Scott Shafer fit the 'new guy' stereotype at ACC Football Kickoff

[Btstimpy]

http://www.syracuse.com/orangefootball/index.ssf/2013/07/syracuse_scott_shafer_fit_the.html

I'm not sure anything in that article is unexpected. Bobby Bowden when he went to these things had huge crowds even when FSU started to slide. I'd bet his were bigger than Jimbo Fisher's. It's going to take participating in more events like this to draw the attention as well as winning games.

 

[qdawgg]

I would comment but I didn't click on the link and read the article.

 

[Orangetradition44]

I used to read the PS sports religiously.. Every article (except Buds unless someone on this board recommended it). Have read a couple Cohen articles, and I haven't visited their site since..

Cohen is clearly the "new guy".

@Michael_Cohen13
Scott Shafer arrived late, left early and used a cheat sheet at the ACC Football Kickoff. He's clearly the "new guy."


Cohen is such a .

 

[OrangeMaNPD]

He had to write this. Zach Allen wasn't around.

 

[OrangeMaine]

Would you expect anything less from a UCONN fan? He's a wolf in sheeps clothing. Loves to play the "cuse graduate" card for his professional aspirations yet his articles ( majority) always seem to have a negative slant toward us.

 

[Moontan]

Would you expect anything less from a UCONN fan? He's a wolf in sheeps clothing. Loves to play the "cuse graduate" card for his professional aspirations yet his articles ( majority) always seem to have a negative slant toward us.

I was about to post something similar.

I met a former classmate of his tonight (at one point I thought it was actually him). The classmate mentioned that Michael's a big Yukon fan who believes that Calhoun walks on water.

It explains his bias. By not keeping it in check, however, it also disqualifies him from covering Syracuse sports.

 

[anomander]

I see what Cohen is doing. He wants to be the bad guy. At least being the bad guy people will click on his articles to see what he has to say next. Instead of earning those hits with articles the city is interested in he has to come up with this trash. he quickly became my least favorite journalist. this is what happens when you are forced to cut costs and save money. you get what you pay for, and unfortunately for us that is Michael Cohen

 

[retro44]

Short answer is no. The PS is on life support and someone needs to pull the plug. It is kind of sad to watch this slow but steady decline.

my sister got laid-off there and she worked in the office,they were still making decent money,but greed took hold like everything else in todays corporate world

 

[Yegorange]

Would you expect anything less from a UCONN fan? He's a wolf in sheeps clothing. Loves to play the "cuse graduate" card for his professional aspirations yet his articles ( majority) always seem to have a negative slant toward us.

Didn't know he was a YouCon fan. Explains a lot ... Sooo unprofessional.

 

[sutomcat]

YES!!! Because that's how to keep a job - any job!!!

Ask people on Internet message boards - who're known the world over for being completely rational - what to do and how to do it.



None of the above questions - while all interesting - have anything to do with the ACC meetings.

And the ACC meetings are what he was down there to report on. Not when we might sign a kicker, assistants who recruit, or the possibility of playing Rutgers, Temple, etc.

He can get ANY of those stories back in Syracuse... Not saying he will, but he can.

As a reporter, it is your job to find stories that your audience want to read. Read this thread. Cohen failed. Miserably.

When you have exclusive access to the HC for an extended period and don't take advantage of it to ask questions that need to be answered, you have failed as a reporter and you have failed your audience. SU beat writers have complained for years about how limited their access has been to the HC. This was a golden opportunity that apparently was not taken advantage of.

There was nothing left to write about regarding the ACC meetings. The failed story should be proof of that. Good writers find stories.

Hope Cohen and Mink learn from this.

 

[brandokc]

Cohen should be sentenced to attending nightly poetry slams organized by Bud Poliquin.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Scooch]

The piling on of contrived rage in this thread is nothing but impressive.

What the hell was the guy supposed to write about? The battle for #2 tight end?

He was down in Carolina covering the ACC meetings and noted how our coach - while now actually part of the ACC - still seemed like an outsider who got little attention from other media outlets who traditionally cover the league.

His bosses at the PS require that he write something and, IMO, this piece may help explain why we were picked 6th on our side.

Apparently, the ACC writers from down South don't care to know anything about SU... And until we prove something in "THEIR" league, we're just some yahoo Yankees on the schedule before the big game against (insert traditional ACC power) next week.

Oh, what a jerk that guy is for writing on how our coach didn't quite fit in yet!!!!

Personally I wasn't outraged in the slightest. I just thought it was a lazy piece where the writer inserted himself into the story in a boring way.

If Cohen wanted to write about SS being an outsider, a newbie, etc then just write about it, Don't make the piece about yourself.

 

[JD]

Mr. Cohen, what you've just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent article were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone that had the misfortune of reading that drivel is now dumber for having done so. I award you no points, and sentence you to writing for the Pennysaver, which best approximates your writing level.

 

[Orangeyes]

Mr. Cohen, what you've just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent article were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone that had the misfortune of reading that drivel is now dumber for having done so. I award you no points, and sentence you to writing for the Pennysaver, which best approximates your writing level.

The Pennysaver no longer exisits.

 

[SmilinBob]

The Pennysaver no longer exisits.

Which makes his point that much better.

 

[Orangeyes]

Which makes his point that much better.

I thought that was the destination of his statement.

 

[supp]

YES!!! Because that's how to keep a job - any job!!!

Ask people on Internet message boards - who're known the world over for being completely rational - what to do and how to do it.



None of the above questions - while all interesting - have anything to do with the ACC meetings.

And the ACC meetings are what he was down there to report on. Not when we might sign a kicker, assistants who recruit, or the possibility of playing Rutgers, Temple, etc.

He can get ANY of those stories back in Syracuse... Not saying he will, but he can.

You're right, Cohen was sent down there to cover Syracuse's formal entry into the ACC. And, yes, it appears that the Southern reporters have little interest in the new playmate from the north. But we as his readers already knew that. The rest of what he's written here comes across as more diary entry than article. The subtext is that he isn't terribly interested in his subject either. The problem is that he's writing for the Syracuse fanbase. No one wants a cheerleader press and the coach and program should be called to the mat when deserving. But he hasn't taken a professional approach here. Your readers want informative articles. You want to take this angle, how about you ask Shafer what his experience with the ACC press consisted of? What kind of questions were asked and what questions weren't? Was the coach himself surprised/disappointed with the reception? We as readers don't care what Cohen felt. He should be invisible in the piece.

This article comes across as an attempt to write for his portfolio for job interviews to me than it does journalism. I'd like to think that editors will see the immaturity in his writing when he sends them this.

 

[SmilinBob]

He's a young guy that has to figure out what kind of writer he wants to be. Did he go to Newhouse and if so what the heck are they teaching these kids?

 

[Lou_C]

Wow, that was a poor article. Not so much because it was negative, but that it really misses the point and implies the author has a very poor grasp on what he's observing.

There is a story to be told here, and one that would be worth reading by Syracuse folks, even if it's not rah rah cheerleading.

Why does Dave Doeren have a good crowd? Besides the fact that he's in the heart of Tobacco road, and therefore has the ear of beat reporters for all Tobacco road, there's the little fact that the guy took a MAC team to the freaking Orange Bowl and played FSU last year. The guy was a head coach, and one that had a pretty high profile for a month less than a year ago.

Addazio, while not having as big a spotlight last year, also has been a head coach, and as a bonus, was part of the Urban-Tebow circus as a coordinator. These guys are known quantities in a way Shafer is just not. Grab any fan off any college football message board, and they're going to be able to think of more questions for Doeren or Addazio without knowing one single thing about their respective teams.

And that's where the author misses the boat on this. If there's a story here, and there probably is, it's not about the idea that Shafer is somehow lacking from the brains or personality standpoint, and implication that is unfair and not warranted by the reality of the situation being described. The real story is about how Syracuse took a different approach replacing Marrone than the other ACC schools making new hires. It's about the challenges that surround that, but why it might be justified by a program on the upswing and trying to continue momentum, versus programs that fired coaches and are trying to start anew.

I don't even know Syracuse that closely, but I could probably write that story. Going into a new, higher profile league with a basically anonymous new head coach, and how the challenges of that were well illustrated on media day. Why Syracuse is going to have to perform at a high level, because the coach's story isn't going to sell it by itself. About how quickly that will change next year based on Syracuse's performance. Possibly draw a parallel with Dabo Swinney, another guy (although quite a different situation) that was out of nowhere and nobody knew, and initially seemed easy to dismiss. About how Swinney now appears to be well down the way on the Les Miles Persona Path from "Bumbling Boob" to "Successful Charmingly Eccentric Character". Not that Shafer is Dabo or anything, but you could draw comparisons with an unknown guy that is thrown into a totally new spotlight.

 

[kirbivore]

Cohen just lost me with this article. He is negative in almost every article he writes. His subject matter is odd at best and his writing style pedestrian. I realize that the Post is on its last leg but cant they find someone that has better talent than him?

 

[Noexcuse]

Here's the thing. JB didn't become JB overnight, he had to work at it. I'm willing to bet when they run one of these events to kick off the basketball season there will be a sizeable number of reporters surrounding his table trying to get the nod from the man to ask their question. It's a badge of honor to get the Boeheim look of disdain when a reporter asks one of those questions he finds ridiculous and people flock to his pressers for the entertainment value alone. It took him a few years to get there though. The first time I remember him causing a commotion was when Marty Byrnes was bypassed for the Carrier Classic MVP award in favor of Magic Johnson. Then there was the Andre Hawkins-Michael Graham incident at the BET. HCSS reminds me of JB to some extent. He seems tightly wound and has a strong winning mentality from what I can tell. Winning will generate interest. And he will probably have some kind of blow up at a presser along the way to make him an interesting subject. His time will come, imo.

 

[Texas Otto]

Here's the thing. JB didn't become JB overnight, he had to work at it. I'm willing to bet when they run one of these events to kick off the basketball season there will be a sizeable number of reporters surrounding his table trying to get the nod from the man to ask their question. It's a badge of honor to get the Boeheim look of disdain when a reporter asks one of those questions he finds ridiculous and people flock to his pressers for the entertainment value alone. It took him a few years to get there though. The first time I remember him causing a commotion was when Marty Byrnes was bypassed for the Carrier Classic MVP award in favor of Magic Johnson. Then there was the Andre Hawkins-Michael Graham incident at the BET. HCSS reminds me of JB to some extent. He seems tightly wound and has a strong winning mentality from what I can tell. Winning will generate interest. And he will probably have some kind of blow up at a presser along the way to make him an interesting subject. His time will come, imo.

No but JB won right away and never looked back and I think HCSS will do the same #hardnosed

 

[baggerbob]

That just shows why they kept Bud, who hasn't written a relevant column in 20 years. They got rid of all the people who actually follow a team, and kept people who write off the top of their head.

 

[xc84]

It seems like Cohen and Carlsen are amping up coverage volume. I like that. Unfortunately, their urge to do that has, at times, led them to create stories where none exist. Worse, when they do that, they take a negative slant. We are hungry for facts...quotes about recruits, "inside information" if you will. We don't need all these slants on vague scenarios. We can do that ourselves!

 

[Moontan]

Worse, when they do that, they take a negative slant. We are hungry for facts...quotes about recruits, "inside information" if you will.

If they continue to be "all negative, all of the time" they will find themselves without the access necessary to provide "inside information".

One can express concern, doubt, etc. without coming across as all negative ("they suck", "they're incompetent", etc.). Dave knew how to do that. The current guys don't even have a clue... or they do and just want to be "bad ass".