The Horde is basically no more....

[DishNSwish]

Really unfortunate, some great UConn coverage has gone by the wayside. Veteran writers with experience covering the sport and the team brought so much to the table.

Carl Adamec is there, and I think Rich Zalumsky covers some games.

Rich Elliott, John Altavilla, Jim Fuller all gone, replaced by younger (cheaper) people by the papers for WBB.

Having worked with these guys, they were tremendous. I withdrew from covering UConn, and to be honest, I don't miss it one bit.

I enjoy watching the games on TV, but to sit and wait 30-45 minutes for the Coach to come in and make the same jokes year after year, or to be ushered into the weight room to talk to players? I'll pass. Give me the Connecticut Sun and WNBA, where the coaches meet the media within 15 minutes of postgame most of the time, and then there is access to the team in the locker room, so you can talk to anyone, not just who the SID chooses.

I also understand they don't even give the press courtside spots any more. First they took away the sideline to put seats for high rollers, then they took away the end line.

Still love watching the program and the team play, and think Geno is a tremendous coach and personality, but the coverage is nowhere near what it used to be. Just one person's opinion.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

It is sad that some good reporters have been axed. The print media in this state has undergone dramatic contraction. In the southeastern part of the state, Hearst Connecticut Media now operates a complete monopoly. That's from Greenwich to New Haven, Middletown to Willimantic to Danbury and all points in-between. All Hearst publications. Not only is it a monopoly, but Hearst is also publishing writers from other publications. So there is a great deal of overlap.

Really sad that Jim Fuller and Rich Elliot are gone. They were very good.

 

[Charliebball]

Really unfortunate, some great UConn coverage has gone by the wayside. Veteran writers with experience covering the sport and the team brought so much to the table.

Carl Adamec is there, and I think Rich Zalumsky covers some games.

Rich Elliott, John Altavilla, Jim Fuller all gone, replaced by younger (cheaper) people by the papers for WBB.

Having worked with these guys, they were tremendous. I withdrew from covering UConn, and to be honest, I don't miss it one bit.

I enjoy watching the games on TV, but to sit and wait 30-45 minutes for the Coach to come in and make the same jokes year after year, or to be ushered into the weight room to talk to players? I'll pass. Give me the Connecticut Sun and WNBA, where the coaches meet the media within 15 minutes of postgame most of the time, and then there is access to the team in the locker room, so you can talk to anyone, not just who the SID chooses.

I also understand they don't even give the press courtside spots any more. First they took away the sideline to put seats for high rollers, then they took away the end line.

Still love watching the program and the team play, and think Geno is a tremendous coach and personality, but the coverage is nowhere near what it used to be. Just one person's opinion.

am I wrong in assuming that you naturally wouldn't get the same level of open access to college players/locker rooms as you would in the case of WNBA professionals?

 

[MSGRET]

am I wrong in assuming that you naturally wouldn't get the same level of open access to college players/locker rooms as you would in the case of WNBA professionals?

I also believe that the protocol for the coach's interviews is that the visiting team is interviewed first, and if it is at a neutral site the losing coach goes first.

 

[DishNSwish]

Regarding locker room access, it depends, but in general I would agree the pros would give better access. However, I know at the tournaments, the locker rooms are opened post game. Honestly I';m not sure what other schools do. My statement was more just showing the way the pros handle it. My question would be, if it's open access after a tournament game, I don't see a reason other than the school not wanting it to not have it after a regular season game. Which is certainly their prerogative.

Unless it's a big game, the other coaches do not speak to the media. You have to go seek them out if you want them. So short answer is no, it's just Geno talking to the team and then holding court with any guests he has before talking to the media. I'm sure you'd agree it isn't much fun to wait 30-45 minutes after watching them pulverize Tulsa to get comments about which player allows their opponent to score as much as they do (It was Stewie, now its Pheesa, etc). Which is also his prerogative of course.

 

[UConnCat]

Really unfortunate, some great UConn coverage has gone by the wayside. Veteran writers with experience covering the sport and the team brought so much to the table.

Carl Adamec is there, and I think Rich Zalumsky covers some games.

Rich Elliott, John Altavilla, Jim Fuller all gone, replaced by younger (cheaper) people by the papers for WBB.

Having worked with these guys, they were tremendous. I withdrew from covering UConn, and to be honest, I don't miss it one bit.

I enjoy watching the games on TV, but to sit and wait 30-45 minutes for the Coach to come in and make the same jokes year after year, or to be ushered into the weight room to talk to players? I'll pass. Give me the Connecticut Sun and WNBA, where the coaches meet the media within 15 minutes of postgame most of the time, and then there is access to the team in the locker room, so you can talk to anyone, not just who the SID chooses.

I also understand they don't even give the press courtside spots any more. First they took away the sideline to put seats for high rollers, then they took away the end line.

Still love watching the program and the team play, and think Geno is a tremendous coach and personality, but the coverage is nowhere near what it used to be. Just one person's opinion.

Good for you, but I must say I'm surprised by your post. Seems like a gratuitous swipe at UConn and the new reporters at the Register (Bonjour) and Courant (Kelli Stacy). Why?

Of course we miss Rich (gone for a few years now) and Jim who covers UConn football. The Courant's Kelli Stacy is young but seems to be working her tail off.

I do miss your WCBB podcasts. While I am a huge fan of the WNBA I have no interest in the Sun so don't get to enjoy your work.

 

[DishNSwish]

Wasn't especially meant to be a swipe at UConn, actually more of a criticism of the print media. I'd say that they no longer see a cost-benefit of the quality writers. No offense to Bonjour or Kelly, but they can't hold the old writers' keyboard. They couldn't possibly, as they just don't have the experience. Regarding UConn, like I said, even if I don't care for the way they treat the media, it's their prerogative.

Thank you for listening to the podcasts when they were on, I appreciate it.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I have never seen or heard of much locker room access for college players after games, and actually have seen that the delay for post-game pressers can be less than described, but can also be lengthy.

I think (at Rutgers) that Dish is correct, I don't think the opposing team was interviewed unless it was a big game. Viv and her selected players would show up in the media room, and how fast she got there was a combination of how she wanted to interact with her team, and equally how well her people could get her there. For the average game it was, ultimately, about giving the media covering the team access for stories.

 

[BroadwayVa]

It is sad that some good reporters have been axed. The print media in this state has undergone dramatic contraction. In the southeastern part of the state, Hearst Connecticut Media now operates a complete monopoly. That's from Greenwich to New Haven, Middletown to Willimantic to Danbury and all points in-between. All Hearst publications. Not only is it a monopoly, but Hearst is also publishing writers from other publications. So there is a great deal of overlap.

Really sad that Jim Fuller and Rich Elliot are gone. They were very good.

It is a sign of the times. Our local paper(??) I call the pamphlet and that is a leap.
They have a revolving door for ALL writers. One headline this past week got my attention--Bush Crash serious ---I wondered which Bush was in a serious accident--Oops no Bush, it was a BUS. This an all too often occurrence. There are more ads than articles reminding me of the Rockville Reminder's Wednesday Bargain sheet. We all look for the free articles on the internet forgetting they began as Newpaper Articles paid for by subscriptions. As the old hardware stores are nearly gone, we won't know what we are missing until ------