Sports, sports, and more sports

I think we would need to devote an hour a night to cover all the stories that would need to be told revolving about the thin lines crossed and re crossed in relation to sports and atheletes in this country today.

That's absolutely ridiculous JT.

These are student athletes who did something wrong and will pay the consequences. But to follow them around for 2 months with hidden cameras and the worst thing you could come up with was they had a few beers? Then sensationalize the story to the point of scandal? What's underage drinking, a petty misdemeanor? It's on the par of speeding or jaywalking or spitting on the street.

College students drinking alchohol is not a story no matter what team they play on.

I wanna do a story on all the people in this state braking the law against oral sex :eyeroll:

Stop watching local television news.

I watch local television news only when I want a good laugh.

The idea on the gophers hockey forum is to form a team of people to follow the fox 9 news team around for 2 months catching them breaking the law and doing a big expose.

I didn't actually watch it, I just saw and heard all the ad's, then read about it online, then read the transcript.

Maybe we can catch them violating traffic laws?

I'm sure it wouldn't take 2 months or 50 hours of footage...

If we're covering national problems on a local level like Fox 9 did, then we need to start getting the list together of the other issues we have.

Maybe we can get them prioritize.

Lets follow some homeless people around for two months to find the problems there.

Lets follow the poor mother who can't afford to feed her kids for two months.

etc etc etc

Not to say the students were out of line. But lets talk about where they got the booze.

A bar serving under age patrons is a problem. Lets just watch that place for two months.

This "problem" goes beyond the students looking to have a drink.

Fox 9 is a news station, not the police. Let the police do their job and the news station's do theirs.

Drinking among college students isn't becoming a problem, it has been a problem for years and years. If you don't believe that, you are nieve and ignorant. If Fox 9 wanted to do an investigation on college drinking with the purpose of exposing a major problem and serving the community by fixing the problem they went about it the wrong way. First of all, it should have been at the beginning of the year, so parents could warn their sons/daughters (oh wait, everyone knows college kids drink so they do that anyways, I guess this isn't really news...). Second of all, why isolate one group of kids? They are doing a disservice to the vast majority of parents whos kids don't play hockey at the U. They may just say "I'm glad little Billy doesn't play hockey, he's safe".

No, they didn't do this to expose a national problem the fact is they did this for a sweeps month ratings boost. They sensationalized a non-story hoping to incite outrage by the pucblic in the wake of the love boat scandal, and they fell on their face. They have been bombarded with hundreds of calls/emails/letters in the past few days from angry citizens that are upset with their tabloid journalism. They may win in the short term via their ratings boost, but they lose long term.

Yeah, it was Blarney's and it is known that the owner tries to treat the athletes better and get them in there because it's good publicity. You get all the jersey chasers in there too. That's the problem, the boys got a little to used to that service and didn't mix up where they went. They were warned about this to no end but they didnt' listen.

I think someone on a news editor level read the Tom Wolfe book "I am Charlotte Simmons." I read it a couple months ago.

The station decided to follow partying college athletes around and nail their asses for Sweepe Week.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/sports2day/247448_sportsbeat08.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/13109406.htm

(Not to worry. The three who weren't drinking have been punished.)

hehe :smile:

underage drinkers? :wink:

Show me one place I have defended their action? It's illegal and they should be punsihed.

I still contend that Fox 9 News is at a bigger fault here for their shady tactics trying to boost their ratings.

Because they're hockey players?

Well if they weren't then they wouldn't have been followed for two months with hidden cameras. But again, I'm not defending them.

Yes, I do love underage drinking.

Heh

Another interesting tidbit on fox 9's "journalism"...

Their big inside source on gophers hockey was Jordan Leopold's mom... Jordan Leopold is a former player, won the Hobey Baker, plays for the Calgary Flames, is pretty well known. Anywho, his mom gave an interview to them like she knew what she was talking about. they failed to mention that he hasn't talked to her in over 6 years, she has some very serious personal issues, and he has a restraining order against her. I guess her insight on the Gopher hockey program wouldn't have been as insightful if they would have though...

Next up on Newz9..... Local medallion hunting crew busted for contributing to a minor who just happens to be the famous Timmers of Minnesota Wild Capture The Flag Summer Flag Hunt fame. (Pictured here with Hockey celebrity Tom Reid)

Tom or Timmers made no comment by our deadline.

OMG :sillygrin:

I hear there's video to go with it. 32 hours of hunting video.

You had to make this about politics didn't you?

Yes I hate when news stations boost their ratings and make more money, that is why I am so upset.

It has nothing to do with the sensationalization of a non story, the illegal use of video of a minor, the illegal use of an image, the misrepresentation of a witness, or the fact that they hid behind "anonymous tips".

You know what else makes money? The weekly world news, that doesn't make it news though, does it?

You lose.

As someone with a little background in news, I think its fair game to question the news value of this. A supposedly "two month" investigation to catch underage kids drinking?

That said, I expect cheap ratings stunts like this from television news.

You can say all you want about "capitalism" but evaluating news content should have one or two other considerations.

Free will???? :confused:

Whale shlongs?

Are those sperm whales?

Again you fail to point out where I defended them. The blame isn't being shifted either, because I don't care that they were drinking underage.

The drinking is a nonissue in my mind, if you are really upset about, good for you.

What upsets me is the irresponsible journalism.

The illegal video is of Phil Kessel when he was a minor, it's not nonsense and it certainly isn't an excuse. What would I be excusing by saying that? That doesn't even make sense JT, you are slipping.

I don't disagree with your stance that it's sensationalism just to get ratings. That was obvious from their promos.

Then why are you still talking?

The illegal video is of Phil Kessel when he was a minor, it's not nonsense and it certainly isn't an excuse.

What exactly is illegal about that?

depends on whether they had a release signed.

exactly. but the parent would have had to.

Right, but their parents can for them.

And it's illegal to use footage of a minor without one.

Then explain the news clips of children in their classrooms that they often show on the news. They don't have to sign releases. My grandson was on one recently and there was no signed release. Just a letter sent home saying the class was going to be on TV.

Then I guess we have nothing to discuss.

I'm still confused why your post continued after starting off on such a good note. You went downhill from there.

Kicked off the team? You have got to be kidding me. 1 game suspensions for the lot of them. Matt Greene, a player for North Dakota got a 2 game suspension for a D-Dub last year, are you suggesting underage drinking is somehow worse than drinking and driving?

The issue of if it's a story or not is really your opinion. If you didn't know that college kids drank, now you do... even if they play hockey.

In my opinion, it is news stations responsibility to report the news. Some people out there still believe what they see on the news, giving news stations a possition of power. Running sensationalist ads portraying a huge scandal, in an attmept to boost ratings is an irresponsible way to use that possition.

But being a typical conservative, I guess if they make more money than it must be right :eyeroll:

they weren't being portrayed in a negative light.

it may also have to do with whether or not names are used, etc.

Yeah, that makes sense.

there was a story at my elementary school when my teacher got fired for not teaching us anything, and acting generally crazy. all the news stations had general shots of all the kids' legs because they couldn't show faces I guess.

I think sending out that letter letting parents know was good enough.

I think we need a new folder just for Tim and JT to argue. :wink: :grin:

I think sending out that letter letting parents know was good enough.

its because it gives parents the opportunity to opt their child out.

of course, that being said, i was interviewd by channel 11 when i was a senior (age 17 at the time) without a release. so in theory that's a gray area.

Although the letter was sent home after the segment was filmed.

But I guess it would be different if a minor was filmed while doing something illegal. But don't you think someone would have jumped all over that already? Besides Tim I mean. :wink: