After leaving us out of the rankings for the first few weeks, looks like Davis is trying to make some amends--he lists Vander as one of his Sophomores ready to break out for the season.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/12/05/Sophomores/index.html?sct=cb_t12_a1
Davis also lists Terrence Ross of Washington--nice little subplot for Tuesday's game.
As a former sportswriter who regularly was accused of bias by those who don't understand how most of the media works, I confidently can say that Seth Davis neither hates nor loves Marquette.
He has an opinion and he justifies that opinion. That's his job as a columnist. He will please those who agree with his opinion and displease those who disagree.
At one of my former stops, Cubs fans "knew" I hated the Cubs and loved the White Sox ... and White Sox fans "knew" I hated the White Sox and loved the Cubs. In reality, when the Cubs were good I wrote more positive things about them; when the White Sox were good I wrote more positive things about them. There was no ulterior motive whatsoever. I'm not from Chicago and really don't give a rat's rear if either team wins or loses.
Seth Davis looked at Marquette's body of work and didn't think they were rank-worthy until they beat Wisconsin, at which time he ranked the Golden Warriors 13th. It was not a matter of MU hatred suddenly turning into MU love. It was just an opinion. He wrote what he wrote about Vander Blue because he believed it to be true, not because he was trying to "make up" for perceived disrespect in the past.
As I often told fans who thought I was shortchanging their heroes (or heaping too much praise on their rivals), the big advantage I had was that I had absolutely no stake in the outcome of games or seasons. I observed, I analyzed, I wrote. The majority of fans can't do that, or at least choose not to.
Are there homers in the print media? Sure. But very, very, very few sportswriters actively root for the teams they cover (or root against the opponents of those teams). Within the business, a homer usually is looked upon with disdain and/or derision.
I didn't cover Marquette -- and I'm glad, because my alma mater is the one team I unobjectively, unabashedly root for.
It is not Seth Davis' job to look that way at Marquette (or any other team).
That's today's lesson in Sportswriting 101. Exam tomorrow.
What is Seth Davis' alma mater?
Good to see Vander getting some praise. I remember Dameon Mason made Seth's list a few years ago....we all know how that turned out.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1045975/3/index.htm (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1045975/3/index.htm)
Does anyone remember if any of the 3 amigos made the list?
Update:
Jerel & Lazar made the list as well:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1116901/5/index.htm (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1116901/5/index.htm)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/seth_davis/11/20/sophomores/1.html (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/seth_davis/11/20/sophomores/1.html)
dom james freshman year was probably too good to make him eligible, as well.