Wake Forest Under-Covered at Media Weekend?
Many of you may have been following the coverage coming out of the ACC's Football Kickoff, essentially a three-day event for the media to talk to conference officials, coaches, and players (and of course play some golf).
It is an event I would have loved to attend, but wasn't able to because of my summer job (and I'm not sure they would let me anyway). I've tried to do my best to keep up with everything coming out of all the interviews happening there, but to be honest I haven't been able to read everything.
Nonetheless, I have noticed (and I've seen many Wake fans point it out) that there haven't been many features on Wake while most other schools have gotten more coverage. The one notable exception to that is this great piece Gregg Doyel did on coach Jim Grobe.
I've seen plenty of people complaining about the lack of coverage (most specifically on the Scout boards regarding ESPN's ACC blogger Heather Dinich) and I think people are losing perspective in their complaints.
Yes, Wake should be one of the best teams in the ACC this season, but I haven't seen anyone in the media say otherwise.
The fact is, a national media outlet like ESPN has to cater first and foremost to the teams that bring the most readers to the site. Just because Wake is going to be good this year doesn't mean the general public wants to read about it. Florida State could go 7-7 every season and there would still be more people interested in them in the preseason than a great Wake Forest team.
Why are the Red Sox and Yankees on TV all the time when they aren't the best teams in the baseball? Obviously because the most people want to watch them.
There is a reason Old Gold & Blog is the only independent site covering Wake Forest when every other ACC school has more than one. Even so it's a pretty good day when a few hundred people visit the site. There just isn't that large of a fan base who are interested enough to constantly follow the Demon Deacons.
If you're interested in the ACC at-large then I think Heather and the others at the Kickoff did a great job of covering everything being talked about there. Many stories about various issues in the conference included Jim Grobe's thoughts and comments, but when it comes to stories specifically about Wake, it just isn't always practical.
Wake is getting plenty of preseason respect, and I look forward to seeing the team prove that respect is deserved on the field. I'll do my best to keep providing good Wake coverage between now and August 28, and hopefully I can make it to the 2009 Kickoff to give Wake the coverage it deserves.
Right now I'm just going to enjoy the excitement surrounding this 2008 season.
7/23/08, 1:24 PM
I apologize for the wierd formatting of this post. Apparently that happens when I post from my phone. I'll try to fix it next time I'm at a computer but I can't promise when that will be.
7/23/08, 2:39 PM
Zach, that was a great post. We, and I am guilty, sometimes forget the masses control the media. And although we love our Deacs and want to hear about them all the time, most other people don't. I do however think that is changing, it will just take a few more winning seasons.
7/23/08, 3:23 PM
Thanks burgh.
I agree with you to a point, in that we've already seen Wake's coverage grow in the last 2 years, but I think our upper limit of interest and coverage is much lower than that of pretty much any other ACC team. We can continue to grow to an extent, but the foundation (alumni) won't ever be big enough for that kind of coverage (in my opinion). I think the only possibility would be for Wake to become the Duke of college football, but something like that would probably require at least one if not more than one National Championship.
7/23/08, 8:56 PM
I was able to get the original formatting issues fixed. Sorry about that.
7/23/08, 9:39 PM
Zach, I agree with what you're saying. The problem in football is that media perception has a DIRECT impact on national rankings (the AP poll) which have a direct impact on postseason play and even in determining the national champion. It also has an effect on public perception, which effects invitations to lesser bowls. In basketball, where it's all decided on the court, media coverage means squat, but football is a very different animal.