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Message: [QUOTE="Newhouse_83, post: 3026682, member: 7139"] "So, Dylan, should Wildhack fire your Uncle John for the job he and your dad are doing with the program that a bunch of your buds still play for -- you know, at the school that provided you and your sister with a free education? Be honest now, it's not like you have to see these guys at dinner or anything." (Not intended as a knock on your post, OX, but the statement sets up my rant.) This story could have been good, had it been executed correctly. You talk to people who don't swim in the same fish tank as your guys. You talk to guys like Starsia who coached and recruited against the program. You talk to Lasagna or another coach/columnist-type who studies the big picture. You talk to a Zimmerman type who ran a program similar to SU's. You talk a a *couple* guys like Carc, who is an alum but who sees a lot of D-1 lacrosse so he can provide a useful measuring stick, and Mr. "Tell it like it is" Beardsley. You grant anonymity to current coaches who are competing with SU for kids and wins, and get their honest takes -- Philly was full of them all weekend, and they're all there to talk about the game ... a Bill Tierney is sure gonna have some good ideas. The NFL writers with whom I work do this regularly, and do it well. Oh, and you. Don't. Ask. Them. A. Yes/no. Question. You say: "If you were running the SU program right now, what would would you change to improve it? And which of those things would you do first?" And then you sit back and let them fill your notebook, and you have a pretty good piece for next Sunday that will engage readers and get them fired up and maybe get the AD thinking about some things, if he's not doing so already. But asking a bunch of guys who were recruited by and coached by and won championships with Desko and Donahue and RSIII if they still support those guys is akin to walking into the frozen-foods section and walking out with a pint of vanilla. Store-brand vanilla. Disclaimer: I think this is the kind of story you get when you take a (very good) hockey writer, get rid of many of his colleagues, and grind him to paste covering the second and third biggest teams this region has after bowl season ends (and apparently also have him writing about the Chiefs). Smarter editors would have had Donna and/or one of the football guys doing some of the feature writing around the lacrosse program so that Kramer could A) Breathe. and B) Go deeper/better on pieces like this. But, hey, gotta have two guys on spring football full-time. [/QUOTE]

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