the phrase is draw a bead or in this case had a bead on the ball.

 

Maybe it is just another typo, rather than the wrong word. These two-other sentences also appear in the game article (not just the blog):

 

"Troy Tulowitzki watches his three-run hone run that was just out of the reach of Ryan Braun in the eighth inning Friday."

 

"“He’s out best pitcher,” Macha said."

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

[Sixtofan]

"That hit and John Axford's 18th save of the season"

 

Axford, of course, pitched two innings and earned the win

 

Witrado stinks

[logan82]

As Ryan Braun went back toward the wall, he knew he had a beat on the ball and believed he could make a play on it to save the game.

I believe the phrase is draw a bead or in this case had a bead on the ball.

 

Maybe it is just another typo, rather than the wrong word. These two-other sentences also appear in the game article (not just the blog):

 

"Troy Tulowitzki watches his three-run hone run that was just out of the reach of Ryan Braun in the eighth inning Friday."

 

"“He’s out best pitcher,” Macha said."

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

Maybe but I doubt it. m and n are next to each other on the computer as are t and r. Same finger to type I believe. d and t not so much. Then again, maybe Macha actually called Gallardo "out best pitcher" just to make Witrado look a little foolish.

[Invader3K]

What an idiot. No save was recorded yesterday.

 

Seriously, can they not find anyone decent to work when Haudricourt gets a day off? Unbelievable.

[1992casey]

While it's possible that "beat" rather than "bead" could be a typo, I think it's more than likely Anthony's lack of knowledge of the proper term. "Hone" would be a typo that wouldn't be caught by a spell checker. A grammar checker would catch it, though. While it's not required that one take every piece of advice that a grammar checker offers, it should certainly be used to spot basic typos, e.g. "out" rather than "our" or "hone" rather than "home."

 

Grammar checking may not be convenient on the blogs, and it doesn't bother me if the occasional typo slips through there. But for articles, it has to be done, either by the writer or the proofreader (preferably both).

 

If this stuff only occurred occasionally, it wouldn't be an issue. But it's continual, and it occurs way more often in Witrado's work than anyone else's.

[Invader3K]

If this stuff only occurred occasionally, it wouldn't be an issue. But it's continual, and it occurs way more often in Witrado's work than anyone else's.

 

Bingo. It's not even the typos that bug me the post. It's the blatant misreporting of the facts regarding the games. Stuff like, "John Axford's 18th save," isn't the first time he's completely flubbed a basic statistical fact.

 

He seems like he just doesn't give a crap about his job. Does the Journal-Sentinel pay him peanuts, and consequently not care about the quality of the work he turns in? I would have to believe there would be a flood of qualified college graduates pining for his position. Maybe he has incriminating pictures of one of his supervisors or something? Those are the only explanations I can think of for his continued employment.

[GAME05]

"earning a save" vs. actually getting the win is certainly a mistake that really shouldn't be made, but AW is also writing the article before the game has even ended. it's an important mistake, sure, but it's one game out of 162, and i think there has to at least be a little leeway for a human to be human.

 

i was a journalist and a copy editor, also. though AW wrote the article, "our" instead of "out" is really the mistake of the copy editor, so you're blaming the wrong person. i can't blame AW too much for doing that. you would be amazed at how much copy the proofers have to read through in a day. seemingly easy mistakes to catch like our/out are actually the hardest to notice. to this day i can't read a newspaper without a pen, because i always find a pretty good number of errors, whether that's the J-S or the New York Post.

 

i don't want to be a complete apologist because there are certainly things that could be done better. there are always things that can be done better. but for the most part, it seems like expectations are astronomical. Sportswriters (is that one word or two? Quick! get an AP Style Guide out!) have such a tiny window to get from blank page to finished article. that AW doesn't know 'bead' from 'beat' is nothing i'd cancel a subscription over.

 

at my last job, i used to get criticized by my boss for putting a comma where a semicolon should be. this all strikes me as a lot like that.

[stoutdude04]

---

 

As Ryan Braun went back toward the wall, he knew he had a beat on the ball and believed he could make a play on it to save the game.

I believe the phrase is draw a bead or in this case had a bead on the ball.

I always thought it was beat. I could understand why he wrote that. Some of the others are just lazy.

[Godspeed]

It's not even the typos that bug me the post.

 

Clearly! (couldn't resist...)

[AdvantageSchneider]

"earning a save" vs. actually getting the win is certainly a mistake that really shouldn't be made, but AW is also writing the article before the game has even ended. it's an important mistake, sure, but it's one game out of 162, and i think there has to at least be a little leeway for a human to be human.

But Axeford didn't enter the game in a save situation. So how could that mistake be made just because he was writing the story before the game was over? I could see your point if Axe entered the game in a save situation blew the save and vultured the win where that mistake could be made. But there's not reason for AW to be writing anything about Axe's save in this game that would require him to change it later.

[logan82]

Kind of makes you wonder how closely he is actually watching the games.

[mletto157]

But Axeford didn't enter

 

Axford*

 

I'm not a huge fan of AW either, but anyone can make a simple mistake. I just plain don't like his writing.

[logan82]

But Axeford didn't enter

 

Axford*

 

I'm not a huge fan of AW either, but anyone can make a simple mistake. I just plain don't like his writing.

Like others have mentioned though, it isn't just one mistake now and then. It is constant mistakes that looks like a lack of effort.

[yoshii8]

From today's jsonline chat:

 

Q: scott , withee - Anthony, You're thoughts, regarding the off seasons moves with coaching staff to players etc. I myself don't think they change, hope I am wrong. Can shed some light?

A: Anthony Witrado - I think you'll see a different manager. If the Brewers higher in house, than you could see some of the same faces in the dugout now. If they hire outside of the club, I think the team has to let that guy pick his own staff, which could mean losing Dale Sveum and Ed Sedar, guys that have been around for a long time.