Note: the following is an open criticism of U.S. College Hockey Online. I
apologize if this appears to be a personal flame attack, but Deron did say
he welcomed and encouraged criticism of USCHO here on Hockey-L, so here
goes...
 
 
At 06:21 PM 12/30/96 -0500, Deron Treadwell wrote:
 
>>How about the CC-UNH matchup? Not even a single post to the list, except
>>for a two-sentence post stating what anyone could glean from a score
>>listing. As of Monday, 1pm mountain time, not even a box score could be
>>found on USCHO.
>
>I can't speak for USA Today, but they are probably in a similar position.
>USCHO can only put up boxes that the schools send to them.  If there is no
>box, than the fault lies with CC, UNH or the tournament people for not
>sending the proper media outlets the box score.  I assume USA Today is in a
>similar position.  It certainly is not the fault of the companies involved.
 
 
Isn't the first responsibility of a journalist to gather the information?
 
Just imagine what the sports news world would be like if all of the outlets
only reported on "what was given to them."
 
Ever seen or heard how "SportsCenter" works? Production Assistants are
assigned to one major game, and a number of minor games. It's their
responsibility for each of those games to select highlights, to write the
script for the anchors, and to *gather the box scores.*
 
Okay, maybe ESPN is in another universe from USCHO... but then, so is USA
Today. Heck, I'm both amazed and proud that USA Today even covers college
hockey. Of course, they try to cover the news of EVERYTHING, don't they?
 
Then again, so does the Boston Globe. They managed not just a box score but
an actual article about the UNH-CC game. (of course, they've got a
traveling budget <grin> )
 
I have some friends in Florida who produce a newspaper/magazine called
"Speedskating Times." It's devoted to both ice and roller speedskating, and
is written and produced very professionally. Their subscription base is
very small, but also very devoted and very "hungry" for information on
their sport. Naturarlly, they can't travel around the world to every event
-- but somehow, they manage to get the results. How?
 
They ask for them. And keep asking for them. Until they get the results.
 
USCHO's purpose is to cover COLLEGE HOCKEY; and that's it. Was there nobody
that could call someone to get a box score?
 
Okay, maybe it's tough late saturday night or first thing sunday morning to
find nab a box score... then again, this was a major tournament. So why is
there still no information about any of the Badger games?
 
There were at least box scores for the GLI... but again, no recaps.
Wherever can a wanting hockey fan turn?
 
 
 
My point here is that if a service is going to promote itself (both to the
public and it's sponsors) as a leader in its field, then it should follow
through with such claims.
 
To keep this post from being an entire flame, I offer this suggestion --
ASK FOR HELP! I'm sure there are many people out there, myself included,
who would be happy to make a few post-game phone calls to help gather
boxscores or other assorted information.
 
Or better yet, admit that USCHO still needs some of the kinks ironed out,
rather than trying to blame the event venue.
 
 
 
___________________________________________________________________________
Jason Kekoa Greene                                             [log in to unmask]
Animator, Multimedia Designer, & P.B.
Leopard Communications                               http:\\www.leopard.com
Boulder, Colorado
 
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